Severe Lack of Trained Environmental Professionals in China Prompts GE to Sponsor New AIHA Course Managed by The Phylmar GroupCourse Just Completed in Shanghai as Part of New International Program
Designed to Rapidly Train EHS Professionals Los Angeles, CA (July 26, 2010) - Due to a severe lack of environmental health and
safety (EHS) talent throughout the developing world, the American Industrial
Hygiene Association (
AIHA) has partnered with General Electric and The Phylmar
Group, a Los Angeles-based environmental health and safety consultancy, to present
a course that
was successfully completed in Shanghai this month. Twenty five employees from
major multinational corporations including Converse, Nike, ITT and GE completed
the course, which was directed by Mark Katchen, Managing Principal of The
Phylmar Group and a former Chair of the AIHA's International Affairs Committee.
The course is part of a new international initiative
designed to rapidly train EHS technologists in developing regions where there
is currently little EHS expertise. Demonstrating the importance of such a course in China, Yu
Jie, Vice Secretary General of the China Occupational Safety and
Health Association, flew from Beijing
to attend the inaugural course.
"With only 13 certified
industrial hygienists in all of China, it is
practically an international emergency that we train and recruit more
professionals in the field of environmental health and safety," said Mark
Katchen, who directed "The Measurement of Hazardous Substances" in Shanghai June 28-July 2, 2010. The course is the first of
seven training
modules that are part of an international program to quickly train EHS
personnel in industrial hygiene.
"The
need to build global professional capacity through education and training is
vitally important to the EHS field at a time when corporations worldwide are
recognizing the need to adhere to higher corporate social responsibility and
safety standards," said Carol Tobin of the AIHA. "We are pleased with
the overwhelmingly positive response to this first course and are proud to
partner with The Phylmar Group and GE in this effort."
These courses will enable the
rapid training of individuals with scientific backgrounds to the level of an
occupational hygiene technologist and may be accepted at some universities as
credit towards a masters degree. For more information, please click
here.
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