Fundamentals of Occupational Hygiene

Occu­pa­tion­al Hygiene is the sci­ence devot­ed to the recog­ni­tion, eval­u­a­tion and con­trol of work­place haz­ards that may result in ill­ness or injury. This intro­duc­to­ry course is designed to pro­vide a basic under­stand­ing of some of the key con­cepts in Occu­pa­tion­al Hygiene, includ­ing routes of entry of con­t­a­m­i­nants into the body, clas­si­fi­ca­tion of haz­ards, occu­pa­tion­al expo­sure lim­its, and meth­ods of con­trol­ling work­place expo­sures. In addi­tion, the stu­dent will be intro­duced to meth­ods of eval­u­a­tion includ­ing the devel­op­ment of sam­pling strategies.

Course at a glance
  • Offered fully online learning - asynchronous or synchronous format.
  • Aimed at entry-level and practicing health and safety coordinators, professionals, officers, technicians, supervisors, trainers, management, and administrators.
What you will learn

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

  • Describe the fundamental elements associated with the practice of occupational hygiene, the components of an effective occupational hygiene program, and the role of the occupational hygienist.
  • Describe how the Occupational Health and Safety legislation in Alberta pertains to occupational hygiene, particularly in regards to biological, chemical, ergonomic, and physical hazards.
  • Identify various chemical, physical, biological, and ergonomic hazards found in the workplace.
  • Describe the use of engineering controls to mitigate worker exposure to worksite hazards.
  • Discuss indoor air quality issues and the differences in assessing them versus traditional worker exposure issues.
This course has no prerequisites

Students from all educational backgrounds welcome. You can register for this course without applying and enrolling in a program.

Take note:

  • This course is offered several times throughout the year; each specific offering is called a “course section.” 
  • When selecting the dates and the section you want to enrol in, look for the note that indicates the delivery format of that specific section—and make sure you have chosen a section that’s offered in your desired format (asynchronous or synchronous).
  • The online components of this course are facilitated through eClass, the University of Alberta’s eLearning management tool.
  • Required reading materials: Alberta Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act, Regulation and Code, Alberta King’s Printer (alberta.ca/alberta-kings-printer) and specific pages from  the TLV and BEIs (Threshold limit values (TLVs) and biological exposure indices (BEIs), American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), 2020.
  • The required pages for the TLV and BEIs (Threshold limit values (TLVs) and biological exposure indices (BEIs), American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), 2020) will be available in eClass. You will be required to read, understand, and reference the provided pages throughout the course and for quizzes and exams. Students are not required to purchase the ACGIH; however, they may wish to purchase their own copy. Using the 2022 version is also applicable.
  • Scientific calculator (recommended) but a regular calculator will be sufficient. Students will need to have access to a calculator as you will be doing calculations to complete your exercises, quizzes and exams.
Currently counts towards:

Applicants intending to enrol in a program are encouraged to apply as soon as possible to lock in their course requirements since they are prone to change.

*If you are already enroled in this program, please refer to your specific program requirements as outlined at the time of your admission: Bear Tracks > Academic Advisement.

Email

ohs@ualberta.ca

When will
this course be offered?

New course schedules are released each June and November.

Course not yet scheduled

This course is not currently scheduled, but may be offered in an upcoming term.

New course schedules are announced each June and November.

Sign up for updates

Interested in future offerings of this course? We can let you know when this course becomes available.