Course Coordinator: Paul Rothmore
Phone: +61 8313 3568
Email: paul.rothmore@adelaide.edu.au
Location: Level 7, 178 North Terrace, Adelaide

Learning and Teaching Team
Phone: +61 8313 2128
Email: postgrad_enq@adelaide.edu.au
Location: Level 7, 178 North Terrace, Adelaide

1	Demonstrate knowledge of the types of disease which can arise from work.
2	Identify the ways in which physical agents in the work environment can affect human health.
3	Identify the ways in which chemical agents in the work environment can affect human health.
4	Apply a critical and systematic approach to the evaluation of the association between occupational hazards and disease.
5	Apply a critical and systematic approach to the evaluation of the association between occupational hazards and injury.

The following will be required.

Levy BS, Wegman DH, Baron S, and Sokas R. Occupational and Environmental Health: recognizing and preventing disease and injury. Sixth edition. 2011. Oxford University Press. Available from Unibooks. Cost approx. $95.95.

A set of readings will be provided on MyUni with material relevant for each topic.

You will need to access public sites such as SafeWork Australia (formerly the Australian Safety and Compensation Council); the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and WorkCover (SA). The web addresses are:

http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/
www.iarc.fr
www.workcover.com/

Medline is accessible on the Adelaide University library website. You need to enter your barcode from your student card. Note that barcode ends with an upper case letter, so that if it ends in I or O this is a number not a letter.

For your user name type in your surname in upper case.
Medline is at www.library.adelaide.edu.au/

To access and make efficient use of Medline, you should refer to the instruction at the following site:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/guide/med/pubhealth/local.html

Pubmed is the free version of Medline and is available at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi

An example of a search strategy may also be found at:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/guide/med/pubhealth/pubstud.html
 
SCOPUS
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and web source. It is available on the University of Adelaide website at the following link:
http://www.scopus.com/home.url

CISDOC
The CISDOC database is a collection of bibliographic information on occupational safety and health matters. It is does not contain the full text but has sufficient information in order to locate these documents, as well as an abstract of each of them.
CISDOC can be accessed at the following URL:
http://www.ilo.org/dyn/cisdoc/index_html

NIOSH Tic-2
NIOSHTIC-2 is a bibliographic database of all research reports supported in whole or in part by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
NIOSHTIC2 can be accessed at the following URL:
http://www2a.cdc.gov/nioshtic-2/default.asp

Other Resources
International Labour Organisation, Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety is a useful reference - http://www.ilo.org/safework_bookshelf/english/

Journals:
Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment and Health
Occupational Health and Safety (Australia and New Zealand)
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (US), (formerly the Journal of Occupational Medicine).
Occupational and Environmental Medicine (formerly the British Journal of Industrial Medicine).
Environmental Health Journal

State of the Art Reviews - Occupational Medicine is a useful series of monographs, each covering an important topic e.g. shiftwork, construction safety and health, health hazards of farming, violence in the workplace, worksite health promotion, the mining industry, hazardous waste workers etc. Individual issues can be borrowed from the Department of Public Health. The Barr Smith Library of the University of Adelaide has started receiving this series, but they do not have any pre-1992 issues.

NB. Don’t be intimidated by the references to “medicine”. Most of the literature in these journals does not require medical knowledge, in spite of the journal titles!

Legislation. The Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Act, supporting regulations and workers’ compensation legislation can be obtained from the WorkCover web site http://www.workcover.com/
Some Codes of Practice, e.g. Workplace Hazardous Substances are available through this source, but some, e.g. Manual Handling, are not. However you can get the model code of practice, on which codes in the various States are based, at the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission website http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/

Hunter’s Diseases of Occupations is a valuable reference, but is prohibitively expensive. A copy (9th Edition) has been placed on reserve in the University of Adelaide Library.

