MoreLANSING, MI, March 14, 2008 – When it comes to protecting the health and safety of American workers, nothing is more important than having highly qualified people leading health and safety programs.
That’s why the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) has formed an Alliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that creates a partnership to promote the value of professional certification and enhance the expertise of health and safety professionals.
“Protecting the health and safety of workers is not only the responsible thing to do, it’s also a proven success factor in today’s business,” says ABIH Chair Scott E. Merkle, Chief of the Health and Safety Branch at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. “Through this alliance, OSHA further recognizes the value of the Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) designation that ABIH offers and commits, along with the other alliance partners, to enhance professional education, raise operational expertise and promote the value of certification.”
The Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) and the Council on Certification of Health, Environmental and Safety Technologists (CCHEST) are also partners in the Alliance. An implementation team, involving all Alliance partners, will soon be developing a strategy and action plan for reaching employers, employees and health and safety professionals and educating them about the value of enhanced expertise and professional certification.
“We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with our Alliance partners and reach many more employers and employees in addition to health and safety professionals who are candidates for certification,” Merkle adds. “The need for qualified industrial hygienists has never been greater. This type of outreach is critical to keeping workers in America safe and healthy and our profession strong.”
Earning the CIH designation requires a BA or BS degree with 60 semester hours in undergraduate or graduate level courses in science, math, engineering, and science-based technology, with at least 15 of those hours at the upper (junior, senior, or graduate) level. Candidates must also have four years of broad-based professional industrial hygiene experience, take continuing education courses in industrial hygiene fundamentals, measurements, controls, and toxicology, and pass a rigorous examination.
That’s why the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) has formed an Alliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that creates a partnership to promote the value of professional certification and enhance the expertise of health and safety professionals.
“Protecting the health and safety of workers is not only the responsible thing to do, it’s also a proven success factor in today’s business,” says ABIH Chair Scott E. Merkle, Chief of the Health and Safety Branch at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. “Through this alliance, OSHA further recognizes the value of the Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) designation that ABIH offers and commits, along with the other alliance partners, to enhance professional education, raise operational expertise and promote the value of certification.”
The Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) and the Council on Certification of Health, Environmental and Safety Technologists (CCHEST) are also partners in the Alliance. An implementation team, involving all Alliance partners, will soon be developing a strategy and action plan for reaching employers, employees and health and safety professionals and educating them about the value of enhanced expertise and professional certification.
“We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with our Alliance partners and reach many more employers and employees in addition to health and safety professionals who are candidates for certification,” Merkle adds. “The need for qualified industrial hygienists has never been greater. This type of outreach is critical to keeping workers in America safe and healthy and our profession strong.”
Earning the CIH designation requires a BA or BS degree with 60 semester hours in undergraduate or graduate level courses in science, math, engineering, and science-based technology, with at least 15 of those hours at the upper (junior, senior, or graduate) level. Candidates must also have four years of broad-based professional industrial hygiene experience, take continuing education courses in industrial hygiene fundamentals, measurements, controls, and toxicology, and pass a rigorous examination.
