Greetings all,

Welcome to our first edition of 2026! I hope that you are all having a fun and safe winter.  It has been quite challenging recently with a few rounds of big snowfalls. Let us continue to brave this winter with safety in mind both at home and at work.

The winter season can be a tough time to maintain psychological health. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) can affect 2 to 10% of Canadians, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association. Furthermore, it can affect 10-20% of people with major depressive disorders and about 25% of people with bipolar disorders. SAD is also four times more common in women than men.
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Welcome to 2026! The OHAO Board of Directors and I wish you well for the year to come.

We may need to open our ACGIH TLV’s and BEI’s and brush up on the cold stress section of the book.  I have addressed this issue in a few workplaces this year, to educate others on maintaining temperatures of 18oC.  I am very grateful that I only have to worry about the short duration of cold when shoveling snow and cleaning my car.

As the weather gets warmer and days get longer, we look forward to the virtual Spring Conference and PDC this year.  The Education Committee has been working diligently to bring you exciting topics in occupational hygiene. Save the dates of March 25 for the PDC, and March 26 for the Conference.
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Over time, significant professional experience has been built around the evaluation of occupational hazards, often with professional disagreement due to differing interpretations, empirical rules that attempt to categorize data, or the absence of universally accepted guidelines. Antithetically, rigid dogmatism can produce inertia within a profession, making change possible only with overwhelming evidence—examples include the ‘official’ perspectives on infection transmission, which downplayed the Precautionary Principle during events such as the Tainted Blood Scandal, SARS-CoV-1 outbreaks, and the COVID-19 pandemic.1a

Mould investigations and abatement are characterized by uncertainty and dissent––challenges in remediation methodology, fungal analysis, and post-remediation verification. Given the complexities involved, it is unsurprising that these aspects of occupational hygiene are marked by a lack of professional consensus. The ‘lack of a consensus “decision strategy” incorporating explicit decision criteria requires professionals to establish their own personal set of criteria when interpreting air sampling data.’2 Occupational hygienists frequently ‘use diverse investigation approaches and take wide liberties in their interpretation of the environmental significance of airborne fungal spore concentrations.’3 As a result, even well-informed and objective professionals may arrive at different conclusions. There is a pressing need for consensus evaluation tools that incorporate critical thinking4 to help clarify and resolve these ongoing uncertainties.1b
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The Ontario Health Care sector, like health care sectors across the country, include large and complex organizations.   The chemical hazards present in any given organization are largely dependent on the services that are provided at that facility or organization.   Below, we will review how health care service delivery and chemical hazard assessment overlap and what steps should be taken to control exposures. 

Alcohol-based Hand Sanitizers:

Since COVID-19, alcohol-based hand sanitizers have become commonplace in a variety of settings, but they have been an important part of health care for many years.  Many people may overlook the fact that alcohol-based hand sanitizers are WHMIS controlled products.  From an Infection prevention and control perspective, they are preferred to soap and water to prevent the spread of infection, so workers are expected to use these products multiple times per day.  CDC reports that some health workers clean their hands with alcohol-based hand sanitizers as often as 100 times per shift.  This can lead to skin breakdown, irritation and/or dermatitis. Workers are encouraged to use alcohol-based hand sanitizers that contain emollients, apply compatible moisturizers to maintain skin health, comply with WHMIS requirements for safe chemical use, and promptly report any skin irritation to prevent the development of chronic occupational skin disease. 
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    Although Occupational Hygiene is typically associated with workplace environments, an Occupational Hygienist might find themselves working “after-hours”, as environmental health and safety risks are present in all settings. Some of the most common, and dangerous, hazards can be found within homes. Carbon monoxide (CO), often called the silent killer, is one of these hazards. We cannot see, smell, or taste CO, and the Government of Ontario estimates that more than 65% of CO-related injuries and deaths in Ontario occur in residential settings.[1]

    Picture This: A Case Study

    To illustrate how easily CO hazards can arise, consider the following real incident. A new Ontario homeowner moves into their home in late October. After finding out the previous owner of the home did not have the home’s furnace and air handling units inspected for a number of years, the homeowner schedules a routine preventative inspection of the furnace – despite already having completed a standard home inspection during the purchase process. The technician discovers holes in the furnace’s heat exchanger, leading to an immediate shutdown of the furnace and a full furnace replacement. The cost of the furnace replacement was the least of the homeowner’s worries – the heat exchanger holes were some of the largest the technician had ever seen, meaning there was a significant risk of CO entering the home’s air supply (some CO may have already been entering into the home). A potentially scary situation.
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    This article was originally published in the September 2025 issue of The Synergist®, the magazine of AIHA®..

    As part of the OHAO/AIHA Memorandum of Understanding, AIHA will
    be sharing one article from a recent issue of The Synergist in each issue of the OHAO Forum. Thank you to AIHA for sharing this information with our members. 

    It is almost certain that chronic health conditions are affecting individuals in your workplace. According to 2022 statistics from CDC, 60 percent of American adults have at least one chronic condition, and of that percentage, four in 10 have multiple chronic diseases. A report published in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report in 2022 states that nearly 54 percent of adults aged 18–34 had at least one chronic condition in 2019, while approximately 22 percent had more than one. In the European Union, approximately 35 percent of people aged 16 years and older reported having a chronic health problem in 2023. And a review article published in 2018 in Preventive Medicine Reports estimates that one in three of all adults globally are affected by multiple chronic conditions.

    “If [workers] themselves don’t have a chronic health condition, chances are that someone in their family— their loved ones, someone outside of the workplace—has a chronic health condition, and this has impacts for the workers themselves,” says Jenn Cavallari, ScD, CIH, co-director of the Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace, a Center of Excellence for Total Worker Health.
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    Free online safety training for Ontario workplaces

    Protect yourself and your co-workers without added expense. From now until March 31, 2026, Workplace Safety & Prevention Services is offering select health & safety e-courses for free!

    This limited time offer supports safer workplaces and compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), at no cost. Enrollment is open to Ontario employers, supervisors, and workers.

    Over 20 different courses are available, including important topics like occupational health and safety awareness, WHMIS, mental health, and violence prevention. Participants learn at their own pace, anytime, from anywhere. All that is needed is a computer and an internet connection.

    OHAO 2026 Renewal Reminder

    If you have not renewed your OHAO membership for 2026 you still have time! Renew before March 30, 2026 to avoid your membership being discontinued. Members will have access to the new OHAO Group Subscription to the AIHA E-Lite Learning program, we will be sharing the results of the 2025 membership survey (including a more comprehensive salary survey) with members, we have a solid lineup of education sessions planned for 2026 and more. To renew login to your OHAO profile.

    OHAO Consultant's Directory - List Your Organization Today

    The OHAO Consultants Directory is a public facing directory on the OHAO website where members can list their services. The listing is a one time only fee of $199 plus tax. Once you have made your original posting as long as you remain a member in good standing of OHAO your listing will remain in the directory. For the details click here.

    OHAO Job Postings 

    Did you know that OHAO offers a job posting page on our website? The member rate to post is only $150 plus tax for a 30 day listing. If you are looking to hire someone this is a great targeted way to reach the OHAO audience. When a new job is posted we share the link on our LinkedIn account as well.  For the details click here.

    Save the Date!

    OHAO Spring PDC 
    March 25, 2026
    Virtual Only

    Registration Opening Soon for the Spring PDC and Conference/AGM

    Save the Date!

    OHAO Spring Conference/AGM
    March 26, 2026
    Virtual Only

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