This is an online course. All course-related material is available through MyUni where you will also find Announcements related to this course and Discussion Boards where you will submit assignments and conduct discussions with your fellow students. Copies of presentations will be uploaded during the semester. MyUni is accessed by entering the The University of Adelaide website and then selecting the MyUni tab (bottom right-hand corner) or by following this link - https://myuni.adelaide.edu.au/webapps/login/. You will then be prompted to enter to username and password.

As an online course much of the contact you have with fellow students and staff will be via MyUni You will be assigned to one of three online discussion groups to which you will submit your written assignments (with the exception of the Major Assignment). Following submission of your assignment there is a period where you will have the opportunity to read, and provide constructive comment, on the work of your fellow Discussion Group members. Participants in this course have a wide range of backgrounds and this is your opportunity to gain an insight into different problem-solving perspectives (and remember your contribution is assessable).

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

The University expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This means that, for this course, you are expected to commit approximately 12 hours per week to private study.

Lectures for locally-based students are offered by industry experts during the Semester. Students are encouraged to attend where possible. Attendance should be considered as part of the suggested 12 hour study commitment per week.

While this is an on-line course a series of supplementary lectures are offered for locally-based students who are able to attend. Students are encouraged to attend where possible. Please note that this lecture timetable is provisional and subject to change depending on guest speaker availability and on-campus student attendance. Any changes will be “announced” on the MyUni site.
 

Week	Topic	Lecture
Week 1	Orientation	Orientation Literature Searching Course expectation and questions
Week 2	Scientific Method	Health Hazards Causation of Disease Hazardous Chemicals – Conceptual Framework
Week 3	Epidemiology Biological Monitoring	Incidence Prevalence Measures of Effect Biological Monitoring and Health Surveillance
Week 4	Musculoskeletal Disorders	Risk Factors Anatomy Common Injuries
Week 5	Occupational Cancer	Workplace Risk Factors Individual Monitoring
Week 6	Occupational Stress and Heart Disease	Risk Factors Management Strategies
Week 7	Occupational Respiratory Disease	Occupational Asthma
Week 8	Miscellaneous Occupational Factors	Skin Disease Reproductive Effects Infectious Diseases

A worksite visit to a Foundry is expected.

For online students living in Adelaide, you should plan on attending
Intercast and Forge, 1 Schumacher Road, Wingfield.
http://www.intercast.com.au/

This will be scheduled early in the semester.

This visit is also an important preparation for the major assignment.

Long trousers (no parachute material), long sleeves and robust covered footwear (i.e. no runners or high-heels) must be worn.

Hard hats and safety glasses will be available at the foundry, however, if you have your own please bring them.

Please note that if you are not dressed appropriately you will not be allowed to enter the foundry.

For online students living outside South Australia, you should try to visit a Foundry in your area.
For students outside Australia, other arrangements will have to be negotiated.

Assessment Task	Assessment Type	Weighting	Learning Outcome(s) being addressed
Minor Assignment - Module 1	Summative	12%	1
Online Quiz - Module 2	Summative	12%	3
Minor Assignment - Module 3	Summative	12%	1, 2, 5
Minor Assignment - Module 5	Summative	12%	1-4
Online Quiz - Module 6	Summative	12%	1-4
Major Assignment	Summative	30%	1-5
Course Participation	Summative	10%	1-5

GUIDELINES FOR THE MAJOR ASSIGNMENT (MODULE 4)

This is your opportunity to demonstrate your ability to undertake a literature review, to make a critical appraisal of an issue, and to use your writing skills.
You are expected to show evidence of having made a scientific examination of the issue yourself - i.e. it should be more than one would expect, for example, from a competent journalist. You should show evidence of having undertaken a critical review of the scientific literature on the subject, including a computerised literature search. If you are reviewing a chemical, reliance on the information in a MSDS is insufficient.

In your use of journals you should bear in mind the importance of obtaining scientific information from the original source; try to avoid quoting an author who is quoting another author.
You should also learn to distinguish between journals which are refereed and those which are not. Scientific and professional journals use a process of peer review, in which papers are read critically by experts in the relevant field (referees), and by journal editors, and then rejected, or revised extensively, on the basis of detailed written critiques by these experts. For example, source material from the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health is likely to be more persuasive than a piece from Safety News.

