SiMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
MEMORANDUM
J
...... F........
Cochran ?
.
From. ?
A.G. Sherwood, Chairman
Faculty of Science
Department .ofPhysics ?
.. . Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
Subject ..............
Occupational Health Sciences
?
Date............
.1980 12
Program
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Premature congratulations ?
I have been Chairman of the Faculty
Undergraduate Studies Committee and, as such, have been sitting as
Faculty representative on SCUS. There will be an important recommendation
brought to Senate early
in
the new year which I should like to warn you
about. The item in question is the proposal by the Kinesiology Department
to mount programs in Occupational Health Sciences and I argued
(unsuccessfully) in SCUS that the proposal, if adopted, could do very serious
damage to SFU's reputation.
The proposal was made in answer to a serious shortcoming in Canada's
record in occupational health and safety. It was argued that SFU should
mount programs to prepare persons to function as professionals who could deal
with a broad spectrum of hazards in the workplace:-
- hazards due to faulty workplace and tool design;
- physical hazards (noise, vibration, radiation, electricity, etc.);
- biological hazards (sanitation, bacteria);
- chemical hazards (poisons).
The Extended Studies Diploma Program
The professional OHS worker is
to be
prepared by an Extended Studies
Diploma Program of one year duration during which the candidate is to
complete
30
semester hours of upper division courses. The prerequisite
fo.r entry into the program is to be an undergraduate degree, certificate,
or diploma and an "adequate" background.in
chemistry, physics or engineering,
- human physio-1ogy,-mathema-tics -and--statisti-cs. In-reality,-the level -
considered adequate
i.s
that obtained in the B.Sc. (Kinesiology) program,
i.e.:
(1)
first year physics (no laboratory courses);
(2)
first year biological sciences plus BISC
201-3
(Cell Biology);
(3)
first year chemistry plus one semester of organic chemistry --
(no inorganic chemistry, no analytical chemistry and no
biochemistry).
The program itself has a core of
26
semester hours of upper division
courses which include several OHS courses plus BISC
311-3,
An Introduction
to Toxicology and BISC
650-3,
Industrial Toxicology. In addition, students
must choose
2-3
courses from an extended and broad list ranging from
BUS
371-3
to BISC
810-2.
.2/
J.F. Cochran ?
- 2 -
? 1980 12 22
S
The program is certainly interesting and useful. The important
question is whether it can produce what can be regarded as professional
occupational health scientists. A professional in this area should be
capable of accepting full responsibility for the evaluation of a workplace
with respect to all health hazards. He/she should be able to either
certify that no hazards exist or, be able to identify hazards and recommend
methods for their elimination. A graduate from the ESD program will be
in no position to accept this level of responsibility. The program can
serve the very useful function of producing informed laymen but any attempt
to create the impression that the OHS program is a professional program
will reflect very badly on SFU.
Several arguments were raised in SCUS in the course of this discussion:
-(l)
The program is a compromise between the desired level of
competence and that level-which can be obtained by a
Kinesiology graduate
in
the course of a one year program.
If the level ?
is
inappropriate for the preparation of
professionals then it should not be advertised'as a
professional ?
program.
(2)
Kinesiology graduates are presently carrying out the functions
of OHS workers in industry and government without this training.
• ?
- The program will
?
improve their qualifications.
Undoubtedly ?
Anyone can hire anyone to do anything but when
the University lays the label of professional on one of its
graduates, the credibility of the University is at stake.
(3)
Such programs
in
Canada and the U.S. are successful
?
in
producing
OHS professionals.
Perhaps this is true (no data were offered), but we are
confronted, in spite of such professionals, with disasters
-
?
-
.11 kéLovè Canal, thàlidomid, dioxin, asbestos ,poly-chTorinated -
biphenyls,retc., etc.
?
SFU should hardly be in a hurry to
contribute to such problems by injecting, into the fray,
unqualified "professionals".
The program is certainly worthwhile if it produces graduates who
are capable of realizing the complexity of the problem of occupational
health. Such people would see the necessity of using real professionals -
toxicologists, microbiologists, engineers, etc. - to deal with these
problems. They should not be put in the position of having to make
judgements for which their training has not prepared them.
If, on the other hand, we
-
are interested in making a contribution
to the education of occupational health scientists, we should examine
the nature of the problem, decide what level and. range of expertise is
necessary to cope, and make no compromises in preparing the required
professionals.
.3/
J.F. Cochran ?
- 3 -
?
1980 12 22
S
In the course of such an analysis, it may be necessary to decide
that:
- no single degree or diploma program is sufficient to prepare
professionals to handle all types of problems, i.e. specialization
is necessary (toxicologist, microbiologist, kinesiologist, etc.,
each specializing in a facet of the OH problem).
- a level of interdisciplinary co-operation, much higher than has
so far occurred is necessary. Perhaps no single department has
the expertise necessary to deal with all sorts of occupational
health problems.
- that undergraduate degrees are inadequate, i.e. graduate programs
are necessary preparation for professionals.
- that entry into graduate work in this area is not possible,
simply on the basis of some present undergraduate SFtJ degree,
i.e. that our present degrees are too narrow or shallow in
critical areas to provide the preparation necessary to initiate
the investigation of occupational health problems. It may be
necessary for the chemistry honours graduate to take some lower
division BISC courses, or for the kinesiology graduate to take
some lower division CHEM courses.
It might be pointed out that in the planning of the Environmental
Toxicology Program, the approach was:
to provide exposure to a narrower range of problems;
to make no pretense to providing professional qualification;
- to require asprerequisites,those courses which are considered
necessary. This means that no B.Sc. graduate can enter the
program-without pi.cking.up some l.ower..divis.ion courses: from_
outside the major department. This requirement was considered
necessary to ensure that the. courses in toxicology could be
given at a substantial level.
The Honours & Minor Programs
The proposal for a minor in OHS can hardly be objected to.
It cannot be expected to produce either professionals or candidates
for graduate programs in OHS. The honours program, on the other hand,
should at least provide all the training at the undergraduate level
necessary to start research in a graduate program and to take substantial
graduate courses. The science requirements
in
the OHS .honours program
are those of the present kinesiology program with the addition of two
courses in biochemistry and the deletion of BISC 203-3, Developmental
Biology.
.4/
J.F. Cochran ?
- 4 -
?
1980 12 22
S
It is difficult, to see how such a background can serve as the
foundation upon which a student can build a respectable graduate program
in OHS. If the kihesiology department intends to initiate the establish-
ment of a graduate program in OHS at SFU, it would be wise to start with
an adequate honours program.
In summary, it seems to me that this proposal should not be passed
by Senate unless the kinesiologists disavow all pretentions that the
programs will produce professionals. The candidates will be incapable
of carrying out professional responsibilities and any attempt by the
University to. suggest otherwise will do us considerable damage.
AGS/mgj
?
A.G/Sherwood
0
