Aspects of Changing the Safety Culture in Today's Universities: 2013 Process Safety Management Award, Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering

Abstract

The University of today is little changed from that of a century ago. Students attend lectures, sitting in rows of chairs rather than benches. The lecture notes are projected onto a screen; only occasionally are chalkboards used. The biggest change is with technology, in that lecture material is posted to a course website; a growing number of lectures are videotaped so that students can review the lecture whenever they wish. The pressures on universities come in the form of mandated quality programs. Programs are expected to define what it is that they expect their students to learn along with having a system that measures student learning, and a review process that identifies deficiencies and proposes solutions.Engineering programs are very good at imparting knowledge; these are the mathematics, natural science, and engineering science components of the curriculum. Programs are less successful at the industrially relevant aspects of the profession. The criteria are described in accreditation criteria, but there is no generally accepted curriculum model. All programs provide courses in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and reaction engineering, but many have no similar course on the management of safety. Further, the requisite “industrial knowledge” is not widely held within the university world. This paper provides a historical perspective on this issue, reviews attempts to improve the situation, and proposes improvements to address the situation.