AIHA Applauds Passage of Workplace Violence Prevention Act On April 16, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act. AIHA CEO Lawrence Sloan praised the House and urged members of the Senate to take action to reduce workplace violence, save lives, and protect communities by swiftly passing the bill.

If signed into law, the bill would require the Department of Labor to address workplace violence in healthcare, social service, and other sectors. It would call for the issuance of an interim occupational safety and health standard to require employers to take action to protect personnel from workplace violence. The Labor department would also be required to promulgate a final standard within a specified timeline.

The bill was reintroduced in the House in February by Rep. Joe Courtney of Connecticut and is supported by a bipartisan group of 145 cosponsors, including Reps. Robert C. Scott of Virginia, chair of the House Education and Labor Committee; Don Bacon of Nebraska; Alma Adams of North Carolina, chair of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee; Don Young of Alaska; Ro Khanna of California; Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania; and Tom Cole of Oklahoma.

“Workplace violence, particularly in healthcare and social service settings, remains one of the leading causes of traumatic death and injury in the United States,” said Lindsay Cook, CIH, CSP, AIHA’s 2020–2021 president. “As AIHA states in its white paper on the prevention of workplace violence (PDF), these events are often both predictable and preventable. Each instance of violence leaves lasting scars on workplaces, families, and communities. We need to do more to prevent these senseless tragedies.”

Preventing workplace violence and increasing worker protections are critical issues included in AIHA's Public Policy Agenda. For more information on AIHA’s support for the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, please email Mark Ames, AIHA director of Government Relations.

AIHA Announces 2021 Hamilton Club Members In April, AIHA announced the 2021 members of the Hamilton Club, an exclusive partnership program comprising corporate partners that bolster AIHA's initiatives on the highest levels and across many platforms, through sponsorship, advertising, support for the American Industrial Hygiene Foundation, and other methods.

The Hamilton Club was created to encourage collaboration with active and influential industry representatives and to promote AIHA's mission of establishing resources that help protect worker health. AIHA considers its Hamilton Club members to be industry leaders who, through their innovation and expertise, are shaping the future of the industrial hygiene and occupational and environmental health and safety professions.

“We are thrilled to welcome two new Hamilton Club members, AccuTec-IHS Inc. and VelocityEHS,” said Laura Cilano-Garcia, AIHA’s program director of strategic partnerships. “And we are beyond grateful to the Hamilton Club partners who have stood by us and our members during this challenging time, when workplace health and safety are more important than ever.”

The 2021 Hamilton Club members include the following corporate partners, categorized in tiers by their respective financial contributions: SKC Inc. (Platinum Level); EMSL Analytical and SGS Galson (Diamond Level); Casella Solutions (Gold Level); and Accutec-IHS Inc., Assay Technology, Draeger Inc., Industrial Scientific, TSI Inc., and Velocity EHS (Silver Level).

More information about the Hamilton Club is available from AIHA’s website.

Howard, Michaels Awarded Honorary AIHA Memberships The AIHA Board of Directors has awarded honorary memberships to two distinguished individuals: John Howard, MD, MPH, JD, LLM, director of NIOSH, and David Michaels, PhD, MPH, former assistant secretary of labor for OSHA and current professor at George Washington University School of Public Health. These honorary memberships acknowledge Howard’s and Michaels’ long-standing leadership in and support of the industrial hygiene and occupational and environmental health and safety professions. Per AIHA’s bylaws, the Board of Directors may grant honorary membership to individuals who have made significant contributions to the profession but are trained and practice in an area outside of mainstream OEHS.

Howard’s and Michaels’ insights and influence will help AIHA raise awareness of the importance of safeguarding worker health among policymakers at all levels of government. A roster of honorary members is available as a PDF from AIHA’s website.

Call for New AIHA LAP Volunteers AIHA Laboratory Accreditation Programs, LLC is seeking qualified volunteers to fill positions on the Analytical Accreditation Board (AAB) and the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) to serve terms beginning in March 2022.

