Offered
Alfred Hospital Second semester 2008 (Day)
Alfred Hospital Second semester 2008 (Off-campus)
Synopsis
Australian (enHealth) framework for health risk assessment (HRA); comparison with international HRA approaches; hazard identification, dose-response, exposure assessment, risk characterization; examples of environmental HRA relating to air, water, soil and food; risk assessment of occupational hazards and control measures; chemical sensitivity.
Objectives
On completion of this unit students should be able to:
- Nominate the important hazards and risks to health from the environment in Australia.
- Access available information about these hazards, which are useful in the (Health Risk Assessment) HRA process.
- Critically appraise published epidemiological articles related to environmental health risks.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the methods used to identify common environmental hazards, to measure the level of human exposure to them and their management.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the methods used to undertake environmental health risk assessment, including the limitations of these methods.
- Interpret the results of HRA and their use in setting intervention criteria.
- Understand factors which influence community perception of environmental hazards.
- Be able to frame effective strategies to communicate the concepts of risk.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the policy issues associated with HRA and risk management, including the role for Australian bodies which use HRA in standard setting.
Assessment
Written assignments 60%
Examination 40%
Off Campus Attendance Requirements
18 contact hours over 3 days
