More than 300 industrial hygienists attended the American Industrial Hygiene Association’s (AIHA) Academy of Industrial Hygiene-sponsored conference, which featured small group discussions, technical and strategic sessions, workshops and an expo.
“Once again, PCIH brought together some of the best in our profession,” said John Mulhausen, former Academy president. He described the conference’s presentations as both “forward thinking and thought provoking.”
The PCIH program included general sessions and special solutions workshops that focused on a broad range of topics. To ensure that participants were able to concentrate in their specific areas of expertise, the conference offered two session tracks: technical and strategic. The technical track addressed issues such as occupational exposures and disease, advances in personal protective equipment, nanotechnology, environmental assessment for mold investigations and health-related aerosol measurement. The strategic track focused on ethics, business continuity management, developing culture-appropriate training and global harmonization.
“The two tracks offered attendees a great balance between emerging trends and traditional hazards that all industrial hygienists face,” said Academy President Brad Garber. “The twin opportunities to improve one’s technical excellence and stretch into new areas of practice are what make PCIH such a unique conference.”
In addition to the workshops and sessions, participants were able to engage in small-group discussions with professionals. Topics covered the business of consulting, Spanish flu virus research and pandemic preparations, industrial hygiene in the courtroom, product stewardship, environmental health and safety credentialing and asbestos law and litigation.
Through sessions, professional development courses and small group discussions, attendees were able to earn up to 6 certification maintenance points. Industry leaders who attended the conference also were able to view products and services displayed at the PCIH expo.
Furthermore, the conference provided the opportunity for AIHA and Academy members to consider the future of the industry and foster strong working relationships by meeting with representatives of the American Board of Industrial Hygiene, the American Council on Governmental Industrial Hygienists and the British Occupational Hygiene Society.
The 2008 PCIH is scheduled to take place Nov. 8-11 in Tampa, Fla.