One main drawback of electrical discharge machining (EDM) is related to the dielectric fluid, since it impacts both the environment and operator health and safety. To resolve these issues, recent research has demonstrated the technical feasibility and qualitative performance of vegetable oils as substitutes for hydrocarbon-based dielectric and synthetic oils in EDM. However, due to the higher content of unsaturated fatty acids, vegetable oils lose their stability, due to several factors such as heating or exposure to light or oxygen. The present study is a first attempt to analyze the extent to which the physic-chemical properties of vegetable oils change during EDM processing. Refractive index, dynamic viscosity and spectra analyses were conducted for sunflower and soybean oils. The results revealed that, under the applied processing conditions, no structural changes occurred. These findings are very promising from the perspective of EDM sustainability.

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At all stages of life, education and training are essential aspects of human development and key factors for economic growth, jobs, and social cohesion. High quality and inclusive training must be a main goal of our society, especially as we live in a very challenging period, governed by the fourth industrial revolution, that transforms economies, jobs, and the society itself. Because of this, the „Vasile Alecsandri” University of Bacau is involved as a partner, with other universities, in a project with European funding, that facilitates practical training of students at economic partners, to increase the employability of graduates and obtain feedback from employers to correlate the curriculum to the labor market. The current paper aims to present a case study related to the feedback offered by the students who carried-out internships at local economic agents, within the above-mentioned project.

Identifying and assessing occupational health and safety risks and implementing measures to prevent accidents at work and occupational diseases are legal obligations and the implementation and certification of an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system may help organization to achieve these goals, being also a credible evidence of its commitment to protect life and health of its interested parties. Consultation and participation of workers at all applicable levels and functions is part of the system; workers involved in daily activities and those most at risk can provide a broad perspective on potential problems and the decisions made with these workers are likely to be more effective for system improvement. The paper presents the results of a study on consulting workers of the "Vasile Alecsandri" University of Bacau on occupational health and safety issues.