Developing Safety Culture in an Undergraduate Chemical Process Safety Course

Abstract

In order to better prepare students for industry and to provide them with an appreciation of the importance of a dedicated safety culture, the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engi- neering at the University of Iowa has been offering a required junior-level chemical process safety course since 1996. A major laboratory component was added to this course in 1998 to provide students with hands-on experiences to emphasize concepts learned in the lecture compo- nent of the course, particularly flammability, runaway reactions, electrostatics, explosions and relief sizing. Beyond these and other fundamentals, the course emphasizes accident prevention, inherently safety design strategies, HAZOP analysis, layer of protection analysis, and related topics. A significant portion of the lectures involve the discussion of previous accidents and how they could have been prevented through the application of techniques learned in class. Students completing this course have an appreciation of industrial hazards and how to utilize engineering principles and management techniques to minimize risk.