(384d) Enhance Safety Knowledge and Mindset through the ChE Undergraduate Laboratory Courses

Transport lab and Unit Operations lab, two ChE undergraduate core courses, are taught in a laboratory environment which involves various types of hazards (e.g. chemicals, biologicals, electricity, and mechanical). As noted in the ABET expected learning outcomes, students must develop the abilities of producing solutions and recognizing the responsibilities to conduct work with the considerations of safety. These laboratory courses serve as a unique forum to practice and assess the achievement of this goal. In this presentation, I will discuss how safety concepts are taught, practiced, and assessed in the ChE laboratory courses at Texas Tech.

The following teaching pedagogies and media have been applied to enhance students’ knowledge and awareness of safety: 1). Provide dedicated lectures to discuss safety protocols and safety precaution needed; 2). Give a virtual tour of the lab and locate the emergency equipment prior to entering the lab space; 3). Create videos to explain the equipment setup and identify areas for precaution; 4). Share lessons learned from past incidents and facilitate discussions on preventative measures (e.g. videos from Chemical Safety Board); 5). Introduce procedures on how to respond to emergency such as fire, severe weather, and medical emergency; and 6). Distribute safety materials like wallet-sized safety card of useful links and emergency contacts. Various assessment methods are applied as follows: 1). Complete the university required online safety training; 2). Pass an in-class safety exam based on the safety lecture; 3). Give pre-lab presentation to identify the hazards involved and provide risk mitigation plans; and 4). Evaluate safety practices in the lab performance as stated in the grading rubrics.

Some new ideas of developing ways to enhance the safety aspect in the ChE education are discussed: 1). Hands-on situational training can be more effective and long-lasting in memory; 2). Require a short group meeting to have a safety briefing and filling out job safety analysis form to simulate this common practice in industry; 3). Hold a panel discussion from alumni to talk about safety culture and practices in their current organizations; and 4). Create a project related to the experiments in a real-life scenario where students are expected to conduct research and apply the safety knowledge to prevent a foreseeable incident.