IOHA NEWSLETTER & TECHNICAL UPDATESGLOBAL EXPOSURE MANAGER
International OccupationalHygiene Association

IOHA sponsors North-West University­Student Top Achiever Award
Johan du Plessis, North-West University, e-mail: Johan.DuPlessis@nwu.ac.za
Dr Thomas Fuller, IOHA President-Elect, e-mail: tpfuller1@gmail.com
Education and research in the field of occupational hygiene at theNorth-West University (NWU) in South Africa dates back to the1970s. Initially, a post-graduate Honours degree was offered but
this was later followed by a Master’s degree. In 2013, the need fora specialised Bachelor’s degree was identified; the degree wasapproved within the South African higher education framework
in 2015.
The objective of the four-year professional Bachelor of Health
Sciences (BHSc) degree in Occupational Hygiene, the only one ofits kind in Africa, is scientifically to educate and equip students
with the necessary knowledge and specialised skills (includingproblem solving and relevant competencies) required to become
occupational hygienists. This involves training them to be able toanticipate, recognise, evaluate and control health hazards in theworking environment, with the objective of protecting workers’
health and wellbeing, and safeguarding the community at large.
The first cohort of students registered for the BHSc in 2016 andwill graduate in early 2020. At present, exactly 100 students areregistered for this degree (in any of the four years); at least five arefrom Namibia and Zimbabwe. If one considers that there were893 individuals registered as members of the Southern African
Institute for Occupational Hygiene (SAIOH) at the end of 2018, theaddition of 100 graduates in the near future will make a significant
human resource contribution to the field, which is responsible forrendering occupational hygiene services to a formal workforce ofapproximately 16 million workers in southern Africa.
The International Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA)
has generously sponsored the BHSc Top Achiever Award, which isawarded to the final-year student who achieves the highest overallmarks for all the occupational hygiene modules in this degree, overthe four-year period. For 2019, this was awarded to Ms Carol-Mari
Schulz. The award of US$300 was presented to Carol-Mari at aceremony held on 24 October 2019 on the Potchefstroom Campusof the NWU. In addition to the IOHA award she received the Fritz
Eloff-Petrus Laubscher floating trophy. This trophy carries thenames of two NWU academics who were historically responsible
for establishing and developing occupational hygiene as a subject
field at the university. The trophy itself is a concrete test block fromthe Occupational Hygiene facility that was built on campus in 2018.
Carol-Mari’s immediate future plan is to enroll for a Master’s degreein Occupational Hygiene at the NWU in 2020.
Prof. Fritz Eloff, Ms Carol-Mari Schulz and Mr Petrus Laubscherissued a joint statement of appreciation: “We sincerely thank IOHA
for the sponsorship of this award. As a university, we share thevision of IOHA in promoting occupational hygiene as a profession.

27Vol 26 No 1 January/February 2020

We are of the opinion that this degree will make a significant contribution to the advancement of occupational hygiene in South
Africa and Africa.”

IOHA board members’ travels
and ­presentations
In October Mr Rene Leblanc, IOHA President, travelled to Medellin,
Columbia to attend the Columbian Association of OccupationalHygiene (ACHO) 18th Columbian Congress of Ergonomics. He gavea presentation about future IOHA objectives and strategies, andmet with representatives from a variety of organisations to discusscollaborations and projects.
Mr Leblanc also travelled to the 37 th Annual Conference
and Exhibition of the Australian Institute of OccupationalHygienists (AIOH) in Perth, Australia, from 30 November to4 December 2019. He gave a presentation on IOHA activities andinternational collaboration. With some persuasion, Rene was also
allowed to give an additional presentation to make a case for why
IOHA is needed, and what the Association’s strategic plans andmost important projects will be in the next five years.
In November 2019, Dr Tom Fuller, the IOHA President-Elect,
travelled to Buenos Aires, Argentina to meet with the Associationof Occupational and Environmental Hygienists of the Republic ofArgentina (AHRA). The Association has approximately 80 members

At the BHSc Top Achiever Award ceremony (L-R):
Prof. Fritz Eloff, Ms Carol-Mari Schulz and Mr Petrus
Laubscher
Photograph: Johan du Plessis

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IOHA NEWSLETTER & TECHNICAL UPDATESGLOBAL EXPOSURE MANAGER
International Occupational
Hygiene Associationand has been in existence for several years. The meeting beganwith an overview of AHRA programmes and activities, bothconducted and planned. Dr Fuller had an opportunity to provide information about IOHA and current projects regarding
consensus building for curriculum development. Argentina
offers both Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes in
occupational hygiene. The development of an occupational
hygiene exam in Spanish was also discussed, including the steps
needed for it to be accepted into the National Accreditation
Recognition programme.
During this meeting Dr Fuller also spoke about theOccupational Hygiene Training Association (OHTA) and its programmes. He described the various training modules that areavailable and encouraged AHRA to consider becoming approved
trainers so that the OHTA courses can be offered in Argentina.
In a separate meeting, Dr Fuller also met with a new­occupational hygiene professional group, the Argentine Societyof Occupational Hygiene (SAHIO). This group has approximately
30 members and applied for IOHA membership during 2019.
Recently, SAHIO received final approval by the Board and is nowa full member of IOHA. Congratulations and welcome to IOHA!

