WEEL Committee Returns to AIHA as Occupational Exposure Limits Committee Over 45 years ago, AIHA realized the worker safety gap created by the lack of clear occupational exposure limit guidelines for the workplace. The Workplace Environmental Exposure Levels (WEEL) Committee was created to fill this need. WEELs, the occupational exposure limits from which the committee took its name, are health-based guideline values intended to protect most workers from adverse effects related to occupational chemical exposures.

Beginning in 2013, the WEEL Committee operated under the auspices of the nonprofit Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA) and, at times, the University of Cincinnati. But as of October 2024, the committee has elected to return to management by AIHA under the new designation “AIHA Occupational Exposure Limits Committee.” TERA is retaining the WEEL trademark.

The members of the OEL Committee view AIHA as an intuitive next step in growing their resources and reaching the audience needed to support the development and communication of this important work at no charge to the greater OEHS community. The committee will develop OELs following the procedures they previously followed for creating WEELs.

According to Michele Twilley, AIHA’s chief science officer, the OEL Committee and the Emergency Response Planning Guidelines (ERPG) Working Group may work together on certain chemicals. ERPGs are air concentration guidelines for single exposures to agents that individuals may encounter during emergency response situations. Each ERPG has three values—designated as ERPG 1, ERPG 2, and ERPG 3—that correspond to the severity of health effects from one-hour exposures. In contrast, WEELs and most OELs are generally intended as limits for eight-hour occupational exposures.

“Much of the same literature review is completed for a chemical whether the endpoint is the creation of an OEL or an ERPG,” Twilley said. “They may differ in the point of departure chosen in determining the appropriate value for an eight-hour time-weighted average or a one-hour ERPG 1, 2, or 3.”

Both the OEL Committee and the ERPG Working Group are part of the AIHA Guideline Foundation. To read more about the Foundation, visit the organization's website.

AIHA has been home to the ERPG Working Group since 1987. More information about ERPGs is available on the AIHA website.

2025 AIHA Board Election Update AIHA will partner once again with ElectionBuddy to provide a safe, secure web-based voting system during the 2025 Board of Directors election cycle. Instructions on how to vote in the election, which will run from Feb. 7 to Feb. 28, 2025, will be emailed to members in late January.

There’s still time to nominate a candidate by petition. In addition to nominations made by AIHA’s Nominating Committee, nominations for officers and directors may be made by petition of not less than two percent of members who are eligible to vote. Each petition must include a letter from the nominee stating the nominee’s willingness to stand for election. Petitions must be emailed to the chair of the Nominating Committee by Jan. 24, 2025. To be included in the Candidates’ Forum in the February issue of The Synergist, individuals must submit petitions by Jan. 1.

Important information about AIHA governance is available on the association's website. Email questions to Thursa Pecoraro.

AIHA Fellows Nominations Accepted through Dec. 31 Members have an opportunity to honor excellence within the AIHA community by nominating a deserving colleague for the distinguished title of AIHA Fellow. This designation recognizes outstanding contributions to occupational and environmental health and safety.

The Fellow designation is for AIHA members in good standing with 15 years of continuous full membership who have made recognized contributions to industrial hygiene or related disciplines through research, leadership, publications, education, or service to AIHA. Fellows are nominated by an AIHA local section, special interest group, committee, or peers. The Fellow designation is limited to no more than five percent of the membership.

Celebrate the best in our profession and ensure they receive the recognition they deserve. The nomination form is available online. For more information, including a current list of AIHA Fellows, visit the AIHA website.

Publications Address Data Analytics, Data Standardization, Construction Two new publications available on the AIHA website address issues related to data analytics and industrial hygiene data standardization. Also available is an updated guidance document on safety and health in the construction industry.

The AIHA white paper “Data Analytics” explores methods for exploiting large databases for useful analyses. Authors of the white paper worked from existing exposure profiles by using publicly available exposure monitoring results to estimate traditional risk metrics, the percentage exceeding occupational exposure limits and their confidence interval, and the 95 percent upper tolerance limit of the 95th percentile. Download the white paper as a PDF.

