IOHA NEWSLETTERGLOBAL EXPOSURE MANAGER
International Occupational
Hygiene Association

12th IOHA virtual International Scientific Conference
11–15 September 2021
Jeongim Parke-mail: jeongim69@gmail.com
Under the theme, Bridging Gaps in OH Development, Opening New
Horizons, we have decided to make the 12th IOHA International
Scientific Conference a virtual conference to ensure the safety ofattendees. The conference will offer high-quality scientific and technical content, as well as a wide range of current topics in occupational
hygiene (OH) fields, including the roles and experiences of the OH
professional during the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference willbring many professionals together from the fields of OH, exposure
science, toxicology, ergonomics, epidemiology, occupational medicine and health, and risk management. Professional development
courses (PDCs) for continuing education, keynote speeches from ninedistinguished professionals, 40+ symposia conveying various critical
topics, special lectures on emerging topics by invited lecturers, andmany papers and posters from international OH experts, will be on
the programme.

There is still time to submit your presentation proposals as
28 February 2021 is the deadline for PDC, symposium, and special
lecture proposals. The deadline for podium and poster proposals
is 31 March 2021. Don’t forget to register early and save! The IOHA
2021 advance rate registration closes on 31 May 2021. Attendees
can save approximately 20% on standard registration. Visit theconference website for more details, proposal submissions, andonline registration: www.ioha2021.org.

AIHA announcements
Sue Marchesee-mail: smarchese@aiha.org

The AIHA announces hybrid on-site and virtual AIHce EXP
2021 conference event
The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) has announced
that the annual American Industrial Hygiene Conference andExposition (AIHce EXP) will take place on 24-26 May 2021 in Dallas,
Texas, as a hybrid on-site and virtual event. Those willing and able
to travel can attend events in person at the Kay Bailey Hutchison
Convention Center, under heightened safety protocols. Those unable
to travel to attend the conference in person can attend an entirely
virtual conference that will be held concurrently. Full registration
for the combined on-site and virtual, or wholly virtual, experience
includes access to session recordings on AIHce OnDemand, six-to-eightweeks after the conference. Register today and take advantage of theadvance rates. Group discounts are available for individuals from thesame company registering for either the in-person or the virtual AIHce
EXP. To learn more, visit Group Registration Rates.

Occupational and environmental health experts urge
business owners to implement AIHA COVID-19 guidelines
as new virus strain emerges
While business owners and consumers closely watch how the new,more readily-transmittable variant of SARS-CoV-2 develops, theoccupational environmental health and safety (OEHS) profession isurging business owners, schools and other organisations to continue
implementing practical science-based guidelines developed by theOccupational Health Southern Africa

www.occhealth.co.za

AIHA. The comprehensive Back to Work Safely guidelines for small
to mid-size businesses in 26 industry sectors provide recommendations on personal protective equipment (PPE), engineering controls,enhanced cleaning and disinfection, personal hygiene, and physicaldistancing. All guidelines are available in both English and Spanish. TheAIHA has also issued guidelines addressing COVID-19-related topics,
including engineering controls, and cleaning and disinfection in nonhealthcare settings (all of which are also in both English and Spanish).

The AIHA offers major discounts on education products forIH/OH professionals in developing economies
To expand awareness and promote the importance of industrial/
occupational hygiene (IH/OH) education across the globe, the AIHA
offers digital versions of a series of PDF publications and e-learning
courses at discounted prices, including the AIHA ‘White Book’, theNoise Manual, the ‘Basic Principles of Occupational Hygiene’
e-course, and many more. Use the discount code ‘DEVNAT’ to takeadvantage of this offer. Please note that the publications ande-learning courses are in English only.

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IOHA NEWSLETTERGLOBAL EXPOSURE MANAGER
International OccupationalHygiene Association

AGSSO statement of worker rights
Pablo Enrique Domínguez Ortiz
e-mail: pa3blo@gmail.com
From the beginning, man has adapted to environmental variations,climates, and social conditions, including hazardous exposures createdin workplaces. The right to health is not only the absence of disease
but, in an integral way, also a state of physical, mental and social
wellbeing, as established by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Safe and healthy work is linked to the dignity, equity and equalityof the person. In this sense, prevention measures are aimed atminimising exposure to occupational hazards. Therefore, it is important to adopt a preventive, coherent and comprehensive approach
to worker health and safety that informs all aspects of organisational
operations, including policies, guidelines, processes, roles andresponsibilities. The health of workers constitutes a fundamentalrequirement for the economic success of a country. A healthy workforce is one of the most significant attributes of productivity. As aconsequence, safe and healthy work has, as its primary function, theprotection of individual health and wellbeing.
We conclude that “Occupational Health and Safety is afundamental right of all workers”.

