Newsletter

of the International Occupational Hygiene Association

Vol 6. October 1998.

Now, when it is time to leave the post to the fresh, new President, it is the right moment to look at how our plans are proceeding and reflect upon some valuable lessons we have learned.

Plan of Work: We have put much effort into making our work more visible to our members and the wider world. IOHA has worked a long time formulating its strategic plan, its 'Plan of Work'. It is very informative, all readers can easily see what are our most important activities. It describes the background and the current position. It will be kept up to date.

Mentor Programme: Developing our Mentor Programme has needed a lot of time for several years. This year we have thoroughly reviewed its operation. Practice has shown that it is extremely difficult to make one-to-one mentoring at distance run effectively. We have given much thought to how the effort leads to lasting benefits, not simply to individual learners. Member organisations were asked what their input to the Mentor Programme could be. The lesson is that there may well be much greater return from helping organisations establish a hygiene resource.

Collaboration with International Bodies -

World Health Organization (WHO): This was our year to submit our triennial report, and we hope that our status as an NGO (non-governmental organization) will be renewed. We have participated in committee meetings, programmes and workshops with various themes and provided the only input on hygiene matters. We have made a particular input to the PACE programme. IOHA sees working with, and through, WHO as a particularly important means of advancing hygiene practice.

Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN) 137: IOHA has applied and been accepted early this year as a liaison body for two CEN Technical Committees (CEN TC137 and ISO TC246).

International Labour Organization (ILO): This year IOHA officially approached ILO expressing its wish to hold NGO status, enabling us to give advice on hygiene matters. We are in the process of providing the information needed to support our application. IOHA has a contract with ILO to deliver a critical review and recommendations relating to developing a Management of Health and Safety Standard; this report was delivered in August. We regard the establishing of a management standard as most important for defining the role of the hygienist and therefore leading to both the proper role of preventative action and the growth of the discipline.

European Commission: IOHA has made contact with the European Commission Directorate General (V), seeking to establish formal consultative arrangements with the EU. This is currently being considered by the Commission.

International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH): For some years we have been in contact with ICOH to see whether there are areas of work which would benefit from our collaboration. Discussions are continuing.

International Conference of Limit Setting Bodies: Discussions at the 3rd International Scientific Conference pointed to the need to have a meeting of the exposure limit setting bodies world-wide to explore concepts and further collaboration. IOHA is in a strong position to facilitate this, and we are in active discussion with ACGIH as to how to take this forward.

Certification: In 1995 IOHA brought together the first meeting of hygienist certificating bodies in Blackpool, UK. Since that time there has been much change and it is timely to revisit this area and update information. Arrangements are in hand for a further meeting. Its outputs will be of great value to those developing schemes, and to us all in understanding the status and restrictions on practice within the international hygiene community.

International Scientific Conferences and Workshops -

Third International Scientific Conference (1997): IOHA arranged, together with the Swiss Occupational Hygiene Society, the Third International Scientific Conference in September 1997 in Crans Montana, Switzerland. The motto of the conference was "Being professional the key to efficiency and success". The conference was a success, 260 persons from 35 countries took part. A great job was made by the Swiss Society; the value of their work is still greater when compared to the small size of this member society. It is greatly appreciated by us all. According to a questionnaire to participants, the feedback was very positive and constructive.

Fourth International Scientific Conference (2000): The next international scientific conference is a collaboration with the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists, with the theme "Occupational Hygiene in Developing Countries". It will be in Cairns, July 2000. The arrangements are now at full speed with a very skilled organising body. We are confident of a high quality conference.

Fifth International Scientific Conference (2002): At the Board meeting in London this year we agreed to arrange the fifth conference in June 2002 in Norway, together with the Norwegian Occupational Hygiene Association, under the theme "A New Era for Occupational Hygiene". The arrangements for this conference have already been started.

Lifetime Achievement Award, 1997: At the 3rd International Scientific Conference we presented the first Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was established in 1995 to recognise individuals who have made significant contributions to the practice of occupational hygiene on an international scale. The first recipient of the award was Professor Jeffrey Lee. In addition to his achievements in the field of occupational hygiene, he was one of the founders of IOHA and served as our first president. With great sadness we heard of Dr Lee's death in June this year.

Newsletter: The IOHA Newsletter is an important channel for information, though we now have an Internet site. We are continuing to develop our information systems, but have as a priority, the production of a regular and reliable newsletter.

Management, administration: IOHA has an extensive and weighty programme of work. Taking this forward has placed much pressure on the Executive Board, the Secretariat, and Board members engaged in particular initiatives. We have made full use of modern technology to maintain contact and impetus, but have still benefited from face-to-face meetings. The Board has made great advances over the year in acting together, and I must thank the individual Board members, their societies, and often the person's employer for so strongly supporting our work.

