September 2000
Board's Message |
Welcome to the first issue of ABIH News. Prior to the merger of the Academy with AIHA, a section devoted to ABIH news was included in the AAIH Newsletter which was mailed to all CIHs in good standing. The new Academy of Industrial Hygiene newsletter, Diplomate, is now published as part of the Synergist. It continues to carry ABIH news and is circulated to AIHA members. Although the Diplomate will reach most CIHs, it will not reach all. The ABIH Directors believe that the Board should have a regular, direct communication link with all those who are certified by ABIH. Although some of the content will duplicate that found in the Diplomate, our initial plans are for two ABIH News issues a year.
The Board and its Committees meet twice a year, usually in April and October. This is when new ideas, initiatives, policies, etc. are introduced, discussed, debated and may come to the full Board to be voted on. We hope that, by publishing the ABIH News after each of the two Board Meetings, it will give those of you certified by ABIH the opportunity to learn first hand about the issues being considered, decisions being made and the activities the Board engages in to advance industrial hygiene certification. Ultimately, we hope it will lead to timely feedback from stakeholders which can be factored into the decision making process.
Please let us know what you think!
Board Structure/Process |
Most of the issues that come before the full Board are initially worked by one or more of the four standing committees: Qualifications, Examination, Certification Maintenance and Executive. These committees meet at least twice a year at the time a full Board meeting is scheduled. Depending on the issues under consideration, a committee may also meet in-between Board meetings and/or make use of conference calls and email discussions. Complex, critical issues require research, soliciting input from stakeholders and identifying pros and cons and alternate courses of action during several committee meetings before a recommendation is brought to the Board for a vote. Columbia Assessment Services, Inc. (CAS), the testing company ABIH has a contract with, is frequently consulted when Board issues fall within its areas of expertise.
April 2000 Board Report |
During the April 1-2, 2000 meeting, the following major issues were finalized and voted on by the Directors:
Every two years, nominees for ABIH Directors have been provided in the past by the AAIH, ACGIH and AIHA with the Board making the final selections. Because of the Academy/AIHA merger, ABIH changed its Bylaws to open the nomination process for the Directors who have come from the AAIH. CIHs in good standing are now able to submit their names to ABIH for consideration. A mailing describing this self-nomination process was sent to CIHs in June. As of the August 1st deadline, 42 CIHs have indicated their interest in becoming an ABIH Director. During August/September, a Board Selection Committee will review the Nomination packets looking for a mix of individuals who possess a variety of knowledge, experience and skills. Demographic factors to be considered include geographic location, type of employer, education, year certified, type of work experience, administrative skills, accomplishments, etc. Four nominees will be selected from the 42 submissions. During the October 28-29 PCIH Nashville Board Meeting, two of the four At-Large nominees will be elected as ABIH Directors. At the same time, two of the four ACGIH nominees and two of the four AIHA nominees will also be elected for a total of six new Directors. They will take office at the April 2001 ABIH Board meeting.
Several years ago, the Board asked for comments on a proposal to upgrade the educational background required for candidates to sit for the CIH exams. During review of applications, it had been observed that many individuals appeared to be entering the field with little or no formal industrial hygiene education and limited opportunities for training with experienced practitioners. Diplomates who commented made it clear they felt requiring an IH Masters degree from an ABET accredited program would be unnecessarily restrictive. However, the majority view was strong overall support for increasing the formal educational requirements for CIH candidates. As a result, based on a six year phase in period, the Board will require applicants to document completion of specific industrial hygiene courses. At least half of the required course work must cover the broad subjects of toxicology, fundamentals of industrial hygiene, measurements and controls. The remaining coursework may be in industrial hygiene subjects that are narrower in scope (ie: asbestos, ergonomics, biohazards, heat stress. etc.)
This requirement will be satisfied if the necessary contact hours were completed as part of the applicant's academic degree. If additional course work is taken to meet this requirement, then academic courses, continuing education courses or a combination of both (see Table 1 below) can be submitted. In general, one semester hour equals 15 academic contact hours and one quarter hour equals 10 academic contact hours.
| EXAM YEAR | ACADEMIC CONTACT HOURS | CONTINUING EDUCATION CONTACT HOURS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 0 | or | 0 |
| 2002 | 15 | or | 20 |
| 2003 | 45 | or | 60 |
| 2004 | 90 | or | 120 |
| 2005 | 135 | or | 180 |
| 2006 | 180 | or | 240 |
As you may remember, one of the application requirements is to arrange for a reference from a CIH who is familiar with the applicant's work. The alternative is for the applicant to supply work examples which illustrate the depth and breadth of his or her IH work experience. In April, the Directors voted that a Professional Reference Questionnaire from an individual holding the Canadian Registered Occupational Hygienist (ROH) or the United Kingdom Diploma of Professional Competence in Occupational Hygiene can also substitute for a CIH reference. This issue was brought to the Board by the Qualifications Committee in response to queries from several applicants.
