I have returned from the dark side! (with slight corrosion)

May was a crazy month for me - I passed the Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) exam on May 17th, and received my diplomate certificate from the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) a few weeks later. I was also fortunate enough to walk at the Arizona State University College of Environmental Technology and Innovation graduation ceremony for my Master of Science in Technology - Environmental Technology Management degree.

And if that wasn't enough, I also published a book review on Jordan Tama's National Security Reform: How Commissions Can Drive Change During Crises in the Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (JHSEM) in May.

I am working on an article with two of my professors from Arizona State University about my graduate research on hospital compliance with the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS). It should be finished in a few weeks and then it goes to JHSEM for review.


Caution: Corrosives ... No, really?

In the vein of chemical safety (and corrosion!), I found these photos from one of the surveys I conducted at a local hospital for my CFATS research.

I loved this picture because there are so many things wrong with it!

This was next to several cooling towers. No one from the Facilities Department seemed to have a problem with the cabinet. :)




When I asked the safety coordinators from many hospitals in the Phoenix area about CFATS and their compliance level, I got a bunch of blank stares and hedging. So I decided to make it my graduate thesis research.


This is the base of the Caution: Corrosives cabinet.


The Facilities Department said that there wasn't anything in the cabinet, but I didn't have the proper personal protective equipment with me to check. It was also outside the scope of my survey.

I presented the results of my research to the American Society of Safety Engineers - Arizona Chapter Healthcare Section in 2010.

I look forward to sharing the link to my upcoming article when it is published by JHSEM.

Next week I plan to post about heat stress, since it is ~ 107 degrees Fahrenheit here in the sunny Southwest.