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Industrial Hygiene – Occupational Health & Safety
Career Questions and Answers
Question
Industry
Academia
Consulting
Government
What do you do for
the community (the
service you
provide)?
I work for a chemical
company, to help
protect workers from
exposure to health
hazards (chemicals,
noise, radiation,
ergonomics, lasers,
asbestos, mold, etc.)
Our consulting firm’s
staff and principals
volunteer for local
professional and
charitable
organizations. We
also provide ‘probono’ consultation to
homeowners on
household hazards
such as mold, lead
paint, etc.
I work for the US
Department of
Agriculture to protect
the health and safety
of the veterinarians
and animal health
technicians. Our
employees work all
across the country, to
protect the health of
livestock.
How do you
provide your
service?
We have 25 plant
sites, and I help the
site EHS
(environmental,
health and safety)
personnel to ensure
that their health
hazards are
assessed and
controlled. I help
them develop their
site procedures and
training materials,
and audit their
programs.
My community is
comprised of non-profit
organizations, organized
community members,
state and local
government officials,
and nearby industry.
Through my university
academic unit, I provide
expertise in writing
grants, designing
studies, collecting data,
and helping to analyze
results related to
occupational and
environmental
exposures.
By meeting with these
groups, and through
planning, writing,
analyzing, and editing.
Part of this effort
involves building bridges
to areas of experience
and expertise that did
not previously exist.
What resources do
you use in order to
provide the
service?
We hire consultants
to come to our plant
sites to do exposure
surveys, test for air
contaminants, noise
levels, ergonomic
hazards, etc.
This usually comes
down to human
resources – the time
and expertise of my
EHS faculty.
I have only been in this
job for several months.
We are establishing
safety and health
committees all across
the country, so that the
people in each branch
or division can work on
health and safety for
the people in that
division. I have visited
several sites so that I
can see what kind of
hazards we need to
protect our people
from.
I rely on many other
people who work in my
department. I also
frequently refer to
scientific publications.
Where do you
work?
I work at the
company
headquarters in an
office and visit the
plant sites about one
week per month.
An urban research
university, but this job
often involves national
and international travel.
As a consultant, we
are dependent on
clients requesting
our services (IAQ;
mold; asbestos;
LEED; etc.) We work
with the client to
determine their
needs, and to
provide specific
services to fulfill their
needs. Our services
are handled in a
professional and
technically proficient
manner.
We utilize labs for
sample analyses,
and sub-contractors
(engineering firms)
for technical
assistance on areas
of expertise that we
do not provide.
I work in the
company’s offices
and at my clients’
facilities as needed.
I telework much of the
time but at least one
day each week I go to
an office building in
Fort Collins, Colorado.
I also travel to see
where other people
work, and to take
classes and to teach
classes.
American Industrial Hygiene Association 3141 Fairview Park Drive, Suite 777, Falls Church, VA 22042 USA
main +1 703-849-8888 fax +1 703-207-3561
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Question
Industry
Academia
Consulting
Government
What time during
the day do you
work?
I generally work from
8 am – 5 pm.
I work as needed
depending on the
requirements of the
project. My ‘typical’
hours are from 8:30
am to 5:30 pm.
I often work from six in
the morning until six at
night. This allows me to
be off work many
Fridays.
What other
professions are
you dependent
upon for the
functioning of your
profession
(i.e. janitor, delivery
person, secretary,
repair person)?
I work closely with
occupational health
nurses, plant
engineers, plant
management. We
use external labs to
analyze our samples,
and those labs hire
chemists.
My partner is a
mechanical
engineer, and I work
closely with her on a
daily basis. I also
work with the
company’s
technicians to
perform the
sampling, write the
reports, and manage
the project.
Toxicologists,
engineers, lawyers, and
many other professions.
What special
adaptations (skills,
education, tools,
behaviors) do you
use or are required
to have for your
profession? How
did you acquire
these adaptations?
All industrial
hygienists have a
Bachelor’s degree,
about ½ have a
Master’s degree and
about 17% have a
PhD. About half of
AIHA members are
certified industrial
hygienists (CIH).
I personally have a
master’s degree in
Environmental
Sciences and
Engineering and a
CIH.
We compete mostly
with Occupational
Safety professionals,
as we both cover
health and safety
issues in our jobs.
However we tend to
specialize more in
the ‘health’ aspect
and they specialize
more in the ‘safety’
aspect.
Often from 7 AM to 7
PM, but academia
provides a high degree
of flexibility. Now that I
am a mid-career
professional, I try very
hard to not work on the
weekends.
As a department chair, I
work closely with other
chairs, the dean, and
associate deans as a
leadership team. But
nothing gets done
without the faculty and
our community partners.
