OHIO UNIVERSITY

College of Health and Human Services School of Health Sciences

 

IH 410/510: Physical Hazards Evaluation and Control

Offered in Winter

Prerequisites: Coursework or experience with noise, ventilation and radiation control practices or theories; ability to work with logarithms helpful

Required Text:

The Occupational Environment - Its Evaluation and Control (1997). AIHA Press.

Alternate:

Fundamentals of Industrial Hygiene, 4th edition (1996). National Safety Council.

Suggested References:

1998 TLVs and BEIs (1998). ACGIH.

The Industrial Environment - Its Evaluation and Control (1973). NIOSH.

Patty's Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology, 3rd Revised Edition, Vols. 1-3 (1996). Wiley-Interscience.

Course Description: Various approaches to control strategies to reduce or eliminate workplace hazards will be covered, including topics in radiation, noise control, administrative controls, thermal stress, personal protective equipment controls, ergonomics, and hazardous energy.

Course Objectives: Provide a sound basis for the selection and evaluation of available hazard control strategies in diverse occupational settings.

Course Format: Lectures, discussion, demonstrations, problem solving, student papers (graduate students) and student presentations (undergraduates).

Attendance: Each student is expected to attend class and will be held responsible for material content as presented in class, including syllabus changes and assuagements made by the instructor in class. Attendance will be recorded.

Grading and testing: Grades will be assigned per the OU catalog (4 point scale). Tests=75% of grade; paper or presentation=25%.  No make-up exams or labs will be offered unless special circumstances apply. Generally, grades will be assigned as follows:

Grading Criteria
Numeric Points Earned	Alpha Grade
94-100	A
90-93	A-
87-89	B+
84-86	B
80-83	B-
77-79	C+
74-76	C
70-73	C-
67-69	D+
64-66	D
63-60	D-
< 60	L

 

Tests: A 2 hour midterm and a comprehensive final exam will be given. The midterm will be worth 35% of the course grade, and the final will be worth 50%. No make-up exams will be offered.

Presentations: Each undergraduate student must give a fifteen-twenty minute oral presentation on the selected control strategy or technique of his or her choice. Material presented should be part of a handout package for other students and the instructor. Grading of the presentation will be made on the basis of accuracy and depth of research on topic, content quality, presentation of material, and professional timeliness (see evaluation form at end of this handout). The presentation will be worth 15% of the student's final course grade.

Research White Papers: Graduate students enrolled in the course as IH 510 will be required to prepare a technical review paper on a topic of their choice. All papers must be typed/word processed. Papers are due following the last day of lecture (NOT following the final exam!). Grading will be made on the basis of accuracy, depth of research, difficulty of the topic chosen, and writing quality and content. The paper will be worth 25% of the student's final course grade.

General topics to be covered include:

·        Tenets of industrial hygiene with respect to hazards control

·        Administrative controls associated with the physical hazards covered

·        Noise

·        Noise control

·        Hearing conservation

·        Vibration

·        Radiological health

·        Ionizing and nonionizing radiation - protection principles and shielding

·        Ergonomics

·        Thermal stress

·        Personal protective equipment as controls associated with the physical hazards covered

·        Hazardous energy control techniques