Industrial Hygiene as a Science and Art

¶ … Industrial Hygiene a Science or an Art?

Industrial hygiene basically entails the identification, evaluation, and control of environmental factors that threaten the health and safety of people in the community. Professionals in this sector who are commonly known as industrial hygienists develop necessary skills and competence for anticipating, identifying, evaluating, and controlling environmental hazards. Some of the major hazards examined and controlled by industrial hygienists include chemical agents, biological agent, physical agents, psychological factors, and ergonomic or safety issues. The nature of the roles and responsibilities of industrial hygienists has generated debates on whether this profession is a science or an art. This is also fueled by the fact that industrial hygiene has traditionally been viewed as a science and not an art.

From a personal viewpoint, industrial hygiene is both a science and an art despite of the conventional view of this profession as a science only. This profession is a science because it involves the use of scientific instrumentation and it's also an art because of the nature of the work carried out by industrial hygienists. The science aspect of industrial hygiene is reflected in the fact that scientific instruments, technologies, and methodologies are utilized by professionals in the field to identify and warn of probable risks, exposures or hazards. According to the National Institutes of Health (n.d.), this field utilizes strict and rigorous scientific techniques, which necessitates professional experience in determining potential hazards, risks or exposures. The use of the strict and meticulous methodology is influenced by the fact that the assessment of physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, and psychosocial factors requires scientific professional experience. Therefore, as scientists and engineers, industrial hygienists are professionals who utilize scientific techniques to promote the health and safety of those in the working environment and the community. Actually, professionals in this industry need to have a baccalaureate degree in physics, engineering, chemistry or any field that is closely related to physical or biological science from a credible institution.

In addition, industrial hygiene is art because in entails judgment, human interaction, and creativity. In this case, the art aspect of the profession entails making sense of potential hazards, risks or exposures that could harm the workplace and/or community. The ability of these professionals to anticipate, identify, evaluate, prevent or control these hazards entails the use of human interaction, judgment or creativity based on knowledge and competence (American Industrial Hygiene Association, n.d.). This implies that industrial hygienists not only develop their competence through learning but also experience, which is achieved through art. In essence, industrial hygiene is an applied science, which involves applying or implementing what is learned in the classroom in protecting people. During this process, industrial hygienists identify new challenges and develop new solutions with regards to protecting people. These professionals navigate through various options and alternatives to select the most suitable scientific instrumentation or application for the specific hazard.