Fw: Aerotech Laboratories' IAQ Tech Tip #51: Certification in Industrial Hygiene

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: Aerotech Laboratories' IAQ Tech Tip #51: Certification in Industrial

Hygiene

:

: The following article was written by Lyle R. Edinger, CIH, Manager of

Technical Affairs, The American Board of Industrial Hygiene.

:

: HISTORY

: In the late 1950s, the American Industrial Hygiene Association and the

American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists determined that

voluntary certification in industrial hygiene should be conducted by an

independent, incorporated, non-profit Board. The Board was initially

sponsored by those two Associations and each Association delegated six of

its members to join in organizing the independent Board. The American Board

of Industrial Hygiene was formed and held its first meeting in Pittsburgh on

October 28,1960. The Board's first written examinations were given in

Cincinnati in May, 1963.

:

: Since that time, many changes have taken place in both the Board's

structure/operations and in the certification program itself. But the

purpose for which the American Board of Industrial Hygiene was organized, to

improve the practice and educational standards of the profession of

industrial hygiene, has not changed. The means of promoting this objective

is through certification of practitioners of industrial hygiene. The

" Certified Industrial Hygienist " designation recognizes special education,

long experience, and proven professional

: ability in the practice of industrial hygiene.

:

: SUB-SPECIALTY EXAMINATIONS

: In 1993, the ABIH began offering a " sub-specialty " certification in

" Indoor Environmental Quality " (IEQ). The certification was available only

to Certified Industrial Hygienists in good standing for whom a portion of

their practice was within this particular sub-specialty area. A reference

on the Board's Sub-specialty Professional Reference Questionnaire form

supporting the sub-specialty practice claim was required. References were

accepted from peers, clients or supervisors.

:

: CIHs who passed the IEQ sub-specialty examination are listed in a separate

section of the annual Roster of Diplomates of the American Board of

Industrial Hygiene. They also received a certificate indicating that they

had attained the sub-specialty certification and were required to accrue CM

Points within their particular sub-specialty area.

:

: The ABIH began the IEQ sub-specialty certification based on several

considerations. One was to provide CIHs an opportunity to demonstrate a

greater depth of knowledge in a specialized aspect of industrial hygiene

practice than what is required for certification in Comprehensive Practice.

It would give them a chance to add a specialist credential to their CIH.

This would be an opportunity to demonstrate depth (in a specific area) to

go with the breadth already demonstrated by having achieved the CIH

credential.

:

: Another was an anticipated regulatory requirement. In the early 1990s,

the Indoor Air Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency felt

that, with the scarcity of specific training programs in the (then) emerging

field of Indoor Air Quality, the public needed assistance in judging the

qualifications of individuals and firms offering services in this area.

Their position at the time was that, because of the multi-disciplinary

aspects of indoor air quality and the lack (at that time) of generally

accepted definitions and standards, general credentials or certifications

might not be adequate for assuring the qualifications of IAQ professionals.

This led to the concern that, in anticipated EPA regulations, CIHs might not

be recognized as qualified to practice in this area without further

demonstration of knowledge.

:

: A third factor was an anticipated market pressure for such a credential.

It was expected that clients looking for assistance with IAQ issues would

seek out individuals with a certification of qualifications in that specific

area.

:

: When the ABIH decided to suspend the Indoor Environmental Quality

sub-specialty certification program, the decision was made in large part

because none of these anticipated drivers developed. The anticipated EPA

indoor air quality regulations were never promulgated. The clients of

consulting services in the area of general indoor air quality do not appear

to have sought out people with certifications in this specific field. And

the CIH population has not chosen to take advantage of this program. To

date, less than one percent of Certified Industrial Hygienists have chosen

to pursue the IEQ sub-specialty. Additionally, for the program to continue,

the Role Delineation for professional practice and examination would need to

be updated. The cost would be considerably more than what is justified for

a program that has generated limited interest and that has not demonstrated

the value for the certificants that was anticipated.

