The primary purpose of the workshop series is to provide Continuing Education (CE) to current occupational health professionals and industrial hygienists in the field of new and emerging technologies. CE credits may be obtained including those required for Certified Safety Professionals (CSP) and Certified Industrial Hygienists (CIH). Two to three workshops will be conducted each year, one in fall, one in spring, and one in alternating summers. The workshops rotated between LSU-BR, LSUHSC-NO and UTHSC and some workshops are also structured to be offered online. Please see the workshop descriptions below for more information.
E-waste and Electronics Industry Workshop (Dr. Lomnicki, LSU-BR)
Course description: With the proliferation of electronic devices and technologies comes the issue of managing wastes and exposures associated with the industry. EPA estimates that 438 million electronics were sold in 2009, doubling sales from 1997, including a nine-fold increase in mobile device sales (USEPA 2011). As an emerging concern, the 2011 National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship (NSES) was established to develop a truly sustainable electronics stewardship strategy and “increase the awareness of the importance of electronics stewardship and recognize the opportunities and challenges created by the exponential growth of electronics in the US” (NSES 2014). This workshop will provide participants with a global perspective on e-waste, information about the chemicals associated with the electronics industry, and knowledge about the health and environmental impacts from e-waste recycling and disposal.
Course content: The workshop is one (1) full-day session with break-out discussions. Topics covered include:
- Global perspectives on e-waste: who produces it, where does it go and how is it regulated?
- Chemicals associated with e-waste, including air emissions from reclamation.
- Health and environmental impacts from e-waste recycling and disposal.
- Practical issues involved with starting and managing an e-waste program.
Bioremediation Workshop (Dr. Katner, LSUHSC-NO)
Course description: This 1-day workshop introduces participants to basic principles of bioremediation, the knowledge of which is essential to managing a bioremediation site. By the end of the workshop, students will be able to select optimal bioremediation approaches for specific chemicals under different environmental conditions.
Course objectives: (1) Classify the main sources of contaminants and environments where bioremediation is used; (2) Review the basic microbial systems and requirements for successful bioremediation; (3) Identify parameters for characterizing contamination sites; and (4) Identify appropriate biological approaches for remediation of contaminants.
Course content: Topics covered include: an overview of bioremediation of organic, metals and inorganic contaminants (sources of contamination, and available plant and microbial technologies); bioremediation processes (in situ, solid and slurry-phase, and liquid-phase bioremediation); and designing a bioremediation project (defining goals, site characterization, selecting remedial alternatives). Special topics will include biosurfactants in bioremediation of marine oil spills; and advances in phytoremediation (phytoextraction, rhizofiltration, and phytostabilization).
Economics of Emerging Technologies (Dr. Kaplan, Loyola Marymount)
Click here for an online version of this workshop.
Course description: This workshop applies basic microeconomic theory to topics concerning occupational health and the environment. This workshop analyzes the operation (and failure) of markets for resources and environmental goods, and the policies governments use to intervene in such markets. By the end of the workshop students will be expected to demonstrate a broad knowledge of contemporary occupational health issues and an understanding of the practical application of economic theory to evaluate emerging technologies.
Course objectives: (1) Use microeconomic theory to explain the root causes of various environmental problems; (2) Assess the costs and benefits of various policy instruments available for correcting environmental problems as well as the associated incentive structures; (3) Describe cost-benefit analyses of various environmental policies, and understand the assumptions driving the results of such analyses; (4) Explain various economic tools of valuation to environmental goods, and compare different methods of valuation; (5) Discuss complexities in environmental problems involving uncertain, dynamic, strategic, international and/or intergenerational issues.
Course content: Topics covered include: rational choice, market failure, cost-benefit analysis, non-market valuation, decision making with risk and uncertainty.
GIS/GPS Workshop (Dr. Oyanna, UTHSC)
The central objective of the two workshops is to provide an introduction to GIS, GPS, and data science concepts and related applications for Emerging Technologies in Occupational Health and Safety. The workshops includes a two day field survey component. The workshops will draw from GIScience, GIS technology, and GIS/GPS health applications for environmental health (DiBiase et al. 2006, Price 2016). These workshops are primarily based on lectures and active learning experiences including assignments, group tasks, field data collection, and computer exercises. The workshops will incorporate GIS labs and spatial analytical exercises using ESRI’s ArcGIS 10.3 and GPS. The workshops are designed to enrich the participant’s data computing skills and provides hands-on experiences in GPS data collection, processing, project design, GIS mapping, geocoding, and data analysis. This is a good skill set for those who expect to work with emerging technologies in occupational health and environmental safety.
