HLTH214-25S2 (C) Semester Two 2025

Environmental and Occupational Health

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 14 July 2025
End Date: Sunday, 9 November 2025
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 27 July 2025
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 28 September 2025

Description

This course will introduce students to environmental and occupational health, including population interventions designed to improve health through prevention, early detection, communicable disease control, emergency preparedness, and global health interventions.

Introduction
Students will learn about strategies to improve health through modification of environmental and occupational factors.  Environmental factors such as climate change are among the greatest potential threats to public health.  This course will equip students to understand and respond to these potential threats, through their contribution to the public health workforce or as a foundation for postgraduate research in environmental and occupational health.

Learning Outcomes

After successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
LO1. Define Environmental and occupational health related concepts
LO2. Critically appraise studies on Environmental and Occupational Health
LO3. Communicate evidence-based environmental issues and concerns in your community
LO4. Learn to conduct environmental health risk assessment using appropriate software tools

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:

Employable, innovative and enterprising

Students will develop key skills and attributes sought by employers that can be used in a range of applications.

Biculturally competent and confident

Students will be aware of and understand the nature of biculturalism in Aotearoa New Zealand, and its relevance to their area of study and/or their degree.

Engaged with the community

Students will have observed and understood a culture within a community by reflecting on their own performance and experiences within that community.

Globally aware

Students will comprehend the influence of global conditions on their discipline and will be competent in engaging with global and multi-cultural contexts.

Prerequisites

Any 60 points at 100 level from any subject, or
any 30 points at 100 level from HLTH or SPCO

Timetable 2025

Students must attend one activity from each section.

Lecture A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Tuesday 13:00 - 15:00 F1 Lectorial
14 Jul - 24 Aug
8 Sep - 19 Oct
Tutorial A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Thursday 11:00 - 12:00 Meremere 526
14 Jul - 24 Aug
8 Sep - 19 Oct

Timetable Note

Lectures
The course will be taught by staff from the School of Health Sciences and a number of guests invited from within the University and the health sector.

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Arindam Basu

The structure of the course will be a weekly two-hour lecture and weekly one-hour laboratory/ tutorial.

Class Topics/Modules:
1. Environment and health
2. Exposure assessment (environmental and occupational exposure assessment)
3. Environmental health risk assessment (introduction to hazard identification and risk characterization)
4. Toxicology
5. Environmental health interventions (water quality, housing, vectors)
6. Immunisation
7.  Fluoridation
8. Occupation and health (1)
9. Occupation and health (2)
10. Communicable disease control (1) surveillance and notification
11. Communicable disease control (2) food-borne outbreaks
12. Emergency preparedness (1) pandemic
13. Emergency preparedness (2) natural disasters
14. Climate change
15. Refugee and migrant health
16. Global health interventions

Tutorial/Lab Topics to include:
A series of case studies on air pollution, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, toxicology, immunisation, fluoridation, communicable disease control, emergency preparedness, refugee and migrant health, global health interventions, and environmental health interventions.

Textbooks / Resources

There are no Required Texts for this course.

Required Reading:
Each session will have assigned readings that will be referenced on the LEARN2, the University’s online course support website http://www.learn.canterbury.ac.nz/, or sourced by students from the UC library databases. Students are expected to have read these prior to each session.
Students will be required to access and download PDF files of journal articles from UC Library.

Additional material/information is available from
http://canterbury.libguides.com/c.php?g=243208&p=1618505

Additional Course Outline Information

Academic integrity

Academic integrity involves acting honestly, ethically, fairly and respecting others in teaching, learning, research and administration. Academic integrity means producing honest and ethical work and is one of the key foundations to being a good student, and is a key principle at UC.
All breaches of academic integrity are taken seriously and penalties will result. Students should refer to the Academic Misconduct Regulations: https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/media/uc-policy-library/templates-and-exemplars/general-regs-academic-misconduct.pdf

Assessment and grading system

Assessment for HLTH214 will be a mixture of essays and an exam. A student will be expected to spend at least 5 hours per week in addition to lectures and tutorials in preparation for classes and completion of course assessments.

