December 12, 2022
Last summer Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences students supported by Northwest Center for Occupational Health & Safety Industrial Hygiene program interned across the Seattle area. Here is what they have to say about their experience.
Mae Coker, Masters in Occupational Hygiene student
Mae is a second year Masters in Occupational Hygiene student who interned at the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, Division of Occupational Safety and Health Compliance Region 2 (King County).
What did you do in your internship?
I shadowed industrial hygiene compliance officers on workplace health inspections, usually in response to anonymous health complaints. I assisted with personal sampling, employee interviews, report writing, and hazard identification in the field.
What did you like most about the experience?
My favorite part of the internship was visiting a variety of workplaces (including metal scrapyards, wineries, and a doggy day care) and investigating a wide variety of workplace hazards. I got to help with metal particulate, hexavalent chromium, and noise sampling.
How did your internship inform your future career goals?
I was able to build an understanding of how our state government works to enforce health and safety laws in practice. I learned a lot from working with other industrial hygienists about how to effectively communicate about hazards and laws with employers and employees, especially in tense situations. The work is challenging but so important, and I hope to work in enforcement when I graduate!
Asheton Gilbertson, Masters in Occupational Hygiene student
Asheton is a second year Masters in Occupational Hygiene student who interned at The Boeing Company in Renton.
What did you do in your internship?
I performed a comprehensive noise evaluation survey of Boeing’s 737 MAX program, which included personal noise monitoring and work area noise measurements. For the assessment, I measured 90 employees across 15 production processes.
What did you like most about the experience? Performing noise monitoring allowed me to be on the production floor nearly every day, which gave me the incredible opportunity to observe and share in manufacturing workers’ experiences. I loved learning how a commercial airplane is built while getting to know the amazing people who make it all happen. In those moments, I felt like I was a part of something truly special – a community of hardworking, fun-loving people.
How did your internship inform your future career goals? I was unsure if manufacturing was a work environment that I would enjoy. I loved it! The fast-paced, independent yet collaborative nature of my work experience is something I will certainly look for in the future. I also cannot speak highly enough of my coworkers. Nothing compares to finding a team where you feel valued and are contributing to something greater than yourself. When you find that, you know you are in the right place.
Renea Ramanan, Masters in Applied Occupational Hygiene student
Renea is a second year Masters in Applied Occupational Hygiene student who interned at the Department of Labor and Industries in Region 3 (Tacoma).
What did you do in your internship?
I shadowed Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHOs) on their Industrial Hygiene Compliance Inspections.
What did you like most about the experience?
I liked learning from experienced professionals, and I liked going out into the field with CSHOs to see and learn from compliance inspections.
How did your internship inform your future career goals?
My internship reinforced my determination to pursue employment in the field of occupational hygiene after I obtain a Master of Science in Applied Occupational Hygiene, and to become a Certified Industrial Hygienist because of the various inspections and hazards that I had seen during my internship.
Pranav Srikanth, Masters in Occupational Hygiene graduate and PhD student
Pranav graduated in spring 2022 with a Masters in Occupational Hygiene. He is a current Occupational Hygiene PhD student who interned at the Washington Department of Health, Office of Communicable Disease Epidemiology.
What did you do in your internship?
This project investigated ventilation systems in long-term care facilities in WA, evaluating low-cost interventions to improve ventilation air exchange rates in resident rooms.
What did you like most about the experience?
The goal of this project was to develop actionable recommendations to improve ventilation. The work I did can have real-life, immediate benefits to both long-term care workers and residents. For this reason, I think this project is one of the most valuable projects I've worked on as an occupational hygiene researcher.
How did your internship inform your future career goals?
Since I did the majority of my MS in Occupational Hygiene during the COVID-19 pandemic, I had little opportunity to participate in field-based research. While this internship doesn't necessarily change my career goals in academia, it allowed me to actually use the concepts I've learned during my time at DEOHS, and has made me more confident in taking charge of projects that have a fieldwork component.
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Click to learn more about the NWCOHS-supported MS and PhD programs.
Cover photo credit: Adobe Images 401384926, 446043828, 506407721, 432590854.