Creating a Spanish-language
national accreditation
recognition certification body
After recent meetings and conversations with Spanish-speaking
organisations in IOHA (AHRA, ACHO, AMHI and AEHI), Dr Fuller has
created a group with the intent of establishing a Spanish-language
National Accreditation Recognition (NAR) certification body, which
will offer examinations in Spanish. The project will proceed in twoparallel paths. The objective of the first is to create a governing
body that meets the IOHA NAR requirements, including policies,programmes and procedures. The second major activity will involvethe development of a large bank of exam questions. Dr Fuller is in theprocess of identifying a group of volunteers to assist in this projectand is aiming for completion within two years. Anyone with insightor recommendations for the group is encouraged to contact Dr Fuller
directly at the e-mail address: tpfuller1@gmail.com

AHRA meeting attendees in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Photograph: unknown

SAHIO meeting attendees in Pilar, Argentina
Photograph: Amanda Mastrovincenzo

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Vol 26 No 1 January/February 2020

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IOHA NEWSLETTER & TECHNICAL UPDATESGLOBAL EXPOSURE MANAGER
International OccupationalHygiene Association

New Zealand Whakaari volcano eruption andoccupational hygiene responses
Philippa Gibson, CIH COH, WorkSafe New Zealand, e-mail: Philippa.Gibson@worksafe.govt.nz

A unique adventure tourism experience offered in New Zealand was avisit to an active volcanic island–Whakaari (White Island). Visitors could
walk on the uninhabited live volcano, located a short boat ride fromthe coast of New Zealand. On 9 December 2019, about 100 people
were on or near the island when it erupted without warning. Steam,rock and ash shot 3.6 km into the air. Sadly, 20 people died and 25 arestill in hospital, some in critical condition. The victims suffered severeburns from super-heated geothermal fluids and highly corrosive
ash. Skin banks from around the world have contributed millions ofsquare centimetres of skin for the multiple skin grafts needed for the survivors, many of whom will require months of surgery and rehabilitation.
Immediately following the eruption, tour boat operators andlocal helicopter pilots ferried injured people back to the mainland.
One civilian helicopter that was on the island during the eruption
was so badly damaged by ash it could not be flown. After the initial
evacuation, the island and nearby water were closed due to the highrisk of further eruptions and the unknown atmosphere and groundconditions. Drones were deployed to identify any remaining people;
sadly, the images showed that it was unlikely anyone on the island
survived the initial eruption.

IDENTIFIED HEALTH RISKS
In addition to projectiles and super-heated fluids, gases likely to havebeen present at high levels at the time of the eruption were carbon
dioxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and halides of hydrogen(hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen bromide). The
halides produced acidic liquids and resulting ash was high in fluorides. In addition, heavy metals such as mercury, lead and arsenic
were released during the eruption of the volcano.
Although the island’s volcanic activity had been monitored formany decades by volcanologists, and in-situ monitoring equipment
was still functioning, the equipment was located in areas remotefrom where the recovery team had to venture, and was designed forassessing volcanic activity, not assessing health risk. People had been
visiting the island for decades, usually without respiratory protection,and the atmospheric concentrations of hazardous aerosols following
the eruption were unknown. Eyewitness reports indicated that gas
and airborne particulate exposure caused health effects during and
immediately after the eruption. To provide additional information
before going onto the island, air monitoring equipment with remotesensing was deployed using drones.
Risks to first responders, ambulance staff, hospital staff
and post-mortem workers included exposure to hazardous
chemicals through cross contamination of ash and hydrothermal fluids on patients. Early responders attempting to recoverbodies from the island were at risk of an additional eruption andexposure to unknown hazardous particulates, gases and hot
acidic fluids. In addition, the ground was covered in ash and difficult to walk over, and was also hot and shaking with tremors.

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Vol 26 No 1 January/February 2020

Rescuers working in testing conditions on Whakaari Island
after the volcano eruption Source: NZDF. https://www.stuff.co.nz/
national/118185646/whakaariwhite-island-nzdf-shows-absolute-courage-in-anunpredictable-environment

RISK MANAGEMENT
To recover the deceased safely, and minimise the risk of further loss of life orhealth, a multi-disciplinary team, led by the New Zealand Police, gathered
to pool knowledge and resources to develop a plan. This involved variousscientists (occupational hygienists, volcanologists), medical specialists,
search-and-rescue specialists, victim-identification specialists, and the NewZealand military.
The risk management plan depended not only on the right timing,
personal protective equipment (PPE), gas monitors, health surveillance anddecontamination, but–most critically–the operation had to be carried out by
the right people. Given the high heat load from wearing impervious chemical suits (to prevent contact with corrosive gas, liquid or particulate matter),rebreather closed-circuit breathing apparatus (in case of toxic gases), andthe heat from the volcano itself, heat stress was a critical risk. The people
selected for this operation had been highly trained in the assessment of theirown physiological state at the extremes of physical effort, and could holdtheir nerves under very testing conditions. These people comprised the New
Zealand Defence Force specialist bomb disposal team.
Fortunately, recovery operations were successful and no additional
injuries occurred. Travel to the island has been discontinued as the Whakaari
volcano remains active. The newly created National Emergency Management
Agency was responsible for coordinating more than 20 government and support agencies. WorkSafe New Zealand, for which this author works, will continue to be involved and work to investigate worker exposures and outcomes.

REFERENCES
1. RNZ. New Zealand. Whakaari/White Island rescue: ‘Nothing can really prepare youfor an eruption like this’. Available from: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/405185/
whakaari-white-island-rescue-nothing-can-really-prepare-you-for-an-eruption-like-this(accessed 23 Jan 2010).

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