Neil McManus
Industrial Hygienist
Neil McManus, with NorthWest Occupational Health and Safety in North Vancouver (www.nwohs.com), is a practicing industrial hygienist with almost 40 years of broad-spectrum experience “in the trenches” with workers, and their supervisors and management. He has earned designations in the U.S. and Canada as a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), a Registered Occupational Hygienist (ROH), and Certified Safety Professional (CSP). Mr. McManus is an active volunteer in committees in the health and safety profession and in the local community. He has chaired the Computer Applications Committee and Confined Space Committee of the American Industrial Hygiene Association and is the Chair of the ANSI Z9.9 Committee on Portable Ventilation Systems responsible for creating an American National Standard on this subject. He has made numerous presentations to professional and community groups. Mr. McManus is a Fellow of the American Industrial Hygiene Association, the first non U.S. national to be elected to this honor.
He has written numerous articles and short publications, and is the author of leading-edge publications in the health and safety profession, including Safety and Health in Confined Spaces , Portable Ventilation Systems Handbook , The Confined Space Training Program , and is co-author of The Hazcom Training Program and The WHMIS Training Program.
Mr. McManus also is an educator. He began his career as a high school teacher and has considerable experience in adult education. He has taught courses on workplace air monitoring, noise, industrial hygiene, occupational health and safety, and toxicology. He has a special interest in confined spaces, portable ventilation and hazard communication, and has written articles, and created and presented workshops and Professional Development Courses on these subjects. He has first-hand experience with many groups on the shop floor and knows full-well the challenges and difficulties in communicating complex concepts in the health and safety arena to nontechnical audiences.
Mr.McManus investigated his first microbiological issue in 1986 and has had increasing involvement in microbiological issues in buildings since 1990. He was an invited speaker on health issues to occupants and remediation workers at the Barrett Commission on leaky condominiums in Vancouver and has contributed to the efforts of the Coalition of Leaky Condo Owners (COLCO) and the Consumer Advocacy and Support for Homeowners (CASH) Society. He has had a considerable experience with microbiological issues in houses resulting from design, construction, and maintenance deficiencies through involvement with the building restoration industry. He investigated the first grow-bust houses in Chilliwack, Abbotsford and North Vancouver covered under municipal bylaws on this issue, and created a protocol for ensuring that the restored buildings remain an asset to the housing stock in these communities.
Mr. McManus has a D.Sc. in civil engineering from the Universidade Federal Fluminense in Niteroi, Brasil and an M.Sc. in radiation biology and an M.Eng. in occupational health and safety engineering, as well as a B.Sc. in chemistry and a B.Ed. specializing in chemistry and biology, all from the University of Toronto.