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Previous by Date: Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Training program feedback survey? Date: March 28, 2013 10:51:29 AM EDT Author: Ed Austin

Next by Date: Subject: [DCHAS-L] Training program question follow up Date: March 28, 2013 12:36:28 PM EDT Author: Ralph B. Stuart

We have seen similar sentiment in our Junior level Lab Safety Management
course which is a pre-requisite to research and required for their BS or
BA degree. Consequently we are emphasizing the hazards more in the lower
level courses...however, the lower level courses typically don't have vary
hazardous chemicals and some instructors (in the past) have worried that
we will instill "fear of chemistry" in lower level students by emphasizing
(or in his case he felt we were OVER-emphasizing) the hazards. My
personal opinion was that the instructor suffered from "familiarity breeds
contempt".

I think one thing we have been having more success with is teaching the
students respect for the potential hazards in combination with giving them
the tools to discover the hazards for themselves (i.e. teaching them how
to interpret MSDS's. In my experience the average freshman chemistry
student not only has never seen an MSDS/SDS but they have no clue what it
is and how it can benefit them . We now teach label interpretation to our
freshmen and continually reinforce it, however I still find that some
students get to the LSM course not knowing how to interpret hazard
communications though they do recognize an MSDS.

Mel

-----Original Message-----
From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf
Of Stephen Stepenuck
Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2013 1:03 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Training Program Feedback

Sorry that I don't have a survey form to contribute.

I think it's a great and long-overdue idea.

For what it might be worth:

Some time ago, in an institution which of course must remain nameless, I
taught an OSH course which emphasized chemical hazards. It was populated
mostly by upperclassmen.

The most striking feedback I remember from the generic college-wide course
evaluation form was that of anger, e.g. "Here we are almost ready to
graduate...WHY hasn't anyone told us of these things before?" "Why did I
have to take this course to find out these hazards?" etc.

The students had of course received safety and health information along
the way, but at least those individuals felt that there should have been
much more attention to that area.

--
Stephen Stepenuck, Jr.
P.O. Box 101
West Swanzey, NH 03469-0101
sstepenuck**At_Symbol_Here**ne.rr.com

Ralph wrote:

[snipped]
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Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:03:56 +0000
From: "Ralph B. Stuart"
Subject: Training program feedback survey?

I wonder if anyone in the academic portion of DCHAS-L has conducted a
survey of people who have taken lab safety training for feedback on
strong points and opportunities for improving the experience for
participants. I would like to take on such an effort here and thought
it would be good to know if other people have developed such tools and
possibly what the results were as a benchmark.

Thanks for any information on this.

- Ralph

Ralph Stuart CIH
Chemical Hygiene Officer
Department of Environmental Health and Safety Cornell University

rstuart**At_Symbol_Here**cornell.edu

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