Safety practices academic requirements

The knowledge and skill requirements to enter the practice of safety and to fulfill the requirements of professional safety practice are discussed in Chapter 5, Academic and Skill Requirements for the Practice of Safety. Those knowledge and skill requirements are, of necessity, exceptionally broad. 

Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories (7) should be required for all students taking college and university general chemistry courses. Reference should be made to this booklet as part of the laboratory safety training. Its use should be reinforced in other chemistry laboratory courses. Students who take only general chemistry should be advised to keep the book as a reference in other laboratories they may take where chemicals are used. They should also be advised that the book represents basic laboratory safety practices that are also applicable to employment in chemically related laboratory jobs. 

It is, of course, an usual practice to have a chemical laboratory directly under the command and supervision of a senior cadre laboratory technical personnel who should be consulted, as and when required, for his expert opinion and advice. It is, however, pertinent to mention here that two vital universal truths and norms, namely first, exercise of utmost care and secondly, adoption of strict safe-working procedures, should be the prime responsibility of each and every individual working in a chemistry laboratory. No compromise, whatsoever, must be made with regard to even an iota of doubt as to the safety of a proposed experimental procedure yet to be undertaken. Liberal consultation, advice from senior research personnels, academic supervisors should be sought freely and frankly without the slightest hesitation in one s mind. 

Considering the recent transitions in the practice of safety and the breadth of present and probable future requirements, I believe that the Curriculum Standards for the Baccalaureate Degrees in Safety represent a sound course of study through which the needed academic knowledge can be acquired to prepare those who are to enter the practice of safety. 

Note the term a common body of knowledge. In the process of researching and writing Chapter 5, Academic and skill Requirements for the Practice of Safety, I concluded that the Curriculum Standards for Baccalaureate Degrees in Safety, jointly pubMshed by the Academic Accreditation Council of the American Society of Safety Engineers and the Board of Certified Safety Professionals, estabhsh a rigor of education that adequately prepares one to enter the safety profession. 

In addition, all radiological workers are required to receive radiation worker safety training in accordance with the SNL ES H manual. This training gives the worker the academic and theoretical knowledge as well as the practical skills necessary to apply radiation protection principals to radiological work, and includes the following topics ... 

Originally, the principal audience for MSDSs comprised health and safety professionals (who are responsible for formulating safe workplace practices), medical personnel (who direct medical surveillance programs and treat exposed workers), and emergency responders (e.g., fire department personnel). With the promulgation of federal laws such as the Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200) and the OSHA Laboratory Standard (29 CFR 1910.1450), the audience for MSDSs has been expanded to include laboratory workers in industrial and academic laboratories. However, not all MSDSs are written to meet the requirements of this new audience effectively. 

This section was chosen because of its breadth—occupational injury and illness, environmental, the public, property damage, and product safety. BCSP makes its Comprehensive Practice Examination Guide available on the Internet as a free download. (Extensive comment is made in Chapter 4, Academic and Skill Requirements for the Practice of Safety, on the transitions that have taken place with respect to knowledge and skill requirements for safety professionals as represented by the major changes in the BCSP examinations.)... 

---