Assignments are graded on the University of Canterbury Grading Scale:  

Grade    GPA Value        Marks

A+              9            90 – 100
A                8            85 – 89.99
A-               7            80 – 84.99
B+              6            75 – 79.99
B                5            70 – 74.99
B-               4            65 – 69.99
C+              3            60 – 64.99
C                2            55 – 59.99
C-               1            50 – 54.99
D                0            40 – 49.99
E               -1             0 – 39.99

A pass is 50 marks or over.

Attendance

Attendance at class sessions is expected throughout the course. Participation in tutorials is a requirement of the course. Students and staff are expected to behave in a professional manner during class i.e. arrive on time, refrain from mobile phone use and inform the lecturer if they must leave early.

Late submission of work

Work handed in after the due date with no extension granted is considered late. Late work will incur a penalty of 2% mark reduction per day after the specified deadline. Days late include weekend and holidays. Lecturers reserve the right not to mark late work, and no work will be accepted after assignments have been returned.

Other specific requirements

Written assignments must be word processed. Assignments will be submitted electronically. Keep a copy of all assignments.

Requests for extensions

Under exceptional circumstances (eg illness, accident, bereavement or critical personal circumstances) individual students may be granted an extension of the due date for an assignment. Requests for extensions should be emailed to the lecturer at least two days prior to the due date for the assignment. Relevant evidence such as a medical certificate or a letter from a counsellor may be required.
A copy of the lecturer’s email confirming the extension (if granted) and any supporting documentation must be attached to and submitted with the assignment. Extensions will not normally be granted because of pressure of university study, eg several pieces of work being due at about the same time. Students are encouraged to plan their work in a realistic manner and in advance so that they can meet their assessment deadlines.

Resubmissions

Resubmissions of assignments are not permitted in HLTH or HLED coded courses.

Academic Liaison

Annabel Ahuriri-Driscoll and Sarah Lovell are in charge of liaison with students in the undergraduate health sciences courses as the BHSc programme coordinators. Please feel free to talk to the Academic Liaison or the student rep about any degree-related matters.

Student Accessibility

Students with disabilities may access the University’s Te Ratonga Whaikaha | Student Accessibility Service for support. Further information can be found on their website: http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/disability/

Reconsideration of Grade

Students should, in the first instance, speak to the course co-ordinator about their grades. If they cannot reach an agreeable solution, students should then speak to the Head of School, Health Sciences. If you remain unhappy with the result of any of your assignments, examination, or your final course grade, you may appeal against that result.

For up to four weeks after the release of results a candidate may apply to the Examination Arrangements Senior Co-ordinator (http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/exams/contacts.shtml) for a Reconsideration of Grade. The reconsideration will normally consist of a re-marking and re-counting of the final exam script, together with a recount of the marks awarded for any other items of work. https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/study/examinations/result-dates-and-appeals/

Special consideration of assessment items

Special Consideration for assessment is for students who have covered the work of a course but have been prevented from demonstrating their knowledge or skills at the time of the assessment due to unforeseen circumstances, such as illness, bereavement or other critical circumstances outside of their control at the time of the assessment.

Applications for special consideration should be submitted to the Special Considerations Committee https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/study/special-consideration/ within five days of the assessment. Where an extension may be granted for an assessment, this will be decided by direct application to the Course Co-ordinator.

Special consideration is not available for items worth less than 10% of the course.

Students prevented by extenuating circumstances from completing the course after the final date for withdrawing, may apply for special consideration for late discontinuation of the course. Applications must be submitted within five days of the end of the main examination period for the semester.

Where to submit and collect work

Students will be expected to submit their assessment via the online assessment system in the Learn class site by 11.55 pm on or before the due date.  Student assessments are processed through the software Turnitin, to check for plagiarism.

It is the responsibility of the students to check their Internet access and ability to submit their work via the online system.  Any technical difficulties should be notified well in advance of the due date so that assistance can be provided or alternative arrangements can be negotiated. For ICT help call our free call number 0508 UC IT HELP (0508 824 843) or on 03 369 5000 Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm (excluding public and university holidays).

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $894.00

International fee $4,100.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

Minimum enrolments

This course will not be offered if fewer than 20 people apply to enrol.

For further information see School of Health Sciences .

All HLTH214 Occurrences

  • HLTH214-25S2 (C) Semester Two 2025