Mainstreaming occupational safety and health into university ...

Mainstreaming occupational safety and health into university educationE u r o p e a n Ag e n c y f o r Sa f e t y a n d He a l t h a t Wo r kFindings of previous Agency work on OSH education at the university levelThe Agency’s report on Mainstreaming OSH in the school curriculum (2009) concludedthat occupational health and safety is least likely to be systematically included as anelement in courses at university level and that it is the most challenging educationallevel regarding the mainstreaming of OSH. One reason for this is that universities havea high level of autonomy and therefore there are no common curricula. There is alsoa lack of teaching resources on occupational safety and health that are suitable andrelevant for different university level courses and a lack of professors and lecturerswith the knowledge to teach these subjects / topics. In addition, individual professorshave to be convinced of the importance and relevance of including OSH as part oftheir already packed course curriculum.The full findings of the report Mainstreaming OSH in the school curriculum regardingtertiary education are the following:OO In higher education, efforts to integrate OSH should be continued to ensurethat designers, architects, engineers, business and finance managers, medicalprofessionals and others who need to know about OSH in their future careersreceive adequate education in OSH issues and risk management. There is increasingawareness of this educational need.OO The mainstreaming of OSH into the curricula of university-level courses is the leastwell developed area and represents the greatest challenge regarding getting OSHinto education curriculum.OO Some examples of good practices do exist, for example, in the area of engineering,and there are also some good examples of teaching materials.OO Systematic inclusion of OSH across relevant university courses is more commonin those Member States whose university system includes technical universities,including in some of the newer, former communist Member States.OO The greatest challenge of all is to have OSH included in business studies.OO Universities and higher educational institutes are not under the same directnational government control as schools and enjoy a high level of autonomy. Theyhave extensive freedom in what they teach and how they teach it. Thereforethere are no common curricula, the extent and content of OSH education variesgreatly in the higher education sector, and it might not always be proportionalto the level of risk that undergraduates could find themselves managing in theirfuture professional working life. Actions to include OSH in relevant courses suchas engineering or business studies are therefore generally ad hoc, and oftendependant on the interest of individual professors or particular advocates withinprofessional bodies.OO To promote OSH education at the university level it is necessary to involveprofessional associations and make approaches directly to relevant furthereducation institutions and universities.OO Individual professors need to be convinced of the need to include OSH in coursesbut it can be very difficult to persuade them.OO Professors need to be provided with suitable teaching materials that relate directlyto their discipline; however, there is also a lack of teaching resources on OSH foruniversity-level courses, although some examples may be found.OO Case study teaching materials directly related to the discipline, whether forengineering courses or business courses, may be of most use to engage bothlecturers and students.16