Chemical Safety Education in a Low-Regulation Context: An Example of an ADR-Based Master Curriculum in Collaboration with the University of the Philippines Diliman and the University of Wuppertal, Germany

This paper presents the design and implementation of the Chemical Safety and Chemical Security course developed in collaboration between the University of Wuppertal and the University of the Philippines Diliman. The course emphasizes that regardless of specific regulatory frameworks, the fundamental principles of chemistry remain constant during an incident and form the foundation for the effective prevention and mitigation of chemical hazards. Particular emphasis is placed on large-scale industrial and transportation accidents involving hazardous materials, enabling students to connect theoretical chemical principles to practical aspects of risk assessment, mitigation strategies, and emergency response. Capacity building in Chemical Safety and Security through the educational system can go hand-in-hand with the development of requisite regulatory frameworks (where these are absent or implementation is low) in many developing regions around the world. Using the classification system of the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) as a unifying framework, graduate students analyze real-world chemical accident case studies to apply their chemical knowledge to hazard assessment and the selection of operational measures. Although ADR primarily governs the transport of dangerous goods within Europe, its classification system is identical to that of the U.S. Department of Transportation (US-DOT) Hazardous Materials Regulations, both comprising nine hazard classes. These transport classifications serve as a globally recognized system for organizing substances according to their predominant hazards during carriage. In comparison, the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) uses a more granular approach, subdividing certain transport classes into finer hazard categories. For example, ADR/US-DOT Class 4.1 (“Flammable solids”) includes both flammable solids and self-reactive substances, while Class 4.2 (“Substances liable to spontaneous combustion”) encompasses pyrophoric liquids and solids, as well as self-heating substances and mixtures. By examining these relationships, students gain a deeper understanding of how the different regulatory systems (ADR, US-DOT, and GHS) address similar hazard phenomena in transport, storage, and laboratory contexts. This pedagogical approach is consistent with the RAMP framework (Recognize hazards, Assess risks, Minimize risks, and Prepare for emergencies), which provides the conceptual foundation for all safety-related learning activities. Core topics include universal principles of incident command and operational management, the properties and application of extinguishing agents, fire dynamics in compartments, pool fire behavior, and the fundamentals of fire and explosion investigation.