About IOHAFrequently Asked Questions - FAQ'sWhat is Occupational Hygiene? The definition used by IOHA is: Occupational Hygiene has also been defined as the practice of identifying of hazardous agents; chemical, physical and biological; in the workplace that could cause disease or discomfort, evaluating the extent of the risk due to exposure to these hazardous agents, and the control of those risks to prevent ill-health in the long or short term.
Occupational hygienists keep workers, and the communities surrounding workplaces, healthy and safe. They also ensure compliance with laws and regulations in the work environment. Occupational hygienists assess health risks in a workplace; sample air to determine if there are harmful substances present; measure noise levels in factories; supervise the safe removal from asbestos from buildings; and provide practical advice on how workers can be protected from job-related health and safety risks.
None really. The term Industrial Hygiene originated in the USA while in other parts of the world it is known as Occupational Hygiene. In some ways the term Occupational is a better description as health risks occur in all places that people work such as offices, shops, hospitals and farms, not just in places you would think of as industrial. The word hygiene is derived from the name of the Greek goddess of health known as Hygeia. She was the daughter of Asklepios and sister to Panacea. While her father and sister were connected with the treatment of existing disease Hygeia was regarded as being concerned with the preservation of good health and the prevention of disease. IOHA has a permanent secretariat in the United Kingdom. The executive committee consists of a President, President-Elect, Past-President and Secretary/Treasurer. These positions are held for one year. Currently, these positions are filled by Luc Hamelin (Canada), Noel Tresider (Australia), Danilo Cottica (Italy) and Hugh Dalrymple (UK). Each member association designates one person to serve on the IOHA Board.
IOHA is very resource-constrained. It has very limited finances and manpower. It uses part-time secretariat services from British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) as a resource. In that regard, its business operations are similar to those of the most of its member associations
IOHA does not provide individual member services. It serves association members. IOHA objectives are to promote and develop occupational hygiene throughout the world, promote the exchange of occupational hygiene information among organizations and individuals, encourage further development of occupational hygiene at a professional level and maintain and promote a high standard of ethical practice in occupational hygiene.
Many national occupational hygiene associations feel that occupational hygiene is an international issue, not just the business and interest of just a few developed countries. In fact, globalization highlights this situation even more now. There is much to gained by sharing knowledge internationally, particularly when some regulatory systems cross national borders, such as EU REACH (European Union Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), and Global Harmonisation Scheme (GHS) for labelling A key element of interest for many national associations is the recognition of its national accreditation scheme. IOHA is particularly sensitive to local academic, legislative and cultural conditions. The IOHA National Accreditation Recognition (NAR) Committee officially recognizes national association certification schemes which comply with the Model Process accreditation scheme. There are currently some 11 IOHA recognised schemes.
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