IMechE launches COVID-19 Infection control training for engineers

The training aims to create safer working environments following the COVID-19 pandemic through best practice application of infection control science and applied engineering solutions.

Even though we have learnt to adjust our behaviour in order to minimise the effect of COVID-19, the speed with which it disrupted our normal lives has led to social and economic disaster.

Members of the Institution have been involved in efforts to defeat the virus ever since the outbreak, from helping to set up hospitals in the UK and Hong Kong to building ventilators in India to contributing to SAGE in the UK.

As we increase our knowledge of the virus and the threats from similar airborne pathogens, the more aware we become of the increasingly important role engineers play in the future, particularly within critical infrastructure.

With that in mind, a panel of experts from the IMechE’s COVID-19 Task Force have come together, in collaboration with the Institution’s Learning & Development team, to launch COVID-19 Infection control for engineers, a training programme that will provide the latest insight engineers need to be able to work side-by-side with COVID-19 and minimise the risks associated with this and future similar infections in the workplace.

During the training, the network of experts, including Professor Catherine Noakes (advisor to the governments SAGE committee), will be sharing insight on the latest best practice in relation to infection control science and the transmission of the COVID-19 virus, including environmental factors, effect of vaccination, influence of human behavioural characteristics, current best practice, engineering interventions and risk assessment methodology.

Their aim is to demonstrate to those responsible for indoor environments how we can live more safely with the endemic as it changes over the next period of its evolution.

COVID-19 Infection control for engineers will take place from 12:00 and 13:30 BST (GMT+1) on 26, 27, 28 and 29 July 2021. Places are limited.

• Module 1: SARS-CoV-2 virus and infection science
• Module 2: Engineering interventions part 1 - Ventilation
• Module 3: Engineering interventions part 2 – UV & Filters
• Module 4: Masks and their role in controlling infection as part of the overall engineering risk assessment

For more information or to book, please visit imeche.org/infectioncontrol or email training@imeche.org.