ACGIH Offers Complimentary Resources to Support NIOSH and Other Federal Workers

Dear Fellow OEHS Professionals,

In response to the recent cuts at National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and other federal workforce reductions, ACGIH is working to help individuals continue their purpose, to grow and empower the OEHS profession. Not only does this affect the NIOSH employees, but it also cripples the advancement of keeping occupational health and safety workers protected.

ACGIH is working diligently to support our entire field affected by these changes.

To support those who have experienced a recent job loss in maintaining certifications and continuing their valuable contributions, ACGIH is now offering the following resources complimentary to our entire field of OEHS professionals.

ACGIH Job Board – Companies can now submit classified ads free of charge to be posted on ACGIH’s Job Board, to help those affected by job loss.

Action Level – A continuing education program, in conjunction with the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, to earn ABIH CM Points and/or BCSP Recertification Points is now available until the end of the year.

Bioaerosols Lecture Series: Measurement & Mitigation On Demand Professional Development Course

Live Webinar – April 23 – Revisiting Respirator Fit Testing

On Demand Webinars:

Bioaerosols Exposure in the Workplace and OSHA Standards

IFV – What it is and How to Assess It

Personal Protective Equipment

Completing a Desktop Based OH & Hygiene Gap Assessment Across Multiple Jurisdictions in the Mining Sector

The Global State of Respiratory Protection

Room to Breathe – Respiratory Protection

Optimizing Respirator Fit Testing: Best Practices for Industrial Hygienists

ACGIH Ventilation Committee – Changes to Chapter 10 and Applications

Field Guide for Testing Ventilation Systems Webinar

Understanding Chemical Fume Hood and Laboratory HVAC Systems 

Some Like it Hot: Practical Approaches to Evaluating Heat Stress & Heat Strain

Engaging and Empowering Employees with Heat Stress Assessment

Global Understanding of Heat Stress and Heat Related Illness for Workers and Communities

Psychological & Physiological Impact of Heat Stress & Heat-Related Illness on Athletes, Coaches, & Sport Officials

Physiological Heat Strain Monitoring: Benefits, Considerations, and Limitations

Additionally, we are working together with partners and will continue to share resources to highlight the importance of our field.

The ACGIH Board of Directors has called an emergency meeting to generate additional plans to support the field and address gaps created by the job losses.

This recent action at NIOSH is a deterrent to the advancement of occupational health and safety. ACGIH is asking for your input on how to support the occupational health and safety field, along with those affected by the reduction in force actions. Click here to submit feedback.

Phillip Rauscher, MPH, ACNP, CIH, CSP
Executive Director
ACGIH^®
Phone: 513-742-6176
prauscher@acgih.or
www.acgih.org

The First Comment Period Ends March 31st

The first comment period of the TLV development process will be closing March 31st. Industry professionals have the opportunity to provide comments twice per year for draft Documentation on the Notice of Intended Changes (NIC) and Notice of Intent to Establish (NIE) lists. All substances that are on the NIC currently will have the opportunity to be adopted by the Board of Directors this summer and are available on our website via Data Hub and in the Publications Store. New substances include endotoxins, triclosan, formic acid and methyl ethyl ketone. Click here for current substances and agents list. All comments can be submitted to science@acgih.org following the process outlined on the website.

We Welcome and Say Goodbye to Our Leaders

The ACGIH Board of Directors is changing hands. We welcome new leadership while saying farewell to accomplished and talented individuals.

ACGIH is pleased to welcome Michael Grant, ScD, CIH, Megan Steele, MS, CIH, CSP, and Jonathan Hale, MPA, as newly appointed members to the Board. We look forward to the talents and expertise they bring to our ongoing efforts to protect workers.

As we bring in new talent, we reluctantly say goodbye to our esteemed leaders who have made a significant impact on our organization: COL(Ret.) Mary S. Lopez, PhD, CPE, Lilia Chen, CIH, MS, and John McKernan, ScD, CIH. ACGIH is deeply grateful for their hard work and service, and their dedicated contributions will be greatly missed.

