Canadian Occupational Safety

6 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com UPDATES FROM THE WORLD OF HEALTH & SAFETY SafetyFirst U.S., Canadian safety groups strengthen partnership for global sustainability push By Mari-Len De Guzman M ost health and safety professionals feel interpersonal communication (IPC) is a critical competency, but many occupational health and safety related degree programs do not require IPC- related courses as part of the curriculum. ese were the fi ndings of a study conducted by Jonathan Klane, assis- tant director of safety programs, and Friederike Doerstling, chemical safety specialist, both from the Ari- zona State University's Ira A. Schools of Engineering. Klane and Doerstling surveyed 151 said Doerstling. She said their fi ndings indicate the importance for safety, health and envi- ronmental degree programs to evaluate the need and feasibility of requiring a formal IPC course or at least encourag- ing one as an elective. Klane also suggested faculties consider the feasibility of off ering pro- fessional development training on IPC for students as an extra-curricular. "Maybe build in more activity-based and role playing and integrate them into course work," added Klane. e importance of studying interna- tional safety and health as a program was also discussed at the Academic Forum. In his presentation, Mark Friend, professor of doctoral studies at Embry- Riddle Auronautical University in Florida, said graduate school applica- tions from foreign students increase by fi ve per cent every year. ese students, he said, will likely go back to their home countries upon graduation, highlighting the need for a more eff ective graduate program on international safety and health. "We're going to see more and more students that didn't grow up in the U.S. By Mari-Len De Guzman T he American Society of Safety Engi- neers (ASSE) is continuing to lead the way for safety professionals glob- ally as it announced several agreements with other countries to advance occu- pational health and safety through the exchange of ideas and sharing of tech- nical expertise. At the opening session kicking off this year's Safety 2013 professional development conference, ASSE presi- dent Rick Pollock said the association has signed memorandums of under- standing with China, Russia and Ecuador to form a global network of safety professionals exchanging ideas and advancing the profession in the global landscape. "Where we live does not defi ne us. What defi nes us is who we are and what we do," Pollock said. e ASSE has also been increasing its international chapters, said Pollock. Also speaking at the opening ceremony, Cooper said the CSSE stands "shoulder to shoulder" with its colleagues at the ASSE and U.K.-based Institution of Occupational Safety and Health in creating real sustainability measures for organizations. "An organization cannot be sustainable if they are harm- ing their employees," Cooper said. "We need to work together through the Center for Safety and Health Sustainability to ensure that safety is on the agenda of the sus- tainable employer." On June 26, the ASSE launched the new Risk Assessment Institute, which aims to educate the business com- munity on the role health and safety professionals play in the risk process. In line with the new Risk Assessment Institute, the ASSE has developed a series of case studies and success stories to provide information for businesses on the value of risk assessment and the role safety professionals play. Pollock urged safety professionals to help redefi ne the role and value propo- sition of the safety professional. "We must make the business com- munity aware of the value that safety professionals bring — including our role in discussing risk and applying risk assessment," he said. With more than 35,000 members, the ASSE's worldwide membership has grown with chapters India, United Arab Emirates, Philippines, Egypt, Kuwait and Nigeria, as well as sections in Mexico, Qatar, Ecuador and Oman. Pollock also highlighted the asso- ciation's active involvement in global sustainability initiatives, through the Center for Safety and Health Sustain- ability, specifi cally to include health and safety management metrics in global sustainability reporting by organizations. "We have taken a leadership role in the global sustainability movement insisting that properly managing occu- pational safety and health is not just good business, but a moral imperative," he said. e ASSE president's message on global sustainability was echoed by his Canadian counterpart, Andrew Cooper, president of the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE). Rick Pollock, ASSE president coming into our classrooms," Friend said. "How relevant are current gradu- ate occupational safety and health programs when students go back to their own countries?" Friend recently consulted with sev- eral occupational health and safety experts from other countries and conducted a study on creating an Inter- national Safety and Health Master of Science Curriculum. He came up with a list of courses that he and the other professionals he con- sulted with feel should be present in an International Safety and Health Master of Science Curriculum, including: acci- dent investigation and analysis; hazard control methods in occupational safety and health; system approach to hazard control; fundamentals of risk manage- ment; industrial hygiene; hazardous materials and emergency planning; environmental and occupational health management; workplace ergonomics and human factors; managing health and safety programs; and international safety standards and law. "It's critical that students have an understanding of what they need to know regardless of where they fi nd themselves," Friend explained. He added educators of health and safety programs need to be familiar with health and safety laws and standards in other countries, as well as all the diff erent cultures that exist within their classrooms. safety professionals and evaluated 181 degree programs. More than 60 per cent of those surveyed said their OHS program did not require IPC-related courses. Only nine per cent of said their OHS program required at least one IPC-related course. "We didn't think (the fi nd- ings were) a big 'a-ha!' but it defi nitely needs more in-depth study," said Klane, who presented their fi ndings at the Academic Forum of the American Society of Safety Engineers' Safety 2013 conference, held in Las Vegas in June. e majority of the respondents feel their interpersonal skills evolved as they increased their experience. When asked whether they feel or felt well-prepared to use their interper- sonal skills, 57 per cent said they did not feel well-prepared upon graduation but they do now, 34 per cent said they were well-prepared upon graduation, and nine per cent feel they still do not feel well-prepared in IPC skills. A majority of survey respondents were older and more experienced health and safety professionals, with 65 per cent aged between 45 and 65 years old, Study fi nds OHS degree programs lack interpersonal skills learning

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