No problem Garrett! Sorry that I could not make it to the meeting this
year.

Have a nice summer,

Andrew
_______________________________________
Andrew Cutz, CIH
List Moderator



FOR YOUR INFORMATION...
----Original Message Follows----
From: Garrett Brown <gdbrown@...>
To: Andrew Cutz <andrewcutz@...>
Subject: Item to send out to the various international list serves
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:56:25 +0800

Dear Andrew; Greetings and I hope you are well. I have attached a written
copy of the brief report I gave to the IAC meeting at AIHCE in Philadelphia
on the international activities of the Northern California Local Section.

Could you send this out to the various list serves as I think it would be of
interest to both AIHA members and to the NGOs and individuals we are in
touch with in the developing world.

Thanks much,
Garrett



Text of attachment:

Report on the Developing World Outreach Initiative of the Northern
California Section of the American Industrial Hygiene Association

Given to the AIHA International Affairs Committee at AIHCE, Philadelphia,
PA, June 4, 2007.

By Garrett Brown

In March 2006, the Northern California Section of AIHA, under the leadership
of Local Section President Rich Hirsh, began work on establishing a
³Developing World Outreach Initiative² (DWOI). The goal of this effort is
to address the lack of adequate industrial hygiene resources for workers and
health and safety professionals in developing countries by connecting the
technical expertise and human resources of the Local Section with those who
need them in the developing world.

The target audience for the DWOIıs activities is defined as non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) ­ principally occupational safety and health
associations; universities; and worker and community-based organizations ­
which do not have the resources and connections that government agencies and
employers enjoy even in the developing world. The goal of the DWOI
committee is to build the capacity of NGOs in developing countries through
mobilizing the resources of the Local Section and other AIHA members to
provide information, technical assistance, educational materials, and
financial support for small OHS projects to be conducted by the local NGOs.

In the year following March 2006, more than two dozen Local Section members
became active in two sub-committees conducting an inventory of the internal
resources of Local Section members; and contacting a wide array of NGOs in
the developing world known to be active on or interested in workplace health
and safety issues.

In March 2007, the DWOI committee was publicly launched at the dinner
meeting of the Northern California Local Section. In its first 15 months of
existence the DWOI committee has registered several accomplishments:

* Fund-raising: $2,000 was raised for the Malaysian Industrial Hygiene
Association, channeled through the ACGIHıs Foundation for Occupational
Health and Safety (FOHS). The DWOI-FOHS grant will be used for purchasing
and distributing technical reference materials on indoor air quality issues.

* Website information resource: a DWOI web page has been established on the
Local Sectionıs website to make available links to OHS websites;
topic-specific technical information of key hazards in the developing world;
examples of written safety programs; and Local Section membersı training
curriculum, lecture outlines and power point presentations on a variety of
OHS topics.

* Collection and cataloging of donated reference books: several hundred key
reference books and other teaching materials (including industrial hygiene
equipment) has been collected and cataloged. Local NGOs in the developing
world, especially universities in Africa, will be offered their pick of the
donated materials and the DWOI committee has raised more than $600 to ship
the materials.

* Formal partnership with Asian NGO network: In December 2006, the DWOI
committee established a partnership with the Asian Network for the Rights of
Occupational Accident Victims (ANROAV), a network of 23 grassroots
organizations in 12 Asian countries (see appendix below). Several areas of
collaboration between ANROAV member organizations and the DWOI committee
have been identified and are already in motion:

- DWOI committee members will attend the ANROAV annual conference in
Hong Kong in August 2007;
- DWOI committee members will work with the Center for Occupational and
Environmental Health at UC Berkeley to provide self-funded OHS students for
short-term, on-site workplace health and safety projects with ANROAV member
organizations;
- DWOI committee members will coordinate with Local Section members who
regularly travel to Asia for business to contact ANROAV member organizations
to provide ³mini-workshops² or on-site technical assistance by the Local
Section members while they are in-country;
- DWOI committee members will provide information, technical assistance
and mentoring from Northern California on specific issues or hazards being
addressed by ANROAV member groups;
- DWOI committee members will raise money for specific, small (under
$300) OHS projects conducted in Asia by ANROAV member organizations.

The DWOI committee has established a bi-monthly meeting schedule and has a
core group of 8-10 active Local Section members. A reorganization of the
DWOI committee in February 2007 resulted in four sub-committees, including a
Liaison Committee to coordinate the partnership with ANROAV; a Request &
Response Committee to provide books and equipment to NGOs in the developing
world who have requested assistance; a Resources & Website Committee to
update and maintain the informational resources available on the DWOI page
of the Local Sectionıs website; and a Publicity & Fundraising Committee to
write articles for the Local Section newsletter and The Synergist, and to
solicit funds for future activities.

One key goal is to encourage other AIHA Local Sections to establish
committees like the DWOI to expand the expertise and resources available to
organizations in the developing world from AIHA members throughout North
America. The Northern California Section would be delighted to coordinate
the work of its DWOI Committee with that of similar committees in other
Local Sections.

The contact information for key DWOI committee members is as follows:
- DWOI Committee coordinator Natalia Varshavski: NVAR@...
- Liaison Committee chair Garrett Brown: gdbrown@...
- Request & Response Committee chair Mike Horowitz:
MHorowitz@...
- Resources & Website Committee chair Rachel Jones: rmjones@...
- Publicity & Fundraising Committee chair Rich Hirsh:
RHirsh@...


Appendix: List of ANROAV member organizations:

Bangladesh: Occupational Safety, Health and Environment
Foundation
Cambodia: Coalition for Cambodia Apparel Democratic Workers Union
(CCADWU)
China: Chongquing Zhong Xian Self-Help Rehabilitation Center
Panyu Migrant Workers Center
Hong Kong: Asian Monitor Resource Center (AMRC)
Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident
Victims
Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee (HKCIC)
Labour Action China (LAC)
Macao: Workers and Peoplesı Spirit Association (MWPSA)
India: Occupational Health and Safety Centre
Peopleıs Training and Research Centre
Indonesia: Sedane Labor Information Center (LIPS)
Japan: Occupational Safety and Health Resource Center
Kanagawa Occupational Safety and Health Center
Tokyo Occupational Safety and Health Center
Korea: Labor Health Center
Won-jin Foundation for Occupational Diseases
Nepal: General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions
(GEFONT-Nepal)
Philippines: Institute for Occupational Health & Safety
Development (IOHSD)
Taiwan: Taiwan Association for Victims of Occupational Injuries
(TAVOI)
Thailand: Council of Works & Environment Related Patientsı
Network (WEPT)
Friends of Women Foundation
Vietnam: National Institute of Labor Protection