To ensure that emerging technologies grow without causing illness or injury to workers and the public, a professional workforce must be prepared with the ability to anticipate, recognize, evaluate, and control exposures to hazardous materials in emerging technology workplaces. Therefore, the University of Minnesota, the University of Iowa, and Dakota County Technical College have formed the Midwest Emerging Technologies Public Health and Safety Training (METPHAST) Program. The objective of the METPHAST Program for this funding period is to develop a comprehensive web-based curriculum on occupational hygiene, with emphasis on applications to worker health and safety in emerging technologies. To accomplish this objective, we will develop four online cores for education and training in chemical hazard recognition, detection technologies, exposure assessment strategies, and risk management. In the cores, we will demonstrate concepts with examples and illustrations drawn from the following emerging technologies: green chemistry, sustainable remediation, electronic products and waste, and nanotechnology. Each core in the curriculum will be comprised of 10-15 web-based modules; each module, in turn, will include a carefully-constructed set of short narrated screencasts, animations, exercises, and activities. Instructors will use the curriculum to create academic and continuing education courses that develop the skills of industrial hygiene students; students in other health, science, engineering, and technology disciplines; and professionals who require continuing education on the health and safety of emerging technologies. The program is innovative because it provides flexible, online education materials that instructors can first use to train themselves, and then to train others, on topics that fit the needs of their organizations. All materials will be freely available on the web, ensuring that the METPHAST Program has a regional, national, and global reach.
The METPHAST Program is a multi-institutional education and training effort that develops and disseminates a web-based curriculum to prepare a variety of learners with the skills necessary to address health and safety issues that arise in emerging technology workplaces. The program is focusing presently on learning materials related to green chemistry, sustainable remediation, electronic products and waste, and nanotechnology.
