Chemical Safety and Security Education in ACS-Approved Chemistry Programs
Abstract
To date, chemical security education practices in postsecondary institutions are poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to provide an initial understanding of the practices, attitudes, and barriers toward chemical security education for undergraduate and graduate programs in the United States (US) by surveying representatives of American Chemical Society (ACS)-approved programs. All programs with ACS-approved undergraduate chemistry programs (n = 691) were contacted for participation: 21% (n = 148) fully completed and 6% (n = 41) partially completed the survey for a combined total of 27% complete and/or partially complete surveys (n = 189). We observed that most programs currently teach chemical safety (undergraduate >99%, graduate 73%); however, only about one-third of programs teach chemical security at any education level (undergraduate 32%, graduate 34%). We also observed that safety education is provided more frequently than security education. Further, ACS-approved programs reported that their chemical safety culture was stronger than chemical security culture and felt that safety should be taught differently than security. The overwhelming majority of respondents (96%) indicated that chemical safety should be mandatory at some level, while only about half of respondents (57%) indicated that chemical security should be mandatory at some level. More efforts are neededmore »
- Authors:
-
[2];
- Univ. of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK (United States)
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1601438
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-2019-11714J
Journal ID: ISSN 0021-9584; 679888
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Chemical Education
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 97; Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 0021-9584
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; High School/Introductory Chemistry; First-Year Undergraduate/General; Upper-Division Undergraduate; Curriculum Interdisciplinary/Multidisciplinary; Continuing Education; Analytical Chemistry; Problem Solving/Decision Making; Forensic Chemistry; Professional Development
Citation Formats
Thompson, Chalita Equilla, Nelson, Andrew Wyatt, Gribble, Lisa Astuto, Caskey, Susan A., and Eitrheim, Eric Steven. Chemical Safety and Security Education in ACS-Approved Chemistry Programs. United States: N. p., 2020.
Web. doi:10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00913.
Thompson, Chalita Equilla, Nelson, Andrew Wyatt, Gribble, Lisa Astuto, Caskey, Susan A., & Eitrheim, Eric Steven. Chemical Safety and Security Education in ACS-Approved Chemistry Programs. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00913
Thompson, Chalita Equilla, Nelson, Andrew Wyatt, Gribble, Lisa Astuto, Caskey, Susan A., and Eitrheim, Eric Steven. Fri .
"Chemical Safety and Security Education in ACS-Approved Chemistry Programs". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00913. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1601438.
@article{osti_1601438,
title = {Chemical Safety and Security Education in ACS-Approved Chemistry Programs},
author = {Thompson, Chalita Equilla and Nelson, Andrew Wyatt and Gribble, Lisa Astuto and Caskey, Susan A. and Eitrheim, Eric Steven},
abstractNote = {To date, chemical security education practices in postsecondary institutions are poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to provide an initial understanding of the practices, attitudes, and barriers toward chemical security education for undergraduate and graduate programs in the United States (US) by surveying representatives of American Chemical Society (ACS)-approved programs. All programs with ACS-approved undergraduate chemistry programs (n = 691) were contacted for participation: 21% (n = 148) fully completed and 6% (n = 41) partially completed the survey for a combined total of 27% complete and/or partially complete surveys (n = 189). We observed that most programs currently teach chemical safety (undergraduate >99%, graduate 73%); however, only about one-third of programs teach chemical security at any education level (undergraduate 32%, graduate 34%). We also observed that safety education is provided more frequently than security education. Further, ACS-approved programs reported that their chemical safety culture was stronger than chemical security culture and felt that safety should be taught differently than security. The overwhelming majority of respondents (96%) indicated that chemical safety should be mandatory at some level, while only about half of respondents (57%) indicated that chemical security should be mandatory at some level. More efforts are needed by the chemistry community to raise awareness of the importance of chemical security education so that more institutions commit to training their faculty and students on the topic. The authors suggest that adoption of chemical security education could be increased if ACS were to advocate for chemical security by including it in its guidelines for educational program approval.},
doi = {10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00913},
journal = {Journal of Chemical Education},
number = 7,
volume = 97,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Feb 07 00:00:00 EST 2020},
month = {Fri Feb 07 00:00:00 EST 2020}
}
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