While talking with a client recently regarding a microbial (mold) assessment of her residence, I was asked a very good question.  The question was…  “Why should I have a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) perform the assessment and why is the cost for the CIH higher relative to having a non-CIH certified professional do the work?”

OK…  “Fair enough I stated!!!”  Let me answer that question very “frankly”…The simplest answer to this question is that hiring a Certified Industrial Hygienist establishes the highest level of professional expertise and technical background employed on the environmental health and safety exposure aspects of her project.  Then, I continue with… when a CIH performs any professional work, this work is based on an extremely deep and verified technical foundation with stringent education, certification, and ongoing maintenance requirements which are all performed under a Professional Code of Moral Conduct established by the American Board of Industrial Hygiene www.abih.org

In my case, as the Senior Certified Industrial Hygienist with BioMax Environmental, Inc., I then explained that I (Michael A. Polkabla) have over thirty years experience as a CIH.  I started with degrees from the University of California in BioChemistry/Molecular Biology, and Aquatic Biology. Then I worked for a minimum of five years under the supervision of a CIH as an industrial hygienist (much like an “intern”) before I could even qualify to take my certification exams, which I did in Washington DC some thirty years ago.  These exams were two full days of testing at that time and the passing rate was only about 10% passing at that time.  Hence, I was very pleased (and also relieved) to say that I passed my exams on my very go around (which was rare) and have been certified in the Core and Comprehensive Practices of Industrial Hygiene under Certification number CP7104 ever since.  I say “ever since” since certified as Industrial Hygienists are required to (amongst many other requirements) attend a great deal of technical courses and accrue continued education units on an annual basis to maintain their certifications.  Let me clearly state, that these exams were the most “professionally grueling” exams that I have ever taken and I strongly believe in the high standard of professional ability that all CIH’s have demonstrated to achieve such a certification.   I also intend to continue learning and to maintain my professional certification to further develop my technical knowledge and capabilities in these fields as a CIH.

Now back to the original question…   Why is hiring a CIH more expensive than hiring other non-certified individuals???…

Posted in: F.A.Q.