Safety Tidbit 5.01 – What is IH
Reference: American Industrial Hygiene Association
What is an Industrial Hygienist? When I present, I joke and say, “I work on big teeth.” So, what is industrial hygiene? The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) defines industrial hygiene as “the science and art devoted to the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, prevention, and control of those environmental factors or stresses arising in or from the workplace which may cause sickness, impaired health and well-being, or significant discomfort among workers or among citizens of the community.”
Industrial Hygiene is an Art because:
1. The Industrial Hygienist must always be trained and prepared to:
• Anticipate, Recognize, and Prioritize potential health hazards in the workplace
• Develop Evaluation Strategies
• Identify feasible Control options
2. Industrial Hygienists must make judgments
• Is sampling/monitoring really necessary?
• What types of samples should be collected, or what kinds of monitoring should be conducted to obtain the most useful information?
• Some important questions include:
Where?
When?
Who?
How long?
3. The IH must document observations & make decisions
• Workplace Conditions (Routine vs. Unique)
• Employee Work Practices
• Controls (Present/Absent/Possible)
4. Last but not least, industrial hygiene is an “Art” because the IH must use effective communication skills to a) correctly and appropriately characterize the exposure situation and b) prepare written reports that are clear, concise, easy to understand and accurate.
Industrial Hygiene is a Science because the Industrial Hygienist must acquire and apply knowledge in the areas of biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics & related academic disciplines (e.g., toxicology, epidemiology, statistics)
For example, because of their understanding of the “Sciences,” IHs should be able to:
Anticipate and Recognize potential health hazards
Evaluate - Conduct appropriate equipment selection, calibration and sampling
Control: Identify, select, develop and/or evaluate control strategies (e.g. LEV, Administrative Controls & PPE)
So, why is Industrial Hygiene both an Art and a Science - because we must Anticipate, Recognize, Evaluate, and Control (Preventing when possible) workplace hazards.
Hope this was helpful and thank you for reading my Safety Tidbits! Comments and questions are always welcome. ~ Bryan
P.S. If you have a new safety or health question, please let me know.
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