The UWI, Mona Campus is currently developing Undergraduate and Postgraduate Degree Programmes in Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health which could be offered beginning as early as the 2004/5 academic year. The structure and content for the programmes are now being developed through a series of workshops with occupational and environmental safety and health experts funded by the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica at a cost of just under J$1.4 million. The new courses and modules along with selected existing courses will form the curriculum leading to bachelors and masters degree programmes in Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health.
The programmes are being developed arising from findings of UWI’s collaborative research and outreach activities, which identified a poor grasp of occupational and environmental safety and health issues among managers, general leadership and workers in the private and public sectors. These outreach projects include the joint Department of Chemistry/Jamaica Confederation of Trade Union asbestos pollution education project and the International Centre for Nuclear Sciences’ Lead Pollution Project. They have revealed the need to build a skills bank of persons who can identify and manage health risks associated with chemical, and biological materials and waste used and generated in commercial and service operations in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.