“Ergonomics for Occupational Therapy Practitioners” (EOTP) is an on-demand, on-line course for occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs), as well as other therapy professionals. As many OTPs had limited exposure to ergonomics in their academic education (Fisher, 2019), EOTP is intended to equip them for ergonomic practice. This 10-module on-line course provides ergonomic principles and application for a variety of environments, leveraging adult learning theory and evidence-based curriculum design. The program’s ultimate goal is to increase the number of OTPs working in the area of ergonomics by increasing their knowledge of and confidence in this distinct practice area.

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To safeguard the health and well-being of faculty, students, staff, and the community is of moral imperative for higher education institutions. Likewise, protecting the environment is a socially sound practice. Furthermore, building and maintaining a positive safety culture is believed to contribute to productive environmental health and safety (EH&S) outcomes. Higher education EH&S leaders are at the center of universities’ efforts in maintaining a positive safety culture. The purpose of this inquiry was to study higher education EH&S leaders’ perspectives on safety culture and contribute to closing the academic literature gap in the higher education setting. Interviews and a survey were the data collection techniques. EH&S leaders of U.S. higher education institutions participated in the study. I used Cooper’s (2000, 2016) reciprocal safety culture model as a theoretical framework and a mixed methods research design to find answers to the research questions. The survey results revealed how EH&S leaders viewed different aspects of their operations, and findings from the interviews revealed the leaders’ lived experiences. For example, the quantitative study showed 100% of the participants strongly agree or agree that shaping the safety culture of their campus is part of their role. In addition, the qualitative data identified distinct strategies employed by leaders to shape the safety culture of their campuses. Four major themes were identified in the qualitative data. In the first theme, The Higher Education Safety Culture, the EH&S leaders reflected on their lived experiences and the importance of positive safety culture in accomplishing their goals. They mobilize their campus communities in a collective effort to achieve a healthy and safe working environment, minimize the impact on the environment, and remain compliant with regulatory requirements. The second theme, Higher Education Environmental Health and Safety Programs, stressed the plans and procedures the leaders and their departments engage in their daily operations. The third theme, Higher Education Management’s Role in Environmental Health and Safety Operations, manifested the leaders’ equivocal voice on the necessity of the higher education leadership and upper management support to fulfill their missions. The last theme, Modus Operandi of Higher Education Environmental Health and Safety Leaders, is about a range of strategies and tactics the EH&S leaders employed to succeed in a structured, bureaucratic, and challenging environment. The findings have direct implications for both higher education EH&S professionals and higher education senior leadership. The study findings implied EH&S leaders should focus their effort where it generates the best outcome, namely: (a) orchestrate the campus community toward a positive safety; (b) build and implement effective EH&S programs; (c) bring upper management and leadership aboard; (d) apply effective communication; (e) build trust; (f) define their role as a consultant; (g) stand out; and (h) create a brand, motto, and slogan where possible. For higher education senior leadership, participants emphasized the necessity of upper management and leadership support to build and maintain a positive safety culture on the campus, agreeing with Cooper (2000, 2016). This work helps contribute to making higher education senior leadership and upper management understand their role in their campuses’ safety culture and provide due support and actively participate. This study served as an initial exploration in understanding higher education EH&S leaders’ perspectives on safety culture and contributing to closing the literature gap. It also opened a door for future research. Broadening the audience to students, faculty, and staff are reasonable candidates for further research for a more comprehensive understanding of the safety culture in higher education. In addition, expanding the survey to include more EH&S leaders of higher education will elaborate on the EH&S operations, challenges, and sentiment.

Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) departments in many organizations are faced with two interrelated problems which limit their ability to make accurate decisions based on quality data. First, many EHS departments follow a reactive business management model and need to work towards a proactive continuous improvement model to better manage EHS. The second is a lack of data integration and interoperability between the numerous different EHS data sources and systems. EHS departments are challenged with managing large quantities of data generated through tracking and monitoring programs to continuously improve EHS performance. EHS data can be in many forms paper, digital files, spreadsheets, images, relational databases and proprietary software applications. EHS data have strong spatial relationships, which makes the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) a very cost effective and feasible solution for integrating and managing EHS data. This thesis will outline how GIS brings to EHS the advantages of traditional IT methods with the added benefit of spatial analytical operations such as map overlay, relationships and querying, and informative visual presentation through maps, floor plans, and imagery through the implementation of a GIS database for EHS called GeoSpatial Environmental Health and Safety (GEO-EHS).

Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) departments in many organizations are faced with two interrelated problems which limit their ability to make accurate decisions based on quality data. First, many EHS departments follow a reactive business management model and need to work towards a proactive continuous improvement model to better manage EHS. The second is a lack of data integration and interoperability between the numerous different EHS data sources and systems. EHS departments are challenged with managing large quantities of data generated through tracking and monitoring programs to continuously improve EHS performance. EHS data can be in many forms paper, digital files, spreadsheets, images, relational databases and proprietary software applications. EHS data have strong spatial relationships, which makes the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) a very cost effective and feasible solution for integrating and managing EHS data. This thesis will outline how GIS brings to EHS the advantages of traditional IT methods with the added benefit of spatial analytical operations such as map overlay, relationships and querying, and informative visual presentation through maps, floor plans, and imagery through the implementation of a GIS database for EHS called GeoSpatial Environmental Health and Safety (GEO-EHS).

The wide scale use of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) in the world consumer market has resulted in likelihood of exposure to human beings. The present study was aimed to assess the in vitro and in vivo interactions of ZnO NPs in the mammalian system and to elucidate the possible mechanism of their toxicity. Our in vitro results using human epidermal cells (A431), primary human epidermal keratinocytes and human liver cells (HepG2) demonstrated that cells exposed to ZnO NPs exhibit a decrease in cell viability which was independent of NP dissolution. ZnO NPs also induced oxidative DNA damage as evidenced by an increase in the Fpg sensitive sites. The reactive oxygen species triggered a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential and an increase in the ratio of Bax/Bcl2 leading to apoptosis through the intrinsic pathway. In addition, ZnO NPs induced phosphorylation of JNK, P38 and P53ser15. The results from our in vivo studies using a mouse model showed that ZnO NPs induce lipid peroxidation, oxidative DNA damage and apoptosis in liver which further confirmed our in vitro findings. The data from the present study provide valuable insights into the cellular interactions of ZnO NPs and the underlying molecular mechanism of their toxicity. The results also stress the need for a comprehensive environmental health and safety assessment of engineered nanomaterials to ensure safer nanotechnology based products.

The wide scale use of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) in the world consumer market has resulted in likelihood of exposure to human beings. The present study was aimed to assess the in vitro and in vivo interactions of ZnO NPs in the mammalian system and to elucidate the possible mechanism of their toxicity. Our in vitro results using human epidermal cells (A431), primary human epidermal keratinocytes and human liver cells (HepG2) demonstrated that cells exposed to ZnO NPs exhibit a decrease in cell viability which was independent of NP dissolution. ZnO NPs also induced oxidative DNA damage as evidenced by an increase in the Fpg sensitive sites. The reactive oxygen species triggered a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential and an increase in the ratio of Bax/Bcl2 leading to apoptosis through the intrinsic pathway. In addition, ZnO NPs induced phosphorylation of JNK, P38 and P53ser15. The results from our in vivo studies using a mouse model showed that ZnO NPs induce lipid peroxidation, oxidative DNA damage and apoptosis in liver which further confirmed our in vitro findings. The data from the present study provide valuable insights into the cellular interactions of ZnO NPs and the underlying molecular mechanism of their toxicity. The results also stress the need for a comprehensive environmental health and safety assessment of engineered nanomaterials to ensure safer nanotechnology based products.