Health & Safety Committee Call for Members

Are you concerned about the health and safety of yourself and others? Do you want to get more involved in AIC and be part of a great team? The AIC’s Health & Safety Committee is seeking three new members to serve 4-year terms beginning in May 2015.
Health and Safety is a very active committee, with members contributing articles and safety guides to the AIC News and Wiki; presenting lectures and posters at national and international conferences; hosting an informational booth, sessions and respiratory protection workshops at the Annual Meeting; and regularly interacting with other Specialty Groups, Committees, Networks and AIC blogs to address questions related to health and safety in our field.
The Health and Safety Committee enjoys strong support from its AIC Board liaison (Sarah Stauderman) and its AIC Staff liaison (Ruth Seyler, Director of Membership and Meetings).
Our Belief
Individuals must consider their own health and safety to be equally as important as the health and safety of the collections in their care. The AIC Health & Safety Committee firmly believes that safety risk controls and work resources can be managed together without compromising resources.
How do we accomplish this?
To increase the knowledge of safety hazards, control measures and general health issues related to the conservation profession, the Committee is charged with providing educational and technical information to the AIC membership. The Committee maintains strong working relationships with public health and safety, occupational medicine, and fire protection professionals and their organizations, who donate their time and knowledge to the benefit of AIC membership.
For more information on the H&S Committee, please visit the Health & Safety Committee website.
Who are we?
You will be joining a diverse group of conservators from various specialties, and allied safety professionals, who enjoy working together, “meeting” regularly via conference calls and Basecamp discussions, and completing projects on-time. We operate democratically (and with a great deal of fun!) by setting priority projects together and agreeing that every member will volunteer to manage or work on at least one project every year.
There are 10 positions (AIC membership is required), each serving one 4-year term with a possible renewal for a second term. By charge, at least one member must be an Occupational Health and Safety Professional (currently we have 2!). The chair usually serves for 2 years, and is elected from the committee members. The conservation student member serves for a single 2-year term, and is the H&S Committee liaison with the Emerging Conservation Professionals Network.
Applications Welcomed
The ideal candidate possesses a strong interest in health and safety issues and a desire to participate. We strongly encourage AIC Fellows to join us, as the Committee will greatly benefit from your career experiences in balancing safety and conservation work. Interested candidates should submit a resume or CV, and a statement of interest, to Chair Kathy Makos, at kamakos@verizon.net, by February 1, 2015.