r/industrialhygiene

What cert do I need to do?
How do i get those ethics courses for the CIH?

Do i need an accredited degree for this? i’m in uoft and they don’t have any accredited IH undergrad degrees.

i’m already halfway through my studies and i missed the application deadline for TMU’s occupational health and safety degree.

can i get into this industry with just a bachelors, or is a postgrad degree necessary?

bachelors:
double majors in
chemistry
environment and health

tysm!

I am an engineering student but my last internship was in IH. I enjoyed learning about it, but am very conflicted on which I want to pursue.

On one hand, I like learning about everything and found IH interesting in that regard. On the other hand, I am worried on whether I could do this for my career as I heard pursuing IH would make it hard to switch to engineering jobs. I don’t enjoy safety either but I really liked IH topics, but I’m worried that I might be making the choice based on that I like to learn about everything. Engineering wise, I was never interested in my classes but I’m good at it.

Any engineers here that chose IH? How did you decide?

I’m trying to understand a specific asbestos/HEPA-filter scenario and would appreciate input from people familiar with filtration or asbestos exposure. I used a Levoit Core 400S for roughly two months after it had previously been used in an renovation environment where asbestos-containing material have been disturbed. (didn't know at that moment about content)

My concern is that if asbestos fibers were captured by the filter, could some of those fibers later detach or become re-entrained during normal operation, changes in airflow, low-level vibration, or handling of the purifier? I’ve come across studies reporting re-entrainment from loaded HEPA filters, but the experimental conditions seem to vary considerably.

I’m particularly interested in whether those studies are realistically applicable to a household HEPA purifier operating under normal conditions, and whether fibers that were previously trapped in the filter could realistically produce a meaningful airborne concentration in the room, and if so, what levels could be?

We have been finding bits of what appear to be fiberglass ductwork on our floors. That's a whole separate issue, but we will probably be calling in HVAC to look around.

We live in a rental home built in 1957. The home has pink fiberglass insulation. In my reading about what these weird bits could be, I discovered that old fiberglass insulation contains formaldehyde which is not typically a danger unless heated or subject to humidity, then it off-gasses. It gets extremely hot in our attic here, we live in GA. We can literally feel and smell the hot air standing under vents/the attic hatch. The attic is at least somewhat ventilated. We had a leak awhile back above our laundry room which was fixed but who knows what remains up there. We have an infant in the home and it has never occurred to me that formaldehyde could be getting into the house. We are only here for 5 more months.​ I doubt the landlord would agree to pay for this (or the HVAC), but we are prepared to if need be. Just concerned about our little one and pets with the cancer risk.

Is this a concern or am I overthinking it? if so, are there any reliable tests I can do myself?

Early Bird Special Aug 23 #CIHExam

do i need an accredited degree for this? i’m in uoft and they don’t have any accredited IH degrees.

can i get into this industry with just a bachelors, or is a postgrad degree necessary?

should i major in:
environment and health

or environmental geosciences?

any tips on getting internships in this field?

TYSM!

Hey all! I am a recent grad with an B.S. in the environmental sciences and realized a lot of my interests align with human health, biological sciences, and helping people. I am considering doing a masters in IH, especially with the funding out there for ERCs.

However, family and friends have stated concerns about the field being over saturated with technicians w/o degrees limiting earning potential with a Masters, the salary outlook, higher earning roles being taken by Senior Engineers, and the field being “rough for a lady”.

Any insight on the above ideas would be deeply helpful, thanks!

I am a recent grad with an ecology degree looking at environmental consulting and i am interested in getting a entry level position as an IH technician. I have worked doing over 2 years of field work in my undergrad lab doing water quality monitoring, technical writing, and i am trying to get advice on how to pitch my skills and background considering I dont have a degree in something IH related. I am meeting with a consultant who works in IH for an informational interview, but I thought i could ask here as well. Im in the Midwest btw

Love the field. IH is what I imagined scientists did as a kid. I love keeping people safe, and while I do a lot of that at my current job as a ehs specialist, I’d like to get the best cert in the game but feel like its out of reach due to not having a engineering degree, and having only a 3.3 gpa for my unfergrad

If anyone has advice, I’d love to hear it

I will graduate soon and have an offer for an MPH at my school, where ideally, I’d like to do my MPH online while working full time, is this doable?

What other experiences should I am to get?

I have an engineering degree and the only IH related experience is a 6 month internship at a large pharma company as an EHS intern where I helped with a lot of IH tasks such as sampling.

Should I be applying for EHS jobs as well? I don’t want to be stuck in safety though.

Just thought I’d share a bit of my journey. bachelors in geology kinda fell into safety on accident but I love it. Work in civil qa at the moment with larger than normal safety responsibilities. Just passed my chst and planning to shift to a safety specialist role at the same company after my paternity leave.

I expressed interest in getting my cih and getting more involved with atmosphere testing in confined spaces, and my company agreed to let me take part in this work. It is my opinion that construction safety will move into a mandatory csp for all manager roles and for higher paying jobs (director, regional) cih will be heavily sought after.

Is this a common line of thought? Anybody else in the construction or utility safety worlds done this before?