Content of Courses
The School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA also offers currently two International Certificate Programs as continuing education:
1. the International Certificate Program in Occupational Health Practice for health care providers such as physicians and nurses, and the
2. the International Certificate Program in Occupational Hygiene Practice for technical personnel such as engineers and technicians who work in occupational safety, health and hygiene (OSHH)
Participants are required to take three courses for each International Program. The three courses for each program are:
For some samples of assignments
and case studies, which
we will use in this program, please click
here.
Courses:
Foundations of Occupational Safety, Health and Hygiene Practice
Duration: 10 weeks
Learning Objectives: At the end of this
course, participants will be able to
Cross-cutting professional competencies:
- Describe core elements and design and manage prevention and promotion in a company
- Apply international codes of conduct and international conventions for the practice of occupational health
- Use the internet and other open resources to find information and to improve the quality of professional work in occupational health.
- Demonstrate ethical and professional work as a professional in occupational health
Content-specific competencies:
- Recognize and assess hazards and risks at the workplace
- Describe the harmful effects of selected important environmental and workplace hazards on human health
- Explain principles of toxicology
- Apply principles of human toxicology to interpret workplace exposures to chemicals and their potential health effects
- Find and extract information from MSDS or ICSC and discuss their importance for risk control
- Explain principles of exposure assessment for physical and ergonomic hazards
- Apply principles of ergonomic workplace design and demonstrate the use of exposure assessment tools for ergonomic hazards
- Explain biological workplace hazards and estimate risk for specific occupations
- Demonstrate the use of practical assessment tools, interpret their findings and develop practical solutions for the company
- Describe methods for risk reduction & control for chemical, physical, biological and ergonomic hazards
- Formulate preventive action programs and apply these methods at workplaces
- Detect occupational and environmental exposures and health effects by taking an occupational history, interpret the results and develop investigative questions for practice
Using the Internet for Occupational Health
Information gathering on the web for Occupational Health practice: finding information, resources, articles and databases
Note: Skill will be used throughout the courses |
Principles of Occupational Health and Hygiene:
Hazards Identification, Risk Assessment and Control
Concepts of risk assessment (RA) in environmental and occupational health
Principles of prevention: risk reduction and control |
Exposures, Effects and Control Options
Overview on effects of chemical, biological, physical exposure to risks
Exposure pathways (physical, chemical, physical)
Principles of exposure evaluation and assessment
Note: occupational infections will be addressed in the Advanced Course on Clinical Occupational Medicine |
Principles of toxicology
Pathways and systems, metabolism, excretion & storage, principles of risk assessment in toxicology: threshold limit values, finding and understanding of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS or ICSC). |
Practical risk assessment tools in the company
Practical exercises with tools such as checklists and formulas e.g. for hazards identification, chemical safety, physical exposures. |
Taking the Medical Occupational History
The medical and workplace history in occupational health |
Introduction to Ergonomic Workplace Design
Physiological aspects of work
Principles of ergonomic design of work stations: anthropometry, illumination, temperature, workload |
Practical risk assessment tools in the company
Practical exercises with tools such as checklists and formulas for hazards identification, manual handling of heavy loads, evaluation of ergonomic risks |
Introduction to Psychosocial Factors and Work Organisation
Concepts of stress: "distress" and "eustress", demand and control
Psychosocial risk factors at work
Principles for design of work organization: shift- and night work, management styles |
Principles of Injury and Accident Investigations and Preventive Programs
Root-Cause-Analysis concept
Economic impact of injuries and accidents, direct vs. indirect cost
Human and management factors in accidents
Overview on accident investigation techniques |
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Management of Occupational Safety, Health and Hygiene Programs
Duration: 8 weeks
Learning Objectives: At the end of this
course, participants will be able to:
- Design and manage health programs in a company
