Expectations of employers hiring entry-level, masters-trained industrial hygienists.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Brosseau L ; Lungu C ; Ramachandran G ; Raynor P
• Description:
  Little is known about the expectations of employers when hiring masters-level industrial hygienists. Academic program design (curriculum, course content, etc.) requires an understanding of employers' expectations. Using program outcomes and educational objectives, we developed a survey of employer expectations, which was completed by 129 respondents selected from the 2001 American Board of Industrial Hygiene Roster of Diplomats. Subjects were contacted by telephone to determine eligibility (hired a masters-trained industrial hygienist within the past 10 years) and willingness to participate. Of 532 contacted, 168 were sent surveys and 129 (77%) of these returned completed surveys. Respondents were distributed primarily among manufacturing, services, and public administration. Sixty-seven percent worked at sites with more than 500 employees. Eighty percent had supervisory responsibility for at least one person. More than 85% of the respondents listed hazard recognition, exposure assessment, personal protective equipment, health and safety regulations, and ventilation as essential knowledge for entry-level, masters-trained industrial hygienists. Sixty percent or more indicated that knowledge of hazardous materials and wastes, policy, environmental regulations, occupational medicine, and modeling was useful, but not essential. Eighty-five percent or more thought the following competencies were essential for entry-level, masters-trained industrial hygienists: (1) know how to assess exposures, (2) know basic principles of air sampling, (3) understand and apply exposure guidelines, (4) communicate effectively with other health and safety professionals, (5) demonstrate appropriate ethical behavior, (6) identify hazards of workplace processes, and (7) produce effective written communication. More than 50% of the respondents listed familiarity with air sampling pumps, sound level meters, and noise dosimeters as essential for entry-level, masters-trained industrial hygienists. These data will be used to adjust course content and curriculum expectations of an academic masters program designed to prepare industrial hygienists for employment. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Monitoring Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Workplace
• Keywords:
  Dosimetry Education; Equipment-operators; Exposure-assessment; Exposure-levels; Exposure-methods; Industrial-hygiene-programs; Industrial-hygienists; Personal-protective-equipment; Quantitative-analysis; Safety-education; Safety-equipment; Safety-measures; Safety-practices; Statistical-analysis; Work-analysis; Work-environment; Work-performance; Workplace-studies; Work-practices
• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  57
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037873
• Citation:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 10-15, 2003, Dallas, Texas. Fairfax, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2003 May; :57
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• Performing Organization:
  University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 10-15, 2003, Dallas, Texas
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7dc847c09aedf140bc731323e8446b4703641ae07d6ad9e7b7238120dab30b8f7dcaa9b938d34d035f87873a0fe7fec262d5d13dcaf290925445e82b6de3b57d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/248071/cdc_248071_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 168.02 KB ]