Abstract:

Higher education generates the specific professional knowledge on which chemical engineers rely on when integrating the job market. In particular, laboratory courses are a mixture of theoretical and workplace-based learning without the production constraints, blending together theoretical learning and skills development into solid professional knowledge.

The present research aims at furthering the understanding of how higher education contributes to the generation of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) professional knowledge of engineers in the field of Chemical Engineering. Organizational OHS practices are submitted to legal constraints, the application of which is partially conditioned by the professional knowledge of the employees. Therefore, OHS professional knowledge acquired through formal education, provides a competitive advantage as employees are more readily able to work safely and may help reduce costs related to OHS risks.

University laboratory courses are part of formal education and a fruitful ground for instilling the premises of OHS issues through theoretical knowledge, experimentation and skill/competence development and methods of prevention and risk mitigation. In the particular case of university Chemical Laboratories, OHS is a subject of education through the Prevention and Protection Plan (PPP), which is also a legally mandatory OHS management tool. For students, the PPP has a dual role: basic education that provides professional OHS knowledge and basic skill development, which constitute the foundation of adequate personal behavior during technological practice (manufacturing environment).

In this context, the present research shall discuss the knowledge contribution of the PPP in Chemical Laboratory university courses educational objectives to adequate personal OHS behavior of Chemical engineers in the manufacturing environment. The research methodology combines theoretical aspects of Knowledge Management with the practical aspects of OHS in Chemical Laboratories university courses, thus furthering the understanding of the contribution of structured pedagogical methods in formal higher education to the generation of OHS knowledge and adequate behavior. Education in the field of OHS is aimed at complementing students’ core-knowledge with the necessary knowledge for safe operations in the work environment. Research has shown that workplace-based learning biases decisions into side-stepping OHS. Therefore, OHS university education sets the ground for theoretical knowledge, skills and understanding of OHS risks within the Chemical environment without the manufacturing constraints. Specific focus on pedagogical methods regarding OHS during university education will result in better trained engineers, who contribute, through an adequate behavior, to the creation and/or consolidation of a sustainable work environment.

Keywords:

Knowledge Management, Occupational Health and Safety, Chemical, Laboratory, Pedagogical.