Another white paper, “Best Practices for Industrial Hygiene Data Standardization, Air and Noise Sampling,” is intended to clarify what data should be collected and in what format to reduce or eliminate problems related to the wide variance of recorded exposure monitoring data. A PDF of the white paper is available from the AIHA website. OEHS professionals interested in these issues will find additional context and discussion in the Synergist articles “Industrial Hygiene Data Standardization: Past Lessons, Present Challenges, and Future Directions” (December 2020) and “The Promise of Portability: Modernizing the AIHA Exposure Monitoring Data Structure” (June/July 2024).

The guidance document “Focus on Construction Health: Building Safely in a World With COVID-19” was updated in October and is now available as a PDF. The guidance discusses how COVID-19 spreads, provides seven steps to address it, and describes the role of the job safety analysis to help identify and control factors that could lead to higher exposures. In the updated document, the seven steps have been revised to reflect lessons learned during the pandemic.

Consultants: List Your Business by Dec. 16 The deadline for consultants to be included in next year’s digital Consultants Listing is Dec. 16. Consultants must renew their AIHA membership before their forms can be processed for the 2025 Consultants Listing.

The Consultants Listing is a comprehensive directory of industrial hygiene and occupational and environmental health and safety experts worldwide. Listings cover the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The digital version of the Consultants Listing lists businesses alphabetically, by geography, and by topic. A searchable version is on the AIHA website.

The directory helps consultants reach consumers who need the services of an industrial hygiene or occupational and environmental health and safety professional. Every year, AIHA distributes the Consultants Listing nationwide to thousands of decision makers in a variety of industries, including legal, real estate, trade associations, academia, healthcare, and agencies at all levels of government.

To learn more or complete the online order form, visit the AIHA website. Please email Wanda Barbour or call (703) 846-0782 with questions.

Don’t Forget to Renew Your Membership Members who renew by Dec. 31, 2024, qualify for a 10 percent discount on either a listing in the Consultants Listing or one 30-day posting to the AIHA job board. A link to the renewal portal is available in the “quick links” section of members’ profile pages on the AIHA website. Access your profile by signing in to AIHA.org.

AIHA Office to Close for the Holidays The AIHA office will be closed from Dec. 23, 2024, through Jan. 3, 2025. Online resources, including the marketplace and Member Center, will remain available. Any orders placed while the AIHA office is closed will be fulfilled when the office reopens during the second week of 2025.

AIHA’s two weekly e-newsletters, The Synergist Weekly and Synergist Newswire, will not be published while the office is closed. Publication will resume on Jan. 7 for Newswire and Jan. 9 for the Weekly. Have a safe and enjoyable holiday season!

Award Nominations Due Soon AIHA requests nominations for the 2024 AIHA awards, which honor individuals who provide significant contributions to the industrial hygiene and occupational and environmental health and safety professions. The deadline for awards nominations is Jan. 13, 2025. The nomination form is available online.

Browse the Vendor Directory AIHA’s Vendor Directory for OEHS Professionals, released in print annually in November, is the most comprehensive publication for sourcing industrial hygiene, safety, and environmental products and services. The online Vendor Directory allows users to search by product, company name, or industry.

Dates and Deadlines Dec. 9, 2024 Registration opens for AIHA Connect 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Dec. 16, 2024 Deadline to submit material for AIHA’s Consultants Listing.

Dec. 23, 204-Jan. 3, 2025 AIHA office closed for the holidays.

Dec. 31, 2024 Deadline to submit nominations for AIHA Fellows.

Jan. 13, 2025 Deadline to submit nominations for AIHA awards.

March 16, 2025 Advance registration deadline for AIHA Connect 2025.

May 19-21, 2025 AIHA Connect 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri.