(416e) Contemporary Issues in Homeland Security in a Chemical Process Safety Course

Chemical plants, like other
potential terrorist targets, are subjects of intense scrutiny as the federal
government and other agencies seek to protect the public from harm. Engineering
students must be kept aware of the role they will be expected to play in
maintaining security in a plant environment and to protect the public from the
worst of unexpected occurrences. With the rapid changes in chemical plant
security that began well before 2001 and continue today, chemical engineering
educators must be provided with current information pertinent to existing
classes that will empower tomorrow's engineers to function effectively.

A module developed to integrate
topics in homeland security into a course in Ethics, Safety, and
Professionalism is currently being used at the University of Kentucky, Paducah Extended Campus. This module introduces students to the role of government,
industry groups, and individual plants in maintaining as safe an environment as
reasonably possible in an age of terrorism. The focus of the module is to tie
elements of the course and curriculum previously discussed to a rapidly
changing contemporary issue. Topics tied to the module include the role of
government (executive and legislative roles and current activities in both with
regard to plant safety, previously introduced in the context of safety and
environmental law), green engineering (just-in-time production, waste
minimization), fail-safes, and risk analysis (HAZOP and other methods). New
topics include site vulnerability analysis, ventilation security, and
cybersecurity. Extensive documentation is provided, as well as references to
the most current information available regarding plant security.