Developing co-operation between IOHA Board Members and Member Organisations: IOHA can deliver things which national societies, whatever their size, cannot achieve. To do this we need to be able to tap into the wider hygiene community - our individual membership. We are already doing this: note the Management Standard initiatives; the scientific conferences. We have made a lot of progress in this, more rapidly this year as a consequence of a better defined Plan of Work and the good will of our members. We must not take this help for granted. Our activities, links, accountability, and the funds we need must all be seen as sensible by them. The links between the Board, the parent societies and their members must be maintained, possibly improved This is a particular challenge when a Society cannot be represented at a Board meeting, and one we must continue to address.

Challenges: The Plan of Work, and this summary, gives a picture of a very active organisation which has matured and has established very important links and targets. Meeting these goals will need new ways of working. We need to think how we will establish continuity in our dealings with other bodies; how we will grow expertise; how we will engage others. My personal involvement in representing IOHA in international fora, especially WHO, has confirmed to me the good we can do but also the need to examine our procedures. This will be an ongoing exercise.

My year as the President of IOHA has been most rewarding. I have been proud to be the President, represent IOHA, to tell about our objectives, activities and proceedings. I have met interesting people, heard positive feedback of IOHA and our members. I wish my successor, Brian Davies, from the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists all the best success in the coming year as the President! Like a captain I want to tell you I hand over the command of this ship to you! It is a precious ship, I know you will take good care of it!

Having just assumed the Presidency of IOHA at the October Board meeting in Seattle (USA) it is timely to indicate the thrust of IOHA over the coming months. If you visit our website you will be able to see a summary of the work plan for IOHA with key issues being IOHA's role with bodies such as WHO and ILO. IOHA currently enjoys NGO status with WHO and is moving to attain this important advisory status with ILO. Extensive efforts will be undertaken over the coming months to strengthen these links so that the principles of good occupational hygiene practice can be promulgated throughout the world.

Other activities are been undertaken in the areas of certification and exposure standards with IOHA acting as a focal point for discussion between relevant bodies throughout the world. This will build on previous work (eg Blackpool UK 1995 workshop on certification) and again will highlight IOHA's role as an international co-ordinating body for the profession of occupational hygiene.

I look forward to reporting in future editions as to our progress in these and other activities.

Call for Writers

It is intended that future issues of this Newsletter (to be published in October, February and June) will include the regular sections:

• IOHA Update
• Hygiene Practice Around the World
• From Regional Newsletters
• Emerging Issues - Recognition, and Standards of Practice
• Scientific Developments Impacting on Hygiene Practice
• Reports from Recent Meetings
• Noteworthy Initiatives
• Future Events - this, as well as Board member coordinates, will be updated monthly on the web site.

But, the process will not function without your participation. So, please start the flow of information. This should include suggested improvements, authors, topics, as well as actual text submissions:

Obituary: IOHA Founding President Jeff Lee

Dr. Jeffrey S. Lee, first President of IOHA, died on June 11 1998

With degrees in civil engineering (BSc) and environmental-health sciences (MPH and PhD) Jeffrey initially worked for the U.S. Public Health Service and NIOSH. In 1976, Jeff became the deputy director of the OSHA Health Response Team in Salt Lake City. In 1979 he assumed an Assistant Professorship in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine and became Director of Industrial Hygiene at the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health. Jeff remained in that position, and became a full professor at the University in May 1998.

Jeffrey was an international leader in the field of industrial hygiene and occupational health. He had served as Chairman of the ACGIH, as well as a Member of the Board of Directors of the AIHA. Jeff helped create the International Occupational Hygiene Association and served as its first president. In 1997, he was honoured with IOHA's first lifetime achievement award, presented to him at the Crans-Montana meeting. Jeff was a past editor-in-chief of the Applied Occupational and Environmental Hygiene Journal and served on many other professional journal editorial boards. He was the author of numerous articles and textbooks on occupational health and industrial hygiene.

Beyond his professional achievements, Jeff was a man whose first priority and love was his family. He was an avid skier, backpacker, fisherman and outdoorsman. He loved to travel for work and pleasure and lived life fully with vitality, integrity, good humour, charm, and grace.

In tribute, and as a mechanism for sharing his ardour and expertise, the Foundation for Occupational Health and Safety has established the Jeffrey S. Lee lectureship, with a lead-off pledge of $10,000 (USD) from ACGIH. Contributions and further information can be arranged with the Foundation c/o ACGIH (with Tel +1 513 742-6167).

Emerging Issues - Recognition and Standards of Practice

WHO prepares Guidelines on Good Practice in Health and Environment Management in Industry and other Workplaces (GPHEM).