Where you use sources other than these refereed journals, were these reliable sources like chapters in reputable books, and did you provide the proper details so that the reader could easily find the sources you used? Providing the reader with the means by which your scientific and intellectual tracks may be retraced is very important. The reader should be able to find your sources for himself or herself, and should also be able to exercise helpful judgement about the quality of your sources of facts and ideas.
Referencing is important in enabling you to demonstrate the level of your own scholarship in coming to grips with the problem. Each source that you cite will need to be identified in the references, properly using the Vancouver or the Harvard reference format that you see in biomedical and public-health journals (for example Occupational Health: Australia and New Zealand). Learn to use one or the other in the precise standard manner. The University of Adelaide website has examples of appropriate referencing at the following link: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/guide/gen/essay/reference.html

Six to twelve references would be about the right number for your major written assignment, but the number of references you need will vary, depending on how you choose to approach the topic.

NB A set of references is not the same as a bibliography. References relate to publications specifically cited in your report, whereas a bibliography refers to what you may have read as a background to understanding the topic, without necessarily being cited in your report. A list of references is mandatory, a bibliography is optional. Marks will be deducted for inappropriate referencing.

In critically reviewing an issue, remember that science is not necessarily “common sense”. Scientific thinking requires supporting evidence from observation – reason is not enough.

Use appropriate headings and sub-headings throughout your assignment and remember to provide captions/titles for all pictures and diagrams used (and refer to these in the text).

GUIDELINES FOR OTHER ASSIGNMENTS

The requirements are similar to those for the major assignment, except for the length. Because these are to be short, it is an opportunity to learn how to condense the important features of any subject into a short report. Most people who will want your opinion as a consultant will be looking for quality rather than quantity: the longer your reports, the less chance they will be read at all, let alone read in full.
As with the major assignments, you should read as much as necessary to ensure that you have a good general grasp of the topic, but a wide-ranging literature review is not essential. Citation of two or three good references should suffice.  

MODULE 1 - SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Assignment: 12%
Expected Length: 500 words
Date for submission of assignment: Refer to the MyUni Course site.
Date for submission of commentary: 1-week following the assignment submission date.

On the basis of the coursework and reading in this module, you will prepare and submit answers to ONE of two questions (Epidemiology OR the Application of Scientific Method) to the relevant Discussion Board on MyUni. Following the submission deadline you will be required to read and provide constructive commentary on the work of your fellow students (and reflect on the comments made on your own work by your fellow students).

MODULE 2 – BIOLOGICAL MONITORING
Online Quiz: 12%
Date for submission of assignment: Refer to the MyUni Course site.
Date for submission of commentary: 1-week following the assignment submission date.

On the basis of the coursework and reading in this module, you will complete an Online Quiz related to the Health Effects of Lead Exposure and Biological Monitoring Programs. Following completion of the quiz you will be required to contribute to the online discussion on this topic.
Note: The Quiz Entry Password will be made available in the week prior.

MODULE 3 – MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS

Assignment: 12%
Expected Length: 500 words
Date for submission of assignment: Refer to the MyUni Course site.
Date for submission of commentary: 1-week following the assignment submission date.

On the basis of the coursework and reading in this module, you will prepare and submit an answer to a question related to the Assessment and Management of Back Injuries to the relevant Discussion Board on MyUni. Following the submission deadline you will be required to read and provide constructive commentary on the work of your fellow students (and reflect on the comments made on your own work by your fellow students).

MODULE 4 – OCCUPATIONAL CANCER

Major Assignment: 30%
Expected Length: 1500 words (not including references)
Date for submission of assignment: Refer to the MyUni Course site.

This is the major assignment for this course. Our society, aided by (or indeed reflected in) the media, has a general view that there are many cut-and-dried occupational and environmental health hazards in daily life. One often hears simplistic statements such as: "pesticides cause cancer" or "lead causes mental retardation". However, there are many sources of uncertainty in the science that underlies such statements.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified foundry work as cancer-causing. This classification was made in the 1980s. Since then further studies have been reported, and not all have supported the hypothesis that foundry work causes lung cancer. Moreover foundry work has changed since the period when the original studies were done.

