The annual Alice Hamilton, William P. Yant, and Donald E. Cummings Memorial awards were bestowed at yesterday's Opening Session. Other honorees will be in the spotlight tomorrow and Thursday.
In the midst of all the work--and networking--involved in attending AIHce, it is always fun, or at least interesting, to set aside some time to walk the Expo floor and take in the variety of products and services on display.
As part of AIHce 2009, the American Industrial Hygiene Association is conducting its 2009 CareerAdvantage Development Fair through tomorrow (June 3), from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The three-day employment event began yesterday.
AIHce 2009 is fully underway in this "City of Creativity." Although the turnout is not what it was for AIHce 1999, which was the last time the conference convened here in Canada's largest city, this year planners are taking advantage of social media sites that simply did not exist a decade ago, and their innovative use should boost the event's networking value immeasurably.
EPA found that the site was storing sulfuric acid, lead, and propane gas in amounts greater than the minimum threshold levels allowed before reporting requirements kick in.
Peter Fonseca, minister of Labour for the province of Ontario, detailed the gains in workplace safety and health that have been made since 2003 for employers and workers alike.
Gov. Jack Markell toured Sunoco's Marcus Hook refinery on May 28 and stressed the importance of keeping the plant shut down until the cause of the May 17 explosion and fire is known.
A May 28 conference co-sponsored by the California Department of Public Health looked at sustainable farming and ecologically friendly pest control, along with health impacts of pesticide use.
The intent of the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act and its accompanying regulations is to help prevent exposure to lead-based paint by requiring disclosure and notification of actual and potential hazards when selling or leasing housing.
In addition, the standard's Fire Protection in Shipyard Employment subpart includes sections on implementing a fire safety plan, fire watches, and fire response. Hexavalent chromium has been added to the list of air contaminants whose concentrations should not exceed stated exposure levels.
Back by popular demand in an expanded form, the interactive "Unsolved IH Mysteries Workshop" will again be offered at this year's AIHce--thrice.
As auspicious as AIHce 2009 will be because it marks the 70th anniversary of the conference, this year's event also will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the American Industrial Hygiene Foundation Fun Run/Walk.
While there are still a few days before the actual traveling begins, AIHA and ACGIH have enabled attendees to virtually head to AIHce 2009 by visiting www.aiha.org/expo2009.htm. There you'll find tools useful not only for planning your time and setting schedules for booth visits during the actual conference but also for "visiting" participating companies by categories and viewing press releases, new product information, and announcements of show specials.
The agenda for AIHce 2009 is brimming with educational and networking opportunities, but not all of them are confined to the Toronto Convention Centre. With so much to offer in one city, conference organizers have planned two technical tours for every weekday of the conference proper (Monday through Wednesday, June 1-3) as a way to enrich the learning experience with the fun of a fieldtrip, mostly to rarely visited sites.
Whether you regularly travel internationally or AIHce 2009 will provide your first opportunity to make "discoveries beyond borders," knowing the latest currency exchange rates, customs rules, and passport law changes is a good idea.
It is no secret that more and more of today's conferences are working to become "green," incorporating environmental considerations in the events to minimize as much as possible any negative environmental impacts. But even among proactive organizations, the American Industrial Hygiene Association and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists are standing on a verdant level apart in light of the initiatives they are implementing for AIHce 2009, which promises to be the greenest gathering in the event's history.
Next week this time, we--and hopefully many of you, especially if you're a professional in the occupational and environmental health & safety industry--will be in multifaceted Toronto, Canada's economic capital and, with more than 2.5 million residents, its most populous city. While the 70th anniversary of AIHce is the draw, plenty will be going on outside the walls of the Toronto Convention Centre, so while the bag packing is still a few days away, now is a good time to consider some of the extracurricular options on the agenda.
More than a million toys have been voluntarily recalled by the company due to the possible presence of lead in the paint; the items are being stored at its facilities in Illinois and Iowa.
The facility failed to report many hazardous chemicals stored at the site including sulfuric acid, lead, zinc, and hydrochloric acid, EPA said.
Attendees planning to make the most of AIHce 2009 by arriving for the weekend preceding the conference proper will be able to take advantage of a number of pre-conference offerings scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, May 30-31.