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Innovative Engineering Technology Program in Environment, Health and Safety Abstract

The U.S. economy has been improving in the past two years resulting in job growth in the Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) job market. EHS involves three disciplines, which often overlap or require close coordination. The environmental technician or manager works with compliance issues and the control of pollution that can create an adverse impact on waterways, air, and soil. The plant safety/health officer deals with employee’s safety and health and is concerned with providing a healthy environment in which to work. The hazardous materials technician or manager provides insight on proper handling and transport of materials that are considered toxic or dangerous. In addition, the recent focus on terrorism related activities requires close working coordination of EHS professionals with security professionals. This calls for unique academic training. The number of available degree programs for associate degree professionals in this area is quite limited. In addition, there are fewer programs available for associated degree professionals to transition to an engineering technology degree.

This paper describes an innovative undergraduate engineering technology degree program that has been developed in the Environmental, Health & Safety discipline. Key attributes of this program include an effective curriculum transitioning from an associate two year degree offered through community colleges, problem based learning instruction, self-paced tutorial techniques, and personal assessment calibration. In addition, use of technologies such as iPod instructions is explored.

Introduction

Corporations have realized that the implementation of an effective EHS program has an added advantage in the market place. The Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) profession is an integral part of every small and large corporation in the world. EHS involves three disciplines, which often overlap or require close coordination. The environmental technician or manager works with compliance issues and the control of pollution to prevent/minimize an adverse impact on waterways, air, and soil. The plant safety/health officer deals with employee’s safety and health as well as with providing a healthy environment in which to work. The hazardous materials technician or manager provides insight on the proper handling and transport of materials that are considered toxic or dangerous. All these three areas combined determine the loss prevention and asset protection in every corporation and hence impact the bottom-line. As a result, many corporations are implementing effective EHS programs to reduce liability, improve productivity, and enhance their image. Currently, there are no undergraduate graduate degrees in EHS discipline offered by the Universities located in the San Diego region. There are two community colleges that offer a two year associate degree program in EHS discipline in San Diego. Over 50 students annually graduate with an associate degree from these two local institutions do not have an option to get a four engineering technology degree in the EHS discipline. Most of these students either have to go to an

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Evans, H., & Viswanathan, S. (2007, June), Innovative Engineering Technology Program In Environmental, Health And Safety Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--3006