ABOUT SMOHIT
The Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute Trust (SMOHIT) was founded in 1986 to address the impact of decades-long asbestos exposure on those working in the sheet metal industry. To date, more than 55,000 sheet metal workers have been screened as part of our ongoing Asbestos Screening Program.
SMOHIT is a Joint Labor Management Trust whose mission is to provide industry-leading health and safety solutions to minimize occupational illnesses and injuries for sheet metal craftsmen.
To name a few of its nearly 40 health and safety training and certification programs, SMOHIT offers OSHA 30, job site safety, scaffolding safety, lead exposure training and confined space safety. In addition to ensuring its members receive top health and safety training, SMOHIT provides health screenings, including asbestos screenings, cholesterol screenings and prostate cancer screenings, to its members nationwide.
SMOHIT serves more than 123,000 members of the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association (SMWIA) and 4,500 members of the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA).
While screenings and research on asbestos and other hazardous materials continue to be the cornerstone of SMOHIT’s efforts, its expanding mission now includes being the sheet metal industry’s leading resource for health and safety products and services. The organization is achieving this goal by offering cutting-edge training using interactive DVD, CD-ROM, and Web-based resources.
LEADERSHIP
Gary L. Batykefer
Administrative Director
Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute Trust
P: 703-739-7130
E: gbatykefer@sheetmetal-iti.org
W: www.smohit.org
In 1996, Gary Batykefer joined the Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute Trust (SMOHIT) as administrative director, drawing on his nearly 20 years of experience in the sheet metal industry to oversee the organization’s operations.
SMOHIT provides critical health and safety information to more than 150,000 sheet metal workers and 4,500 contractors in the United States and Canada. Established in 1986 to address issues of asbestos exposure through screenings and education, the trust has expanded its reach to include health and safety training products, health and safety training curriculum, and health and safety services.
During his career, Batykefer has worked as a financial secretary treasurer, business manager, business representative, executive board member and recording secretary for Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 12 in Pittsburgh, Penn. He started as a sheet metal apprentice in 1975 and has worked as a journeyman since 1980. It was the skills he gained through working with the local union that made him the right candidate for the administrative director position with SMOHIT.
Prior to Batykefer’s work in the sheet metal industry, he drew on his education in construction health and safety, mechanical drafting tool and die design and mechanical engineering to hold positions as a design draftsman for MacIntosh Hemphill and Schroeder Brothers Corporation in Pittsburgh.
Batykefer has been involved in SMOHIT since 1992 when he served as a trustee to the board. He’s also a delegate to the Sheet Metal Workers International Association for its conferences and conventions, elected to the position since 1988.
A native of Pennsylvania, Batykefer currently resides in Pittsburgh. He has co-authored the curriculum for various training programs for the Sheet Metal Workers International Association and provides content review for the SMOHIT health and safety training programs.
