American Industrial Hygiene Association

The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) is an official participant of the OSHA Alliance Program.[4] Through the AIHA-OSHA Alliance, AIHA helps OSHA provide AIHA members and the general public information on OSHA's rule making and employer compliance laws, in order to fulfill the mutual mission of ensuring safe and healthy conditions for workers.[5][6] The actionable plan is twofold: 1). raise awareness, and 2). be a source of outreach and communication.[4] AIHA worked with OSHA to provide resources available to employers and employees regarding specific hazards pertaining to relevant industries,[7] in order to create awareness with workers and employers. AIHA has provided several additional educational documents through the OSHA Alliance program, specifically on the construction industry,[8] which has been widely affected by the silica rule.[9]

The practice of industrial hygiene, also known as occupational hygiene[10] or occupational health, is a relatively modern idea, pioneered principally by Alice Hamilton and is often referred to as the "mother of industrial hygiene."[11]

The AIHA was founded in 1939[1] by a cross-disciplinary group of professionals and government agencies concerned with worker health.[12]

The history of the American Industrial Hygiene Association began in the 1930s with interested people already meeting together under the auspices of other organizations to include the American Public Health Association, the American Chemical Society, the National Safety Council, and the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers. In 1938 the board of directors of the American Association of Industrial Physicians and Surgeons (AAIPS) organized a permanent American Conference on Occupational Diseases in response to a massive outbreak of lead poisonings in the automotive industry. Dr. Carey P. McCord as chairman of the Conference proposed the creation of an independent association of industrial hygienist who were not physicians and would operate under the name of the American Industrial Hygiene Conference.

The 24th annual meeting of the AAIPS was held in June 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio during which an organizational meeting for the establishment of an industrial hygiene association was held on June 6, 1939. Initially the association was to be named the Society of Industrial Hygienists however was not supported and the consensus agreed on the name of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA). Three officers for the new association were elected with William Yant, president; Warren Cook, president-elect; and Gordon A. Harrold, secretary-treasurer. The AIHA had 160 members at its start and paid annual dues of $3.00. Harrold reported from the first board of directors meeting on October 18, 1939 that the four major goals of the Association were: 1. The advancement and application of industrial hygiene and sanitation through the interchange and dissemination of technical knowledge on these subjects. 2. The furthering of study and control of industrial health hazards through determination and elimination of excessive exposures. 3. The correlation of such activities as conducted by diverse individuals and agencies throughout industry, educational and governmental groups. 4. The uniting of persons with these interests. [13]

Since 1940, the AIHA Has published an academic journal on matters related to public health, the AIHA Journal.[14]

The AIHA is headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia,[1] and has chapters throughout the United States.[12] AIHA celebrated their 70-year anniversary in 2009, and cited a timeline of historical milestones, including publication of The Synergist, which started as a quarterly newsletter in 1989.[15][16]

The AIHA often collaborates with NIOSH on matters of public education,[17][18][19] and is frequently cited in the news media as an authority on public health issues.[20][21][22]

The AIHA also gives an annual award for social responsibility.[23]

After two people within the United States were diagnosed as having contracted Ebola,[24][25] AIHA Executive Director Peter O'Neil sent letters to infectious disease expert and then director of the CDC, Tom Frieden,[26] the White House,[27] former director of NIOSH John Howard,[28] and former Assistant Secretary of Labor at OSHA Dr. David Michaels[29] urging readiness and protection of workers particularly vulnerable to contracting the virus, such as health research laboratory facility workers.[30] O'Neil identified industrial hygienists[10] as having an increasingly important role in mitigating the crises, as more workers become involved in containing the outbreak.[31] AIHA further provided additional resources[32] and guidances in light of a potential pandemic.[33]

AIHA hosted a Congressional briefing on Capitol Hill[34] at the Longworth Office Building on February 15, 2017. Government relations director, Mark Ames organized the event; the panel included AIHA CEO Larry Sloan,[35] epidemiologist[36] and former Assistant Secretary of Labor at OSHA Dr. David Michaels, past president at AIHA Dan H. Anna.[37] Russ Hayward, CIH,[38] was also on hand to provide support with expertise, as AIHA's Managing Director of Scientific and Technical Initiatives.[39] The purpose of the event was to emphasize the importance of keeping the silica standard[40] enforceable, backed by the silica rule,[41] which is based on 19 years of active research[42]

An annual conference of industrial hygienist has been an essential element of the AIHA as in 1938 when the board of directors of the American Association of Industrial Physicians and Surgeons (AAIPS) organized a permanent American Conference on Occupational Diseases.

It was at this conference that Dr. Carey P. McCord, as chairman of the Conference, proposed the creation of an independent association of industrial hygienist who were not physicians and would operate under the name of the American Industrial Hygiene Conference.

The 24th annual meeting of the AAIPS was held in June 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio during which an organizational meeting for the establishment of an industrial hygiene association was held on June 6, 1939 that the AIHA was created. The AAIPS and the AIHA would continue to meet together annually until 1960 when they split apart. The AIHA joined with the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienist (ACGIH) in 1961 to sponsor an annual industrial hygiene conference. Despite concerns of the recent split with the AAIPS, the first conference was a success as all exhibit spaces were sold out, scientific exhibits were so numerous that they had to be placed in the halls and 688 industrial hygienists attended the meeting held in Detroit, Michigan.

With the stimulation by the OSHA Act of 1970, attendance at the annual conferences continued to grow so much that by 1980 the meetings had to be held at convention centers with the Houston Texas conference held in the Albert Thomas Convention Center. Attendance at the 1980 meeting was 5,006 and by 1990 it grew to 8,620 attendees.

A major reason for the growth and success of the conference has been attributed to the technical program that also grew from 233 presentations in 1973 to 456 in 1990.[43]

AIHA won the bid to host the 11th Annual IOHA conference in Washington DC.[44]

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