:

: Key to each of these factors in the decision to suspend the IEQ

sub-specialty certification program is the realization that practice in

indoor environmental quality, while a specialty within the field of

industrial hygiene, is not actually a different discipline. It is more a

matter of where one practices (yes, with its own set of concerns and

requirements) than it is a difference in how or what one does. The basic

principles used in investigating problems and remediating them are the same;

it's the specific information, not the process that varies from one work

environment to another.

:

: The suspension of this program does not affect those individuals who have

already attained this credential. As long as they meet the Certification

Maintenance requirements (by continued practice, continuing education,

etc.), they will continue to be recognized by the Board.

:

: REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFICATION

: Certification by the ABIH requires meeting each of three separate

requirements; and educational requirement, an experience requirement, and

the successful completion of an examination in the comprehensive practice of

industrial hygiene. The educational and experience requirements must be met

before a candidate is allowed to take the

: examination. These requirements are discussed briefly below. Further

information is available from the ABIH administrative office in Lansing or

at www.abih.org

:

: Educational Requirements for Admission to Examination

: Candidates must have, as a minimum, a bachelors degree from an accredited

college or university in industrial hygiene, biology, chemistry,

engineering, physics or an ABET accredited safety program. The Board will

consider, and may accept, any other bachelors degree from an acceptable

college or university if the degree contains at least 60 semester hours in

undergraduate or graduate level courses in science, mathematics, engineering

and science based technology, with at least 15 of those hours at the upper

(junior, senior or graduate) level. A degree which is heavily comprised of

only one of those subject areas may be judged to be not acceptable. The

social sciences are not considered to be qualifying sciences.

:

: Additionally, based on a six year phase in period (see Table 1 in the ABIH

" Candidate Handbook " ), the Board will require applicants to document

completion of specific industrial hygiene courses. PDCs/short courses

acceptable to the Board may be substituted for semester hours at the rate of

20 contact hours/semester hour.

:

: Experience Requirement

: Five years of full-time employment in the professional practice of

industrial hygiene acceptable to the Board and subsequent to completion of

an acceptable degree is required to be eligible for the CIH program. A

candidate for certification must have spent more than 50% of his/her total

work time (more than 20 hours/week) in professional industrial

: hygiene activities during each year claimed as practice. To earn credit

towards examination eligibility, experience in the professional practice of

Industrial Hygiene must meet two criteria:

: 1) The experience must be recognized as " professional-level " work.

Technician or pre-professional experience is not creditable towards

eligibility.

:

: 2) The experience must be " broad scope. " Three dimensions are evaluated

in judging the scope of experience, work function, stressor categories, and

work environment in which industrial hygiene is practiced.

:

: Work experience which is judged to be professional and broad-scope having

all three experience dimensions) is creditable towards eligibility.

Professional-level experience which does not meet broad-scope criteria may

be credited a maximum of two years towards eligibility. Experience judged

to be non-professional level (even if broad-scope) is not creditable towards

eligibility.

:

: A maximum of two years of experience equivalency may be credited for

industrial hygiene graduate degrees from institutions acceptable to the

Board. For master's-level industrial hygiene degrees awarded after December

31, 1996, one year experience credit will be awarded only when the program

is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology

(ABET). Two years may be granted for an acceptable doctoral degree,

provided that the graduate degree is in industrial hygiene and that all

academic requirements have been completed.

:

: A minimum of two professional references must be provided. There must be

a reference from the applicant's immediate supervisor(s) during each

industrial hygiene employment period claimed. There must also be a

reference from a Certified Industrial Hygienist who is familiar with the

applicant's industrial hygiene work. If no Certified Industrial Hygienist

is available who is familiar with the applicant's industrial hygiene work,

the applicant may apply to the Board for alternate means of demonstrating

the professional nature of his/her work, such as

: providing work examples.

