Introduction to Industrial Hygiene

What is the Introduction to Industrial Hygiene?

The Introduction to Industrial Hygiene course from the American Institute of Safety Professionals provides foundational training in the science and practice of anticipating, recognising, evaluating, and controlling workplace health hazards. Industrial hygiene (also called occupational hygiene) is the discipline that protects workers from the chemical, physical, and biological agents that cause occupational diseases: the airborne contaminants that damage lungs, the noise that destroys hearing, the chemicals that cause cancer, the heat that induces illness, and the biological agents that cause infection. This introductory course makes the discipline accessible to safety professionals, supervisors, and managers who need to understand industrial hygiene fundamentals without the depth of a specialist programme.

Every OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL), every ACGIH Threshold Limit Value (TLV), every NIOSH Recommended Exposure Limit (REL) exists because industrial hygienists identified a workplace health hazard, measured worker exposure, established the dose-response relationship, and determined the concentration below which workers can be exposed without adverse health effects. Understanding how these limits work, what they mean, and how they guide hazard control decisions is essential knowledge for every safety professional — not just those with “industrial hygienist” in their job title.

The curriculum covers the AREC framework (Anticipation, Recognition, Evaluation, Control) that defines the IH profession, an overview of chemical hazards (gases, vapours, dusts, fumes, mists, fibres), physical hazards (noise, vibration, heat stress, radiation), and biological hazards (bloodborne pathogens, mould, Legionella), introduction to occupational exposure limits (OSHA PELs, ACGIH TLVs, NIOSH RELs and their differences), basic air monitoring and sampling concepts, the hierarchy of controls applied to health hazards (ventilation, substitution, enclosure, PPE), respiratory protection awareness, hearing conservation awareness, and the role of health surveillance in early detection of occupational disease. This is the gateway course that prepares learners for advanced study in the DIP-1022 (Advanced Industrial Hygiene) diploma and the DIP-1017 (Advanced Toxicology) diploma.

All training is delivered 100 percent online through Microsoft Teams and the American Institute of Safety Professionals Learning Management System (LMS). Upon successful completion, graduates receive an American Institute of Safety Professionals certificate, professional wallet card, and official transcript, all employer-verifiable at amiosp.com/student-verifications.

Who should take this course?

• Safety officers and HSE professionals who manage chemical, noise, or heat exposure in their facilities but lack formal IH training
• Supervisors in manufacturing, chemical, pharmaceutical, oil and gas, and construction who oversee workers exposed to health hazards
• Safety managers who need IH awareness to evaluate their organisation’s industrial hygiene programme and communicate with IH consultants
• HR professionals and occupational health nurses involved in health surveillance and exposure management
• Workers designated to assist with air monitoring, noise surveys, or health hazard assessments
• Professionals preparing for the DIP-1022 (Advanced Industrial Hygiene) or DIP-1017 (Advanced Toxicology) diplomas who need the foundational knowledge first
• Anyone seeking CIH preparation who needs a structured introduction before advanced study

What will you study?

Credentials employers can verify in seconds