And since a large
university is like a city
itself, there is a host of
workers that ‘keep the
lights on’.
Faculty members have
earned a PhD, MD, JD
or other terminal
degree, but the research
mission demands
people trained at the
masters and
undergraduate level, as
well as current students.
Technology is central,
be it a learning platform
or a new instrument.
I have an undergrad
degree in
environmental
science, and a
master’s degree in
occupational safety
and health. I am also
a Certified Industrial
Hygienist (CIH) and
a Certified Safety
Professional (CSP).
I went to graduate
school to learn more
about chemicals, noise,
and other hazards, and
how to protect people
from these hazards. I
still take classes very
often, and read many
publications.
As education evolves,
we compete with nontraditional learning
opportunities, like online
for-profit universities.
Being a STEM
discipline, we compete
with other field to attract
students. And, as
federal research dollars
shrink, we compete with
other EHS departments
across the country to
write the best grants.
We compete with
other environmental
and occupational
health and safety
consultancies in our
city, Ottawa. Our
specialty is indoor
air quality, so other
firms do not always
provide the same
services we do.
Safety professionals.
What other
professions do you
compete with
(if any)?
American Industrial Hygiene Association 3141 Fairview Park Drive, Suite 777, Falls Church, VA 22042 USA
main +1 703-849-8888 fax +1 703-207-3561
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Question
Industry
Academia
Consulting
Government
What other
professions do you
cooperate with (if
any)?
We also cooperate
with occupational
safety professionals,
occupational health
nurses, occupational
health physicians.
We cooperate with
engineering firms that
we hire, or hire us, on
specific projects where
the skills of both firms
are needed.
Safety professionals.
What benefits
(spiritual,
emotional, and
financial) do you
get from your
career?
Many of us entered
the profession
because we wanted
to help prevent
people from getting
sick or injured from
their work. We know
that we help prevent
deaths, injuries and
diseases arising from
the workplace.
People in our
profession earn a
median salary of
$100,000.
All disciplines of public
health, and other areas
including law, medicine,
nursing, business, and
engineering. This also
includes sociologists,
psychologists,
physicians,
communication experts,
and visual designers.
I get to help create
programs within the
university, build
resources for my
department, and create
career pathways for
students. I like to think
that this all directly or
indirectly improves the
public’s health, and in
my case, worker health.
I earn a very reasonable
salary as a state
employee.
I have benefited from
my career in all ways
possible, including
financial, emotional
and spiritual. I have
been fortunate to work
over the past 40 years
in providing my
services for the
betterment of working
conditions in all sorts
of workplaces,
including industrial,
governmental, office
buildings, schools, etc.
I derive tremendous
satisfaction from my
profession. Partly it's
from keeping people
safe, and partly it's
from using my skills,
which I have spent
many years
developing.
Is your career
adaptive? As the
economic
community and our
society change, will
your career still be
needed in the
future?
Since our profession
focuses on
protecting worker
and community
health, we are
continually learning
about new health
hazards (e.g.
nanoparticles, Ebola,
etc.) We believe that
if we keep learning
and growing, we will
continue to be
needed to prevent
health hazards.
Companies want to
keep employees
healthy because they
are key to their
success. We play an
important role in the
business world to
ensure that the
business stays
viable. Our
profession is
important in the
realm of
‘sustainability’ in the
business world that
gets a lot of press
now.
Education platforms and
delivery will change, but
I suspect that ‘brick and
mortar’ research
universities will be
around for a very long
time. We are
continuously adapting,
but universities are large
so sometimes actual
changes are slow to
occur.
The one thing that has
been a constant in my
career has been the
constant changes that
have taken place in the
working environment.
There are hundreds of
new chemicals and
products introduced
every year to the
workplace. IH’s will
continue to be at the
forefront in addressing
these new potential
hazards.
My career in my view
has been a critical
niche in the working
ecosystem of the
clients we work for on
a daily basis. With our
technical assistance,
the working ecosystem
remains a place for
productive work
without the constant
distractions of poor
IAQ, worries about
asbestos and lead
paint, and other
potential hazards.
My work has
changed throughout
my career. I used to
spend much time in
factories, but now I
spend more time in
an office, managing
health and safety
issues. There will
always be hazards
at work, even as the
work changes, so
we will always need
industrial hygienists
How is your career
like a niche in an
ecosystem?
Yes: my career of
teaching, research, and
service is a continuum,
and is in cooperation
with other academics,
industry partners,
government, and nonprofit organizations.
Just like all the
plants and animals
in an ecosystem, I
rely on other people
and they rely on me.
American Industrial Hygiene Association 3141 Fairview Park Drive, Suite 777, Falls Church, VA 22042 USA
main +1 703-849-8888 fax +1 703-207-3561