October - December
2023

GLOBAL EXPOSURE MANAGER
Editor: Maharshi Mehta, CIH, CSP, FAIHA, Maharshi.Mehta@ioha.net
Published with the support from the British Occupational Hygiene Society

RECENT REGULATIONS DRIVING NEED FOR
OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENISTS IN JAPAN
Shigeru Asuka, Vice-president, Japan Association for Working Environment Measurement(JAWE), email: sit_as101@jawe.or.jp
Occupational hygiene requirements are regulated
in laws and regulations in Japan. Comprehensive
administrative notifications from the Ministry ofHealth, Labor, and Welfare are adopted in theregulations. The regulations and administrative
directives are pivotal to providing safe andhealthful working conditions in Japan.
The priority for employers in Japan is to comply
with health and safety regulatory requirements.
Limited expert health and safety service providers
are available in Japan. The employers seem
reluctant to retain the services of the service
providers. Occupational health regulatory
requirements related to hazardous chemicals havebeen dramatically increasing in Japan recently. As
a result, the need for occupational hygienists inJapan has increased significantly.

The increased regulatory requirements for riskassessment would undoubtedly increase the needfor occupational hygienists in Japan.
To address the need for qualified occupational
hygienists, JAWE has established a scheme ofeducating and increasing the number ofprofessionals with the designation of Certified
Occupational Hygienists (COH) since 2008. Thescheme includes completion of 93-hour course
curriculum on occupational hygiene in compliancewith the IOHA-NAR guidelines. As illustrated in thechart below, the number of COHs were limited
until 2021. With the advent of the new regulation,
the number of COHs has increased significantly inthe last two years.

The Japanese government has identified regulated
hazardous chemicals based on available
toxicological data from occupational hygiene
surveys in Japan. The government is aiming to
expedite the process of regulating hazardous
chemicals based on Global Harmonization System(GHS) hazard classifications. After about two yearsof the review process, the government recently
announced the fundamental change in regulatinghazardous chemicals, which will become
enforceable this year.
The regulatory system requires employers to (a)maintain Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for thechemicals and, (b) implement exposure control
measures to reduce potential health risk at a safe
level.

The remarkable accomplishment of the JAWE
occupational hygiene certification process isthat for the first time ever in Japan, theJapanese government has recognized a “JAWE
Certified Occupational Hygienist”

For about 800 hazardous chemicals, the employers
The occupational hygiene community andare required to ensure the exposure below theirworkplaces in Japan will benefit immensely fromrespective prescribed Occupational Exposurecomplying with the new regulatory requirementsLimits (OELs). For another group of about 2100
and reducing potential occupational health risk
chemicals, the regulation requires employers towith the help of JAWE Certified Occupational
keep exposure as low as possible with exposure
Hygienists.
control measures. Before theregulation came into effect,
about 120 high-hazard chemicals
Overall picture of the new regulatory systemwere regulated. Under the new
regulation, about 2900 chemicals
are regulated.

The new regulatory system issummarized in the image tothe right.

SOUTHERN AFRICAN INSTITUTE FOR
OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE (SAIOH) 2023
CONFERENCE AND IOHA BOARD MEETING
Samantha Connell, MOH, CIH, IOHA President Samantha.connell@ioha.net
The Southern African Institute for Occupational
Hygiene (SAIOH) held its conference in Cape Town
from October 25 – 26, 2023, with continuing
education courses from 23 – 24 October. The
meeting was an overwhelming success, with morethan 500 participants and plenty of thoughtprovoking content mainly relating to theoverarching theme of Real-Time Monitoring.
The IOHA board meeting took place the weekend
before the conference with in-person attendancefrom IOHA, including President Samantha Connell,
Stakeholder Relations Committee Chair, and board
member Andre Winkes, as well as Past NAR
Committee Chair and current board member
Deon Jansen van Vuuren. SAIOH members andIOHA Past Presidents Peter-John "Jakes" Jacobs
and Rob Ferrie joined during the week for theconference.

