THE 2023 TIMEPOINT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROCESS SAFETY EDUCATION

In this paper we have traced a recent history of process safety education. Process safety is taught in courses throughout the curriculum, in required safety courses, or both. We have shown an increase over time in the fraction of institutions with process safety content throughout the curriculum. Most often that content is in kinetics and reaction engineering, process control, free-standing laboratory, and capstone design courses. We have also shown an increase over time in the fraction of institutions with a required process safety course, which is most frequently a three-credit-hour course in the senior year. We documented the expected learning outcomes for both process safety and management of risk skills. Departments without a required process safety course require fewer skills than those with a required course, and those skills are at a lower level than those required at institutions with a required course. Faculty provided many comments about teaching process safety, including the challenges of teaching an industrially oriented subject without industrial experience. An industrial contact to assist in teaching process safety is a plus, and we include information about free resources available to faculty for their own professional development.