Renton to Chair American Board of Industrial Hygiene

LANSING, MI -- Lydia Renton, CIH, ROH, of WESA Inc., has been elected chair of the American Board of Industrial Hygiene, a certifying organization for Certified Industrial Hygienists (CIH).

Renton has served on the Board since 2009. She is a Senior Partner of WESA, Inc., an occupational hygiene and safety, hydrogeological, and engineering consulting firm in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Ottawa.

Renton has experience in the federal and provincial government sectors as well as the semiconductor and telecommunications industries. She is a Registered Occupational Hygienist/ROH and served on the Board of Directors of CRBOH (Canadian Registration Board of Occupational Hygienists), including a term as President.

Ms. Renton is succeeding J. Torey Nalbone, PhD, CIH, who is rotating off the Board of Directors after four years of service, two years as Chair.

“I am greatly honored to be elected Chair of ABIH, whose certification process is the global gold standard in ethical industrial hygiene practice,” Renton said. “I am taking over the helm of a fiscally strong organization, led by a Board of Directors that has established a solid foundation for its governance system.

“We are excited about implementing and advancing an updated ABIH strategy. This year, our certificants and stakeholders will see a streamlined process and have access to new web-based tools – while protecting the current and long term value of the CIH credential. We need to partner with other organizations and embrace opportunities to grow our profession.

“The world seems smaller as I travel it; but I see how that increases tremendous opportunities ABIH and Certified Industrial Hygienists have to influence the condition of workplaces."

Renton will lead a slate of ABIH Directors that includes a new Public Member, three new CIH Directors, and six returning CIH Directors. The new Board will be officially installed at the conclusion of the March 2012 Board meeting. Each CIH Director serves a four-year term. The Public Director serves a two-year term.

The new Public Member is Michael Shanklin, CEO of Kidspace Children’s Museum, Pasadena CA, a non-profit corporation that hosts more 220,000 visitors each year. Kidspace encourages a child’s growth and development through explorations of the environment, science, and artistic forms of expression. 

The three new CIH Directors include:

•     Bret Clausen, CIH, CSP, CHMM, ARM, is a health and safety director for the Energy & Chemicals Business of CH2M Hill. Clausen has a M.S. in Industrial Science with a concentration in Occupational Safety from Colorado State University. He has over 31 years of experience in industrial hygiene and occupational safety for government and commercial programs.

•     Michael D. Larrañaga, CIH, CSP, PE, PhD, is a Professor at the School of Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology, Oklahoma State University. Dr. Larrañaga’s PhD is in Industrial Engineering from Texas Tech University. He has over 25 years of experience in numerous leadership positions in academia, government and private commercial organizations.

•     Susan Ripple, CIH, is Senior Industrial Hygiene Manager for The Dow Chemical Company. She has a M.S. in Biology from the University of Houston at Clear Lake. Ripple has over 25 years of professional, technical and management experience in industrial hygiene, exposure assessment, risk management and regulatory product safety. She has held a variety of leadership roles with Dow and within the occupational hygiene community.

The six continuing CIH Directors are:

•     Patricia Beach, CIH, Harris & Lee Environmental Sciences, LLC 

•     Kimberly Castillon, CIH, OSHA

•     Mark Finn, PhD, CIH, ENVIRON International Corporation

•     Nicole Greeson, CIH, Duke University

•     Janet L. Keyes, CIH, CHESS, Inc.

•     Shamini Samuel, CIH, CSP, ROH, Suncor Energy Services Inc. 

Four Directors have completed their service and will leave the Board in March 2012. They are:

•     Eric Bauer, CIH, Rockwell Collins

•     Charles Laszewski, Public Member, Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota 

•     J. Torey Nalbone, PhD, CIH, University of Texas at Tyler

•     Jeff V. Throckmorton, CIH, University of Utah in Salt Lake

ABIH administers the CIH and the Certified Associate Industrial Hygienist (CAIH) programs. Earning the CIH requires that candidates meet rigorous education and experience requirements, pass an examination, and recertify every five years by fulfilling certification maintenance requirements designed to enhance the ongoing knowledge and skills of the CIH. More than 6,500 industrial hygienists currently hold the CIH and CAIH designations.