Integration of Occupational Risk Prevention Courses in Engineering Degrees: Delphi Study
Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education & Practice
Volume 138, Issue 1
Abstract
Engineering syllabi often lack courses covering occupational risk prevention. In Spain, professional competences are awarded along with the completion of a university degree. This means that new graduates are certified in areas in which they have received little or no training, such as occupational risk prevention. However, the academic reforms established by the Bologna Process, which strives to homogenize university degrees throughout Europe, compels European universities to design new syllabi. The main goal of this paper is to define a framework for including occupational risk-prevention education in the new engineering syllabi. This exploratory research applied the Delphi methodology to a panel of 59 experts, using questionnaires assessed with a four-point Likert scale through two rounds. A website supported the information flow. According to the experts who participated in this study, education and training in occupational risk-prevention is essential for improving the safety culture within a company or workplace. The experts concurred that this subject should be a separate mandatory course in all engineering degree programs. The participants recommended that an optional course should be considered only if a mandatory course is not approved. It was also deemed desirable to integrate occupational risk prevention as a cross-field subject in other technological courses, even if the curriculum already includes some related courses.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The writers wish to thank Lia Wallon for revising the text and also acknowledge the valuable suggestions of two anonymous reviewers.
References
Alhemood, A. (2004). “Development of safety engineering curricula in the Gulf Cooperative countries to meet local manufacturing needs.” Hum. Factors Ergon. Manuf., 14(3), 321–326.
Best, R. J. (1974). “An experiment in Delphi estimation in marketing decision making.” JMR, 11(4), 448–452.
Bologna Secretariat. (2010). “Towards the European higher education area: Bologna process.”〈http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/about/〉 (Oct. 25, 2010).
Bryan, L. A. (1999). “Educating engineers on safety.” J. Manage. Eng., 15(2), 30–33.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., and Morrison, K. (2000). Research methods in education, 5th Ed., Routledge, London.
Cortés, J. M. (2009). “La prevención de riesgos laborales en las enseñanzas universitarias españolas y su integración en los estudios de ingeniería.” Ph.D. thesis, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain (in Spanish).
Cortés, J. M., Catalá, J., and Pellicer, E. (2009a). “El técnico superior de prevención de riesgos laborales como nueva profesión regulada. Propuestas de titulación oficial y requisitos que serían necesarios para la verificación.” Proc., XVII Congreso Universitario de Innovación Educativa en las Enseñanzas Técnicas, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería del Diseño, Valencia, Spain (in Spanish).
Cortés, J. M., Catalá, J., and Pellicer, E. (2009b). “La prevención de riesgos laborales en las enseñanzas de ingeniería: Competencias y requisitos para la verificación de los títulos que habilitan para el desempeño de profesiones reguladas.” Proc., XVII Congreso Universitario de Innovación Educativa en las Enseñanzas Técnicas, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería del Diseño, Valencia, Spain (in Spanish).
European Union (EU). (2005). “Directive 2005/36/EC, adopted on 7 September 2005.” Consolidates and modernises the rules currently regulating the recognition of professional qualifications, European Commission, Brussels.
Everett, J. G., and Frank, P. B. (1996). “Cost of accidents and injuries to the construction industry.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 122(2), 158–164.
Ferjencik, M. (2007). “Best starting point to comprehensive process safety education.” Process Saf. Prog., 26(3), 195–202.
Hale, A. R. (1984). “Is safety training worthwhile?” J. Occup. Accid., 6(1–3), 17–33.
Hallowell, M. R., and Gambatese, J. A. (2010). “Qualitative research: Application of the Delphi method to CEM research.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 136(1), 99–107.
Hill, R. H., and Nelson, D. A. (2005). “Strengthening safety education of chemistry undergraduates.” Chem. Health Saf., 12(6), 19–23.
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). (2009). “Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Mercado laboral. Accidentes de trabajo y enfermedades profesionales. Serie 1997-2007.”〈http://www.ine.es/jaxi/menu.do?type=pcaxis&path=/t22/a063/a1998/&file=pcaxis〉 (Dec. 14, 2009) (in Spanish).
