Primary Presenter: Jaime Thissen, Graduate Research Fellow, NIOSH Trainee, University of Illinois Department of Agricultural & Biological Engineering, jaimethissen1@gmail.com.
Learning Objectives:
1. Audience will be able to connect the ideas of safety and sustainability in a logical manner.
2. Audience will learn about the absolute necessity of community adoption in sustainable development.
Abstract: Wintergreen (Gaultheria fragrantissima) is a plant that is for a variety of products around the world. One such product is essential oil production, which is produced in Dolakha, Nepal. Traditionally, sustainability has focused on a balance between the concepts of economics, environmental concerns and social stability. Although not explicitly referenced, safety is a key consideration in locations where modern safeguards are not practiced either through a lack of knowledge or infrastructure. The goal and scope of this study was to determine safety procedures as an independent expansion of a sustainability study conducted in Dolakha, Nepal. Such procedures were considered in terms of economic, environmental and social impact. Initial findings indicate that several safety hazards exist in the processing of essential oil in the community. The potential for mitigation of all unsafe practices was found to depend significantly to depend on proper social adoption theory.