ENVH – 3500

ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY

SYLLABUS FALL 2000

Instructor: Troy E. Burrow Phone: 439-7073

Office: Lamb Hall, Room 108

Credit Hours: 3 Semester Hours

Textbook: Safety: A Personal Focus, 5^th Edition, McGraw- Hill. 2000.

Course Overview: This course considers the principles and practices of environmental health and safety in homes, communities, occupational setting, natural and man-made disasters and a look at risk assessment and risk management, along with recreational and school safety.

Objective: To enable students to develop and understanding of/an appreciation for, risk and injury through planned systematic safety approaches for given potential environmentally hazardous conditions/settings. This is to enable students to employ such practical knowledge in any environmental, occupational, (or public) health setting.

Specific topics the lectures address include:

1. What Is Safety: Injury is probably the most under recognized major public health problem facing the nation today. A brief review of safety and how it is defined, injury today, s cope of the problem, a look at injury epidemiology and the four factors of safety. We look at injury reduction, which are more than behavioral change and then a look at the safety movement from a historical perspective.

2. Safety Analysis: A Statistical Approach: A prerequisite for the scientific study of injury is the acquisition of data on which to base priorities and research. Before an investigation of safety-related issues can be undertaken, it is essential that one understand some of the basic statistical concepts used in this field of study. We look at the role of statistics in safety and how we define statistics and how we define statistics and what are some modern approaches to accident investigation.

3. When An Emergency Occurs: Strategies that will most effectively and most immediately reduce injury losses require a community or societal approach. Regardless of the precautions one takes, a breakdown is always possible in the performance of a given activity, resulting in injury or property damage. Should an emergency arise, would you know what to do or whom to call? The first person to reach the scene of an emergency should be able to assess the victims’ conditions, contact the proper authorities, and give the appropriate emergency care until help arrives. We look at the basic guidelines for the first responder and also helpers and their responsibilities

4. Home Safety: Given the fact that people drink in the home environment and that they feel more or less secure at home, it may well be that the involvement of alcohol in serious home accidents is as strong as it is in motor vehicle injuries and deaths---perhaps even stronger. In 1993, 22,500 persons were killed in home accidents and another 6.6 million suffered disabling injuries, some 200,000 of which resulted in permanent impairment. It is estimated that another 21 million people receive minor injuries annually in home accident. This means that approximately 1 person in 13 is injured in a home accident during the year. When such things as wage loss, medical expenses, and property damage are included in the home accident picture, the annual cost to the nation is conservatively estimated at $86.5 billion. So we look at having a place of your own and how falls is a problem of age, the part that doing it yourself occurs along with poisons in the home and its threat to the you g and the methods of handling poisonings and airway obstruction.

5. Fire Safety: Developing effective ways to prevent and reduce fire losses requires a continuing examination of the magnitude and characteristics of the fire problem—where fires occur, what causes them, and who the victims are. FIRE! Whether you live in a house, mobile home, or apartment or whether you work in a 40-floor office building or a one-story industrial plant, you’re not immune—it could happen to you. There are nearly 3 million fires in the United States each year, causing an estimated $7.3 billion in damages and resulting in more than 6000 fire deaths. So we look at the principles of combustion and how and where fires start, how fires are classified and that arson—is one of the fastest growing crimes in America, what we need to do in a high-rise safety and what does the future hold for fire prevention.

6. Personal Protection and Firearm Safety: Clearly, crime remains a serious problem for our society. The evidence is that we are making progress, but much remains to be done. “Burglaries Jump 36%,” “Rise in child shootings,” “Rapes on the increase,” “Crime on the rise,” “Firms offering mugging insurance,” “Work related violence on the increase,” Crime victimization is one of the most common negative life events confronting families in the United States. We look at what constitutes violent crimes, What is self-protection versus self-defense, what can be done about property crimes, what to do if a crime occurs and what can we do about firearm safety.

7. Motor Vehicle and Pedestrian Safety: Two out of five Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some point in their lives. In 1966,5300 people were killed on U.S. highways; in 1993 the number was 42,000. A multitude of factors played a role in this risk reduction. We look at the impact of motor vehicle accidents on loss of life and injury along with the human element, the environmental factors in vehicle accidents, the vehicle and equipment design hazards; we also look at the motorcycle rider and their safety along with pedestrian safety.

