Monday, October 3 and Friday, October 7, 2022, from 10:30 AM – 3:00 PM CDT

3V. Articulating the Value of Your Biosafety Program

Robert Emery, DrPH, CBSP(ABSA), University of Texas Health Science Center—Houston, Houston, TX

Scott Patlovich, DrPH, CBSP(ABSA), University of Texas Health Science Center—Houston, Houston, TX

Kristen King, DrPH, CBSP(ABSA), University of Texas Health Science Center—Houston, Houston, TX

A recurrent challenge confronting biosafety professionals is the ability to garner necessary program resources to achieve desired goals and objectives. The basis for this difficulty is that, on a good day in the world of biosafety, “nothing happens”. The underlying challenge is that upper management may not fully appreciate or understand all of the effort and resources that went into making “nothing happen”. Biosafety professionals in particular experience difficulty in this regard because many in the profession have received intensive training in the biological sciences, but little or no training in the area of program management. This course focuses on some key management approaches and techniques that can be used within biosafety programs to help improve stakeholder understanding, which in turn can result in the provision of necessary programmatic resources. Numerous real-world examples of successful applications of the techniques presented will be displayed for review and discussion. Ample time will be provided throughout the course for participant interaction and inquiries.

Objectives:

• Identify various biosafety programmatic measures and metrics that should be captured and communicated
• Restate the techniques that can be used for displaying biosafety data in ways that others can readily understand and appreciate it
• Describe how biosafety programs can assist with other basic safety program needs to help avoid the notion of program duplication of efforts and to improve safety and client satisfaction levels

Suggested Background:   None

Target Audience:                 All Safety Professionals, All Biosafety Professionals

Audience Level:                    Intermediate

Course Length:                      8 hours (two 4-hour live sessions with a 30-minute break each session)