Current Status of Occupational Health and Safety Education in Engineering Departments of Earth Sciences at Universities

Abstract

In this study, Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) education in Geological Engineering, Geophysical Engineering, Mineral Processing Engineering and Mining Engineering departments, which are categorised as “earth sciences” departments, is examined. Earth sciences, which is one of the significant industries of our country, is one of the leading business lines that require expertise, experience, knowledge and constant surveillance due to the risks it contains by its nature. The reason why occupational diseases and work accidents are encountered more frequently than in other sectors is that it is a labour-intensive line of work. In adjunct to this, the truth that there is still not sufficient and necessary realisation on OHS and that the significance is not at the level it should be is is also of fundamental relevance in occurence of occupational diseases and accidents. OHS, which is a methodical and scientifically orientated set of studies carried out to protect workers and third parties from conditions that may be harmful to safety and health such as physical, chemical and psychosocial reasons during work in workplaces, has been improving since the beginning of the programme. Although OHS has increasingly become more important in our country in the last few years, there are still deficiencies in OHS education. The demand for qualified human resources in the field of OHS has a tendency to rise further with the entry into force of Law No. 6331. In Earth Sciences Engineering departments, which are in the category of high-risk occupations, a good education is required in order to shape OHS awareness in students in the right way. In this work, the present situation of OHS courses was investigated by analysing the curricula of Mining Engineering in 23 universities, Mineral Processing Engineering in 1 university, Geological Engineering in 33 universities and Geophysical Engineering in 12 universities in Turkey. On the basis of the data acquired, solution suggestions for the improvement of OHS education are presented.