PDC 801: Emotional Intelligence, Managing Conflict, and Communicating Effectively

What the course covers:

“Emotional Intelligence, Managing Conflict, and Communicating Effectively,” will teach attendees critical leadership skills that industrial hygienists neglect to invest in throughout their careers. In this professional development course (PDC), attendees will practice these human skills (often referred to as soft skills) with their colleagues through consideration of a variety of occupational hygiene situations, role-playing, and sharing work experiences. Attendees are encouraged to submit problems or questions prior to the PDC for discussion; all submissions will be anonymous and confidential. While the PDC will focus on building the three primary skills of effective communication, conflict management, and emotional intelligence, attendees will find topics woven into the course that include mindfulness, breathing techniques, problem solving, teamwork, resiliency, creative thinking, psychological safety, and working under pressure.

Why is this course interesting to attendees?

Industrial hygienists commit their careers to protecting employees from hazards in their workplaces and communities. In this PDC, attendees will develop skills that are essential to humanizing the workplace and adopting new ways of being and working. The journey to organizational excellence and one’s best self begins with the development of meaningful work and relationships.

Attendees will enrich themselves by practicing the skills taught in this PDC and engaging in practices that will make these skills become habits. They will see results at work and home with team members, friends, loved ones, and others that they meet throughout their lives and careers.

Instructors’ bios and professional background in relation to this topic:

Joy Erdman, MS, CIH, CSP, FAIHA, is a private consultant in occupational safety and health based in Falls Church, Virginia. Prior to this, she was the senior civilian Certified Industrial Hygienist and Certified Safety Professional working in the Pentagon in support of the U.S. Navy’s occupational safety and health program. Erdman also served on a variety of Department of Defense and Federal Interagency committees and is an alumna of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Senior Executive Fellow Program. She has taught ethics for industrial hygienists seeking certification maintenance for over 10 years. In 2012, the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) recognized her as one of 100 women making a difference in safety, and, in 2020, AIHA recognized her as an AIHA Fellow. Ms. Erdman is past chair of the AIHA Leadership and Management Committee, the current chair of the AIHA Conference Program Committee, and on the Board of Directors for the AIHA Potomac Section. She has taught ethics for industrial hygienists seeking certification maintenance for over 10 years.

Tim Paz, CIH, has been practicing industrial hygiene for nearly 25 years in diverse industry sectors that have included environmental remediation, aerospace, healthcare, and medical research. Most recently, he served as senior industrial hygienist at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in Washington, DC. He is a former president of the St. Louis AIHA Local Section and the current chair of the AIHA Mentoring and Professional Development Committee. Paz currently serves as the vice president of the National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives (NAHFE) and the president-elect of the AIHA Potomac Local Section. He is also a member of the AIHA Respiratory Protection Committee and the American Section of the International Society of Respiratory Protection.

Paz was also a member of the AIHA Core Competencies Task Force that revised the 2018 edition of The Core Competencies for the Practice of Industrial/Occupational Hygiene, originally published in 2012, which added important functional competencies such as “soft skills” that contribute to the sustained success of an industrial hygiene professional. ”

Erdman and Paz have both presented at national conferences and AIHA local section meetings on the topics of leadership, emotional intelligence, and self-awareness.

PDC 801: Emotional Intelligence, Managing Conflict, and Communicating Effectively will be held during AIHce EXP 2022 at 8:00 a.m. Central Time on Thursday, May 25, 2022, on-site at the Music City Center in Nashville.