Samantha spoke on a previous experience inProject BONAS, where she related the two worlds
of forensic science/security and occupational
hygiene and some new initiatives from IOHA.
The presentation was titled “What do homemade
explosive devices and occupational hygienehave in common?” Her talk emphasized theimportance of thinking outside the box, applying
concepts from other fields and interdisciplinary
teams, and rethinking exposure monitoring.
Congratulations to SAIOH President Naadiya
Mundy, Vice President Karen du Preez, andConference Chair Wessel van Wyk on theirsuccessful conference! IOHA is grateful for thewarm hospitality shown to its members and theeffort that went into planning the board meeting.

Participants at IOHA Board Meeting and SAIOH Conference-PeterJohn "Jakes" Jacobs, Rob Ferrie, Samantha Connell, Deon Jansen
van Vuuren, Andre Winkes.

IOHA

UPDATESIOHA Webinars
IOHA continued to offer most engaging webinars
on unique aspects of occupational hygiene. Thewebinar on Non-Ionizing Radiation received rave
reviews from 60+ participants for 15+ countries.

IOHA collaborates to host the Emerging Leaders’InstituteThe goal of the Emerging Leader’s Institute (ELI) isto support emerging leaders and early career
professionals in the field of occupational hygiene bysupplementing their technical skills with theleadership and soft skills needed to be wellrounded professionals. ELI will be free of cost toattendees and will take place in Dublin, theweekend before IOHA2024, from June 7 – 9, 2024.
Please refer to the links below for registration.
Application form
Letter of reference submission form

IOHA President at 23rd World Congress on Safety
and Health at WorkThe 23rd World Congress on Safety and Health at
Work was a remarkable and rewarding experience as
the Congress provided a unique opportunity to learn,
network, and collaborate with the global
occupational safety and health community.
During the Congress, International Network of Safety
and Health Practitioner Organizations (INSHPO)
organized a workshop focusing on how to make theBody of Knowledge (BoK) available globally. The BoK
is a publication that was developed in response to an
identified need to define the collective knowledge
that should be shared by Australian Generalist OHS
Professionals as a basis for understanding thecausation and control of work-related fatality, injury,
disease and ill-health. Please refer to the link below
for a free copy of the BoK here.

Non-Ionizing Radiation Webinar Participants

IOHA Member Presentations at the WorldCongress
The following IOHA members had the opportunityand privilege to present in the company of world
leaders in the field of OSH.
Past President Rene Leblanc (2019-2020)
presented in the session “Education andTraining Towards a Culture of Zero Harm” withother professionals from Fundación
Internacional ORP, International Social Security
Association, and IOSH.
Long-standing board member Professor ChihChieh Chen gave a talk titled “The Necessity ofEngineering Controls for COVID-19” with acorresponding poster.
President Samantha Connell spoke in thesession “Together for a better future: a newpact for workplace life and health protection”
with the International Labour Organization.
Samantha moderated a session called “DeadlyDust: Silica and Asbestos” organized bySafeWork New South Wales. She also presented
a poster titled “The Role of Professional
Judgment in Evaluating Worker Exposure andPreventing Occupational Disease.”
Peter John Jacobs (Jakes) Received the IOHA
Dedication Award

Participants at INSPHO Workshop
The IOHA President met with the executive
committee for EXPO 2025. EXPO 2025 will be amonumental moment for our profession as it is thefirst time that health, safety, and wellbeing will beallotted a week at the World Expo. Representatives
from various international organizations, such as
the International Labour Organization (ILO), theWorld Health Organization (WHO), the International
Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH), theInternational Social Security Association (ISSA), andIOHA attended the meeting.

Jakes received the IOHA
Dedication Award for
his outstanding
contributions to IOHA
and SAIOH over theyears. IOHA President,
Samnatha Connell
presented the award toJakes at the SAIOH
conference.
Jakes received theIOHA Dedication
Award at SAIOH
Conference.

