After searching for more than a year, NIU administrators are about to hire a full-time environmental safety consultant.

The new industrial hygienist will have a “myriad of responsibilities,” said NIU Business and Operations Safety Officer Rob Vest.

“A selection committee is currently being formed and we hope to offer the job to one of the candidates by next week,” Business and Operations Associate Vice President Patricia Hewitt said.

“Hopefully we’ll have a full-time industrial hygienist by the beginning of May,” she said.

Vest said the various duties required of the position are: to work with and ensure compliance to the standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), monitor NIU’s Hazardous Waste Program, ensure that ventilation systems function properly, control noise pollution, and collect substance samples (such as asbestos) and air samples to ensure proper indoor air quality.

Vest also said one of the more important duties of the hygienist will be to train NIU craftsman how to use oxygen analyzers when working in sewers and steam tunnels or other confined spaces.

The hygienist “will also train them in how to handle an emergency if someone is overcome by trapped fumes during a confined space entry,” Vest said.

“In the past we’ve had to rely on outside consultants to do the work,” Vest said. Now with a professional on staff full-time there will be someone to “respond to everyday work and also be there firsthand in the case of emergencies,” Vest said.

Hewitt said, “Because the position would be considered a civil service job, a full-time industrial hygienist at NIU would only be paid about $30,000 per year as compared to about $45,000 in the private sector.”

Hewitt said the lower salary is why it has been difficult to find someone to fill the position.

Vest pointed out the various programs for the hygienist are not all in place because, along with his own duties, he has been trying to perform those duties as well.