Summer 2018 Newsletter Letter from The President By: Matt Zock, CIH - President, Pittsburgh AIHA As I reflect upon the past year of local section business, one of the executive committee’s focal points to offer more value to membership was to improve member communication and feedback. It took all year to get to this point, but I am excited to announce that our Pittsburgh Local Section is now the first under AIHA to have an online community through AIHA’s Catalyst website. This site will allow Pittsburgh Local Section members to communicate with other Pittsburgh Local Section members only, in a private and secure online platform. We can post events, have group discussions, launch member surveys, and more. And yes, there is still the option to received email updates if that is how you prefer to be notified. The great news for some of us is, you do not need to be a member of national AIHA to access our local section Catalyst site; all paid members of our local section are included. For those of you that are not familiar with AIHA Catalyst, we will provide instructions very soon for how to access the site, participate in group discussions, and provide valuable feedback. Please stay tuned. As we as we head into our summer business meeting on July 12th, I’d like to recognize the individuals that make our executive committee a team. Departing from the committee are Keith Rickabaugh, CIH (director), Maureen Sammons (treasurer), and Dennis Kelly (past president). Thanks Keith, Dennis and Maureen for all your support over the years. I’d like to welcome to the 2018-2019 executive committee Renee Cowell, CSP (president-elect), Barb Cummings, CIH (director) and Paula Sweitzer, CHMM (treasurer). And, I’m very excited for members transitioning into new roles or supporting existing ones; Lucinette Alvarado Rivera, CIH (president), Frank Pokrywka, CIH (secretary) and Barry Momyer, CIH, REM (director). Finally, thank you Christy Kirsch for continuing to support us all as corresponding secretary, newsletter and website coordinator, and all of the other hats you wear. Your efforts keep us together and on-track. And thank you to the individuals that took the time this year to give positive and constructive feedback. Without you, how the heck will we know if we are providing value to membership. To round-out my term, I’d like to offer the top 5 values I have received this year from being your local section president: 5. The industry networking outside of our local section. I was honored to represent our local section with national AIHA, local university professors and students, the American Society for Safety Professionals, and others. 4. The point . ABIH allows you to claim a full point for certification maintenance as local section president. Hey, it’s something! 3. The leadership experience. Leading a local section team is rewarding. There was some work, coordination and delegation involved and it was always positive. For that reason, I found great value for myself, both professionally and personally. 2. The collaboration. Many of you did, and continue to give your time and effort when needed. Seeing the group work as a team was invaluable. 1. The people. Through serving I was able to become closer to many of you. By far, the most rewarding. It has been an honor serving as president of the AIHA Pittsburgh Local Section. I’m looking forward to the value and experiences in the coming year. I hope you all do as well! Matt Zock, CIH Pittsburgh AIHA News From Our Blog Recent Updates: AIHce 2018 Philadephia, PA- AIHA Local Section Council Business Meeting Our leaders (Matt and Lucinette) focused during the meeting. The AIHA... Read More Summer Business Meeting - Register Now! The Executive Committee has scheduled the Summer 2018 Business meeting for... Read More OSHA's Safe + Sound Week - AIHA Promotional Toolkit Available The National AIHA hosted a Town Hall conference call late April to discuss how... Read More Pittsburgh AIHA Scholarship Recipient Announced We are happy to announce that the AIHF Scholarship Selection Committee has... Read More Presentations Available - Respirable Crystalline Silica Discussion Thank you to the 30+ members and guests that attended the Pittsburgh AIHA Event... Read More PA Governor's Occupational Safety & Health Conference-Register Now! Registration is now open for the 92nd Annual PA Governor's Occupational Safety... Read More Pittsburgh AIHA at the MASHA Conference! Thanks to Pittsburgh AIHA Secretary, Frank J. Pokrywka for coordinating the... Read More As a paid member, you have access our e-Learning subscription webinars for 2018 - an email was sent to paid members on April 29 with links to the following webinars: That Stinks! Investigating Odor Complaints Developing Respirator Cartridge Change Schedules Enhancing Worker Protection Through Job Hazard Analysis The Worst Plant: A Virtual H&S Audit Graphene and Safe Nano handling You must complete the online evaluation in order to receive credit. On the evaluation, please indicate your subscription group, Pittsburgh, in Question 3 to waive the processing fee. Please allow 1-2 weeks to receive email notification of your updated Education Transcript. The deadline for submitting evaluations is January 31, 2019. If you have any questions or need to have the information re-sent, please contact