The Breathe Freely campaign – a BOHS initiative
to reduce occupational lung disease
Kevin Bampton
e-mail: kevin.bampton@bohs.org
Despite decades of legislation and technical innovation, the United
Kingdom (UK), like many other countries, continues to see no great
diminution in the effects of occupational exposure to respiratory
threats in recent years. Figures released late last year from the regulator, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), confirm that, despite some
improvement, deaths from respiratory disease still account for themajority of occupational-linked fatalities the UK. An estimated 12 000
people died from occupational lung disease in 2020, in comparison
to 111 people who sadly died in workplace accidents. Indeed, somediseases (such as interstitial lung disease) are on the increase.
It is unlikely that this is exclusive to the UK. This is also likely to be
one of the last sets of figures that provides a comparable statisticalbase for analysis of the impact of legislative and other interventions.
This is because occupational respiratory illnesses are likely to be oneof the major risk factors for poor outcomes in terms of COVID-19
infections. Looking at the global map for chronic respiratory mortality
and the global map for COVID-19 deaths, there is a superficial
correlation that might confirm this.
To put it bluntly, the global pandemic may have increased
mortality among those who were exposed to respiratory hazards,
but those deaths will be logged as COVID-19 deaths, rather thanhaving arisen from occupational exposures. Much needs to be done
to highlight that COVID-19 has almost certainly been rendered a more
fatal virus because of occupational exposures. In the UK, the higher
mortality among older males tracks the mortality rates arising fromrespiratory exposures.
Among survivors, ‘long COVID’ is likely to be the marker set for2226

Vol 27 No 1 January/February 2021

respiratory illness, rather than chronic illness arising from respiratory
exposures in the workplace. In some senses, the statistical imperative
to address occupational respiratory threats is likely to be one of thesignificant victims of the pandemic.
Talking to cancer specialists in the UK, it is clear that we do
not dig deep enough to determine whether cancers and otherrespiratory illnesses are occupational in nature. Family doctors don’task, medical records don’t flag, and specialists only focus on causes
when the illness is rare and there is a research imperative to find thecause. How, then, can we determine the effectiveness of measures
to protect respiratory health? How can we promote, on a national
and international basis, the priority that workplace respiratory
protection requires?
It is in this context that discussions between members of theAustralian Institute for Occupational Hygiene (AIOH) and the British
Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) have been progressing around
Breathe Freely websites.
Many will be aware that, five years ago, the BOHS launched an
ambitious campaign with construction and, latterly, manufacturing tohighlight occupational respiratory risks. The Breathe Freely campaign
spawned a number of activities, events and materials, but also a
website with tools, information and guidance to help industry directly

Occupational Health Southern Africa

www.occhealth.co.za

IOHA NEWSLETTERGLOBAL EXPOSURE MANAGER
International OccupationalHygiene Association

address the challenges of reducing harmful exposures (https://www.breathefreely.org.uk/). Over the years, there have been tens ofthousands of visits to the website and downloads of content. In 2019,
the BOHS agreed to freely share the content with the AIOH, which
produced the wonderful Breathe Freely Australia website, https://www.breathefreelyaustralia.org.au/. The website contextualised thematerial to Australia and extended the content, presenting it in aslightly more accessible way. Subsequently, a site was co-developedby the New Zealand Occupational Hygiene Society (NZOHS) (https://www.breathefreely.co.nz/).
With each iteration, new content has been added and the site
has been further developed. The value of extending the content of
the Breathe Freely websites has been discussed by the BOHS andAIOH. Clearly, behind such an initiative lie the various complexities
of issues, ranging from copyright protection to liability, and how
and who assures that content is locally relevant. Nevertheless,Occupational Health Southern Africa

www.occhealth.co.za

both organisations can see huge value in sharing Breathe Freely’s
website content throughout the IOHA family. Obviously, translation
may present huge opportunities to share English-language content
further, despite any challenges.
We therefore welcome approaches from any occupational
hygiene or industrial hygiene society that might think this is a
useful way to develop a plan to present to the IOHA (and theBOHS and AIOH) boards, as the basis for collective global
content-sharing to tackle this important issue. Please contact
kevin.bampton@bohs.org if this is of interest to you.

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