Eastman and AIChE Launch Process Safety Education Effort

Specialty chemical company Eastman, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), and the institute’s Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) launched an initiative Thursday to ensure that chemical engineering undergraduate students leave their studies with a working knowledge of process safety.

The Fortune 500 company and the organizations said that process safety education is “underdeveloped in most university undergraduate chemical engineering programs.” Global in its scope, the effort, dubbed The Undergraduate Process Safety Learning Initiative, will be led by the CCPS.

AIChE executive director June Wispelwey said Eastman, a founding corporate member of the CCPS, made an early leadership commitment to the initiative.

“Eastman, with its strong, historical commitment to the safe and responsible practice of engineering, is a natural partner in this effort,” said Wispelwey in a statement. “Eastman’s distinguished, global achievements in environmental, health, safety, and security performance, along with the company’s recognized corporate culture of safety, are evidence of the company’s dedication to process safety.”

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology recently created standards mandating that process safety be a part of chemical engineering coursework in universities. According to AIChE, universities have “not yet found a way to develop a standardized curriculum to fulfill the new requirement.” The organization’s effort with Eastman aims to assist universities in implementing this training.

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