Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Safety Sciences Department

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ALUMNUS PROFILE
by Wanda DeMott Minnick

Obtaining a degree in Safety Sciences from Indiana University of Pennsylvania has been the core foundation of success in my career. Other core elements of the Safety Science Program included taking advantage of internships and job postings, the student safety activities, and networking. It also required hard work and a determined attitude.

I was a freshman at IUP in the Fall of 1992 and was not sure what major or field I wanted to enter into. My goal was to choose a major that would provide me with a well-rounded education in science yet had enough flexibility to specialize later. The most attractive attribute of the IUP Safety Science Dept was the opportunity to obtain experience through an internship and the high job placement statistics. I graduated from IUP in December of 1996 with a Bachelors degree in Safety Sciences and a minor in Biology. I also received the "Outstanding Intern" award from the department during my last semester.

During the summer of 1995 I took a summer position at Allegheny Power located in Greensburg, PA. This job was posted on the Safety Science Bulletin Board! It was my responsibility to conduct respirator fit tests on ~500 employees. The job required a lot of travel to all Allegheny Power Stations throughout Southwestern PA and West Virginia. The experience I gained during the summer at Allegheny Power along with the Safety Science Dept activities led me to another summer safety position. I was hired by Xerox Corporation in Webster, NY during the summer of 1996. This position was also again posted on the Safety Science bulletin board! The individual that hired me was an IUP Safety Science Alumni, Don Lehman. My responsibilities included working in the Toner manufacturing plant where I participated on the Ergonomics team and completed assignments in hearing conservation and fire prevention.

I was hired by Xerox during my last term at IUP and started my permanent position in January 1997. My assignment was to be the Safety Engineer for a new product program. A new product program is an enormous work group of cross functional teams that design a new product to bring to the marketplace. My responsibilities would include the set up of a new build area and integrating design for safe assembly initiatives into the new product's design. It grew to include implementing an Environmental Management System (ISO 14001) and Safety Program, training new employees in manufacturing safety, developing a safety team, incorporating an industrial hygiene program, and implementing safe electrical work practices for our electrical trouble-shooting teams. Other Design for Safe Assembly initiatives that have been accomplished include using AutoCAD (e.g. SDRC) to identify potential sharp edges on the pre-plated sheet metal used for transports in Xerox printers. Early identification of potential hazards enabled design to eliminate or minimize the danger of sharp edges to the assembler, service tech, and key operator. AutoCAD was also used in the pre-hardware stages to identify safety issues related to weight, posture, and accessibility. It included designing a new ergonomically correct harness fastener that spreads the contact force of the pinch grip across a wider surface area. Another best practice was the incorporation of electronic Safe Job Procedures at every workstation and electronic ISO 14001 EMS guidelines. The opportunity to work upstream in a new product's design has been an excellent learning experience. It is the only time in which you can truly design the hazard out.

I am currently enrolled in a Masters program for Environmental, Health, and Safety Management at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, NY. The program is distance-learning based and the curriculum includes courses such as Integrating EH&S into business management, EH&S Internal Auditing, and EH&S financial accounting. I am currently writing a proposal for my thesis/project on "Integrating Design for Safety Assembly into Time to Market Phase Gates" and should be complete with the masters program by Spring of 2002. Taking the Certified Safety Professional (CSP) examination is my next challenge.

Correspondence regarding this site should be sent to its maintainer, Lon Ferguson, <ferguson@iup.edu> . Please see IUP's statement regarding pages that do not officially represent the university.