April 2017 President’s Message

The Executive Committee is very excited to announce that NJAIHA membership does have its rewards. Beginning in April 2017, NJAIHA members will have the opportunity to participate in the 2017 AIHA eLearning program. As a reinvestment tool to enhance the profession; NJAIHA members can participate live or playback recorded webinars using their computer, tablets, or any other device. Non-members will not be registered with AIHA to participate in the program, so tell your colleagues and friends to join NJAIHA.

AIHA’s eLearning solutions are designed for professionals seeking an alternate educational setting. This virtual learning environment provides the same standard of learning and level of technical content, but is administered online. Certification maintenance is awarded by AIHA for participants. AIHA webinars are web-based continuing education events that enable attendees to learn anytime from the comfort of their own home or office. AIHA webinars are presented by industry experts on a variety of topics, catering to every OEHS niche, and are fully accredited and allow IHs and OEHS professionals to obtain contact hours towards their certification maintenance programs. Automatic registration to AIHA webinars earn you at least 10 contact hours.

But wait!!!! The AIHA eLearning subscription also guarantees registration to the 2017 AIHA virtual conference on leadership and management via live video streaming, multi-track session broadcast; opportunities to submit questions for presenters and interact with other virtual participants via chat, and access to session recordings. NJAIHA members could earn another 11.5 contact hours. This is an outstanding business value for the price of NJAIHA membership.

Remember our “Loyalty Rewards Program”. Members who attend any five (5) dinner meetings will get the 6th dinner free!! Loyalty rewards are tracked by having your wallet card autographed at each dinner meeting. Also, if you sign up any five (5) new or former NJAIHA members in our “Member Get-a-Member” program, NJAIHA will offer you a free dinner at any one of the monthly meetings. It is important to note that there are no time constraints for either program. To date, both of these programs have been very successful. Please continue to help us grow and prosper. Contact Candice Kowalewski with any questions regarding membership services.

You may have seen our continuous postings on social media – Facebook and Linkedin. Our objective is to connect more with our members on topics of interest and begin a deep dive by talking about the issues that affects the workforce, public, or environment. Using social media provides more connectivity with our membership in a timely fashion rather than emails alone. Recently we posted a number of jobs opportunities on Linkedin to complement the learning process. There are many useful peer-reviewed articles and other nationally recognized resources, which may be of interest to our members. Alternatively, NJAIHA encourages members to contribute beneficial information about the profession, interesting subject matter for learning, upcoming events, and posting other exciting job opportunities. Please send any information to Mark Ostapczuk, our Director of Publications.

NJAIHA continues to seek more vendors to advertise in our monthly newsletter and website, and help sponsor our monthly dinner meetings. As a bonus for advertising, we will promote your business by posting your information on our Facebook webpage. Advertising helps connect business opportunities with our membership. If you would like to advertise, complete an application on the website. Jack Zybura can provide more information about posting any information to the website or social media.

It’s time to review scholarship applications. However, we need your support to help fund the 2017 NJAIHA student scholarships. We are continuing to sell the piqué polo shirts with the NJAIHA logo to raise revenue to support the student scholarships. So far, we have been successful in holding our pricing so more NJAIHA members can afford these items. Many members purchased them so that they can wear the shirts and represent NJAIHA. These shirts can be worn to any NJAIHA venue and they make a great gift. If you want to make a purchase, contact Craig Doolittle, purchase them at the dinner meetings, or visit the NJAIHA website.

The NJAIHA Executive Committee established a subcommittee to update the bylaws and the operations manual. Great strides have been made to update the current information. Both of these important documents have not been updated since 2013. Bylaws represent the written rules for conduct of the Executive Committee. One area of interest is deeper understanding of conflict of interest and fiduciary responsibilities by NJAIHA Executive Committee members. The operations manual helps us construct the framework to meet the policy requirements established in the bylaws. If anyone wants to help or provide comment, please contact Hank Shotwell.

NJAIHA continues to work with New Jersey State Industrial Safety Committee (NJSISC) leadership to resolve the conflict of interest matter relative to the annual award ceremonies and dinner meetings. The Executive Committee voted to fund the initial payment with the understanding that payment would be refunded once the revenues were collected by the participants. This collaboration allows worthy businesses to attend the banquet and receive their annual safety awards. This is also an opportunity for NJAIHA to receive name recognition for our dedication and work to protect the health of workers. As an event sponsor, NJSISC will allow NJAIHA to promote the organization to participating companies with business interest in protecting the health and safety of their workers. The NJAIHA Executive Committee believes this a great opportunity for all stakeholders.

Recently AIHA requested the membership contact their US Senators to vote against H.J.Res.83, which would use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to permanently overturn OSHAs final rule. Employers should be obligated to establish and maintain accurate records of work-related injuries and illnesses throughout a five-year record retention timeframe. Please consider pledging your support.

In closing, I hope to see you and a friend at the Thursday, April 20th dinner meeting at Snuffy’s! We have an outstanding lineup of speakers for this event. Look for more information in the email announcement and/or posting on Linkedin and Facebook.

Best regards,
Bernard L. Fontaine, Jr., CIH, CSP, FAIHA
President NJAIHA