Write an assessment of the risk of lung cancer from work in foundries, considering any uncertainties and how they could be addressed or have been addressed.
In your answer discuss what chemical agents in foundries could account for a lung cancer excess in the epidemiological studies. Is such a risk likely to be present in the foundry you have visited?
In any particular foundry (such as the one you have visited), how would you assess the degree of risk to the workers? (This might include measurement of worker exposures, protein and DNA adducts as markers of exposure and genetic toxicity, medical testing.)
The folder labelled “Foundries” on MyUni contains material from the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and other sources, for use in the major assignment.
The major assignment in Module 4 is not to be uploaded to your Group Discussion Board. This assignment is to be submitted electronically using Turnitin.
No commentary is required on other students’ contributions to this module.

Worksite visit
A worksite visit is planned to a foundry or comparable worksite. A visit to Intercast and Forge, 1 Schumacher Road, Wingfield, will be scheduled during the semester. If you can’t attend, contact Paul Rothmore to make alternative arrangements.

Alternative arrangements
Students outside South Australia for whom a foundry visit is not practical will need to contact Paul Rothmore to make alternative arrangements for the assignment.

MODULE 5 – RESPIRATORY DISEASE

Assignment: 12%
Expected Length: 500 words
Date for submission of assignment: Refer to the MyUni Course site.
Date for submission of commentary: 1-week following the assignment submission date.

On the basis of the coursework and reading in this module, you will prepare and submit answers to ONE of two questions (Investigation of a Cluster of Illness Episodes in an Office Building OR Assessment of the Need for Asbestos Removal from a Building) to the relevant Discussion Board on MyUni. Following the submission deadline you will be required to read and provide constructive commentary on the work of your fellow students (and reflect on the comments made on your own work by your fellow students).

MODULE 6 – OTHER OCCUPATIONAL DISORDERS

Online Quiz: 12%
Date for submission of assignment: Refer to the MyUni Course site.
Date for submission of commentary: 1-week following the assignment submission date.

On the basis of the coursework and reading in this module, you will complete an Online Quiz related to Skin Cancer and its Prevention, Consequences of Stress, Possible Mechanisms of Adverse Reproductive Effects of Different Exposures, and Prevention of Blood-Borne Infection. Following completion of the quiz you will be required to contribute to the online discussion on this topic.

COURSE PARTICIPATION – 10%
Constructive commentary on what your fellow students have to say is an important part of your active learning process, and should be regarded as online tutorial work. After the submission date for Modules, 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 there will be a 1-week period where you will be able to read, share opinions and discuss the module subject with other students on your Discussion Board. To ensure readability keep your comments brief. Your input is assessable. While at least 10 comments are expected during the Semester your input will be assessed in accordance with its quality rather than its volume.

All assignments, with the exception of Module 4 (major assignment) are submitted to your allocated on-line tutorial group via MyUni. Module 4 is to be submitted electronically using Turnitin (see the Assignments section on MyUni)). Turnitin will allow you to submit drafts of your Major Assignment for electronic checking of plagiarism up until the final submission date. The major assignment must include the following statement:

PLAGIARISM STATEMENT
I declare that all material in this assessment is my own work except where there is clear acknowledgement or reference to the work of others. I have read the University Statement and Definition of Plagiarism and Related Form of Cheating at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/230.
I give permission for my assessment work to be reproduced and submitted to other academic staff for the purposes of assessment and to be copied, submitted to and retained by the University’s plagiarism detection software provider for the purposes of electronic checking of plagiarism.
Name: .....................................................................Date: ......................................................

Extensions must be requested, at the latest, by the last working day before the due date of submission. They will generally be granted only on medical and genuine compassionate grounds. Only the course coordinator, or a person authorised by them, may grant extensions.