The WHO European Centre for Environment and Health organized an expert meeting in Bilthoven (NL) to prepare a document with the aim to support practical approaches for the improvement of working conditions and improvement of environmental protection. Thirty three experts participated, with IOHA represented by Kurt Leichnitz. The driving force of such a document is the desire to see more action by facilitating the implementation of policies. It is intended that this WHO document be endorsed by the London International Ministerial Meeting in June 1999.

Another international hygiene initiative - introducing the ACGIH International Committee

The establishment of the ACGIH International Committee (AIC), this May has created a golden opportunity for enhancing the continuing interaction between IOHA and ACGIH. The AIC's first goals are to continue to assist in any way possible with current and ongoing ACGIH international efforts which include cultivating ongoing connections with the IOHA. One of the primary strengths of the AIC is the knowledge and experience of the committee members: Scott Clark, Rodolfo Arias Diaz, Berenice Goelzer, Joseph K. Kwan, Dean R. Lillquist, Maharshi Mehta; and Board Liason, ACGIH BoD Past Chair Gyan S. Rajhans. All are looking forward to the many opportunities the IOHA and ACGIH membership will have, to assist with joint efforts that are tailored to benefit the international community. Any ideas for collaboration, interest in assistance, or suggestions with worldwide application would be welcomed. Committee chair is David M. Zalk, University of California. He can be reached at P.O. Box 808, L-508, Livermore, CA, USA 94551; Tel: +1 925 422-8904; E-m: zalk1#llnl.gov .

Reports from Recent Meetings

IOHA Addresses WHO Executive Board

The full text of a presentation made at the 101st session of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (1998.01) is available  in the online library

The Third International Scientific Conference of IOHA, Crans - Montana, Switzerland, 1997

The Swiss Society of Occupational Hygiene, in conjunction with IOHA, hosted the 3^rd International Scientific Conference. More than 250 participants from 35 different countries attended. Beside Switzerland, the six largest delegations were the USA (32), Germany (27), the Netherlands (24) and Finland, Japan and the United Kingdom (15 each). A survey showed that the conference was an administrative and scientific success which gave the delegates what they wanted from an International Scientific Conference.

Professional development courses, on subjects such as: 'Examples of practical and effective control measures'; 'Risk reduction by substitution' and 'Exposure assessment in occupational epidemiology' were presented before the conference, and were attended by around 18 participants each.

The plenary sessions dealt with the main topics of the Conference : 1. Exposure to allergens: New opportunities for risk assessment; 2. International values for the protection of workers' health ; 3. Exposure assessment during pesticide application and 4. International standards of occupational hygiene management. Keynote speakers introduced the subject and a few oral presentations followed by a general discussion completed the sessions. A large audience attended these sessions and the discussions showed how actual and relevant these topics are. One roundtable and 4 workshops were then focussed on the following themes: Liability in occupational hygiene; chemical risks and their control; occupational hygiene in office work; personal protective equipment; biological monitoring. These smaller sessions were held in parallel three by three and gave rise to fruitful exchanges. Twelve platform sessions and 3 posters sessions allowed the participants to present their results on quite different topics and to share ideas and experience with their colleagues from other countries. A special event, after the official three days of the Conference, was organized for those interested in the health aspects of mining and tunnel construction and especially on the exposure to hazards and ergonomic aspects.

The social programme was comprised of the Welcome party and of the Swiss raclette dinner on the top of a nearby mountain with musicians playing Alps horns and typical Swiss music. Both events were very well attended and the atmosphere was friendly and alive. The weather was nice during the whole week and during the raclette dinner, the participants could also admire the moon eclipse, especially ordered for the Conference !

The Organizing Committee was chaired by Alfred Steinegger who worked a lot for the Conference and took on very many tasks himself. Both IOHA and SSOH warmly thank Freddy for his nice work in organizing and managing this Conference. This Conference has been an opportunity to show that Occupational Hygiene is a very important science in the multidisciplinary field of Occupational Health, that it is rapidly evolving and that it is able to adapt to the new challenges of the working environment and of the society. The slogan selected for the Conference was 'Being professional: the key to efficiency and success'. It lived up to its motto.

There is also a report on the Workshop Chemical Risks And Their Control, held at this meeting, available in online library Furthermore, one of the papers presented by the U.K Health and Safety Executive about their new approach to Risk Assessment / Management is also the topic to which Annals of Occupational Hygiene 42(6) is devoted (you can see a Table of Contents at http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/aocchyg). It describes the 'control banding' approach, which permits chemical users (including small firms) to take the European Union (EU) toxicity classification from the label or safety data sheet (SDS, or as known in North America, MSDS), combine this with an estimate of the dustiness or volatility, and hence select from a few general approaches to control, and single-sheet control guides for around 60 common industrial operations. This is particularly suited to helping small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) exercise their responsibilities.