[email protected] . Member News: Welcome to the following new members: Alex Zupanovich - AM Health & Safety Michael Williams - Slippery Rock University Ryan Maraffi - Slippery Rock University Kenneth Davis - West Virginia University March 22 Meeting Highlights - Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS) By: Matt Zock, CIH - President, Pittsburgh AIHA On March 22, 2018 the Local Section held a continuing education event (4.5 hrs.) at RJ Lee Group, Inc. located in Monroeville, PA. The meeting was structured as a professional development course (PDC) that included the following topics related to RCS: Health Effects of RCS Historical Perspectives Regulations (Construction & Gen. Industry) Air Sampling and Lab Analysis Dust Control Considerations Case Studies from Field Evaluations RCS Hazard Evaluation Tips from Experts The meeting was attended by over 30 participants and there were some great interactive discussions from the audience with the speakers. Special thanks go to the speakers for the technical discussions and fabulous content: Del Kubeldis, CIH, CSP, ARM – Amerisafe Group Keith Rickabaugh, CIH – RJ Lee Group Thad Pajak, CIH, CSP – QBENA Robert Wheeler, PE, DEE, FAIHA – IEHC, LLC Slides from the meeting are available CLICK HERE . Thanks to the following attendees who participated in the event: Lawrence Balint, Erie Insurance Group John Bell, Watco Companies, LLC George Bender, GHB Consulting Services LLC Darrick Bertig, FirstEnergy Corporation Stan Bockoven,Retired - PPG Industries Mike Campbell,Quad 3 Group, Inc. Dennis Collins, SKC, Inc. Barbara Cummings, AM Health & Safety, Inc. Carol Delfino, SE Technologies, LLC Fred Elbel, BMPC Bettis Laboratory Dan Flanagan, Port Authority of Allegheny County Natalie Gaydos NEG Laura Hallett, Cardno ChemRisk Larry Hayduk, Hayduk Engineering Warren Houseman, ENTACT, LLC Dennis Kelly, Energy Transfer Partners Christy Kirsch, SE Technologies, LLC Delwyn Kubeldis, Amerisafe Consulting & Safety Services Joe Kuchnicki, Performance Environmental Services, Inc. John Lange, ETC Stanford Liang, Tetra Tech Matt Manna, PPG Industries, Inc. Joshua Maskrey, Cardno ChemRisk Barry Momyer, AM Health & Safety, Inc. Chuck Nachreiner, SKC, Inc. Jan Oleszewski, US Dept. of Labor-OSHA Tad Pajak, QBE North America Julie Panko, Cardno ChemRisk Keith Rickabaugh, RJ Lee Group, Inc. Shawn Sunderlin, Repsol Oil & Gas USA LLC Michael Swintek, Eastern Alliance Insurance Group Robert Wheeler, Industrial Env. Health Consultants, Ltd. Matt Zock, FedEx Ground Make connections with IH/OEHS experts world-wide with the Catalyst , the NEW members-only online community. Did you get your invitation to join from National AIHA? For more info - see the FAQs here. National AIHA Quick Takes - June 2018 The June 2018 Quick Takes Newsletter is available on the Catalyst Site. The calendar of events is shown below - click on the file download at right. AIHA Quick Takes_June 2018.pdf Download File IOHA Conference - September 24-26 The 11th International Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA) International Scientific Conference is the must-attend conference for occupational hygiene professionals worldwide. The conference will be held at the Marriott Marquis Washington, DC . The theme of IOHA Washington 2018 is “Bringing Better Health to Workers Worldwide.” IOHA's highly-rated education programs offer a wide-ranging selection of sessions. These learning experiences are designed to expand your expertise, explore new topics and ideas, and strengthen your career. IOHA also features specialized pre-conference education, interactive sessions, technical tours, and other opportunities for you to amplify your career growth. Click here to learn more.... More news . . . . OSHA - QuickTakes Top 5 Most Popular Videos Take a look -- OSHA News lists their top 5 most popular videos - click on the... Read More AIHA's Proposed Bylaws Changes By Cynthia A. Ostrowski, CIH, National AIHA PresidentA few days ago, AIHA... Read More Univ. of Pitt Swanson School of Engineering - Work Footwear Study The University of Pittsburgh is seeking participants for a slip-resistant work... Read More