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). (2010). “Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Estadística de Enseñanza Universitaria.”〈http://www.ine.es/jaxi/menu.do?type=pcaxis&path=%2Ft13%2Fp405&file=inebase&L=0〉 (Oct. 26, 2010) (in Spanish).
Kauffman, D. (1987). “Health, safety and loss control topics in the senior design courses.” Plant/Oper. Prog., 6(2), 73–76.
Kavianian, H. R., Meshkati, N., Wentz, C. A., and Rao, J. K. (1993). “Should engineering schools address occupational and environmental safety and health issues?” Prof. Saf., 38(6), 48–49.
Lemkowitz, S. M. (1992). “A unique program for integrating health, safety, environment and social aspects into undergraduate chemical engineering education.” Plant/Oper. Prog., 11(3), 140–150.
Leopold, E., and Leonard, S. (1987). “Cost of construction accidents to employers.” J. Occup. Accid., 8(4), 273–294.
Levitt, R., and Samelson, N. M. (1993). Construction safety management, 2nd Ed., Wiley, New York.
Levitzky, J. J. (1988). “Safety, health, and loss prevention in the undergraduate chemical engineering curriculum.” Plant/Oper. Prog., 7(3), 190–194.
Linstone, H. A., and Turoff, M. (1975). The Delphi method: Techniques and applications, Addison-Wesley, London.
Moccaldi, A., Trevisi, R., and Orlando, C. (2005). “ISPESL radon programme: A challenge in the academic programme of a safety and security engineering course.” Saf. Secur. Eng., 82, 143–150.
Okoli, C., and Pawlowski, S. D. (2004). “The Delphi method as a research tool: An example, design considerations and applications.” Inf. Manage., 42(1), 15–29.
Pellicer, E., and Molenaar, K. R. (2009). “Discussion of ‘Developing a model of construction safety culture.” J. Manage. Eng., 25(1), 44–47.
Pellicer, E., Serón, J., Catalá, J., and Jordá, L. (2003). “Proposal of a new academic frame for the civil engineering education in construction safety and health.” Proc., Int. Conf. on Engineering Education, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería del Diseño, Valencia, Spain.
Petersen, A. K., Reynolds, J. H., and Ng, L. W. T. (2008). “The attitude of civil engineering students towards health and safety risk management: A case study.” Eur. J. Eng. Educ., 33(5–6), 499–510.
Phillis, T. W., and Wheway, R. T. (1991). “Introducing occupational health and safety issues to undergraduate students: The Wollonong experience.” Proc., MECH ’91 Int. Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exhibition, The Institution of Engineers, Sidney, Australia.
Reinalda, B., and Kulesza, E. (2005). The Bologna process—Harmonizing Europe’s higher education, Barbara Budrich, Farmington Hills, MI.
Rodrigues, M. F., and Teixeira, J. C. (2002). “Health and safety in Portuguese civil engineering curricula.” Proc., XXX IAHS World Congress on Housing – Housing Construction: An Interdisciplinary Task, The International Association for Housing Science (IAHS), Coimbra, Portugal, 67–71.
Rowe, G., and Wright, G. (1999). “The Delphi technique as a forecasting tool: Issue and analysis.” Int. J. Forecast., 15(4), 353–375.
Rubio, M. C., Menéndez, A., Rubio, J. C., and Martínez, G. (2005). “Obligations and responsibilities of civil engineers for the prevention of labour risks. References to European regulations.” J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 131(1), 70–75.
Talty, J. T. (1986). “Integrating safety and health issues into engineering school curricula.” Chem. Eng. Prog..
Vincent, J. H. (2005). “Graduate education in occupational hygiene: A rational framework.” Ann. Occup. Hyg., 49(8), 649–659.
Waehrer, G. M., Dong, X. S., Miller, T., Haile, E., and Men, Y. (2007). “Cost of occupational injuries in construction in the United States.” Accid. Anal. Prev., 39(6), 1258–1266.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 13, 2010
Accepted: Feb 4, 2011
Published online: Dec 15, 2011
Published in print: Jan 1, 2012
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.