GIS/GPS Workshop I: Basics in GIS and GPS for Emerging Occupational Health Practice
Course description: Workshop I provides basic concepts in GIS and GPS for Health applications. This workshop targets beginners and participants without basic knowledge and skills in GIS.
Course objectives: (1) Expose students to basic GIS/GPS data structures, spatial and spatiotemporal models, and algorithms; (2) Introduce basic spatial, statistical, mathematical, and computational methods, strategies, and tools for analyzing occupational health and environmental safety; (3) Analyze sources, pathways and routes of exposure to environmental and occupational contaminants and determine populations with high risk; outline mitigation strategies.
Course Content: Day I: Introduction to GIS and GPS: Fundamental concepts and principles; Assigned Reading: Couclelis, H. “People Manipulate Objects (But Cultivate Fields): Beyond the Raster-Vector Debate in GIS” (Frank et al 1992); Lab Exercise I: Introduction to ArcGIS: Processing and managing spatial and attribute data. Day II: Data structures, algorithms, and models; Assigned Readings: Chapters 1 and 2. Oyana and Margai 2016; Lab Exercise II: Working with different GIS data models and occupational health and safety datasets in ArcGIS Part 1. Day III: Data representation, methods, and geospatial techniques; Assigned Readings: Najarkola and Mirzaei 2013; Lab Exercise III: Working with different GIS data models and occupational health and safety datasets in ArcGIS Part II.
GIS/GPS Workshop II: Using GIS for Asset Tracking/Mapping of Emerging Occupational Health Hazards
Course description: Workshop II teaches participants how to use GIS/GPS for asset tracking/mapping of emerging occupational health hazards. This workshop targets occupational health and environmental safety professionals who already have some knowledge and skills in GIS and GPS mapping.
Course objectives: (1) Expose students to asset tracking/mapping of occupational health hazards; (2) Provide hands-on GIS/GPS data collection and mapping skills for occupational health and environmental safety using two well-designed practical exercises and a two-day field survey; (3) Apply risk assessment and risk management concepts to develop effective guidelines and policies to mitigate and manage environmental and occupational hazards and improve human health outcomes
Course content: Day I: Asset tracking/mapping concepts in emerging occupational health hazards and Design a sampling framework for data collection using GIS and GPS; Assigned Readings: Chapters 3 and 4. Oyana and Margai 2016; Maantay 2002; Field work I: Field data collection using ArcGIS and GPS (instrument testing/sampling plot validation). Day II: Field work II: Spatial data collection: Acquiring field observations/measurements using GPS; Lab Exercise I: GIS Mapping, Analysis, and Modeling: Risk assessment, identification of hot spots, and risk management and communication mobile apps.
Law and Technological Innovation (Dr. Hudson, LSU-BR)
Course description: In International Environmental Law we look at the IPAT formula, which is I = PAT. “I” is environmental impact, “P” is population, “A” is affluence (consumption), and “T” is technology. This formula lays the foundation for the course’s focus on technology’s ability to reduce environmental impact. With population and consumption increasing it is up to technology to alleviate those increases to the extent possible. Of course, we talk about how that may not be possible in some circumstances. But, for example, if society can change our energy source through technology, then we can see dramatic change in environmental impact. Once technology moves to renewable energy systems, energy systems become closed loop, greatly reducing environmental impacts from consumption—even if population increases. This workshop will facilitate the analysis of environmental law and technological innovation through case studies that encapsulate the most salient and prominent aspects of the subject.
Course objectives: (1) Describe the cross section of global emerging technology-related trade and environmental law; (2) Discuss the drivers of conflict in the areas of technological innovation and the law; (3) Discuss the institutional and political complexities of addressing these issues; (4) Discuss the ways in which the global community can successfully resolve these issues through environmental law.
Course content: The workshop discusses consumption-population dynamics, environmental economics and sustainable development, and the process through which international environmental law is created and implemented. We then discuss specific topics in technological innovation including transboundary hazardous wastes and the cross section of global trade and the environment.
Ethics in Industrial Hygiene and Safety (Dr. Harrington, LSUHSC & Mr. Bradbury, UAB)
Course description: The topics covered include PPE (access and utilization), vaccinations and return to work, and trauma informed leadership. The format is online via Zoom with discussion-based structure including small group activities. Credit may be obtained for 0.33 CEU for Ethics requirements. Recording of the session is available.
- Professional Ethics for the Safety Leader
- Ethical Dilemmas related to COVID – Case Study Introduction
- Small Group Discussion – Case Analysis