The CIH examination process has been revised to eliminate the Core Examination. ABIH, with input from Columbia Assessment Services, Inc., reached this conclusion after examining the validity and reliability of the examination program.
The purpose of the examination is to determine whether or not individuals who take the test possess sufficient knowledge of industrial hygiene to become certified. To be valid, then, the ABIH examination program must assess the practice of industrial hygiene as defined through the Role Delineation/Task Analysis Study. The questions on the examination must constitute a representative sample of the required knowledge. The scores and pass/fail decisions must also adhere to applicable standards for reliability to ensure that scores are accurate and that pass/fail decisions are consistent.
The Board conducted several types of analysis in evaluating the unique contribution of the Core Examination to the overall program.
First, the Examination Committee reviewed both examinations to determine what differences existed between them in the level and function of the questions, and what amount of content was covered on the Core Examination that was not assessed on the Comprehensive Practice. Directors found that the majority of the fundamental knowledge that was tested by the Core Examination was required to successfully answer questions on the Comprehensive Practice Examination. That is, the Core Examination offered very limited ability to assess knowledge not already tested within the Comprehensive Practice Examination.
ABIH then evaluated the instances in which candidates failed the Core but passed the Comprehensive Practice Exam when both were taken on the same weekend. It was determined that only a very small number of candidates failed the Core uniquely when taking both exams. This indicates that the Core Examination was not functioning as an additional discriminator between qualified and non-qualified candidates beyond what the Comp Exam was already accomplishing independently.
Finally, the Board evaluated the reliability of the ultimate pass/fail decision if it is made only on candidates' performance on the Comprehensive, and found that the ultimate pass/fail decision would be just as accurate when based on the Comprehensive examination as when based on both.
After considerable analysis, ABIH determined that it could eliminate the Core Examination without sacrificing the validity or reliability of the examination. A single examination can be constructed of carefully chosen questions with adequate discriminating power to accomplish the purpose of the two existing examinations. Care will be taken to assure that the fundamental knowledge tested by the Core Examination will continue to be assessed by the Comprehensive Practice Exam. The benefit of this decision is that it will be a more cost effective assessment for both ABIH and candidates, while offering essentially equal quality to the public and other interested audiences.
The subspecialty certification program in Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) will be suspended after this fall's examinations based on the following factors:
The suspension of this program does not affect those individuals who have already attained this credential or who attain it this year.
At the April 2000 meeting, the ABIH Directors voted to increase the annual dues for Certified Industrial Hygienists from $55 to $75 and Industrial Hygienists in Training from $20 to $40. The increase is necessary to raise revenues so that the Board can continue to serve its Diplomates in an effective manner and proceed with projects to enhance the Industrial Hygiene certification programs. This is the first increase since 1993 and only the second increase since 1987. The annual dues for the new Certified Associate Industrial Hygienist (CAIH) credential will also be $75. In addition, the Board is changing the due date for the annual fees to December 31 to be consistent with standard bookkeeping practice. Previously, dues were required to be paid by the first day of March.
This increase is not related to the recent transfer of the American Academy of Industrial Hygiene to the AIHA. The cash reserves that ABIH received from AAIH were designated for use to off-set the need for a dues increase. However, revenues have been declining faster than the Board's ability to change expenditures and, in addition, the dues increase is needed to develop the new CAIH credential – the first new ABIH certification in 35 years, to improve several key operational systems including communications and advocacy activities which are part of our core work, and to improve our reserves.
The primary sources of revenue for ABIH are dues and application/examination fees. Revenues have declined 11% since 1997. This reduction is contrasted by an increase in ABIH expenses including relatively fixed costs such as legal fees, accounting, rent, travel and administration, among others. Simultaneously, the Board has made substantial and concerted efforts to manage its expenses and control headcount in the Lansing headquarters office. For example, the 2000 budget for controllable expenses was reduced by 8% relative to 1999 alone and there are fewer staff in Lansing now than in 1994, despite absorbing 20% more Diplomates during the same time period. This situation is compounded by a very limited number of revenue sources available to the Board. New sources are continually investigated, however, to date no new and appropriate sources have been identified, e.g., selling expired examination questions.
