October 2016 President’s Message

Fall is here with the crisp dry air. The Executive Committee (EC) continues to plan for the upcoming monthly dinner meetings, and the Professional Development Courses (PDCs) and Northeast Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exhibition (NEIHce) in December. If you would like to volunteer your time, we could use your help with moderation, logistics and other coordinated activities. Anyone who wants to volunteer, contact Barbara Woodhull for the NEIHce and Mark Ostapczuk for the PDCs.

We are very excited that Mark Ostapczuk identified terrific speakers for our PDCs on December 1, 2016. More info will be forthcoming as we get closer to the date. Craig Doolittle also has done an outstanding job selecting speakers for the October dinner meeting. We are always interested in hearing from anyone either within our membership or outside the organization who wishes to speak at our monthly dinner meetings, PDCs, or our annual regional conference. Please contact Craig Doolittle.

The NJAIHA campaign regarding the NJ Youth@Work Talking Safety program needs your help to contact various stakeholders to protect our children. Our mission is to collaborate with each of these stakeholders to develop awareness, construct legislation, and provide the tools to (1) develop policy to require all school districts to present a 45-minute curriculum for students who will be seeking employment, possible for the first time and the responsibilities of their employers to provide a safe and healthful workplace and (2) upload the free materials needed for faculty to conduct the group training by the end of each school year. The curriculum is fun, free and engaging for administrators, teachers and school/community-based job placement staff to educate young people about the basics of job safety and health. More information can be found on the NJAIHA website.

We are still looking for volunteers as part-time Outreach Coordinators. This important task assists NJAIHA to increase awareness of our profession as a career choice for students and enhances the benefits of being a member. Ideally, we also would like to start a NJAIHA student chapter to create synergy between NJAIHA, local universities and colleges. We envision that some of our scholarship winners and undergraduate and graduate students could perform these duties to tell middle school and high school students about the benefits of our profession. NJAIHA has constructed a fun briefing to meet this goal. If you want to be an Outreach Coordinator, please contact Candice Kowalewski.

We want you to enjoy networking and learning at the dinner meetings, PDCs and the NEIHce! We are working hard to enhance our membership engagement and cover the current topics of interest. If you haven’t heard, NJAIHA is offering a “Loyalty Rewards Program”. Members who attend any five (5) dinner meetings will get the 6th dinner free!! The program is not applicable to any PDCs or the NEIHce. In addition, if you sign-up five (5) new or former members, NJAIHA will gladly offer you a free dinner as well. Feel free to contact me on any other suggested incentives to drive organizational engagement and increase the membership.

You may noticed a large increase number of postings on social media – Facebook and Linkedin. Our objective is to connect more with Millennials and begin a deeper conversation of the issues that affect you and your family, and the workforce, public, or environment that your serve. There are many peerreviewed articles and other nationally recognized resources, which may be of interest to our members and the work that they do. Recently, we started “Tell Me Your Story” which will feature an article in our newsletters. If you have a story to tell either past or present, please contact Mark Ostapczuk.

We are seeking more vendors to advertise in our monthly newsletter and website, and help sponsor our monthly dinner meetings. As a bonus, we will promote your business by advertising on Facebook. Our objective is to add business value to attract new customers and help them showcase their products and services. If you would like to advertise, complete the application on the website. Jack Zybura can provide more information about posting any information to the website or social media.

As a reminder, we need your support for the student scholarships. We will continue selling the piqué polo shirts with the NJAIHA logo to raise additional revenue to support the student scholarships. We are holding our pricing structure so that more of members can afford these items. These shirts can be proudly worn to any NJAIHA venue and they make a great gift. Several members proudly wore these shirts at our dinner meetings and at AIHce. If you like to make a purchase, contact Craig Doolittle.

Recently, I had a substantive conversation with members of the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) about the future growth and success of ABIH and the current practice of industrial hygiene and occupational health. One notable issue was local mentoring. This subject has come up but no action has been taken to close the gap between academic and practical application, connecting seasoned professionals with young career-minded persons, and providing the capacity to elevate young professionals to become certified. Henceforth, I seek volunteer(s) to help construct a local mentoring program. AIHA and Workplace Health Without Borders (WHWB) already have begun such a program.

NJAIHA Planning Committee has identified national recognized speakers for the PDCs on Thursday, 1 Dec 2016 and the Northeast Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exhibition (NEIHce) on Friday, 2 Dec 2016. These speakers will discuss thought provoking topics concerning our profession today. We will publish an advance program soon and send out letters to anyone who would like to be a corporate sponsor or vendor exhibitor. Contact Kevin Ruehle at (800) 733-4555 to ensure that you make the list.

Just as a reminder, last month AIHA changed the program administrator for its sponsored Professional Liability (PL) insurance plan. Administration of policy application, issuance and claims will be handled by Alliant Insurance Services, a national insurance brokerage firm from their offices in Chantilly, VA.

As you may already know, AIHA appointed Lawrence “Larry” Sloan, CAE as the new CEO, effective October 17, 2016. We want to wish him the very best as AIHA charts a new course for the organization. Welcome aboard and good luck!

In closing, I hope to see you and a friend at the Thursday October 20th dinner meeting at Snuffy’s! Look for the email announcement and/or posting on Linkedin and Facebook.

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