Unique Characteristics - SHS - Occupational Safety and Health

Unique Characteristics

Occupational safety and health is a specialized branch of the health professions focusing on the practices and the environment of workers. Protecting America’s workers, and the general public, from injury and illness in today’s age of technological advancement has become one of the most challenging and rewarding professions available.

Occupational safety and health professionals strive to anticipate, identify, evaluate and eliminate or control hazards which expose people, property or the environment to danger or harm. The profession is concerned with prevention of injuries or occupational diseases that may occur with the interaction between the worker and the chemical (gas, vapors, mists and fumes); physical (noise, heat and radiation); biological (bacteria, viruses and molds); ergonomic (repetitive motion and work-induced fatigue); mechanical; electrical; and other forces in the work environment.

This proactive approach to hazard elimination or control requires specialized applied science and technical skills coupled with communications and general education skills that only a properly formulated curriculum can provide. The Occupational Safety and Health program at Oakland University meets the recommendation for educational outcomes established by the American Society of Safety Engineers. These ASSE criteria have been adopted by the ABET for accreditation of safety-related degree programs that meet these high standards of educational excellence. The Occupational Safety and Health program at Oakland University is one of only eleven ABET accredited safety programs in the United States.

The Oakland University Bachelor of Science in Occupational Safety and Health program is the only ABET accredit safety-related degree program in the state of Michigan. The educational quality assurance benefits to students, parents, and employers are significant through this prestigious accreditation process. Many of America's best employers give hiring preference to ABET program graduates.

The master’s of Safety Management degree program is modeled after the master’s degree in Engineering Management developed by the Oakland University Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering in cooperation with the university’s School of Business Administration. Curriculum design has been completed in cooperation with the School of Business Administration, the program’s industry advisory committee, and the ASSE Educational Standards Committee. This degree program enhances the safety professional's advancement to management level positions.