NEWSLETTER
Dear Member:
The Section’s 33rd
annual meeting was held January 23-25, 2008 at The Crowne Plaza Hotel,
indeed valued. The members present declared the
meeting a resounding success. The business meeting was
held Wednesday, January 23rd – the
minutes are attached for your perusal.
President Hamid Arabzadeh
opened the technical meeting Thursday morning, January 24, 2008. After welcoming attendees and speakers, he
introduced President-Elect and Program Chair Chris Laszcz-Davis. The Conference
theme
this year was “In
Search of Solutions—Science, Impacts & Maintaining an International
Economy”. The format consisted of a series of presentations on Global
Climate Change, Renewable Energy Sources and Managing a Global EH&S Agenda.
Following a brief overview of the Program, Chris introduced the first speaker
and thus began two days of a superb slate of speakers, robust discussions and
great group dynamics. Chris provided the attached in-depth summary of the meeting
which can also be found on the YPSW website.
ABIH CERTIFICATION MAINTENANCE POINTS
Program Chair Chris
Laszcz-Davis asked ABIH to review the program prior to the meeting and received ABIH approval of 2.0 CM
points for full meeting attendance with 0.5 point per half day. The approval
number is 07-3480.
WEBSITE
Peter Bellin established and maintains our website www.ypswaiha.org. Peter keeps the site current by posting data
as it is supplied to him. The site is
specifically for our YPSW members – we are not looking to "grow" the
membership. Thanks, Peter for providing
this valuable service to the YPSW membership.
CLAYTON AWARD
The recipient of the
2008 YPSW George and Florence Clayton Award, George J. Cvejanovich, was very
appreciative of the Section's acknowledgement of his many years of notable
achievements in the field of industrial
hygiene, in both industry and academia.
Bob Soule, as one of George’s long time colleagues, and Hamid Arabzadeh,
as the YPSW President, made the presentation jointly. George’s acceptance
speech was gracious with a great touch of humor, and greeted with a round of applause. Acceptance photos are posted
on our website.
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CHANGE OF YPSW OFFICERS
As a result of the
election on January 23rd the 2008 Executive Committee consists of:
President: Chris Laszcz-Davis Directors:
President-Elect: Howard Kusnetz Peter Bellin
Past-President: Hamid Arabzadeh Anna
Davis
Secretary-Treasurer: Douglas Davis Bob
Wheeler
Sincere
thanks to Frank Parker, who spent one year as President-Elect, another as
President and the last year as Past-President, for his expert guidance and
valuable service. Prior to his “presidential” duties, Frank
served for three years on the Board of Directors.
Please pay your 2008
dues promptly. Your cooperation will
enable us to prepare the 2008-2009 membership book for
mailing in June along with information pertinent to the 2009 meeting. Please check your current listing in the
2007-2008-membership book and make
necessary changes on the dues form.
Lifetime Members, please note your special form. If you are a
lifetime member or paid your dues in advance we still need your completed form
for file and verification of membership book information – if you are in this category, you can send this info via email, fax or
snail mail.
NOTE: Please complete
the post-meeting cruise information survey on the back of the dues form. If we have a positive response the
information will be utilized to assist us in securing possible group rates for
those members desiring to take a cruise AFTER the 2009 meeting.
Please indicate on
the membership form if you are an "AIHA Fellow". We list Fellow designations in the membership
book. If you are not a Fellow and feel
you are qualified, download the forms and instructions from the AIHA website
and send completed forms to me for submission by YPSW to AIHA.
Pat
Brogan,
Alice
and Charles Farrar,
Ted
Johnson, email: ted.johnson@cbs.com
Nancy
Malzhan, reinstated, 3582 Beagle, Commerce Twp, MI 48382, Phone (248) 360-8698.
John and Dolly Pendergrass,
MISCELLANEOUS
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The Crowne Plaza Hotel was again a great choice for the meeting. The facilities and food were truly excellent. Hotel contact personnel were very helpful, courteous and constantly checked with Anna to be certain all was proceeding as scheduled and to our satisfaction. On the final billing, Anna negotiated with catering and banquet entrees were charged at the individual entree price, not all at the most expensive entrees as noted in our contract, thereby a savings of approximately $100.00 was realized. We will keep this hotel on our list of sites for future meetings.
The hospitality suite served our purposes very well and comments by participants assured us everyone was extremely pleased with the refreshments provided; let us know if you have suggestions for improvements
and/or additions to the fare we provide in the hospitality suite.
Messages were
received from the following members who could not attend the Jan 2008 meeting:
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longing to see our IH colleagues and
their spouses, we have opted for a weekend in
· Jerry Lauderdale: I am sorry that I will not be able to attend the annual meeting due to work conflicts. I look forward to next year!
