The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA^®) has won three dotCOMM awards for its #IAmIH campaign, launched earlier this year. The awards include a platinum dotCOMM award for excellence in documentary filmmaking for its first-ever day-in-the-life documentary on an industrial hygienist, a platinum award for the first-ever #IAmIH comic, and a gold award for the campaign's website, www.ihheroes.org. The campaign features three day-in-the-life video installments. "Episode 2" will be debuting on September 5, 2017 and "Episode 3" will be released in early November.
 

From the forensics labs of the Michigan State Police to the steps of the U.S. Capitol and the sprawling campus at 3M, AIHA and LAI Video partnered together to capture industrial hygienists in a variety of professional environments. AIHA invited each participant to take viewers on a facility tour and share their own career path and unique #IAmIH story. AIHA hopes the videos encourage IH pros to learn more about AIHA and spark STEM students to join the profession. 

"Six months ago, we had to google the term 'industrial hygiene." said James Loizou, VP of LAI Video. "Now, through our work with AIHA, we're dedicated to raising awareness for these overlooked professionals - those who wield science to make the workplace safer."

Comic book hero

The comic book, illustrated by Klaus Scherwinski, was developed by AIHA to further demonstrate the exciting world of industrial hygiene. The inaugural edition follows IH Hero Rebecca as she is called in for a special assignment on a South Pacific island recently devastated by a tsunami. AIHA hopes the #IAmIH campaign will help inspire the next generation of industrial hygienists.

"Working on the IH Heroes campaign was a great experience. While I received the necessary guidance to make the story work from the perspective of an IH professional, I was given lots of freedom artistically," said Klaus Scherwinski. "I was thrilled to collaborate with Ben Rome (AIHA's Marketing Manager) to create a comic book that goes beyond entertainment, teaching people a thing or two while telling a story with a lot of heart - that just ticked all of my boxes."

About the awards

The dotCOMM Awards is an international competition honoring excellence in web creativity and digital communication. dotCOMM entries come from corporate communication departments, public relations firms, digital shops, advertising agencies and freelancers. Entrants include designers, developers, content producers, digital artists, video professionals, account supervisors, creative directors and corporate executives.