In addition, ABIH has followed a conservative investment policy for many years that has limited return on investments and thereby minimized our reserves. The current revenue shortfall has resulted in the Board relying on reserves until the balance sheet improves – a practice that weakens the Board's long-term fiscal strength. While ABIH's current investment policy is more assertive, it voluntarily excludes equity investments that include tobacco stocks on moral grounds and on the feedback of ABIH Diplomates. As such, there is less money to execute the Board's responsibilities and provide services to stakeholders. Bottom line: the increase is regrettable, but necessary and arguably overdue.
Despite the increase, ABIH's dues will still be less than 80% of the average dues for our peer credentialing organizations: the American Academy of Environmental Engineers, the American Board of Health Physics, the American Board of Occupational Health Nurses, the Board of Certified Safety Professionals, the Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics, the Institute of Professional Environmental Practice and the Institute of Hazardous Materials Management.
Additional Questions & Answers on the Dues Increase can be found at www.abih.org.
Certified Associate Industrial Hygienist (CAIH) |
The Board will offer, beginning in the spring 2001, a certification program for professional-level practitioners who engage in industrial hygiene activities but who do not qualify for Comprehensive Practice certification as a CIH. The new certification will be called "Certified Associate Industrial Hygienist" and will be abbreviated "CAIH".
The Board believes there are two identifiable categories of practitioners who will qualify for associate-level certification in industrial hygiene. One group comprises EHS professionals whose industrial hygiene responsibilities do not account for 50% or more of their total work time. The second group are professionals who primarily function in a single Industrial Hygiene rubric area, such as ergonomics, noise, health physics, etc., thereby not meeting the Comprehensive Practice requirement for broad-scope work experience.
The CAIH Examination will be a one-day exam and will be given on the same dates and at the same locations as the Comprehensive Practice (CIH) Exam (generally a Sunday). The RDTA, developed at the same three-day session as the updated CIH RDTA, is similar in breadth (but not depth) to the CIH RDTA, and the examination will also cover the same rubrics. The eligibility requirements and CAIH RDTA are available on the web site as part of the CAIH Candidate Handbook.
As with the CIH certification, a five year recertification requirement will be built into the process and an application for third party accreditation through the Council of Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards (CESB) will be submitted.
| The Candidate Handbook and application is available on the web and at the Lansing office. |
Role Delineation Update |
The major function of the ABIH credentialing program is to ensure competency and professionalism in the field of industrial hygiene. It provides assurance that the Certified Industrial Hygienist has met specific criteria designed to ensure that he or she is competent in the provision of services.
The Board contracted Columbia Assessment Services, Inc. (CAS) to update and re-validate the scope of practice for the Certified Industrial Hygienist. With the assistance of ABIH, CAS convened a panel of subject matter experts in the field of industrial hygiene on September 16-19, 1999 to accomplish this task. The panel represented a variety of practice settings, geographic regions, educational levels and years of experience.
The development of a quality credentialing or licensing program must follow certain logically sound and legally defensible procedures for developing examinations. These principles and procedures are outlined in federal regulation (Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures) and manuals, such as Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing ( published by the American Educational Research Association, 1999). CAS adheres to these standards when assisting credentialing programs, including the American Board of Industrial Hygiene, to develop examinations.
Before a content-valid examination is developed, the knowledge and skills needed to be a competent professional in the field must be determined. The process for identifying these competency areas is a role delineation, or job analysis, which serves as a blueprint for examination development.
The critical reason for conducting a role delineation study is to ensure that an examination is content-valid. Content validity is the most commonly applied and accepted validation strategy utilized in establishing certification programs today. In psychometric terms, validation is the way a test developer documents that the competence to be inferred from a test score is actually measured by the examination. A content-valid examination, then, appropriately evaluates knowledge or skills required to function as a competent practitioner in the field. A content-valid examination contains a representative sample of items that measure the knowledge or skills contained in the profession being tested.
Thus, the role delineation study is an integral part of ensuring that an examination is content-valid—-that the aspects of the profession covered on the examination reflect the tasks performed in practice settings. For both broad content areas and tasks, the study identified their importance, criticality and frequency. These ratings play an important role in determining the content of the examination.
The role delineation study for the American Board of Industrial Hygiene consisted of the following 3 phases:
The thirteen member role delineation panel identified the domains, tasks, knowledge and skills essential to the performance of a Certified Industrial Hygienist.
A representative sample of professionals in the field of Comprehensive Practice industrial hygiene reviewed and validated the work of the role delineation panel.
Based on the ratings gathered from the representative sample of professionals, the test specifications for the certification examination were developed.
The detailed Role Delineation document which includes Domains, Tasks, Knowledge and Skill statements can be found on the ABIH web site.