OBITUARY
It is with great
sadness we report the death of Harry Ettinger’s beloved wife June. Wife,
mother, teacher, friend – June was born in New York City Aug. 14, 1936, and
passed away in Santa Fe Nov. 27, 2007. She earned a bachelor’s degree in
education from the City College of New York in 1958. She married Harry Ettinger
immediately after graduating from CCNY and lived in
Funeral services were held at 11 AM. Friday,
Nov. 30, 2007 at
We
extend our sincere condolences to Harry and his family.
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A final reminder – a decision needs to be made regarding the post meeting 2009 cruise by early June to obtain the best group rates. If you are indeed interested in a cruise, please complete the information on the back of the dues form and return it to me, along it with your dues and/or membership book information, as soon as possible. Your genuine input will assist Anna in negotiating with her contacts to obtain a good “deal” for our group.
Thanks to all YPSW
members for "keeping the faith" and making YPSW a continuing
success. Member input and cooperation
keeps “Your Section” alive and flourishing.
Pictures you may have taken at the meeting will be appreciated for the
album; information about your travels or any other subject that would be of
interest to your fellow members is always welcome for publication.
Have an enjoyable
summer. Anna and I look forward to seeing you at the 2009 meeting.
______________________________________
Douglas J. Davis
Secretary-Treasurer
Enclosures:
Financial Report
2008 Business
Meeting Minutes
2008 Technical
Meeting Summary
2008 Dues
Notice/2009 Post-Meeting Cruise Interest Survey
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January 23, 2008
Business Meeting
4 P.M.
President Hamid
Arabzadeh, CIH called the business meeting to order at 4:05 P.M. on January 23,
2008 at The Crowne Plaza Hotel, 17941 Von Karman Avenue, Irvine, CA.
The agenda was
distributed to those individuals present.
A count of members established that a quorum (20%) was indeed present.
The minutes of the
2007 business meeting were printed on the back of the agenda and, therefore,
not read aloud. A motion to approve the
minutes was made, seconded and unanimously carried by the membership.
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President Chris Laszcz-Davis
President Elect Howard Kusnetz
Past President Hamid Arabzadeh
Secretary-Treasurer Douglas Davis
Director Peter Bellin
Director Anna Davis
Director Bob Wheeler
President Arabzadeh asked for adjournment if there were no further items for discussion. Motion was made, seconded and carried. Adjournment 4:55 PM.
Recorded by: _____________________________
Douglas J. Davis
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FINANCIAL STATEMENT
February 9, 2007 to February 13, 2008
Checking Account Balance February 9, 2007 - - - - -
$ 734.69
INCOME:
Dues: Life Membership $100.00
Annual Membership 195.00 295.00
$1029.69
CONFERENCE FINANCES
Income (2008
Registrations) $10590.00
Expenses (2008):
Hotel Expenses 9935.15
Hospitality Room Rental 630.00
Hospitality Room Supplies
436.15
Bus to Caspian Restaurant
240.00
Badges for Speakers/Guests
80.80
Refund 3 Advance Registrations 555.00
Total Conference
Expenses:
11877.10
Income loss from meeting (1287.10)
Funds Moved From Savings 1300.00 1300.00
Total $1042.59
EXPENSES
Postal
Expenses $207.57
Printing 492.60
Web
Hosting (2 yrs) 68.89
Photos 36.64
Engraving
Award for
George Cvejanovich 37.72
Total: 843.42
Checking Account Balance $199.17 199.17
Savings Account $9542.77
Net Worth $9741.94 on February 13, 2008
*Recap Hotel Expenses:
2763.40 AM/PM breaks Jan 24 & Jan 25
3531.44 Lunch for 48 on Jan 24 and 48 on Jan
25
2939.27 Banquet/Wine for 44 on Jan 25
631.00 Meeting
Room rental (3 days)
26.94
A/V VGA Extension (Jan 24)
43.10 Flip
Chart for Jan 25
(Highlights provided
by Program Chair Chris
Laszcz-Davis)
President Hamid
Arabzadeh opened the technical meeting Thursday, January 24, 2008. After
welcoming attendees and speakers, he introduced President-Elect & Program
Chair Chris Laszcz-Davis. The Conference theme this year was “In Search of Solutions—Science, Impacts
and Maintaining an International Economy”. The format consisted of a series
of presentations on Global Climate Change, Renewable Energy Sources and
Managing a Global EH&S Agenda. Following a brief overview of the Program,
Chris Laszcz-Davis introduced the first speaker and provided the following
summary of meeting highlights for this news- letter. Links to each presentation
are accessible on the web site by moving the cursor over the presentation
title.
