History
ABIH Timeline
| 1914 | IH Section of the American Public Health Association established |
| 1937 | Michigan IH Association founded |
| 1938 | ACGIH founded |
| 1939 | AIHA founded |
| 1956 | AIHA appointed an ad hoc Committee on Certification |
| 1957 | Committee on Certification Standards appointed |
| 1958 | ACGIH invited to join and began participation |
| 1959 | Committee recommended a separate Board be established for certification of IHs |
| 1960 |
Twelve delegates held first meeting in Rochester, New York Petition for Incorporation approved by Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County First Board meeting held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| 1962 | First application period expires - 485 IHs qualified under 15 year experience criteria |
| 1963 |
First examinations held in Cincinnati, Ohio. Bachelor's degree and 8 years' experience required as a minimum Examination consisted of Core and Comprehensive Practice or 1 of 6 aspect (acoustical, air pollution, chemical, engineering, radiological and toxicological) exams First certificates issued for Comprehensive Practice, Chemical Aspects and Engineering Aspects by written examination |
| 1964 | First certificates issued for Air Pollution, Radiological and Toxicological Aspects by written examination |
| 1969/1970 | Toxicological Aspects examination withdrawn, pending update |
| 1971 | Last certificate issued for Radiological Aspects by written examination |
| 1972 |
Eligibility requirements for CIH examination changed from 8 years' to 5 years' experience/equivalency, beginning with 1973 examinations The Core and second level examination eligibilities. Core eligibility to be 1 year experience/equivalency to begin with 1973 examinations. Core-only examination to be for Industrial Hygienist in Training, IHIT |
| 1973 |
Decision to restore eligibility provisions for applicants without bachelor's degrees First Certificate for Acoustical Aspects written examination |
| 1976 | IH Technologist certification program established |
| 1977/1978 | Decision to accept credentials from the Institute for Noise Control Engineering (INCE) and from the American Board of Health Physics (ABHP) in lieu of second level examinations in the Acoustical and Radiological Aspects respectively |
| 1979 |
Certification Maintenance program initiated; 6 year recertification cycle First ABIH Executive Director hired (half time) Reintroduction of written examination in the Toxicological Aspects |
| 1984/1985 | First formal Role Delineation/Task Analysis (RD/TA) study |
| 1986 |
Joint Committee established with BCSP for technician level certifications Decision to grant 1 year experience equivalency for applicants with an IH masters degree and 2 years for an IH doctoral degree, beginning in 1987 |
| 1988 |
Last Toxicology Aspect examination given Decision to discontinue eligibility provisions for non-degree applicants after 1990 |
| 1990 | Decision to discontinue certifications in the Acoustical, Air Pollution, Engineering and Radiological Aspects at the end of 1991 |
| 1991 | Decision to offer sub-specialty examinations in Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)and Hazardous Material Response and Remediation (HMRR) |
| 1992 | Aspect exams (except Chemistry) eliminated |
| 1993 | Subspecialty examinations first offered - IEQ and HMRR |
| 1994 | HMRR Sub-specialty discontinued |
| 1997 | Effective date to limit the 1 year experience equivalency towards a CIH for applicants with a masters degree - must be from an ABET accredited IH program |
| 1998 | CM Program changed from 6 to 5 year recertification period |
| 1999 |
CESB Accreditation obtained Public member first elected to the Board Board votes to establish a permanent Associate-level credential, CAIH, beginning with 2001 examinations |
| 2000 | Decision to discontinue the Core and Chemical Practice examinations and to suspend the IEQ sub-specialty exam effective 2001 |
| 2001 | Decision to grant 6 months experience equivalency towards a CIH for applicants with a bachelors degree from an ABET accredited IH program |
| 2002 | Initiated Phase in of IH Coursework requirement for new applicants |
| 2003 | IOHA recognition as Certification Board obtained |
| 2004 | Computer Based Testing (CBT) examinations are given in North America |
| 2006 |
Decisions to:
Decision to discontinue offering the CAIH certification |
| 2007 | Code of Ethics revised |
| 2008 |
CBT examinations are given internationally Decision to sell interest in CCHEST (ABIH/BCSP joint venture) to BCSP |
| 2009 |
ANSI ISO/IEC 17024:2003 Accreditation obtained |
| 2013 |
NCCA Accreditation obtained; CESB Accreditation dropped |
Additional History information is available in a 1966 article written by Henry Smyth.