Process safety teaching in universities – Current practices and way forward

Abstract

Process safety education is a broad field that encompasses multiple disciplines and necessitates the incorporation of various concepts, as well as sufficient and equitable academic focus. It focuses on preventing and managing incidents that could lead to the release of dangerous substances or energy. Without a solid understanding of process safety or its core principles, it is difficult to determine what one is actually committing to. Hence, education at the university level is indispensable as it imparts fundamental knowledge essential for process safety professionals, particularly engineers. However, it is essential for students to combine their knowledge with practical experience in order to fully understand and learn from real-life situations or case studies. Academia and industry must collaborate closely to ensure that students possess a comprehensive grasp of both the theoretical and practical aspects of the subject matter. Given the current circumstances, teaching process safety has become more challenging as it needs to progress alongside the industry to meet the swiftly changing technological, cultural, and economic demands of society. An extensive survey on both universities and industries was conducted to determine the current situation and gather information on the specific aspects of process safety education in universities, with a particular focus on undergraduate students. A total of 42 responses pertaining to the teaching of process safety were received. These responses have been received from 25 universities located in 9 distinct countries, spanning across the continents of Asia, US/Canada, Europe, and Africa. 56 responses are related to process safety. Out of these, 64 % are from the oil and gas sector, 23 % are from the manufacturing sector, and the remaining responses are from various other sectors. The respondents were from Malaysia and various other countries, such as the UK, Singapore, Iraq, Germany, Turkeministan, Vietnam, and individuals who previously worked as safety engineers in Canada and South Korea. We anticipate that the survey responses will provide us with intriguing data, trends, patterns, and invaluable insights to elevate the teaching of process safety to a higher standard. In addition, our study incorporates a survey on the growing adoption of immersive technology in modern society, focusing specifically on the level of acceptance among engineering faculty members in universities regarding virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) as effective instructional tools for process safety. 92 % of the respondents acknowledged that virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are effective when used as instructional teaching tools for process safety.