AIHce EXP 2022: Glad to be Back
Day 1 of AIHce EXP 2022 proved to be a warm welcome back to networking and education for OEHS professionals.
- By Sydny Shepard
- May 23, 2022
Walking into the keynote session at AIHce EXP 2022 was like walking into a family reunion. As attendees flowed into the Karl F. Dean Ballroom at Music City Center in Nashville, Tenn. conversations flowed easily between professionals.
“It’s so good to see you again."
“It’s nice to meet you in person and put a face to a name.”
“I’m so excited to get to see people in person again.”
The gleeful snippets of conversation were a result of years in semi-isolation, working from home and distancing from others in the midst of an infectious disease threat that took over the world.
Industrial hygiene professionals know all too well what to do to pivot to create safe and healthy workplaces for employees and the pandemic only served as a collective test for all who sat in the ballroom at Music City Center in a sort of celebration to have come out on the other end.
Relying on training and knowing how to change directions on the sport is a general theme of the morning, one that keynote speaker Captain Chris Cassidy, a former U.S. Navy Seal and retired astronaut echoed in his presentation, “Keys to Assessing Risk—Knowing When to Push and Pivot.”
In the keynote, Cassidy gave example after example about his ample career as a Navy Seal and astronaut, occupations that must rely training, education and your gut to lead a successful mission. Professionals in the audience made easy work of drawing comparisons between a successful space mission and the mission to keep workers safe and healthy.
“When it comes down to it,” Cassidy said. “If you your gut is telling you that something is wrong—it is.”
It’s a conclusion that we can all remember as we move through this first day of the AIHce EXP 2022 conference. Safety professionals and industrial hygienists work hard to assess risk and train (and then train some more) so that the dangers of the workplace can be easily and effectively mitigated.
OH&S will be at AIHce EXP 2022 all week. Stop by booth #1513 to grab a copy of the May issue of the magazine or follow our coverage of the show all week on Twitter or Linkedin.
About the Author
Sydny Shepard is the former editor of Occupational Health & Safety.