Process safety training for chemical engineers in Spain: Overview and the example of the polytechnic university of Valencia

Abstract

The dramatic growth of the chemical industry in the last century showed its great impact on the development of society but also its danger to humans and the environment, especially by the severe accidents at Seveso or Bhopal. As a result, public concern and perception of the impact and effect of these large installations on the safety of people and their environment led to changes in the chemical industry but also in Chemical Engineering as a discipline and profession. In the last 40 years, safety training has been introduced into the university curriculum of these professionals, especially promoted by accreditation agencies. This paper analyzes the curricular and methodological approach of the introduction of this discipline in the curriculum of Chemical Engineers and illustrates the current situation with the analysis of the curricula in the Spanish universities. Finally, it describes the implementation of this subject with the use of active methodologies in the case of the teaching of “Industrial safety” for Chemical Engineering degree students at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). Results from assessment performed show benefits of the activities and methodologies developed to improve the level of learning and acquisition of professional competences of the safety-attending students.