8. Occupational Safety: Since nearly one third of a person’s adult life is spent on the job, it is not surprising to find that the working environment has a vital impact on one’s health. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the most comprehensive legislation ever developed for worker safety. We look at the act and its historical perspective, the act and its administration, the workers exposure to occupational hazards, a company safety program, the workers compensation insurance, and the responsibility for safety and health a team approach.

9. Natural and man-made disasters: In 1993, U.S. Industry reduced toxic chemical emissions by 13%; this decrease has been the result of significant increases in the recycling of materials. A disaster is generally defined as a “a great, sudden misfortune resulting is loss of life, serious injury, and property damage.” We take a look at the art of disaster planning, along with the analysis of a disaster, whether this being the result of a natural or man-made disaster. We conclude with a personal approach to disaster planning based on where you live or where you work.

10. Recreational Safety: Approximately 9% of all injuries occur in places of recreation and sport. During the 1970s Americans began to switch from watching sports to participating in them. The physiological and psychological benefits of exercise as well as the importance of fitness throughout the life cycle have been well documented. In the 1990s there has been a growing trend toward the development of lifetime activities. We look at a safe approach to fitness for the 19990s for all the age groups along with the problems that can result from environmental factors such as cold and heat, backpacking, all-terrain vehicles, hot tubs, and tanning salons.

11. School Safety: Legal scholars estimate that 80% of all court cases involving alleged negligence for school-related injuries deal with some aspect of supervision. We look at the responsibilities in the safety program, such as traffic and transportation, latchkey children, safe school environment, legal liability in the schools, medical records and accident reports, school safety and the athletic programs, and school security and school disaster plan.

12. Where Do WE Go From Here? Maintaining our health and safety is the cheapest insurance policy we can have. As injury has received increased emphasis as a major public health problem in this country, federal and state agencies, local municipalities, and corporate entities have begun to develop career opportunities for qualified individuals who can address a vast array of safety-related issues. We finish the course looking at careers in safety and what we can do to promote safety, health, and the environment into the twenty-first century

13. Student Participation in Class:.

(A). 1. A research article on Environmental Safety will be due on Thursday 21, September., the second article is due Thursday 19, October, and the final article is due Thursday 16 November. The article may come from newspaper, magazine or professional journal.

2. Research other sources for references and include as additional material for your article.

3. The article and supporting material is to be summarized and typed to hand in to the instructor.

4. The three-research articles are to be presented orally in class for a grade. All three of the articles will be graded on content, format, and accuracy. The students will spend about five to seven minutes discussing the article.

(B) Large class project: Four or more students per project, with every student participating (second half of semester). In the large class project, groups of four or five students will be assigned a safety project by the instructor. The group will research the topic and develop a presentation with supporting materials and present the research topic to the class. This presentation runs about 45 minutes, followed by questions and answers. Each student in the group will research his/her portion of the topic and will provide his/her part to the group leader who will consolidate all into a formal paper. Each student in the group will make an equal par of the presentation on his/her research.

14.Grading:

a. Three Exams: 60%

b. Reports, and Group projects: 40%

c. All reports are due on the date listed above. Late reports will result in 1% per day subtracted from the report grade. (Example: you make 90% on your paper and presentation and it is five (5) days late then your grade will be 85%).

d. Grading Scale:

92 - 100 = A

90 - 91 = A-

88 - 89 = B+

82 - 87 = B

80 - 81 = B-

78 - 79 = C+

72 - 77 = C

70 - 71 = C-

68 - 69 = D+

60 - 67 = D

60 -Or below = F

15. Examinations as Scheduled: Examinations will consider all class sessions, plus the text. Examinations will include multiple choice and true/false questions to be answered on Scan-Tron forms. Students are requested to bring a number 2 pencils for examinations.

16. Makeup Exams: One makeup exam will be given to students with a valid excuse approved by the instructor.

17. Extra Credit: any student who wishes to improve his/her grade can obtain Extra Credit by coordination with the instructor on an approved research topic and a research paper or presentation. Pints will be awarded based on the quality of the research and paper submitted.

18. Class Attendance: Faculty in the department of environmental health expects students to attend and participate in scheduled lecture and laboratory sessions. Students are also expected to arrive on time and remain for the entire lecture. Students are allowed three missed classes. A two-point penalty will be applied to the student's grade for each absence beyond three absences. If the student arrives after attendance has been taken or leaves before the class is finished for the day, the student will be recorded as absent.

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