What does an Occupational Health and Safety Professional do?
Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) professionals are responsible for assisting organisations achieve a safe and healthy working environment. They achieve this by applying scientific principles and legal requirements in safety and health to the myriad of issues that can affect worker health and safety.
OHS professionals deal with a range of issues from the ergonomic design of heavy machinery to management of occupational stress, in industries as diverse as mining and call centres. OHS professionals work in corporations, small business, government and consulting firms, and spend considerable amounts of the time interacting with workers. If you are interested in working with people and are passionate about promoting safety and health in the community, this is an exciting and challenging career.
Course Highlights
QUT’s Graduate Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety equips you with a sound understanding and a broad range of skills to enable you to assist organisations manage their health and safety risks. You develop problem-solving skills to analyse a wide scope of issues, apply the various assessment and management tools and develop appropriate improvement strategies.
This two year part-time course (which can also be completed in one year full-time) applies OHS theory to practical applications. You research a wide scope of topics and apply the principles to organizational operations. Units cover both in-depth analysis of occupational health and safety issues (including safety science, ergonomics, occupational hygiene and occupational health), and explore how OHS issues are managed in the workplace (including risk management, OHS management systems and OHS auditing)
The study guide content, readings and assessment are drawn from recent material and include real examples and scenarios. Course delivery is through a fully flexible model which provides opportunities for students to interact with staff and fellow students through on-line discussions, webchats and face-to-face tutorials.
Career Opportunities
The course is relevant to those who are currently working in OHS positions or wish to enter the workforce as an occupational health and safety professional. Students come from a diverse range of backgrounds including government, private industry, consulting, and directly from undergraduate programs. The area of OHS is growing exponentially and there are many opportunities in the field for qualified OHS professionals.
Professional Recognition
Graduates of the course are eligible to apply for Chartered Professional Member (CPMSIA) accreditation with the Safety Institute of Australia.
Student Testimonial
Read about a QUT Public Health Graduate on our Student Testimonial page.