Abstract: | A research center in the College of Medicine assisted the Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department in the assessment of occupational health and safety instruction in the undergraduate agricultural engineering curriculum. An interdisciplinary team developed a questionnaire to explore three facets of health and safety instruction: 1) content and placement in the curriculum, 2) reasons for teaching occupational health and safety, and 3) adequacy of teaching resources. The questionnaire was pilot tested using agricultural engineering faculty and technicians from a large land grant university. Responses to the questionnaire revealed strengths and weaknesses in the curriculum regarding occupational health and safety instruction. The questionnaire will be expanded and further tested with a broader subject base. This cooperative effort demonstrates that medical schools can be a valuable resource to engineering schools who are looking for ways to improve occupational health and safety instruction in their curricula. |