Lateness: Marks will be deducted when assignments for which no extension has been granted are submitted late.

Marks will be deducted from the mark (awarded on merit) at the rate of 5% per day.

Return of Assignments: It is anticipated that student’s assignments, with comments will be returned, to University of Adelaide student e-mail address, within 2-weeks of submission deadlines.

Resubmission: Where a student is provided with the opportunity to resubmit an assignment this may receive a maximum mark of 50% (depending on the circumstances of the required resubmission).

Plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty that amounts to theft or fraud. It is the unacknowledged use of the thoughts or writings of another person, as if they are one's own. This may occur as a result of deliberate misuse of another person's work, or through ignorance or inexperience about the correct way to acknowledge other work. Plagiarism includes presenting information or paraphrasing ideas from books, articles, etc. or other students' work, without clear identification of the source through proper use of referencing; and quoting directly from a source, without indicating that it is a direct quote.

This is considered an extremely serious matter, which may lead to failure of an assignment, or even suspension from University.

The University of Adelaide has a policy on plagiarism that can be viewed at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/clpd/plagiarism/students/

There is a Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism, prepared by the Centre for Learning and Professional Development at the following link:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/clpd/all/learning_guides/learningGuide_avoidingPlagiarism.pdf

 #You should be aware that any of your submitted assessment work may be submitted for electronic checking of plagiarism.#

Turnitin (http://www.turnitin.com) is an online plagiarism prevention service. You must submit your major assignment via Turnitin (see the Assignments section on MyUni). You can submit drafts of your major assignment for self-checking prior to final submission (and you are strongly encouraged to do so). Note however, that your minor assignments may also be submitted for checking at the sole discretion of the Course Coordinator.

Guidance on length of assignments: Although we encourage students to submit assignments that demonstrate their understanding of the topic, the length of assignments should be within 20% of the expected word length. Being succinct is an important skill.
A penalty of 10% of the mark (awarded on merit) may apply in the case of an obvious breach of this guidance.

	High Distinction	Distinction	Credit	Pass	Fail
General Description	Outstanding or exceptional work in terms of understanding, interpretation and presentation	A very high standard of work which demonstrates originality and insight	Demonstrates a high level of understanding and presentation and a degree of originality and insight	Satisfies the minimum requirements	Fails to satisfy the minimum requirements
Reading	Strong evidence of independent reading beyond core texts and materials	Evidence of reading beyond core texts and materials	Thorough understanding of core texts and materials	Evidence of having read core texts and materials	Very little evidence of having read any of the core texts and materials
Knowledge of topic	Demonstrates insight, awareness and understanding of deeper and more subtle aspects of the topic. Ability to consider topic in the broader context of the discipline	Evidence of an awareness and understanding of deeper and more subtle aspects of the topic	Sound knowledge of principles and concepts	Knowledge of principles and concepts at least adequate to communicate intelligently in the topic and to serve as a basis for further study	Scant knowledge of principles and concepts
Articulation of argument	Demonstrates imagination or flair. Demonstrates originality and independent thought	Evidence of imagination or flair. Evidence of originality and independent thought	Well-reasoned argument based on broad evidence	Sound argument based on evidence	Very little evidence of ability to construct coherent argument
Analytical and evaluation skills	Highly developed analytical and evaluative skills	Clear evidence of analytical and evaluative skills	Evidence of analytical and evaluative skills	Some evidence of analytical and evaluative skills	Very little evidence of analytical and evaluative skills
Problem solving	Ability to solve very challenging problems	Ability to solve non-routine problems	Ability to use and apply fundamental concepts and skills	Adequate problem-solving skills	Very little evidence of problem-solving skills
Expression and presentation appropriate to the discipline	Highly developed skills in expression and presentation	Well developed skills in expression and presentation.	Good skills in expression and presentation. Accurate and consistent acknowledgement of sources.	Adequate skills in expression and presentation.	Rudimentary skills in expression and presentation. Inaccurate and inconsistent acknowledgement of sources.