Environmental Health and Safety Concentration

Environmental Health and Safety

This concentration explores the concepts and principles of various health issues regarding quality of life, from the air we breathe, the water we drink and play in, the places we work and live in, and anything else that affects our overall well being. Jobs in environmental health can be found in both the public and private sector, ranging from hospitals and other health care facilities to government agencies such as Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, town and community water authorities, and private companies such as airlines (food and air quality safety) and laboratories (water quality and ground contamination).

Brochure (pdf)

Curriculum

HAN 470 Occupational Health and Safety Engineering (3 credits) : Provides fundamentals of occupational safety and health. Emphasizes safety engineering regulations, codes and practices, safety program administration, recognition of hazards, and implementation of hazard controls. Restricted to students approved for appropriate senior year track in the Health Science major.

HAN 474 Industrial Hygiene (4 credits): Introduces basic concepts of industrial hygiene. Presents the methodology and procedures that professionals in the field use to identify, measure, and correct hazards in the work environment. Restricted to students approved for appropriate senior year track in the Health Science major.

HAN 475 Fundamentals of Environmental Health (3 credits): Introduces the key areas of environmental health. Utilizes a population health perspective. Emphasizes core concepts in environmental health (i.e. environmental epidemiology, environmental toxicology, environmental policy and regulation); agents of environmental diseases (i.e. microbial agents, ionizing and nonionizing radiation); and applications and domains of environmental health (i.e. water and air quality, food safety, waste disposal, occupational health, and injuries). Restricted to students approved for appropriate senior year track in the Health Science major.

HAN 476 Hazardous Materials, Emergency Response, and Environmental Auditing (4 credits): Concentrates on the nature of hazardous materials and how they are handled in the workplace. Presents the fundamentals of emergency response planning and how to perform environmental audits. Restricted to students approved for appropriate senior year track in the Health Science major.

HAN 478 Internship in Environmental Health (2 credits): A 90-hour internship experience provides real-time work experience and opportunity for students to apply knowledge and skills learned in environmental health concentration courses. Restricted to students approved for appropriate senior year track in the Health Science major.