A passionate chemist, occupational hygienist, and safety adviser, Raymond Merriman has dedicated a decades-long career to his many areas of expertise—culminating in his role as the president and senior occupational hygienist at his own consulting business, Merriman & Associates Occupational Hygiene and Safety Consultants Ltd. The company was founded in 2017 to provide guidance to clients in the prevention of illness, injuries, or financial distress due to work activities. By the time he started the company, he had accrued more than 40 years in the field and, while he had retirement in mind, he also wielded too much advice on occupational hygiene and safety matters that has benefited a wide range of industries including—asbestos abatement, health care, oil production, pulp and paper, and shipbuilding and repair—and wanted to continue helping. In addition, he was asked to help renters who were initiating a class-action lawsuit against a property development company. The renters were exposed to noise, lead, asbestos, and silica during the renovations conducted without effective controls and were trying to understand their risk potential for health related illness.

While running his company, Mr. Merriman also served as an occupational hygiene adviser to the Interior Health Authority from 2018 to 2019 and as senior occupational hygienist at Island Environmental Health & Safety Ltd from 2019 to 2020. Prior to these roles, he was active as an occupational hygienist at the Bintang Ventures Company from 2007 to 2017 assisting companies operating outside of British Columbia with issues such as evaluating the content of Safety Data Sheets. From 1989 to 2018 he worked as an Occupational Hygiene Officer, Senior Regional Officer (supervisor), and Federal WHMIS Inspector at WorkSafeBC—where his primary responsibilities were to inspect workplaces for compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation,
Workers Compensation Act, Hazardous Products Act, and Hazardous Products Regulation; investigate serious accidents and fatalities; provide education and consultation services to employers; and was a “go to” person for asbestos, heat, noise, and related issues. He had additional experience as a general manager and a senior occupational hygienist at Monenco Consultants Limited from 1988 to 1989, a general manager and a senior hygienist at Monenco Maritimes Limited in 1987, and a senior hygienist at Monenco Analytical Laboratories from 1985 to 1987. At the start of his career he was a research and development chemist at AECL from 1976 to 1979. During this period he developed a dissolved deuterium analyzer and worked with processes to dispose of radioactive waste. He was a senior chemist at Sheppard T. Powell Associates, later known as Monenco Analytical Laboratories, from 1979 to 1984 and was the consulting chemist and a laboratory supervisor for Montreal Engineering Company while in Indonesia from 1984 to 1985. While pursuing a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from the University of Victoria, which he ultimately attained in 1976, he worked as a field technician and an office assistant for the Department of Highways in British Columbia for four years.

In 1986, Mr. Merriman developed chemical pneumonitis after working with artificial smoke generators used to test the effectiveness of laboratory fume hoods and asbestos abatement containments. This illness led him to study artificial smoke fluids for his master’s thesis while studying at Newcastle University in England; his trailblazing discovery was that the chemicals utilized in the process were breaking down in the heating process and generating gases and vapours besides the condensate fume associated with the listed ingredients of the fluids. The pyrolytic process was unknown to manufacturers at the time, and due to the generation of hydrogen chloride and formaldehyde the process had the potential for producing one of the world’s most powerful lung cancer-producing agents. He earned a Master of Science in occupational hygiene in 1988. Outside of his primary career endeavors, he has co-authored “Mercury in your Workplace” for the British Columbia Medical Journal and has volunteered since 1993 as a visiting scientist with the Scientists and Innovators in the Schools (SIS) program in British Columbia. The SIS program was established to generate interest in the sciences in schools. While working with Monenco Analytical he helped establish Western Canada’s first commercial radionuclide laboratory and while working with Montreal Engineering Company established a commercially viable laboratory facility at Gadja Mada University in Indonesia. In 2021, he worked with multiple organizations to safely work with, and transport internationally, the radioactive remains of a nearly complete Triceratops Horridus fossil found in Montana. As a testament to his impact in the field of occupational hygiene, Mr. Merriman received a plaque from the local section of the American Industrial Hygiene Association for his outstanding contributions to the organization while he was the president.

Additionally, Mr. Merriman was a founding member of the Elbow Valley Cycle Club in Calgary, has been an active member of the Knights of Columbus since 2007, head usher of St. Andrew’s Cathedral in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria, and an active volunteer with the Stella Maris ministry which assists seafarers while in port in Victoria. Looking ahead toward the future, he sees himself traveling back and forth between Indonesia and Canada, as he and his wife—Gregoria—support the education of their relatives in Indonesia and act as mentors.