On 25 May Roger Alesbury and Steve Bailey, both founding directors of OHTA, received the prestigious William P. Yant Award, conferred by the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) during their annual conference in Baltimore, Maryland.
The highly respected award was established by AIHA in 1964 to honour the contributions of William P. Yant, the first president of AIHA. The award is presented annually to an individual residing outside the United States who has made outstanding contributions in occupational hygiene or allied fields and has in 2016, for the first year ever, been bestowed jointly.
Roger and Steve were nominated for the Yant Award by the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS), with support from the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists (AIOH), in recognition of their contribution to the training and development of occupational hygienists worldwide, and in particular their remarkable work that led to the formation and development of the Occupational Hygiene Training Association (OHTA). This mark of recognition comes only a year after Noel Tresider, also a longstanding director of OHTA, also received the Yant Award.
Both past presidents of BOHS, for many years Steve and Roger held senior management positions with global responsibilities in multinational corporations. In 2010 they were instrumental in the creation of the OHTA international training scheme and qualifications framework which enables trainees across the globe to develop transferable practical skills in a consistent way using freely available training materials. The scheme has enjoyed considerable success so far, particularly helping to grow professionals in developing economies. To date nearly 6000 exams have been taken for OHTA courses in 40 countries, and there are currently over 60 approved training providers. 22 national associations of the International Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA) have become members of OHTA, with the Argentinian association the latest to join.
As winners of the Yant Award, Roger and Steve were also invited to deliver the Yant Lecture, considered a highlight of the AIHA conference. Entitled “Stronger Together: Working together to grow industrial hygiene and tackle the global burden of occupational illness”, the lecture provided an opportunity to retrace the development of OHTA and reinforce the benefits of the scheme for stakeholders, in particular training providers, employers and equipment suppliers. It also explored the possibilities for future growth, such as flexible delivery and distance learning, as well as provision of awareness materials and additional modules at both intermediate and advanced level. The Yant Lecture slides can be viewed in the attached file.
For further information about OHTA please visit www.ohlearning.com or contact Roz Phillips, OHTA Development Manager, at roz.phillips@ohlearning.com.
The Yant Award is sponsored by the Mine Safety Appliances Company.
