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The Eschede train disaster remains one of the worst railway accidents in Europe in recent years. The loss of 101 lives was caused by a range of factors but was most caused by poor engineering design decisions. The derailment of the high speed ICE train at the town of Eschede in Germany and the subsequent collapse of a bridge on to the train provides an excellent context in which to introduce first year engineering students to the importance of safety in an introductory course. The poor design decisions that led to the derailment and the subsequent collapse of the bridge have been used as a case study in a . general first year engineering subject at the University of Melbourne for several years. This paper begins by describing the sequence of events that started with the fracture of a steel tyre on one of the bogies on a passenger coach and that culminated in the collapse of a concrete overpass collapsing onto the train. The key lessons that may be learned from the disaster are then described. The learning around this safety case study is assessed in the classroom using concept maps. An analysis of 84 concept maps prepared by the class 15 weeks after the material had been presented to them provides an insight into how well the students integrated and retained the material from the case study. A method is proposed to analyse the concept maps to assess student and cohort learning of the case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Process safety was introduced into the curriculum of two second year undergraduate subjects in the chemical engineering programs at the University of Melbourne in 2009. As part of the student learning, groups of three to four students were each given a safety case study to investigate and report on to the rest of the class. The case studies include well known process incidents including Bhopal, Buncefield, Longford, Flixborough and Piper Alpha. Also included were incidents drawn from other industries still with valuable lessons to be learnt regarding procedure and failure modes. Each student in the group was expected to talk for 4–5min on an aspect of the safety incident but within a seamless presentation that was well constructed. Each student was also assigned another student for whose presentation they were to provide a written critique. Students presenting in the second week were required to critique the presentation of a student presenting in the first week. Both the student''s presentation and the written critique were marked by the lecturer-in-charge. Feedback from students was very positive to the use of presentations to study safety case studies. This paper describes how the case studies have been successfully used in the class room and presents information on 27 case studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Piper Alpha disaster of 1988 remains the worst offshore oil platform disaster in history. The loss of 167 lives was caused by a range of factors including human error, poor safety training and poor safety management systems. The events that led up to the first explosion and then the subsequent fires and larger explosions provide an excellent context in which to introduce first year engineering students to the importance of safety in an introductory course. The loss of the Piper Alpha platform has been used as a case study in a general first year engineering subject at the University of Melbourne for several years. This paper begins by describing the background of the platform, the events of July 6, 1988 and the lessons that may be learned from the disaster. The learning around this safety case study is assessed in the class room using concept maps. An analysis of 460 concept maps prepared by the class 15 weeks after the material had been presented to them provides an insight into how well the students integrated and retained the material from the case study. Students recalled well the causes of the disaster as well as the consequences and lessons that should be learned from the incident. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Two new fictional scenarios are presented which pose ethical dilemmas set against industrial chemical engineering environments. These scenarios are designed for use in the undergraduate chemical engineering curriculum and present the participating students with a range of ethical dilemmas. Their simple nature allows vigorous discussions between students working in groups and between the students and the class facilitator. The scenarios are designed to confront undergraduate chemical engineering students with the sort of challenging situations that they might be faced with as graduate engineers. When surveyed the clear majority of students found the material presented to be both informative and useful in illustrating ethics principles. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]