The AAB is responsible for approving laboratories for accreditation and reaccreditation once site assessments are conducted. AAB members are also responsible for approving policy changes and participating on ad hoc task forces formed to address certain policy matters that may arise. TAP members advise the staff and AAB on technical laboratory matters and review accreditation packages for the major programs: industrial hygiene, environmental lead, environmental microbiology, food, and unique scopes.

Newly appointed volunteers will be required to attend the LLC’s annual training and orientation meeting in the first quarter of 2022.

AAB and TAP applications are available from the AIHA LAP website. Applications will be accepted until July 30, 2021.

For additional information, please email AIHA LAP Managing Director Cheryl O. Morton. More information about AIHA LAP is available online.

AIHA Microsites Focus on OEHS Science Careers, Worker Health and Safety AIHA encourages members and others to share two microsites with peers and colleagues. “OEHS Science Careers” and “Worker Health and Safety” were created by AIHA members and staff and are intended to provide practical resources to the general public.

The second microsite, Worker Health and Safety, is intended to help users communicate the value of worker health and safety programs in business. This site provides resources on health risks in the construction, chemical manufacturing, and emergency response sectors and helps AIHA members educate non-OEHS professionals and stakeholders about the business value of OEHS in the workplace.

Read AIHA’s New Public Policy Agenda Earlier this year, the AIHA Board of Directors approved a new public policy agenda that focuses on four goals: increasing the number of occupational and environmental health and safety professionals in the United States, increasing the knowledge and skills of OEHS professionals in the U.S., increasing public awareness of the roles and value of OEHS professionals, and increasing protections for U.S. workers. AIHA's public policy agenda document (PDF) contains analyses of the issues associated with each goal and recommends actionable solutions.

AIHA members who are interested in working with legislators and agency leaders to achieve the aims of the public policy agenda should email Mark Ames, AIHA’s director of Government Relations. Visit AIHA's website to learn how to get involved in government relations and advocacy at AIHA.

Changes to Synergist Email Communications The Synergist Weekly and The Synergist Newswire e-newsletters, along with the monthly digital Synergist email alert, are now being sent from a new email address: synergist@email.aiha.org. To ensure that you continue to receive Synergist email communications, please ask your IT team to add our new domain, @email.aiha.org, to your safe senders list. If you’re on your own, here are a few tutorials for popular email clients like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo.

Subscribe to “5 on the Frontline” AIHA’s “5 on the Frontline” podcast is hosted by Mark Ames, director of Government Relations at AIHA. Each five-minute episode features insights from business leaders, experts, students, workers, and thought leaders on how to protect workers and communities from occupational and environmental health and safety hazards. Recent episodes have focused on infrastructure and construction worker health, women in occupational health and safety, and how to increase the number of OEHS professionals in the United States. View all episodes on YouTube.

Update Your Mailing Address If you’ve been working from home during the pandemic, please consider updating your address with AIHA. You can change your address by editing your profile through AIHA.org (AIHA member login required). To help ensure uninterrupted delivery of The Synergist, designate your home address as “preferred” on your profile. Please email Synergist staff with any questions.

AIHA’s self-paced online courses cover topics such as exposure assessment, IH analytical chemistry, and toxicology.

Aug. 24–Oct. 26 Virtual Comprehensive Industrial Hygiene Review course. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12–2 p.m. ET, co-sponsored by the University of Michigan and the Michigan Industrial Hygiene Society.

Sept. 11–15 IOHA 2021: The 12th IOHA International Scientific Conference in Daegu, South Korea.

Sept. 20-23 AIHA’s “Fundamentals of Industrial Hygiene” course in Westerville, Ohio.

Sept. 28–30 PSX 2021 (formerly the Product Stewardship Conference) in Anaheim, Calif.

Oct. 18–20 AIHA’s “Exposure and Chemical Monitoring - Beyond IH Fundamentals” course in Westerville, Ohio.

For a complete list of events, visit AIHA's website.