October 2015 President’s Message

Thanks again to all the members who attended the September meeting. Past President of NJAIHA Mr. Steven Barnett, P.E., CIH, MSPH, Esq. Partner, Law Offices of Connell Foley LLP provided his insight on the legal implications on Vapor Intrusion issues including EPA and NJDEP Site Remediation. Our own President-Elect, Mr. Bernie Fontaine, Jr. of the Windsor Consulting Group, Inc. guided us through a Longitudinal Study of the OSHA IMIS Database on Respirable Crystalline Silica Dust, including a Discussion of the evidence to support change to the OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL).

Coming up at the October meeting Mr. Thomas Licker from Insurance Restoration Specialists, Inc. will be our first speaker to discuss infection control technology. Infection control technology brings about an awareness need to understand the current methods to properly clean, remediate and properly disinfect both interior air space(s) and surfaces. The lecture will discuss the building envelope and the holistic approach to mitigation. The presentation will include information on current attitudes and a more robust understanding of the barriers that can help guide optimal implementation of infection control programs.

Our second speaker is Dr. Nabeel, who is an Assistant Professor of Occupational Medicine/Preventive Medicine and Deputy Medical Director of Employee Health, Safety and Wellness Mount Sinai Health System and the Selikoff Centers for Occupational Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He will be speaking on a fascinating topic – wearable technology. An era of remarkable innovation is underway with the advent of brand-new technologies called “Wearable Computers”. Visit http://www.njaiha.org/event/october-2015-dinner-meeting/ for more information on our October meeting.

It’s time to register for the 2015 NJAIHA Professional Development Courses! On Thursday December 3, 2015 (one day before the NEIH Conference) our PDC’s will be held at the PSEG Hadley Road Facility (South Plainfield, NJ). We have 4 great topics of interest and 4 excellent speakers for this event. Visit https://www.regonline.com/NEIHC2015_PDCs for more information and to register.

Finally if you haven’t been to a meeting in a while you obviously don’t know what you are missing! Considering we are one of the largest local sections, we would like to see a larger turnout at our meetings. So come to the meeting and bring a colleague or a friend. (First Meeting is FREE to new members). The networking opportunities are invaluable and the food at Snuffy’s is great and certainly plentiful! I look forward to seeing all of you at our October 15th meeting at Snuffy’s!

Best Regards,
Mark Ostapczuk
President NJAIHA