MEMBER UPDATESMexican Industrial Hygiene Association XXI
Mexican Congress of Industrial Hygiene

2023 AIHN Annual ConferenceDavid S. Rodríguez Marín, HOC, President – AMHI,
email: drodriguez@innovare-ehs.com.
The Mexican Industrial Hygiene Association hosted
the XXI National Congress of Industrial Hygiene inOctober 2023. The Congress was held in the City ofQuerétaro, where more than 150 industrial hygiene
and occupational health met to update and shareknowledge and experiences.
Several Professional Development Courses (PDCs)
were offered on topics related to industrial
toxicology, human exposure to vibrations, andremote working, to name a few. The Ibero-American
Board of Occupational Hygiene (JIHO) hosted thesecond certification examination for occupational
hygienists, with five candidates from Mexico
attended

Matthew Olota, MS, CMFOH, CIH, CSP, AIHN
President email: matthewolota@gmail.com.
The Association of Industrial Hygienists in Nigeria(AIHN) held its second annual conference, a
globally attended event, in the beautiful city ofPort Harcourt, Nigeria, from November 2 to 4, 2023
under the theme of "Integrating Industrial Hygiene
into Business Models for Social Sustainability,".
Over 60 health and safety professionals on-site andmore than 20 professionals virtually attended theconference.
The conference featured Professional
Development Courses (PDCs) on qualitative
exposure assessments, application of statistical
tools and vibration controls. Technicalpresentations focused on health hazards andexposure controls across diverse industries. A
particularly riveting panel discussion examined thechallenges and opportunities inherent in
integrating occupational health into businessmodels. Global leaders from IOHA, American
Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), and British
Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS), presented
inspiring keynote addresses and technicalpresentations

Participants at the MAHI Conference

Images from 2nd AIHN Conference

1/2MEMBER UPDATESAIOH 2023 -40th Annual Conference and Exhibition-December 4-6, 2023 “Future Ready” and InauguralHall of Fame
More than 600 attendees attended the event, whichfeatured various technical content and social events.
Several presenters spoke on the topics of the futureof occupational hygiene. The topics included Artificial
Intelligence (AI), the future of work, communicating
our science, sensor technologies, and more.
The Inaugural Hall of Fame dinner was a highlight ofthe conference. It was an honor to celebrate many of
those AIOH members who were the founding fathers
and mothers of AIOH and have given back so muchto the international community. Three of theinductees were also previous IOHA LifetimeAchievement Award winners. IOHA NAR Committee
Chair Sharann Johnson was also an inductee. It wasalso a time to celebrate AIOH’s achievement of morethan 1,500 members!

Hall of Fame inductees: Janet Sowden (inductee)
accepting on behalf of Pam de Silva, Brian Davies,
and Sharann Johnson (inductee) accepting on
behalf of Noel Tresider.

SOFHYT 2023 Conference
Nathalie Argentin, CIH, SOFHYT President, IOHATreasurer, presidence@sofhyt.fr.
The SOFHYT 2023 conference was held on October
9 and 10, 2023 in Lyon. The conference theme was:
“Physical Risks: From Detection to Action”. The
topics of presentations were, noise,Electromagnetic Fields (EMF), vibrations, thermal
stress and UV radiation, to name a few.
As part of our international exchanges, thepresident of the Belgian Occupational HealthSociety (BSOH) and the vice president of the ItalianIndustrial Hygiene Association (AIDII) attendedand presented technical presentation at theconference.

Dinner with SOFHYT Council and neighboring
associations (AIDII and BSOH)

2/2

UPCOMING EVENTSIOHA is organizing 13th IOHA International Scientific Conference in Dublin from the 9th to the 13th ofJune 2024 in association with the Occupational Hygiene Society of Ireland (OHSI) and the British
Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS).
The theme for this conference is ‘Protecting workers from health hazards: Advancing in this changingworld’.

The 2024 IOHA conference will also host anumber of Professional Development Courses(PDC) on the Sunday (9 June 2024) before theconference starts.
Each PDC will provide 3 hours of free training toIOHA2024 delegates.
Please check the website for details of each
PDC. Booking will open for registeredconference delegates in April and will be on afirst-come, first-served basis.
www.ioha2024.org