In this week's 5 on the Frontlines, AIHA Director of Government Relations Mark Ames talks with Rich Schimenek and Abby Ferri about the challenges of reopening gyms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rich is the Director of Strength & Conditioning at Trois Rivieres Training for the past 9 years, an Assistant Coach for the Track & Field team at Sartell High School for the past 5 years, and has been working with high school and college athletes in central Minnesota for the past 12 years. During that time he has worked with over 1,000 unique athletes, developed 100+ athletes that continued on to compete in college, had 200+ Minnesota State Tournament participants across multiple sports, and has trained 3 National Champions (hockey, softball, boxing) and 20 Minnesota State Champions (hockey, baseball, dance, football).

Abby is a practical, creative, and influential safety and risk management consultant, podcaster, and author. She leverages social media, voice, and the latest technology to advocate for worker safety and equity. Her years in construction prepared her for any industry, and her innovative approach has impacted thousands of workers, students, and safety peers worldwide.

Bonus Material: 5 Lessons from the Lockdown for Gym Owners and Managers

This week, 5 on the Frontline's Mark Ames talks with Dawn Bolstad-Johnson, author of EXPOSED: Carcinogenic Exposures on the Fireground and 11 Work Practices to Minimize the Risk about the risks post fires.

Dawn Bolstad-Johnson has been studying the after-fire environment from the industrial hygienist’s perspective for more than 25 years.

She’s a Certified Industrial Hygienist, A Certified Safety Professional an AIHA Fellow and holds a Master's Degree in Public Health.

On this episode, Ames talks with Corey Boles, PhD, a Senior Health Scientist with Cardno Chemrisk about a concerning question for many: How can I be safe and work effectively as I return to my office environment? Corey shares about employee and leadership priorities and what risk factors should be considered as office teams move forward with physical returns to their office space. Corey is one of the contributors to updated guideline documents for BackToWorkSafely.org.

The reopening of office workplaces should be conducted in a thorough manner accounting for several factors before employees are allowed to return; these guidelines for general office settings are available for free at backtoworksafely.org.

This episode was first published on September 1, 2020.

In this episode, Mark talks with Bernie Fontaine about how to stay safe playing amateur sports during a pandemic.

Mr. Fontaine has more than 44 years of professional and business experience in regulatory compliance, insurance, national defense, environmental services, and consulting. He is a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), Certified Safety Professional (CSP), AIHA Distinguished Lecturer and AIHA Fellow.

Mr. Fontaine was also a Virginia-certified high school official before moving to New Jersey and becoming certified by the NJ State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). For past 19 seasons, Mr. Fontaine has officiated everything from Little League baseball to NCAA collegiate games in the Mid-Atlantic Conference. Summertime amateur youth baseball tournaments to college showcases are played across the tri-state region.

Because heat stress is a fundamental health and safety concern, Mr. Fontaine created a Facebook webpage and an assigning model to address this issue, especially for assignors scheduling and officials working summertime baseball.

This episode was first published on August 19, 2020

In this episode, Mark explores a challenging question that impacts millions of Americans: what happens when a natural disaster occurs during the COVID-19 pandemic? How can volunteers, businesses, and workers protect themselves and their loved ones?

Our guest today is Ed Primeau, the Past Chair of AIHA's Incident Preparedness and Response Working Group. He was an editor of the Second Edition of the Incident Safety and Health Management Handbook, and just retired from the United States Coast Guard's Atlantic Strike Team where he worked for the past 17 years. Ed's a National Incident Management System Type 1 Safety Officer. During his time with the USCG Strike Team, he responded to numerous multiple agency responses, which included major hurricanes, the release of hazardous materials, and oil spills.

Mark and Ed talk about how can volunteers who are involved in disasters stay safe during the pandemic, and how business owners and leaders prepare for and respond to a disaster during the pandemic.

First published on August 13, 2020.

This episode features an interview with David Beatty, CSP, CCEP, from M.C. Dean, Inc. Mark and David discuss some of the policy points surrounding reopening schools amidst the current pandemic.

David is a senior health safety industrial hygiene and public health professional with over 20 years of experience in the field and is a recent contributor to AIHA’s COVID-19 guidance document for reopening schools, covering Kindergarten through 12th grade. He’s the head of industrial hygiene and risk management for M.C. Dean, a one billion dollar infrastructure systems integration firm with engineering, construction, manufacturing, and sustainment teams operating on six continents.

Dave also served as the head of public health for Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, and Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. He earned his Bachelors in Safety from Indiana University of PA and Masters in Public Health and Tropical Medicine from Tulane University.

First published on August 4, 2020.