Occupational hygiene course held in Azerbaijan

Jun 21, 2007

As part of a project between BP International and Associate Professor Brian Davies of UOW’s School of Health Sciences travelled to Baku in Azerbaijan in mid June to teach a short course in the measurement of hazardous substances to BP.

The course has been developed by the University of Wollongong and is the first in a series of such courses in various aspects of occupational hygiene being funded by BP and prepared by organisations in Australia, United Kingdom and the United States.

The attendees at the first course in Baku included occupational physicians, engineers and health and safety professionals from Azerbaijan, Egypt and Georgia. The course lasted for four and a half days with a two-hour examination administered by the British Occupational Hygiene Society at the conclusion.

Topics presented during the course included, basic physiology and toxicology, risk assessment of hazardous substances, exposure standards, air sampling theory and practice, biological monitoring, sample analysis, dust fumes and fibres, vapours and gases.

The same course will be presented at UOW from 9-13 July and has attracted significant interest with a waiting list for available positions being required.

A second module on the Thermal Environment (heat stress, cold stress and thermal comfort) will be presented in Baku in September and at UOW in November.