ACGIH

The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH^®) is a professional association of industrial hygienists and practitioners of related professions, with headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. One of its goals is to advance worker protection by providing timely, objective, scientific information to occupational and environmental health professionals.

The National Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (NCGIH) convened on June 27, 1938, in Washington, D.C. NCGIH's original constitution limited full membership to two representatives from each governmental industrial hygiene agency. Associate membership was made available to other professional personnel of the agencies holding full memberships, and also to personnel of educational institutions engaged in teaching industrial hygiene. Governmental industrial hygiene personnel of other countries were eligible for affiliated membership.

The Conference came into being with 59 members, one affiliated member, and 16 associate members. Forty-three members, one associate and six guests, attended the initial Conference. All but five of the members were from health departments. The New York and Massachusetts state labor departments had two each present, and there was one from the West Virginia state compensation commission.

At the end of World War II, many individuals were leaving governmental employment and membership in the Conference declined from the peak of 281 in 1944 to 235 in 1946. Changes due to the transition to a peace-time economy, the development of other professional associations, and changes in the technical and administrative needs of state and local agencies, required the Conference to revise its constitution and make some major changes in its organizational structure.

The 1946 constitution revisions abandoned the concept of limiting full membership to only two individuals from each governmental industrial hygiene agency. This opened the doors to all of their professional personnel to participate in the activities of the organization on an equal basis. Governmental industrial hygiene personnel from foreign countries were also given the right to full membership. These changes, among others, were to have a salutary effect on the organization which, in 1946, changed its name to the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH^®).

In the mid 1950s, steady growth in membership resumed and by 1960 there were 511 members, including 54 from other countries. During the next decade these numbers more than doubled and in 1977 the total reached 1,800, of which 166 were from outside the United States.

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