We would like to thank the thirteen individuals who volunteered their time and talents to participate on the Role Delineation panel.
Charles Boone, CIH
Liberty Mutual Insurance
Dennis George, PhD, CIH
Western Kentucky University
Faye Grimsley, CIH
PhD Student, University of Cincinnati
Edward Grund, CSP
I D Group
Zeke Haslam, CIH
Duke Engineering & Services
Bruce Karas, CIH
Coca Cola Company
Terry Krug, CIH
USDOL/OSHA
Dean Lillquist, PhD, CIH
University of Utah
Doris Reid, CIH
Delta Environmental Consultants
Cindy Lynn Richard, CIH
ACHIEVA, Inc.
Terry Thedell, PhD, CIH
Sempra Energy
Denise Wallace, CIH
City of Boise
Bonnie Weeks, CIH
Wellesley College
Certification Maintenance |
Point Assignment for Courses/Educational ProgramsCM points are awarded for courses and educational programs based on their content and time frame. Courses and educational programs must be approved by ABIH before points will be granted. IH CM points are awarded for content which is IH, environmental or EHS management. Safety CM points are awarded for safety courses or educational programs. There must be a minimum of 10 points per cycle from courses or conferences (includes the AIHCE) related to IH rubric areas, as defined in the ABIH Candidate Handbook. If a course is taken several times during a CM cycle (e.g. a regulatory refresher course), it may be claimed only one time per 5 year cycle. "Fundamentals" of industrial hygiene or similarly titled courses are limited to 6 CM points per 5 year cycle. Beginning January 1, 2001, there will be a ceiling of 6 CM points per 5 year cycle for general management courses or programs (e.g. accounting, marketing, etc.) Industrial Hygiene and EHS program management courses are not subject to the 6 point ceiling and can be included as part of the minimum of 10 points required in IH rubric areas. There is no ceiling on points that can be accumulated in this category other than the overall 14 CM point maximum for all categories in any one year. |
Just a reminder that the Retired Policy can also accommodate Diplomates who may continue to practice industrial hygiene, but who do not wish to continue to use and maintain their CIH.
The policy of the Board regarding Retired/Inactive status is:
At the end of a CM Cycle (12/31), worksheets are due by February 1st of the following year and the last opportunity to recertify by exam is that Spring. Final action on those who do not recertify is taken at the Fall Board meeting. The Committee believes that after the Spring exam date, those who have not recertified by submitting a worksheet or passing the exam should have their use of the CIH designation suspended until final Board action is taken in the Fall. This would still allow a Diplomate to sit for the Fall exam to maintain certification, but would suspend his/her use of the CIH between the Spring exam date and receipt of the Fall exam results.
The following two individuals who lost their certifications in September 1999 have availed themselves of the process for filing a late Worksheet and have been reinstated as CIHs:
The February 1 due date for CM Worksheets has not been treated as an absolute deadline because final action on those who don't report is not taken until the Fall Board meeting. Because of the increasing tendency of those who plan to recertify to delay submitting a worksheet and the implementation of the suspended status, the Board feels it is appropriate to charge a late fee to offset the increased administrative activities of dealing with this group of Diplomates. CIHs submitting worksheets postmarked after the February 1 deadline will be charged $100 late fee. This change in policy begins with the 1995 - 2000 CM cycle which is due to report by February 1, 2001.
"Lost" CIHsThe following individuals are due to report for certification maintenance at the end of the year, but we have been unable to locate them. We have listed last known employer and state.
If you know where these CIHs are, please write, call, fax or e-mail us with their current location. |
Spring Exam Results |
Spring 2000 examination results are found on another page on the web site.
Roster Available on the Web |
In June of this year, ABIH sent out a mailing announcing the future availability of an electronic roster of CIHs and IHITs on the web site (www.abih.org). That roster is now available.
The electronic roster contains the person's employer, mailing address and work phone number and will be only available to CIHs and IHITs listed in the roster. In the future, it is planned to add e-mail addresses as well. The abbreviated version of the roster that has been available on the web site for the past several years will be retained for use by the general public. That version contains only names, certification information, city, state and whether the individual is a consultant.
The June mailing included a post card to be mailed back to ABIH if you wanted a paper copy of the 2000 roster. It also included your ABIH identification number (not the same as your certification number). The ID number will be needed to access the directory. It is ABIH's plan to send a wallet-size card indicating your identification number with your dues receipt.
Dues notices, which will be mailed out by October 1, will also contain your ID number and will ask if you want a paper copy of the next year's roster.
This was posted on October 21, 2000.