What Does an Industrial Hygienist Do?

Industrial Hygiene is a science and an art.

The UC Davis IH team is devoted to the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, prevention, and control of environmental factors arising in or from the workplace, which may cause sickness, impaired health and well-being, or significant discomfort among workers or among citizens of the community.

Our Industrial Hygiene group provides workplace health & safety support to academics, staff and students. We support every College, School and department on and off the UC Davis campus, and within a variety of spaces, including:

  • Laboratories
  • Shops
  • Greenhouses
  • Animal facilities
  • Dining & housing
  • Field and other remote UC Davis locations
  • Office spaces
  • Grounds
  • Anywhere else where hazardous materials are present.

Industrial Hygienists (IHs) work collaboratively with stakeholders to devise strategic solutions to protect our campus community from work-related health injuries and illnesses.

IHs use a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate and examine workplace exposures to physical, chemical and biological agents. IH make recommendations to improve safety, provide training and education about job-related risks, and advise management on appropriate corrective actions to enhance the health and safety of their workers.

For more, watch the video below, produced by the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)


Chemical Exposures

Do you work with hazardous chemicals? Have your exposures to the chemicals been evaluated by an Industrial Hygienist (IH)? IHs leverage a variety of well-established methods for evaluating work-place exposure levels to chemicals, in order to compare your exposure to Permissible Exposure Limits established by California and Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (CalOSHA & OSHA). IHs will work with you, your supervisor, your department, and other specialists, to ensure you are adequately protected from workplace chemical exposures.