A.M.
Zollicoffer, H.P.
Cole, R.H.
McKnight, L.R.
Piercy and I.J. Ross
NIOSH Education and Information Division
During
Spring 1994, a survey was conducted in a department of agricultural
engineering to determine what occupational safety and health
(OSH) topics were being taught in existing courses, the amount
of time devoted to these topics, and what additional topics
would be appropriate for the curriculum. The questionnaire
also assessed the adequacy of current resources for teaching
OSH and the perceived needs for incorporating topics. Separate
questionnaires with comparable items were developed for faculty,
technician, and graduate student groups. Forms were distributed
to 17 faculty, 14 technicians, and 13 graduate students. The
overall response rate was 86 percent.
The
questionnaire consisted of 40 items arranged in 18 clusters,
providing data about the professional characteristics of the
groups and perceptions concerning OSH instruction and practices
in the department. Notable similarities and discrepancies
in the responses among faculty, technicians, and graduate
students were observed.
Areas
of special interests related to OSH varied widely when broken
down by faculty and technician groups. Faculty responses primarily
reflected safety issues that typically occur in production
agriculture, e.g., grain storage safety and use of pesticides.
Technicians listed areas involving potential injury agents
to which they are exposed in laboratory and shop, such as
machinery, electrical, and chemical hazards.
The
groups differed in ratings of the reasons to include OSH instruction
in the curriculum. Faculty rated liability considerations,
regulatory compliance, and personal commitment highest. Technicians
rated laboratory safety, personal commitment, and regulatory
compliance the highest. Laboratory safety was rated highest
by students.
Overall
ratings for adequacy of available resources to teach OSH were
low. Faculty and technicians gave particularly low ratings
to instructional computer programs, funding, and resources
for personal training activities.
Faculty
reported higher levels of inclusion of OSH content in the
curriculum than did either technicians or graduate students.
This finding may be skewed because the majority of courses
taught by the faculty were at the undergraduate level. Graduate
students enrolled in the program, however, indicated both
a lack of and a need for appropriate OSH instruction.
Surveys
of this kind can serve to emphasize one component of a strategic
plan to formalize OSH activities among faculty, technicians
and students; to increase OSH training for departmental staff
and students; and to capture additional resources necessary
for such instruction. Efforts to replicate the survey with
other agricultural engineering departments are under way.
Disclaimer
and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not represent
NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears by permission
of the author and/or copyright holder. More
NASD Review: 04/2002
This
research abstract was extracted from a portion of the proceedings
of "Agricultural Safety and Health: Detection, Prevention and
Intervention," a conference presented by the Ohio State University
and the Ohio Department of Health, sponsored by the Centers
for Disease Control/National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health.
The
authors noted above are from: All at the University of Kentucky,
Lexington, KY
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