We hope that you, your families, your employees and your communities are staying safe in these challenging, uncertain times. Our world is changing, and both business and life in general are pivoting to accommodate setbacks, cultural and political shifts, required new behaviors and potential new opportunities.
In the midst of this, we recognize the importance and placement of the occupational health & safety challenge and the role that education plays. Nelson Mandela once wisely stated “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. The education offered by the Occupational Hygiene Training Association (OHTA) is dedicated to developing occupational hygiene capabilities to make the world a safer and more helpful place.
This will be one of several communications OHTA plans to share broadly throughout the year to keep you apprised of happenings, new partnerships and initiatives within the OHTA framework. Please let us know how OHTA’s course offerings have made a difference in your respective communities and organizations! We welcome your comments, as well as your suggested improvements for how we can “change the world, one course at a time”.
NEW! E-Learning Occupational Safety & Health Awareness Course
OHTA, in partnership with the Phylmar Academy, has developed a new 3-4 hour online Occupational Safety and Health Awareness course. Content development was led by Dr. Zack Mansdorf (with contributors Deborah Dietrich, Chris Laszcz-Davis, Alan Leibowitz, Marianne Levitsky, Melissa Gould, David Hiipakka and Dr. Ross Di Corleto). It was developed in response to a number of requests by our OHTA stakeholders for a broad-based overview on safety & health since so many were facing safety issues in concert with those considered “health” alone. For more information, please read the announcement from OHTA Co-Chairs Chris Laszcz-Davis and Steven Verpaele. This excellent quality 3-4 hour interactive course costs a modest $50.00 (note: if commercially available, valued at $300.00). However, in keeping with OHTA’s offer to global learners for freely downloadable materials, Zack Mansdorf has developed a set of non-interactive slides containing similar material.
Select OHTA Courses Pivoting to an Online Delivery Option
In an effort to address the COVID challenges associated with face-to-face teaching, UK based David O’Malley and Task Force members US based Zack Mansdorf, Swiss based Sven Hoffmann, UK based Terry McDonald, andNetherlands based Andrea Hiddinga, liaising with BOHS’s Lisa Williams, developed the criteria, reviewed ATP online training proposals and determined who could be approved (until end of 2020) to teach our W series courses in an online version. 14 ATPs have been endorsed to deliver some or all of the modules online, with 136 students taking online courses to date. This is an opportunity to prototype new learning methodologies. Later this year the OHTA Task Group will review how the online courses have gone. The expectation is that going forward the courses should be available using either face-to-face teaching or online delivery. A third option, known in educational circles as asynchronous teaching incorporating recorded lectures, webinars, videos etc. would require significant investment upfront and so is only likely to become viable if the demand for the courses increases substantially.
Annual General Meeting (AGM)
The annual meeting, reflecting OHTA highlights in review, took place on 20 May 2020.
American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH)
Donald Elswick
American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)
John Mulhausen
Association of Hygienists of Argentina (AHRA)
Alberto Riva
Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists (AIOH)
Ross Di Corleto
Belgian Society for Occupational Hygiene (BSOH)
Steven Verpaele
British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS)
Kelvin Williams
Canadian Registration Board of Occupational Hygienists CRBOH/CCAHT
Rene Leblanc
Colombian Occupational Hygiene Society (SCHO)
Luis Guillermo Araque Muñoz
Finnish Occupational Hygiene Society (FOHS)
Milja Koponen
French Occupational Hygienists Society (SOFHYT)
Nathalie Argentin
German Society for Occupational Hygiene (DGAH)
Christian Schumacher
Hong Kong Institute of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (HKIOEH)
Alex Chun Kuen TSE
Korean Industrial Hygiene Association (KIHA)
Dooyong Park
Malaysian Industrial Hygiene Association MIHA
Norhazlina Bt Mydin
Netherlands Occupational Hygiene Society (NVvA)
Andrea Hiddinga
New Zealand Occupational Hygiene Society (NZOHS)
Suzanne Broadbent
Norwegian Occupational Hygiene Association (NYF)
Hans Thore Smedbold
Occupational & Environmental Health Society (OEHS), Singapore
Boon-Tian Ang
Occupational Hygiene Society of Ireland (OHSI)
Anne Moore
Peruvian Occupational Hygiene Association (APEHO)
Erick Febres
Southern African Institute of Occupational Hygienists (SAIOH)
Peter John (Jakes) Jacobs
Spanish Association of Industrial Hygiene (AEHI)
Ruth Jiminez Saavedra
Swedish Association of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (SYMF)
Pernilla Wiebert
Swiss Society for Occupational Hygiene SGAH/SSHT
Samantha Connell
Taiwan Occupational Hygiene Association (TOHA)
Chih-Chieh Chen (CQ)
Vietnamese Industrial Hygiene Association (VIHA)
Tuan Nguyen
Workplace Health Without Borders
Albert Tien
2020 OHTA Board and Advisory Committee Members
Board
US Chris Laszcz-Davis (Co-Chair)
Belgium Steven Verpaele (Co-Chair)
US Alan Leibowitz (Treasurer)
US Lynn O’Donnell (Chair Awards & Qualifications Committee)
US Dr Thomas P Fuller (IOHA Liaison)
Australia Dr Ross Di Corleto
US Dr Zack Mansdorf
UK Lucetta Weaver
Spain Ruth Jimenez
South Africa Peter-John Jacobs
US Dr David Zalk
UK Roger Alesbury
US Nancy McClellan
UK David O’Malley
Australia Noel Tresider
Advisory Committee
Canada Michel Crepeau (Co-Chair)
Canada Shamini Samuel (Co-Chair)
US Dr. Deborah Nelson
Hong Kong Dr Alex Tse Chun Kuen
US Jas Singh
UK Terry McDonald
Australia Dr Sharann Johnson
US Michael Connor
Canada Lydia Renton
UK Jason Hodgkiss
US Dr Albert Tien
There are many volunteers supporting module review and development projects. Led by Chief Editor Sven Hoffmann, each project requires a team of people to conduct the review. In many cases, training providers have also provided written feedback. We thank all those contributing to this essential editorial work.
