PRR Project

Summary

The scientific research area of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) is growing both nationally and internationally. Occupational Safety and Health Engineers have academic training that enables them to create safe working environments. The field of engineering (namely safety, ergonomics, biomechanics and industrial hygiene) will be some of the areas with the greatest development due to the urgent need to respond to new technological advances and workforce sustainability. The Portuguese Engineers´ Association (Ordem dos Engenheiros) has just created a College for Safety and Quality Engineering, recognising the importance of this area for the sustainable development of today´s industry and society.It is important for the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), as a contracting institution with a mission aligned with the best standards of teaching, research and innovation at the international level, to be aligned with these new trends and to be part of the change. In this case, by training competent and ethical engineering professionals to promote society´s health and well-being.Created in 2006, LAETA - Associated Laboratory for Energy, Transport and Aerospace brings together four management institutions, one of which is the RTO - INEGI. As an additional Host Institution within a strong national and international network of universities, research and technology organisations and companies, LAETA/INEGI has a unique capacity to address complex societal challenges and promote national cohesion. The Biomechanics and Health Unit is a growing section working on various international OSH-related projects centred on the trends of Industry 5.0. This new industrial revolution brings the human being to the centre of action, and the fields of safety, health and well-being are priorities to ensure the sustainability of the work dimension.Both host institutions can provide several research branches and research opportunities that will allow a connection to the international consortiums working on the fields, provide access to cutting-edge technology and the opportunity to be part of technological/knowledge transfer to the companies.The strategic goals OSH of the host institutions are aligned with the SDGs of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, namely:3 (Good health and wellbeing) – promoting a safe work environment, preventing and/or controlling health issues from chemical, physical and biological hazards. Address climatic change, nanoparticle exposure, physical and mental workload, and other emergent risks to provide new methods to analyse and tools to manage the workers´ performance.8 (Decent work and economic growth) - Our goal is a more inclusive and productive industrial sector, reducing accidents and illnesses related to or aggravated by work. We need to change the paradigm of safety culture and climate in companies, following new trends and safety management strategies that promote economic growth.9 (industrial innovation and infrastructures) - New technological advances require research into the redesign of work, the study of man-machine collaboration and the development of new tools and solutions to increase productivity without sacrificing the workers´ safety and health while also improving the working environment.The OSH area aims to contribute to the development of knowledge and specific training in different ways. The existing career teaching staff already cover the areas of risk assessment, emergency response, industrial hygiene and fire safety. However, innovative approaches are still lacking in areas such as sustainable safety management, new assessment methodologies/technologies for ergonomics and biomechanics, and the incorporation of artificial intelligence in the development of new tools and products for industrial benefit. In this sense, the candidate´s scientific profile should cover the following aspects:Background in Occupational Safety and Hygiene, with proven skills in the traditional methodologies of risk assessment and management;Background in Total Quality and Integrated Management Systems to develop new research in sustainable safety management;Training in modeling software to ensure the ongoing thermal physiological, and musculoskeletal modelling research;Expertise in data processing, data mining and machine learning research approaches;Previous teaching and research experience at the level of the presented strategic OSH goals of the hosts.At the same time, the candidate should contribute to the inclusion of research knowledge in the development of new curricular units and to the refurbishment of the contents of existing ones, namely:Integrated quality, environmental and safety management systems focused on Sustainable Safety Management;Ergonomics and Biomechanics;Laboratorial Practices in Occupational Safety and Health;Road Safety;Other.