- Contribute to company goals and participate in company-level management activities
- Support management in certification efforts such as ISO 22000 or OHSAS 18001
- Conduct preliminary outbreak investigations
- Design and monitor a food safety program
- Describe and apply principles of emergency preparedness for the company and specifically for the Occupational Health clinic
- Describe principles of industrial hygiene measurements and selection of personal protection equipment (PPE)
Integration of Occupational Health Services into Management Processes
Planning & management of prevention programs
Design and management of technical and medical Prevention and Promotion Programs
Occupational Health Services: quality control and certification standards (OHSAS 18001, future ISO 26000) |
Introduction to Epidemiology & Biostatistics
Useful epidemiology methods for company-level practice: measures of disease frequency and comparisons of groups (rates & ratios) |
Outbreak Investigation
Strategies, procedures, checklists, data collection, data analysis, reporting |
Principles of food safety and water hygiene
Common problems of food safety in mass catering
Water hygiene
Surveillance programs and practices |
Emergency preparedness
Principles of emergency preparedness for a company Training requirements for the medical staff and other company employees
Organization of the medical team to handle accident victims |
Medical Guidelines for Treatment of Accident Victims in a Company
Medical treatment standards for trauma patients
Medical treatment standards for chemical accident patients |
Principles to Industrial Hygiene
Principles of exposure evaluation and control,
Principles of measurement of environmental hazards
Practical approaches to the Control for hazardous substances (control banding) |
Personal Protective Equipment
Use and limits of PPE
Selection and adaptation of PPE for individuals |
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Clinical Occupational Medicine and Medical Surveillance
Duration: 8 weeks
Learning Objectives: At the end of this
course, participants will be able to:
- Recognize work-related and occupational disorders and diseases
- Recognize risks and recommend corrective and preventive action
- Conduct medical surveillance and workplace selection in an evidence-based and ethical manner
Occupational Diseases and Disorders
Common causes of work-related diseases
Clinical diagnosis of occupational diseases caused by exposure to
- chemical (acute and chronic poisoning),
- biological (allergies and infections),
- physical agents (vibration, noise, heat, cold),
- ergonomic risk factors
Preventive strategies and treatment options |
Practice of Occupational Medical Surveillance and Personnel & Workplace Selection
Medical surveillance programs (pre-employment, pre-placement, periodic & pre-retirement examinations)
Guidelines and resources for fit-for-work evaluations
Concepts of biological monitoring |
Principles of travel medicine
Resources, reference centers and updates in travel medicine
Guidelines for pre- and post travel examinations
Vaccinations in travel medicine |
Legislations, International Codes of Conduct and Professional Ethics
Ethical considerations for medical screening
Ethical questions in occupational health practice
Professional codes of conduct of Occupational Medicine
International conventions and guidelines |
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Occupational Hygiene and Engineering Risk Control
Duration: 8 weeks
Learning Objectives: At the end of this
course, participants will be able to:
- Recognize risks and recommend corrective and preventive action
- Explain principles of measurement and control of hazardous substances
- Design preventive actions for risk reduction of chemical, biological and physical hazards
- Describe methods of risk control and industrial hygiene surveillance
- Recommend measures to reduce noise and vibration,
- Describe principles for risk reduction of physical hazards such as electromagnetic fields, non-ionizing and ionizing radiation
- Describe principles for risk reduction of hat stress and cold exposure
Reduction and control of dust, fumes aerosols and vapors of chemical and biological hazards
Properties of dusts, fumes, aerosols and vapors
Exposure pathways
Control of emission, pathway and impact |
Measurement of hazardous substances: Sampling methods and strategies
Physical and chemical properties of samplers and sampling media
Sampling techniques
Quality control in sampling
Interpretation and presentation of sampling results |
Measurement and control of noise and vibration
Properties of noise and vibration
High-risk situations and exposures
Measurement of noise and vibration
Measuring strategies
Interpretation and presentation of results |
Principles of control of radiation hazards
Properties of electromagnetic fields
Non-ionizing radiation
Ionizing radiation |
Heat and Cold
Heat stress
Cold exposure
Measurement and prevention strategies |
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