Occupational hygiene
|
|
Occupational hygiene is defined by the International Occupational Hygiene Association in the IOHA Byelaws as 'the discipline of anticipating, recognising, evaluating and controlling health hazards in the working environment with the objective of protecting worker health and well-being and safeguarding the community at large.'
Occupational hygiene has also been defined as the practice of identifying of hazardous agents, whether chemical, physical or biological, in the workplace that could cause disease or discomfort, evaluating the extent of the risk due to exposure to these hazardous agents, and the control of those risks to prevent ill-health in the long or short term.
In the United States, the profession is usually referred to as industrial hygiene and a practitioner of the profession is usually referred to as an industrial hygienist. Practitioners who successfully meet minimum education and work-experience requirements and pass a two part examination administered by the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) are authorized to use the term Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH). Both of these terms have been codified into law in many states in the United States in order to identify minimum qualifications of individuals having oversight over certain activities that may affect public health.