Global Climate Change:
§
Presentation
by Dr. George Luber entitled “Global Climate Change—Health
& Environmental Consequences” described--- climate change
observations; projections of future changes; possible effects on air pollution
and associated health effects; potential impact on food security; and, finally,
CDC’s public health role. Dr. Luber is the Associate Director, Global Climate
Change,
§
Dr. Zack
Mansdorf’s presentation entitled “One International
Company’s Challenges—Global Climate Change & Energy Issues”
addressed--- L’Oreal’s global warming agenda with its attendant risks and
opportunities; major operational sources of global climate change; efforts to
reduce emissions; joint initiatives; examples of several energy projects; use
of green energy; companion areas of concern (supply chain aspects, water and
waste); and finally, L’Oreal’s future challenges. YPSW member Zack is L’Oreal
Worldwide Vice-President, Environmental, Health & Safety,
§
The
topic of “Critical Downstream
Issues—Water and Waste” was reviewed by Dr. Soroosh Sorooshian,
University of California at Irvine’s Distinguished Professor, International
Hydrology and Climate Change. Dr. Sorooshian is one of eleven UC Irvine
scientists who contributed to the ground- breaking reports published in recent
years by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, sharing
in the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice-President Al Gore.
Dr. Sorooshian’s highlights included—a physical description of earth
vs. mars and venus; global distribution of the world’s water; discussion as to
whether planet warming and hydrologic cycles were intensifying; problems in
predicting climate change; problems associated with drought, floods, fires,
forest health and sedimentation re-deposition; common practices in factoring in
climate change (engineering control, storage, recycling, transport and reuse for
multi-purposes); importance in characterizing long term uncertainties in
hydro-climate variability (design and operation of dams, supply and demand of
water distribution, urban growth); and, finally, practical satellite
observations and predictive capability (water quality, wild fire risk, urban
effect).
Renewable Energy
Alternatives:
§
In
shifting Program emphasis areas, Dr. Don Lucas presented “Renewable Energy
Sources—New Fuels, New Issues”. Dr. Lucas’s focus included the U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory’s (LBL’s) attack on the energy
problem, with highlights of the following---
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particles and other emissions (including
nanotechnology issues); transformations in the exhaust in the
atmosphere; direct vs. indirect health effects (lung
cancer, water pollution, global warming); toxicity issues with testing of new
fuel blends; and recent investigations (nanoscale safety, combustion
by-products and their health effects, bringing health to the fuel mixture,
Cal-EPA study). LBL is located in
§
California
Energy Commissioner John Geesman, Esq.,
§
Chevron’s
Vice-President, Bio-fuels and Hydrogen, Rick Zalesky, discussed Chevron’s
approach to “Renewable Energy
Alternatives—Corporate Initiatives, Sustainability and Potential EH&S
Implications”, sharing Chevron’s view of the next generation of global
energy. Highlights included—a review of conventional fuels (including
geothermal); alternative bio-fuels (and joint initiatives with Weyerhaeuser,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Tech, UC Davis, Texas A & M,
and the Colorado Center for Biorefining & Bio-fuels); and renewable fuels
(hydrogen, unconventional geothermal, solar power, biomass to power and ocean
power). Rick is stationed in
Managing a Global EH&S
Agenda:
§
Having
had the benefit of a robust series of presentations on Global Climate Change
and Renewable Energy Sources, the Program focus shifted once again to
accommodate the issue of Managing a Global EH&S
Agenda. YPSW member Dr. Jas Singh was to have presented “Globalization of Industrial
Hygiene—Product Safety and Supply Chain Issues”. Jas was called to
attend critical strategic meetings in
Jas’s presentation included several messages—the number of EH&S
workplace issues in SE Asia is abundant; EH&S resources are scarce,
although growing; third party service providers (absent any EH&S
training/awareness) often perform the most hazardous tasks;
regulations/legislation are embryonic at this time; major brand name products
sold in North America are produced in local shops where the level of worker
H&S is very basic and unsatisfactory; drivers to strengthen EH&S
efforts include multi-nationals, insurance companies and ISO certification
requirements; specific opportunities await EH&S professionals here if
willing to participate (technology transfer of exposure assessment techniques
and control strategies; H&S of 3rd party contractors, supply
chain partners; training of supervisors and managers; industrial ventilation;
and influencing legislation). Dr. Singh resides in
§
Susan
Ripple, Dow Chemical Company’s Technical Leader,
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§
Longstanding
YPSW member Dr. Dwight Culver is a Clinical Professor of Medicine’s
Epidemiology Division,
§
Dr.
