The 1998 Donald E. Cummings Memorial Award Lecture. The industrial hygiene paradox, dilemmas, and a vision for the future.

How do we move from diatribe to dialogue? Since the Donald E. Cummings Award was first established in 1943, the profession of industrial hygiene has seen many changes. The traditional hazards Alice Hamilton addressed in her 1948 Cummings lecture have been controlled. However, the advent of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has changed the approach of many of today's industrial hygienists from "best professional practices" to regulatory compliance or OSHA industrial hygiene. Further, the dialogue that has existed between academia, business, government, and labor that allows industrial hygienists to identify and resolve health hazards is now threatened by lawsuits and lobbyists. Industrial hygienists have a professional responsibility to workers, employers, clients, and the public. Our vision for the future must refocus on this responsibility as we once again embrace dialogue instead of diatribe. This lecture was presented at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition in Atlanta, Ga., on May 13, 1998.