Bored in Asbestos Refresher Class?

I spend a lot of time in continuing education classes, including annual asbestos refresher classes. Some of the classes are a regulatory requirement and others are topics I'm interested in. Certifications such as the Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), Certified Safety Professional (CSP), and Certified Indoor Environmentalist (CIE) require a certain amount of contact hours for continuing education.

In a given year, I devour an average of 100 hours in conferences, refresher classes, and continuing education as shown below:

• Asbestos Building Inspector: 4 hours per year
• Asbestos Contractor Supervisor: 8 hours per year
• Asbestos Management Planner: 4 hours per year
• Asbestos Project Designer: 8 hours per year
• Lead Risk Assessor: 8 hours every three years
• Lead Project Designer: 8 hours every three years
• Industrial Hygiene Ethics: 1-2 hours every other year
• American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) Safety Professional Development Conference: 3 days every other year
• American Industrial Hygiene Conference & Exposition (AIHce): 3 days every other year
• Local Arizona ASSE Safety Professional Development Conference: 8 hours every year
• OSHA 503 Update for General Industry Trainers: 3 days every three years
• Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) Chapter Meetings or Webinars: 8 hours per year
• HAZWOPER Refresher: 8 hours per year
• Hazardous Materials and Waste Transportation Refresher: 10 hours every three years
• Hazardous/Toxic Waste Management Refresher: 8 hours every three years
• Other interesting continuing education courses: 8-16 hours per year

I recently spent part of a morning texting a friend/client (at their request) to help them stay awake in asbestos refresher class. This got me thinking about all the times I attempted to keep focused during class in the 8+ years of various asbestos refreshers, to little avail.

Attendees to asbestos refresher class can be very disruptive, using the class as a vehicle to network (loudly) with consultants, contractors, and building owners or representatives. Sometimes they'll spend the entire day texting and emailing, jumping out of their seats to take a call in the lobby, speaking just loud enough so the rest of the class can see how busy and important they are. Others open up their laptops and just work on projects during the refresher class. If there are snacks or coffee provided, you're guaranteed to have some obnoxiously loud slurpers or chewers. 

Here's some of the ways I quietly and unobtrusively entertain myself during asbestos refresher class:

• Play "Free Rice" on my cell phone - less obvious than some of the other cell phone games, just as addictive, and your learning helps contribute to donations of rice via the World Food Programme
• Doodle all over my refresher class notes
• Make up my own acronyms (EPA, AHERA, MAP, NIOSH, OSHA, etc.)
• If desperately bored, I'll go through other continuing education courses on my iPhone or iPad, like the CDC Biosafety QuickLearn lessons, California Department of Public Health Continuing Education Courses on Lead/Mercury/Coccidioidomycosis, and University of Minnesota School of Public Health's free online courses in public health

And, of course, I'll pay attention to new letters of interpretation or interesting arguments, answer questions when prompted, and complete the end of course test or assessment in record time.

I drafted this latest Industrious Hygienist manga during the text session with my friend/client, hope you enjoy it.

The Industrious Hygienist is never bored in asbestos refresher class!