Michael Wilson, Assistant Research Scientist,
Association Strategic
Initiative Report Outs:
§
The
Conference Program shifted again, with Association strategic initiative report
outs from the following--- AIHA (President-Elect
Lindsay Booher); ABIH (former Board
member Chris Laszcz-Davis for Chair Barbara Dawson who was unable to make the
meeting); ACGIH (Past Chairman
Bob Soule for present Chairman Larry Gibbs, detained for medical reasons); Academy, AIH
(Past President John Mulhausen); IOHA (ABIH liaison
to IOHA Chris Laszcz-Davis for incoming IOHA Chairman, Tom Grumbles, detained
for medical reasons); and AIHF (President David
Downs). The information from the presenters was well received, although there
were several concerns raised by the attendees as regards the AIHF. President
David Downs agreed to follow-up on issues raised.
Federal Government Strategic
Initiatives:
§
NIOSH’s
Chief of Staff and YPSW member, Frank Hearl, reviewed “NIOSH’s
Strategic Initiatives”. He highlighted the following---NIOSH’s
framework; its Program Portfolio (sector, cross-sector and emphasis programs);
its website offerings; the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA); the
National Academies Review of specific NIOSH programs and products; special
science initiatives; science policy issues; its REL and IDHL review; its
authoritative recommendations for several items over the past year; and
emerging issues (mining, flavorings research, respirator certification). Frank
works out of the Washington DC NIOSH office.
§
OSHA
Regional Administrator and YPSW member Chuck Adkins walked the group through “OSHA’s Strategic Initiatives”,
highlighting---its strategic plan and goals; its overarching programs; its
mission; performance goals; areas of emphasis (landscaping services, oil and
gas field services, logging, residential construction, commercial building
construction; and highway, street and bridge construction); specific hazards of
the special emphasis programs (amputations, silica, lead, noise); fatality
hazards (falls, trenching, struck by, powered industrial trucks, electrical);
other concerns (Hispanic workers/employers, youth workers, homeland security);
enforcement; consultation; cooperative activities; budget; standards activity;
and major challenge as regards the PEL process. Chuck works out of the
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§
National
AIHA’s Director, Governmental Affairs, Aaron Trippler, shared his personal
impressions of the
Aaron’s presentation focused on:
ü
The
difficulty the profession of occupational health & safety encounters when
working with Congress and federal agencies. OH&S is simply not a priority,
especially in an election year.
ü
The
difficulty that agencies such as OSHA encounter when adopting standards and
regulations. Because of the process, it takes a considerable number of years to
see anything adopted. As a result, we see more and more guidelines and
bulletins (as opposed to formal regulations) being adopted because of this.
However, the formal standards setting process is still needed.
ü
Over
three hundred (300) occupational safety & health titles have been
generated, with impact on the IH title. Most of these other titles are granted
by non-accredited bodies. This presents a problem when working with the public
and policy makers.
As for the future, Aaron posed the following:
ü
AIHA
membership needs to do all it can to work with policymakers and other
stakeholders to update Permissible Exposure Limits.
ü
The
global economy not only presents opportunity, but decisions as to what role
AIHA and its membership should play in this economy need to be made.
ü
Is OSHA
becoming irrelevant? Absolutely not! However, it is becoming more of a follower
than a leader when it comes to international regulations and standards.
Friday Evening Dinner
Banquet:
ü
Key
challenges include—preventing injury, disease & death; making the case for
EHS employment; and setting and enforcing EHS rules.
ü
We have
unacceptably high numbers of work-related injury, illness and death in the
ü
EHS
generalists are needed, but they are stretched thin and too often relegated to
a “record-keeping role”. Safety & health professionals may not be
adequately prepared for their responsibilities, particularly as they relate to
“making the business case for safety”.
ü
OSHA is
broken and unable to fulfill some of its statutory responsibilities in a
reasonable fashion. A vast ideological gulf exists between business and labor
that results in a legislative stalemate and an inability to compromise and
“fix” OSHA. Safety and health professionals are divided over how to
appropriately address OSHA reform. Don’t expect the presidential candidates to
shake up the OSHA stalemate.
ü
One
final challenge—be heard! Write an article, write a
letter to the editor, send a blog post, serve on a committee, call or write
your congressional representative.
Footnote:
YPSW members present declared the meeting a resounding success with a superb
slate of speakers, robust discussions and great group dynamics. The meeting
certainly highlighted the fact that the profession’s EH&S horizons continue
to expand as technology, global issues and a “flat economy” propel us into the
21st century. This year’s Program focus included three emerging
areas—Global Climate Change; Renewable Energy Alternatives; and Managing a
Global EH&S Agenda.
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