ACGIH & AIHA Launch “Improving Exposure Judgments” Initiative

Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety Professionals Take Crucial Steps to Enhance Protection for Workers and Communities Against Hazards – November 7, 2024 (Falls Church, VA) – A recent study indicates that traditional methods for assessing worker exposure to hazards, which often rely on professional opinion and experience, may underestimate risks to workers. To better protect workers and communities, leading occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) professionals are advocating for advanced risk-assessment techniques that incorporate statistical tools and other approaches into their daily practices through the new “Improving Exposure Judgments” initiative.

ACGIH 2024 Election Results

ACGIH is pleased to announce the results of our recent Board of Directors and Nominating Committee election. Congratulations to all the 2024 election winners!

Three Active Members were elected to serve on the Board of Directors for a 3-year term:

Representing Academia/Government:

Michael Grant, ScD, CIH. Michael is a Deputy Branch Chief in the Division of Field Studies and Engineering, Field Research Branch, at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). He earned his Doctor of Science degree in Environmental Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (focused on designing, implementing, and evaluating interventions in the commercial construction and healthcare industries), Master of Science degree in Environmental Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (focused on Industrial Hygiene), and Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (focused on Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and Public Health).

Megan Steele, MS, CIH, CSP. Megan serves as the industrial hygiene technical advisor at Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. In this role, she mentors new industrial hygiene consultants, supports their ongoing professional development, and ensures the quality of consultant services. Before joining BWC, Megan worked as an industrial hygiene research contractor and team lead in the Air Force Research Lab Force Health Protection portfolio. She started by conducting exposure assessments in Air Force unique environments, advanced to evaluating air sensor performance, and eventually led several projects including the evaluation of new surface limits for chemicals unique to Air Force operations. Megan holds dual master’s degrees in industrial hygiene and environmental engineering. While chemical engineering wasn’t her true calling, her bachelor’s degree has served her well in providing a strong background in chemistry, math, and analytical thinking.

Representing Industry/Labor:

Jonathan F. Hale, MPA. Jon is President of Air Systems Corporation with over 43 years of experience in the design, worker exposure, installation, governmental regulation of dust control and industrial ventilation systems, energy management and air system analysis projects. Mr. Hale has also worked as an EPA inspector and permits engineer. He is the winner of two national level ASHRAE awards for excellence in energy efficient design of industrial ventilation systems and is the co-chair of the North Carolina Industrial Ventilation Conference. He is the 2022 Meritorious Achievement Awardee. Mr. Hale obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from Wake Forest University and a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from Appalachian State University.

The 2025 ACGIH Nominating Committee will include three elected Active Members to serve a one-year term:

Representing Academia/Government:

Kendra Broadwater, MPH, CIH, CSP. Kendra is a Research Industrial Hygienist with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Spokane Mining Research Division (SMRD). She has performed workplace exposure assessments in workplaces across the United States for NIOSH since 2013. Before recently joining the NIOSH Mining program and turning her focus to mining exposures, she developed expertise in evaluation of exposures in nail salons and forensic chemistry laboratories and surface sampling methodology and survey development. She is interested in learning more about exposure assessment strategies used in mining and barriers to adoption of statistics-based decision making in exposure assessment programs.

Stephanie C. Griffin, PhD, CIH. Stephanie holds a PhD in Environmental Health Sciences and is a Certified Industrial Hygienist with over 20 years’ experience in a broad range of workplaces including the US Coast Guard, US Air Force, the fire service, and the mining industry, as well as academia. Dr. Griffin is an Associate Professor at Stockton University in Galloway, New Jersey where she trains undergraduate and graduate students in public health topics including occupational and environmental health. As a practicing public health professional, she engages in scholarship and service that advance and improve the public health. Dr. Griffin recently retired from that Air National Guard where she served as a Bioenvironmental Engineering officer.

