BYU-Idaho Student Local Section
Stages Mock Dorm Room Fire
In an effort to recruit more members to
their local section, attract students to the
occupational health and safety major,
and teach fire safety, the AIHA® local
section at Brigham Young University-Idaho took some drastic measures—they
set the place on fire.
Last fall, the AIHA BYU-Idaho Student
Local Section conducted a mock dorm
room fire on their campus to demon-
strate how easily a fire can spread in the
typical college dorm room. A few hun-
dred students gathered to watch the
blaze, which quickly grew soon after it
was set.
build a small structure duplicating a
three-walled, 8’ x 8’ dorm room. The
structure was furnished with an old
couch, desk, computer, old clothes,
posters and pizza boxes to give it a realistic dorm-room feel.
With the impending winter, Watkins
felt this exercise was a useful way to
show students and others how common
items used during this time of the year
(e.g., space heaters, holiday decoration
lighting, and candles) can contribute to
residential fires.
In addition to the significant turnout,
the event was also covered by a variety
of media outlets, including a few local
newspapers.
For more information on the BYU-Idaho Local Section, visit http://aihabyui.
blogspot.com. To find out more about
AIHA student local sections, including
how you can get involved, visit
www.aiha.org/insideaiha/Studentsection/
Pages/ default.aspx.
AIHce Booth #1525
AIHA® Participates in GHS Public
Hearing
On March 5, AIHA participated in a public hearing hosted by OSHA to discuss
modifications to the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) to conform to the
United Nations’ Globally Harmonized
System of Classification and Labeling of
Chemicals (GHS). In response to OSHA’s
proposal, AIHA released a document containing comments and recommendations
to the proposed modifications. This document was presented at the hearing by
AIHA President Cathy Cole, CIH, CSP.
“AIHA shares the concerns that inac-
curate, incomplete and outdated Material
Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) can increase
risks of illnesses and injuries and envi-
ronmental consequences arising from the
handling, storage, transportation and use
of hazardous chemicals,” the document
states. “Industrial hygiene, safety, emer-
gency response and environmental
health professionals rely on MSDSs as a
source of information to help employers
and employees properly manage haz-
ardous chemicals.”
AIHA is concerned by the OSHA pro-
posal’s elimination of a requirement for
MSDSs to include the ACGIH® Threshold
Limit Values (TLV®s). AIHA supports
adding a non-mandatory appendix to