:

: PROCEDURE FOR SUBMITTING AND PROCESSING APPLICATIONS

: The application procedure is fairly straight forward. There is a

" Candidate Handbook, " which contains further information on requirements and

procedures, and application and professional reference forms are available

from the office (517-321-2638) or on the web (www.abih.org). The application

and reference forms provide candidates and references opportunity to

describe the candidate's professional duties.

:

: In addition, official transcripts for each degree are required and must be

sent directly to the Board by the college or university.

:

: EXAMINATIONS

: Examinations are conducted in two sessions, morning and afternoon, each

session being three and one-half (3 1/2) hours long. The examination

contains 250 multiple-choice questions divided evenly between the two

separate booklets used for the two sessions. It is designed to test an

individual's knowledge across the broad general practice of industrial

: hygiene. Questions may be expected in all technical rubrics (subareas).

In addition to the technical rubrics, the Comprehensive Practice examination

will contain questions on industrial hygiene program management and ethics.

:

: CERTIFICATION MAINTENANCE

: Once industrial hygienists achieve certification, they enter into the

Board's Certification Maintenance (CM) Program. The purpose of the CM

Program is to ensure that CIHs continue to develop and enhance their

professional industrial hygiene knowledge and skills for the duration of

their active careers. CM is accomplished through continuing education and a

variety of professional activities that are believed to enhance and develop

knowledge and skills.

:

: CERTIFIED ASSOCIATE INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE PROGRAM

: In addition to the CIH program, the ABIH has just introduced a new

Certified Associate Industrial Hygiene program. The program is intended for

health, safety, and environmental professionals who either are not primarily

industrial hygienists (i.e. less than 50% of their practice) or who are

narrower in their scope of practice than what is required for the CIH

program. The educational requirements allow for less math and science

content and the experience requirements are somewhat lower, both in terms of

length of time in the field and percentage of time spent in the practice of

industrial hygiene. Additional details of this program are also available

at the ABIH web site.

:

: If you have questions about the ABIH certification programs, please feel

free to direct any questions to them at abih@... or at 6015 W. St.

ph Highway, Suite 102, Lansing, MI 48917. The phone number is

517-321-2638.

: _________________________

: IAQ and Related News & Events

: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

: Microbial Fact #1: Shigellosis is an infectious disease caused by a group

of bacteria called Shigella. Most who are infected with Shigella develop

diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps starting a day or two after they are

exposed to the bacterium. The diarrhea is often bloody. Shigellosis usually

resolves in 5 to 7 days. In some persons, especially young children and the

elderly, the diarrhea can be so severe that the patient needs to be

hospitalized. A severe infection with high fever may also be associated with

seizures in children less than 2 years old. Some persons who are infected

may have no symptoms at all, but may still pass the Shigella bacteria to

others. (from CDC)

:

: Fungal Fact #1: Invasive candidiasis is a fungal infection that occurs

when Candida species enter the blood, causing bloodstream infection and then

spreading throughout the body.

: One form of invasive candidiasis, candidemia, is the fourth most common

bloodstream infection among hospitalized patients in the United States. A

survey conducted at CDC found that candidemia occurs in 8 of every 100,000

persons per year. Persons at high risk for candidemia include

low-birth-weight babies, surgical patients, and those whose immune systems

are deficient. (from CDC)

: ___________________

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: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

: * Many of you receive our printed newsletter and on the cover of the

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envelope. The winner will be chosen by March 15, 2001. Mailed images will

not be returned unless a self-addressed envelope is enclosed.

: ______________

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: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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visit http://www.aerotechlabs.com/events.cfm for more information.

: ______________________________

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: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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: ______________________________

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: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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: _______________________

: RECOMMENDED READING

: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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: _______________________________________________________

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: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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: _________________

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: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

: ******* On the lighter side of things: Aerotech now offers the " Stachy

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: _____________

: DISTRIBUTION

: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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:

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