Disciplinary emergence

A second point can be made about the way in which uni" processes came into existence. The emergence of unit process is analogous to that of unit operations, particularly with regard to relevant social groupings involved in this evolution. Industries, professional organizations, particularly AIChE and the American Chemical Society, and universities are involved, as in the case of unit operations. This time, however, the process leading to the identification of unit processes is simpler because the disciplinary identity of the chemical engineering profession is well defined and especially because unit processes, as the name shows, are patterned after unit operations. 

The historical, social, and intellectual elements of disciplinary identity for physical chemistry were well laid out in Europe, Great Britain, and the United States by the 1920s, and a new hybrid discipline of physical organic chemistry emerged in turn. However, more so than in some other scientific fields at this time, physical chemists often were to experience varieties of identity crisis. Were they physicists, or were they chemists What was the difference between physics and chemistry This is a question to which we return in the concluding chapters of this book. 

Spills are most likely to occur during loading/unloading operations and in-plant transfer activities. For this reason, written procedures should be kept current and made easily accessible to all employees. In addition, a spill response plan should be formulated, and employees should be trained both in the current operating procedures and in the correct implementation of emergency spill measures. A policy of taking disciplinary action on violation, if strictly enforced, can ensure employee adherence to procedure. 

Pharmaceutical manufacturers and cross-disciplinary teams in health systems (e.g., nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and social workers) are particularly well suited for this endeavor. This allows for diversity of ideas and for the best possible solution to emerge. On the negative side, there is little evidence that employees prefer reporting to more than one supervisor, and confusion as to who is responsible for what can develop (Tosi, Rizzo, and Carroll, 1994). 

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