Members of the Academy of Certified Hazardous Materials Managers (ACHMM) leadership will travel to India Feb. 6-12 to teach its National Overview Course (NOC) and to participate in several special events surrounding the opening of its first-ever international chapter.
"This delegation is a historic step in expanding international awareness and recognition for the Academy of Certified Hazardous Materials Managers," said ACHMM President John Mitchell, CHMM. "We look at this journey as the first of many to heighten interest in the certified hazardous materials managers credential to a larger and more diverse audience as well as expand awareness for good stewardship and management of hazardous materials."
"ACHMM is excited about this unique opportunity to meet with fellow hazardous materials management professionals, discuss similar issues in the environmental, health and safety community and promote the standard of excellence within the industry – the CHMM credential," said ACHMM International Ambassador and Bangalore native Rampur Viswanath, CHMM.
ACHMM delegation members will teach the 4-day National Overview Course at the Bangalore Institute of Technology. The sessions, which will be taught in English, provide a comprehensive review of environmental laws and regulations and applicable health and requirements.
Last fall, ACHMM started a chapter in Bangalore, India in conjunction with the Bangalore Institute of Technology led by B.S. Jaiprakash, Ph.D. The India chapter comprises professionals working in the hazardous materials management, environmental, health and safety industry in India as well as
U.S.-based CHMMs of South Asian (Indian Subcontinent) heritage and any hazardous materials management professionals working in or interested in starting to conduct business in South Asia.
ACHMM and India have a unique history. On Dec. 3, 1984, the CHMM credential was officially incorporated in Rockville, Md. On the same day, Bhopal, India experienced a major hazardous materials disaster as 40 tons of methyl isocyanate leaked from the local pesticide manufacturing plant. About 10,000 people died and more than half a million were affected by the hazardous vapor cloud.
For more information about the India Chapter of ACHMM, contact Rampur S. Viswanath, Ph.D., CHMM, at (509) 376-9223 or via e-mail at [email protected].