Balancing Act
Ethical Considerations Around Infectious Disease Response
CONTENTS
BALANCING ACT
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AROUND INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESPONSE
The rising incidence of infectious diseases worldwide presents a high-stakes challenge for industrial hygienists, occupational and environmental health and safety professionals, and others involved in the mitigation and management of diseases: how to protect public and worker health while being mindful of the environmental sustainability of healthcare facilities as care and treatment needs grow.
BY KAY BECHTOLD
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BETTER TOGETHER
THE BENEFITS OF COLLABORATION BETWEEN INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE AND INFECTION PREVENTION
Experts increasingly recognize the built environment’s impact on infection control, which has facilitated a growing synergy between infection preventionists and industrial hygienists. As infection prevention, healthcare delivery, and the understanding of disease transmission grow more complex, it is critical to break down silos and foster collaboration between the professions of infection control and industrial hygiene.
BY NICK RICE AND CHERIE FRAME
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PRIORITIZING EXPOSURE CONTROLS
HOW BANDING STRATEGIES HELP MANAGE CHEMICAL RISK
Traditional exposure assessments are appropriate when chemical hazards are reliably measurable, budgets support a battery of tests, and formal exposure limits exist. In non-ideal situations, exposure assessments can be costly and require expertise to interpret data. Utilizing banding logic helps prioritize hazards, ensuring that limited resources are allocated to appropriate areas.
BY ALEX MERCER AND ANGELA WHEELER
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CONTRIBUTORS
KAY BECHTOLD, FEATURE AUTHOR
Kay Bechtold is managing editor of The Synergist.
NICK RICE, FEATURE AUTHOR
Nick Rice, MSOH, CIH, CSP, is director of industrial hygiene and safety at Intermountain Health.
ALEX MERCER, FEATURE AUTHOR
Alex Mercer, MSc, CIH, ROH, is an industrial hygienist and current operations manager for JADA Solutions (HSE) Inc., in Alberta, Canada, and a corresponding member of the AIHA Exposure and Control Banding Committee.
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The Synergist's mission is to provide AIHA members with news and information about the occupational and environmental health and safety fields and the industrial hygiene profession. The Synergist focuses on industry trends and news, government and regulatory activities, key issues facing the profession, appropriate technical information and news on association events and activities.
The Synergist's objective is to present information that is newsworthy and of general interest in industrial hygiene. Opinions, claims, conclusions, and positions expressed in this publication are the authors' or persons' quoted and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, AIHA, or The Synergist.