Representing Industry/Labor:

Donald D. Elswick, CIH, CSP, CHMM, CIT. Don has over 30 years of government and multi-industry experience, holding several senior positions in Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) organizations. Don is an Occupational Environmental Health & Safety (OEHS) Solutions Specialist for ELSMART Associates, LLC. He was formerly the Executive Director, University of Alabama (UA) SafeState, Division of Industrial and Environmental Programs, which provides vision and leadership for environmental safety and health outreach activities for the University in partnership with groups, individuals, employers, and agencies external to UA. In 2022 he was chairperson of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) and served on the state of Alabama’s Technical Advisory Committee on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (TAC-STEM). Don has supported oversight of implementing companies’ EHS policies, procedures, standards, guidelines, and practices in government operations, the chemical industry, high-speed manufacturing, and the food industry. He is the Local Section Vice Chair of the local section advisory group (LSAG) a member of the Thermal Stress Working Group (TSWG) for the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), and an active member of the advisory committee for the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP). Don retired as a Commander (CDR) in the United States Navy, serving as a Medical Service Corps Officer.

Congratulations to ACGIH’s 2024 Award Winners

Yesterday we honored all the 2024 Award Winners during the 2024 Award Winner Recognition & Virtual Annual Meeting.  This informative meeting also highlighted a number of ACGIH achievements throughout the year and included e a presentation by ACGIH Board Chair Jack Caravanos, DrPH, CIH.

2024 Herbert Stokinger Award Winner will Present Lecture

Come watch live the Stokinger Lecture presented by the 2024 Herbert Stokinger Award Winner Martyn T. Smith, PhD. Register for ACGIH’s 2024 Award Winner Recognition & Virtual Annual Meeting which will be held on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, from 1:00-2:30 PM Eastern. This informative meeting will highlight a number of ACGIH achievements throughout the year and will include a presentation by ACGIH Board Chair Jack Caravanos, DrPH, CIH.

We will also recognize the 2024 Awardees who made significant contributions to the profession through their leadership and dedication.

2024 Herbert Stokinger Award Winner

Martyn T. Smith, PhD

At the conclusion of the meeting, Martyn Thomas Smith will be presenting the Stokinger Lecture titled, “Hazards of Occupational and Environmental Exposure to Benzene.“ Dr. Smith is a Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Toxicology and the Kaiser Chair of Cancer Epidemiology in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London and did Post-Doctoral training in toxicology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Dr. Smith has expertise in molecular epidemiology, toxicology and genomics, and his research is mostly aimed at finding the causes of cancer, especially blood cancers. Dr. Smith is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He received the 2010 Children’s Environmental Health Network Award, became an Elected Fellow of the Collegium Ramazzini in 2012, and received the Alexander Hollaender Award from the Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society in 2014. Since its inception in 1987, Smith has directed the Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). This program combines basic research, engineering, population studies, training, and community engagement to understand cumulative impacts from multiple environmental stressors. Smith is best known for his work on benzene toxicity, the exposome concept and the key characteristics framework, which helps risk assessors better identify, organize, and summarize the potential health risks of different chemicals. His most recent work uses machine learning, AI and molecular modeling to predict toxicity. He has published almost 400 peer-reviewed publications and authored 44 book chapters and 1 book. In 2023, he became President and CEO of 1Tox, a consulting company and has served as a consultant in litigation for over 40 years.

REGISTER TODAY!

Second Comment Period of TLV Development Process Ends Soon

Get your comments in soon for the second comment period of the TLV Development Process. This comment period ends September 30th, with ratification occurring in November, and updates in December.

Submit all comments and/or questions to science@acgih.org by September 30th, following the process outlined on the website.

Also, Documentation is updated from the first comment period and available on our website through Data Hub (ACGIH Subscribers only) and for purchase as PDFs in ACGIH’s Publications Store. ACGIH Subscribers get 20% off.

The updated list of NICs and adopted substances can be found on our website here.

ACGIH is proud to be more responsive to the needs of the occupational health field.

Newly Added Date for Popular Ventilation Course!

Due to the popularity of “Fundamentals in Industrial Ventilation”, ACGIH has added October 21-25 to this year’s schedule to accommodate the demand! This popular hands-on course taught by world-renowned industrial ventilation experts, covers both basic and advanced topics related to industrial ventilation and related calculations.