Resumen de Comprehensive Undergraduate Safety Instruction
David C. Finster, Paul T. Jackson
The variation in curricular approaches to and content of chemical safety instruction in undergraduate programs highlight the need for a more comprehensive, integrative approach. This work describes the efforts of two institutions, Wittenberg University and St. Olaf College, to develop and to implement a chemical safety curriculum across the entirety of the students’ undergraduate experience. The use of RAMP (recognize hazards, assess risk, minimize risk, prepare for emergencies) as a central organizing theme enabled the educators and students to consider possibilities and technical materials relative to their knowledge base and to use modes of inquiry and practice to expand that base. While variability in safety presentation and thoroughness exists among individual faculty, department-wide assessment of the curricular aims coupled to faculty safety discourses promotes a culture of safety that is seen as a necessary and valuable part of the chemical enterprise.