Noteworthy Initiatives

On a worldwide basis, statistics on occupational diseases are very incomplete and studies on their prevalence, rather scanty; nevertheless, it is a certainty that overexposure to a number of dusts leads to serious health problems. Many diseases and health impairments, known for centuries to be caused by dusts, hence known to be preventable, continue to haunt workers all over the world. For example, studies among workers exposed to dusts containing free­crystalline silica, in operations such as sandblasting, rock drilling, mining and foundry work, have disclosed silicosis prevalences of 20%, 30%, 50% and even more. Pneumoconioses are not the only problem; there are many other debilitating, incapacitating and fatal diseases connected to dust exposure such as metal intoxications, nasal cancer due to certain wood dusts, cancer caused by free­crystalline silica, allergies and bronchitis due to vegetable dusts. The associated human and financial losses are tremendous.

In present days, there are villages in Northern Thailand which are referred to as "villages of widows", due to the magnitude of early deaths from silicosis among mortar­and­pestle makers. This situation reminds us of what was described by Agricola, centuries ago, in the mines of the Carpathian Mountains where "women married seven husbands, all of whom this terrible consumption (most probably silico­tuberculosis) carried off to a premature death."

What is actually done in terms of occupational disease prevention is a fraction of what could and should be done if only the available knowledge were applied. According to a Zen proverb: "Knowing and not applying is the same as not knowing". The step between "knowing" and "applying" is not necessarily simple but the latter is essential if the former is to have some meaning.

With a view to contributing to increased awareness and political will, as well as to more effective and far­reaching application of technical and scientific knowledge on occupational hazard prevention and control, the World Health Organization in 1995 launched the "Prevention And Control Exchange" (PACE) Initiative. Preventive action is also emphasized in the 1995 WHO Global Strategy on Occupational Health for All, which includes, among its recommended key principles for international and national occupational health policies, the "avoidance of hazards (primary prevention)".

Under the PACE initiative, an activity was recently started in WHO, with the following objective: "To promote and strengthen national capabilities in the field of prevention and control of dust exposure in the work environment, by contributing to the development of the required human resources." This activity is also relevant to the Joint ILO/WHO International Programme on the Global Elimination of Silicosis. The initial step is the preparation of a guideline document on "Hazard Prevention and Control in the Work Environment ­ Dust Control" aimed at an audience that includes occupational hygienists in training and occupational health professionals in general. This document is meant to provide an introduction to the subject, covering control strategies and specific measures, and, to lead the readers to already available educational materials and information sources.

ILO Mission to China

Peter Robson (Canada) spent six weeks working in China on a mission for the International Labour Office (ILO) to advise the Ministries of Labour and Chemical Industry regarding a new regulation that is being introduced concerning the safe use of chemicals in the workplace. China has ratified the ILO Chemicals Convention (for the safe use of chemicals at work) and is therefore committed to developing legislation and regulations to implement the various recommendations in the ILO Chemicals Convention. The specific regulation involved was very similar in scope to Canada's WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System), and most of the work concerned the technical criteria for defining hazardous chemicals, together with MSDS and supplier / workplace labelling requirements.

In China Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) laws are issued by the National Peoples<' Congress, followed by regulations issued by national government ministries, which are in turn enforced by labour bureaus at the provincial and city level. The chemical manufacturing industry in China ­ a major industry ­ has been regulated by the Ministry of Chemical Industry, which has already developed numerous specific regulations and standards for OSH related issues. Therefore, implementation of the new Ministry of Labour regulation for the safe use of chemicals involves close co­operation between the two ministries.

One of many interesting aspects of China's OSH regulations concerns their definition of a worker: someone who is covered by a collective agreement between a labour union and an employer at an enterprise. Thus, many professionals (nurses, college / university teachers, government employees, etc.) who work with chemicals are not considered to be workers and would not be covered by the new regulation.

A week was spent at a Research Institute for OSH which is funded by the Ministry of Chemical Industry in the city of Qingdao (home of the famous beer). This institute employs 300 people and has active programmes in industrial hygiene, occupational health surveillance, epidemiology and chemical process operations safety, as well as providing on­site training for industry personnel. Visits were also made to several large chemical manufacturing facilities, that are cooperating in pilot programmes for product / workplace labelling and MSDS development. Also meetings were held with national ministry officials and several provincial labour board groups.

In a follow-up to this mission a team of Chinese government and ILO officials visited the US and Canada during the summer of 1998 to see first-hand how chemical classification, labelling and MSDS programmes operate in practice.