Beyond the statistics, there are many examples of the profound impact OHTA has had on occupational hygiene learning across the globe. The scheme has supported and developed local OH training in China, the former Soviet Union, Iraq, South Africa and Angola, to name a few. The founder and first president of the Indonesian Industrial Hygiene Association, Elsye Al Safira, initially attended OHTA modules training before going on to study for an MSc in Occupational Hygiene and the CIH certification. An occupational hygienist in Egypt gained the ICertOH before being awarded full BOHS Chartered Status and providing W201 Basic Principles of Occupational Hygiene training for a local onshore project. Other success stories include those of ATP Workplace Health Without Borders (WHWB), teachingW501 Measurement of Hazardous Substances in Vietnam (2018), W201 in Tanzania (2015), and various OHTA modules in Tanzania, South Africa and Botswana in 2019 (scroll to end of WHWB newsletter). WHWB trainers include a number of OHTA Board and Advisory Committee members.
US Non-Profit Chapter
US based Chair Mark Katchen with new Board members Dave Johnson, former editor at IHSN and Stephen Chiusano, US Department of Defense and former chair of the AIHA International Affairs Committee. Given their Board roles on the UK based OHTA, Board members Lynn O’Donnell and Alan Leibowitz will roll off as soon as their successors are identified. The US Chapter’s sole function is fundraising which is critical to sustain OHTA. It has been granted 501(c)(3) status (employer identification number 83-2036073). This means that contributions to OHTA are tax-deductible for US donors.
Communication Sub-committee – identifying opportunities for increased engagement with stakeholders
Awards & Qualifications Committee (AQC)
The committee, led by US based Lynn O’Donnell, provides a formal communication channel for providing advice and comment to the OHTA Board on all issues relating to awards and qualifications. OHTA member associations that have National Accreditation Recognition (NAR) representation are invited to name a representative. AQC Committee members are listed below. We give a special welcome to AIOH, the latest organization to join the group.
HKIOEH (Hong Kong) Alex Tse Chun Kuen
SOFHYT (France) Frederique Parrot
SAIOH (South Africa) Peter-John (Jakes) Jacobs
NVvA (The Netherlands) Andrea Hiddinga
BOHS (UK) Lisa Williams AIOH (Australia) Sharann Johnson
CRBOH (Canada) Rene Leblanc
OHTA Board Member and Advisory Committee Member Conference/Speaking/Authoring Opportunities
AIHce 2020, Global EHS Session. Including Chris Laszcz-Davis (moderator), Steve Thygerson (IAC Chair), Richard Hirsh (DWOI), Kevin Hedges (WHWB), Larry Sloan (AIHA) and Rene LeBlanc (IOHA). A similar session is being planned for AIHce 2021.
OH 2020, UK, Global Collaborations Session (Dr. Tom Fuller, Nancy McClellan); Measures of Success for International OH Training Programs (Dr. Tom Fuller)
World Congress on Safety & Health at Work, Toronto, postponed
Chris Laszcz-Davis presented virtually at International Labour Organization (ILO) 2020 World Day for Safety & Health at Work, one of 6 presenters to audience of 5,000 zoom attendees. Actual article submitted “New COVID Battleground with COVID: Challenges, Partnerships, Impact and Business”. Read the article
OHTA chapter submitted as part of Dr. Tom Fuller’s Global EHS book, with contributions by a number of global EHS providers. OHTA focus—Education and Training in Underdeveloped Nations.
Recent External Collaborations/Partnerships
OHTA continues to explore partnerships and working opportunities with organizations such as WHWB, NIOSH, IOHA, AIHA, ACGIH, Safety4Nonprofits, ASSP, Laboratory Safety Institute, engagement with member associations, and potentially ITCILO.
Strategic Mission Self Assessment Meeting
This is planned for Fall 2020 and will include select stakeholders to ensure our work efforts and vision are aligned.