There are many different occupational safety and health certifications available to increase your marketability to employers and clients. As part of our efforts to educate and inform our members, the volunteer Advisory Committee of the Industrial Hygiene Practice Specialty is developing a series of articles about some of these certifications. This article focuses on the Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) designation from the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH). In this article, we’ll share some of our study tips, useful free resources on the internet to help with difficult topics, and explain why this certification may benefit your career. Relevant websites are hyperlinked throughout the article.
What is a CIH?
A CIH
is someone who has qualified
for and passed the CIH exam administered by ABIH.
The CIH designation is the premier certification available for practicing
industrial hygienists and academic professionals. CIHs work in many fields,
from consulting to electronics, pharmaceuticals to oil and gas, public health
to wastewater, healthcare to academia, and many more.
Who Can Take the CIH Exam?
ABIH has established clear guidelines to determine your eligibility for the CIH exam, including an Eligibility Self-Assessment Form and a Path to Certification. In order to be eligible for the exam, you must have completed at least a four-year Bachelor’s degree with a science, engineering, safety, or industrial hygiene focus. You must also have at least four years of professional-level, broad-scope industrial hygiene experience. Questionnaires from two professional references are needed; one of them must be a CIH. There are additional requirements for academic contact hours and continuing education, including a 2-hour ethics course requirement. Make sure to review the Candidate Handbook for the most up-to-date information.
The ethics coursework can be completed from some of the
following providers:
- Ethics for the OH&S Professional – American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)
- Professional Ethics and the Practice of Industrial Hygiene – Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health
- Many comprehensive industrial hygiene review courses include the ethics requirement as part of their study package
Study Tips for the CIH Exam
ABIH has recommendations to help you prepare for the exam.
This is a difficult test – you should provide plenty of time for study and
review. For some of us, that meant years of studying and multiple tries to pass
the exam. You can take a CIH
certification preparation class (there are in-person and online options
available from many different providers) to assist you with determining where
to focus your studying. The exam is 5 hours and 180 questions, delivered via
computer-based testing at a Prometric testing center. If you haven’t taken a
computer-based exam in a while, Prometric has a “What
to Expect” website to familiarize you with the operations of the testing
center. AIHA has developed a 12-step “Preparing
for the CIH Exam” guide for students and young professionals.
Free Resources for the CIH Exam
The Advisory Council developed this list of free internet
resources to assist you in studying particularly challenging topics.
General
Safety and Health (Multiple Topics)
Air Sampling
Analytical Chemistry
Basic Science
- Crash Course science episodes on YouTube on chemistry, biology, anatomy/physiology, physics, and math
- Khan Academy science resources
Biohazards
Biostatistics and Epidemiology
- CDC Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health (free e-course)
- Biostatistics: Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Biostatistics Lecture Series
- Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases – Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
- Statistics Review – Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University
Community Exposure
- ATSDR’s Environmental Public Health Training (3-phase free online course)
- Occupational Health and Vulnerable Worker Populations – Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health
- Environmental Health – Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health
Engineering Controls and Ventilation
- Industrial Ventilation Workbook
- OSHA Safety and Health Topic: Ventilation
- Smithsonian Institution Safety Manual – Chapter 27: Ventilation for Health Hazard Control World Health Organization (WHO) Hazard Prevention and Control in the Work Environment: Airborne Dust – Chapter 7 – Control of Dust Transmission
Ergonomics
Health Risk Analysis and Hazard Communication
- ICMM Health Risk Assessment Guidance
- OSHA Hazard Communication
- U.N. Globally Harmonized System for the Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, 3rd Edition (2009)
- Stanford University – Industrial Hygiene: Exposure Assessment Strategy, Surveying, and Monitoring Guidelines CDC Qualitative Risk Characterization and Management of Occupational Hazards: Control Banding
Industrial Hygiene Program Management
- Johns Hopkins University Fundamentals of Industrial Hygiene Full e-course
- The Army Industrial Hygiene Program
- Industrial Hygiene Site Programs lecture slides – SESHA Academic Lecture Tour (2001)
- Fundamentals of Program Evaluation – Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
Noise
- NIOSH Noise webpage
- OSHA Noise webpage
- Johns Hopkins University – Noise lecture slides
Non-Engineering Controls
Radiation, Ionizing
Radiation, Non-Ionizing
Thermal Stressors
Toxicology
- Toxicology Tutorials from NIH
- ToxLearn from NIH
- Public Health Toxicology – Johns Hopkins University of Public Health
Work Environments and Industrial Processes
Other Useful Topics
- FEMA Independent Study Program (courses on hazardous materials, radiation safety, managerial safety and health, emergency management, etc.)
- MIT Open Courseware (courses in biology, chemical engineering, chemistry, electrical engineering, health sciences and technology, nuclear engineering, and many more)
- Washington Department of Labor & Industries online safety training, many topics
Certification Preparation Courses/Software
The following CIH certification preparation courses are currently available.
- Bowen EHS CIH Certification Examination Preparation course, online or in person
- DataChem CIHPrep software
- Tectonic EHS – exam preparation
- University of California Los Angeles – CIH Exam Review
- University of Colorado Denver – CIH exam preparation and certification maintenance courses
- University of North Carolina – CIH exam preparation course
Good Luck with your Studying!
If you’ve decided to start the process of studying for the CIH exam, good luck! There are many free resources to assist you, and previous test takers are often willing to share their experiences and challenges.
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