President’s Message
Continual Improvement
AIHA Executive Director Peter O’Neil
frequently asks, “What are we doing that
is better, different or more?” This question expresses the attitude of the AIHA
Board of Directors and staff, which are
working hard to make AIHA the best association it can be. Several recent and
upcoming initiatives show how this attitude has paid off for us.
New Scheduling
One change that you might have experienced by the time you read this is the
combination of Leadership Workshop,
the Future Leaders Institute and PCIH in
November. For many years, Leadership
Workshop took place in March and PCIH
in the fall. In an effort to gain synergies,
AIHA grouped these events together this
year. One expectation was that the Future Leaders and Leadership Workshop
attendees (from our committees and
local sections) would have more opportunities to interact with each other, meet
AIHA Board members and network with
PCIH attendees. Our early numbers suggest that this experiment is going to be
successful.
Asia Pacific Conference
Our members have told us that sharing
our knowledge in the international arena
is important to them because some of
the greatest industrial hygiene needs are
in the developing world. This feedback
helped bring about AIHA’s first Asia Pacific Conference in Singapore in October.
I have heard that the conference was
very successful, with 250 attendees,
great presentations and lots of network-
ing. For many of these groups, the op-
portunity to hear high-level industrial
hygiene experts discuss cutting-edge
topics is a big draw.
A Smaller HQ
The downsizing of staff over the past
four years made clear that AIHA could
take advantage of a smaller and less
expensive headquarters location. In
March 2012, staff will move to a new
office. The move will allow staff to redesign their space and better utilize
common areas. In addition, the
Fairview Park Marriott, which is located next door to the new office, has
agreed to make some of its meeting
space available to AIHA. This agreement will save money because we will
no longer have to pay for larger spaces
that we use only periodically.
Registry Programs
The new AIHA registry programs repre-
sent an important area of innovation.
You will be hearing much more about
these in the near future. A new “EHS
Specialties Credentials” program will
recognize individuals with expertise in:
• hazard communication and MSDS
author competency
• professional judgment in exposure
assessment
• real-time detection of potential
exposures
• financial and nonfinancial value
assessment of environmental health
projects and programs
• industrial hygiene chemistry
For more information about AIHA
registry programs, visit www.aiha
registries.org.
PAT Directory
The online AIHA Proficiency Analytical
Testing (PAT) Programs Participant Directory is live. The directory has dynamic search capability, so people can
find and confirm current PAT Program
participants by searching on location,
program, analyte, and name. You can
check it out at http://apps.aiha.org/qms_
aiha/public/pages/reports/publicpatview.
aspx.
More Opportunities
There are many other changes going on at
AIHA. To name just a few: AIHA launched
its mobile website, www.aiha.org/mobile,
in October; volunteer groups have been
meeting in their new “Councils,” allowing
them to better share information and
find opportunities to work together; and
local sections are being asked to populate the new Speakers Bureau, which will
identify possible speakers by topic or geographic region. We’re always looking
for ways to improve, so please continue
to share ideas with your Board members,
volunteer group leaders and local section
officers.
Elizabeth Pullen is president of AIHA and industrial
hygiene manager for Clariant Corporation in Charlotte, N.C. She can be reached at (704) 331-7736 or
elizabeth.pullen@clariant.com.
