Amidst the flood of information about the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the greatest risks is missing key intelligence that can protect health and save lives. This town hall-style webinar, co-hosted by AIHA and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), addresses occupational health and safety professionals’, industrial hygienists’ and infection preventionists’ questions about ventilation, surface disinfection, respirators, construction issues, occupational health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Professionals may earn 1.5 contact hours toward their respective credentials.
Learning Objectives
- The difference between a procedure mask and an N95 respirator as well as emergency use of industrial-grade respirators;
- The role of contact, droplet, and airborne transmission of COVID-19 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC);
- The appropriate PPE for droplet and airborne precautions;
- Alternatives to respirators;
- The differences in the infection prevention approach for non-healthcare locations;
Identifying locations within a hospital facility where COVID-19 exposure is most likely to occur; - The six potential problems with rebalancing general ventilation to create negative pressure zones for use in place of AIIR.
Webinar recorded on 3/26/2020.
Presenters
Roberta Smith MSPH, RN, CIC, COHN-S, CIH has over 25 years of experience in the fields of public health, occupational health, industrial hygiene, safety, and infection control.
She holds Bachelor of Science degrees in environmental health and in nursing. She holds a Master’s of Science in Public Health and certifications in infection control, occupational health nursing specialist, and industrial hygiene.
She currently is the Director of Worker Health for Axion Health, an employee/ occupational health software company. In this role, she leads the review of the clinical content and protocols offered to occupational health clients to ensure compliance with applicable laws and best practices, she provides industry leadership through her affiliations with AIHA National and Local Chapters and is an influencer in the many ways that an occupational health system can be used across various industries.
Throughout her many experiences, she still strongly encourages hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette wherever she goes. She is a member of APIC national and of the Mile High Chapter. She is active both in the national and local chapters of the American Industrial Hygiene Association and participated in the Healthcare, Leading Health Metrics, and Teen Workplace Safety subcommittees.
Under her leadership, the AIHA Healthcare Working Group Infection Control Subcommittee has received the AIHA Outstanding Project Team award in 2018 and 2019.
Lewis Johnson MS, CIH, CIC is the industrial hygienist for Lee Health, a 1,500+ bed healthcare system in southwest Florida. His professional focus is environmental infection prevention in the areas of construction, water management, ventilation, employee safety, disinfectants, and USP 797. His Masters of Science is in Industrial Health from the University of Michigan, and he has an undergraduate degree in education. He holds certifications in both Infection Control and Industrial Hygiene.
He is a member of the American Industrial Hygiene Association, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, and the Florida Professionals in Infection Control. In APIC, he is a member of the Practice Guidance Committee, and a representative for APIC to the ASHRAE 188 and 514 committees, and a principal member of the FGI Health Guidelines Revision Committee.
Within the AIHA, he is a member and past chair of the Healthcare Working Group. He authored the current APIC Text Online construction chapter and wrote chapters on equipment and on dust control for the APIC Construction and Renovation Toolkit. He regularly presents on infection prevention topics for industrial hygienists and industrial hygiene topics for infection preventionists.