Integrated safety, health and environmental management
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| 3 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) | |
| Examination | No residential school |
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This course is available for study in the countries shown. Fees may vary by country.
Summary
Safety, health and environmental issues have significant implications for organisations. Complementing Enterprise and the environment (T862), this course will benefit anyone delivering or supporting health, safety and environmental initiatives, developing an emergency plan or needing basic risk assessment skills. It will help you to develop a multi-disciplinary perspective, embracing science, engineering and social and economic policy, and give you an understanding of how standards are set. You will evaluate approaches to risk assessment and look at possible control strategies. You will explore the notion of a hierarchy to anticipate and prevent risk, discover how to integrate safety, health and environment management, and plan for emergencies.
Course content
Hardly a day passes without reports in the media of incidents in which there is risk of harm to the environment or to people’s health and safety. These risks may result from industrial accidents, from food safety problems or other causes. These incidents, and untold numbers of near misses, have significant cost implications for organisations. The costs to employers of accidental injury and work-related illness have been estimated at up to ten per cent of all UK companies’ gross trading profits. And there are other costs to do with legal compliance, public image, and even continued business operations. The consequences of large-scale catastrophes enter another dimension.
The breadth of health, safety and environmental issues is considerable, so the course has to be selective in its coverage, but studying it will:
- exercise your skills in making searches and critical analyses of the technical literature
- give you a basic understanding of the principles behind the derivation of standards for health and environmental protection
- equip you with the analytical skills to examine reports on such issues
- suggest a hierarchy for risk management in health, safety and environmental protection
- show you how to develop integrated safety, health and environmental management
- enable you to plan for an emergency.
You will find the course invaluable if you are:
- a manager seeing an increasing health, safety and environmental management role in your work
- seeking to understand and support local management initiatives in these areas
- in need of the basic skills of risk assessment
- looking for a hierarchical approach to risk management
- working towards developing an emergency plan.
The course is subject to continual development and enhancement, so it may differ somewhat in content and structure from the outline given here.
The course defines key components of management as:
Planning Foreseeing problems and planning for prevention rather than remedy. A hierarchical approach is fundamental both in health and safety and in environmental protection. This approach starts by looking at the root cause of problems. Block 1 presents some costs of mismanagement in these areas and explores what we can learn from the resulting problems.
Integration Safety, health and environmental management comprise a multidisciplinary area embracing scientific, engineering, social, economic and policy issues. No one can be expert in all of them, but the safety, health and environmental manager must be able to appreciate the different perspectives, understand the technical vocabularies and recognise the inevitable compromises. Block 1 introduces the multidisciplinary approach, while Block 2 develops one of the specialised areas – health and environmental effects – in more detail.
Measuring ‘When you can measure what you are speaking about and express it in numbers, you know something about it’ is a saying attributed to Lord Kelvin. This is a particularly important approach in safety, health and environmental management. Block 2 introduces some of the difficulties of measurement in the toxicological area and in setting standards. Block 3 takes a more quantitative approach to risk assessment through real-time measurement, COSHH assessments and predictive techniques such as dispersion modelling.
Control When problems have been defined and possible solutions proposed, the next step is to adopt implementation and control strategies to achieve the desired outcomes. The safety, health and environmental manager must be able to weigh up the possibilities and select the most appropriate. Block 4 examines some of the technical options, including machine guarding, noise control, fire safety, industrial ventilation and personal protection.
Organisation Working through the coordinated actions of all stakeholders is an important role for any manager. Block 5 looks at ways of harnessing the combined efforts of those concerned through training and other components of an integrated management system. The block includes procedures for emergency planning in case all else fails.
This course links with Enterprise and the environment (T862), but focuses on risk assessment and management for environmental health and safety.
Vocational relevance
The course is related to N/SVQs in management and in environmental management at Level 4.
Entry
There are no entry requirements, but we do assume that you have already done some study, up to HNC, HND or bachelors degree level, in a relevant subject area, or have equivalent experience from your employment. If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
Qualifications
T835 is an optional course in our
- Advanced Diploma in Environmental Decision Making (C18)
- Postgraduate Certificate in Systems Thinking in Practice (C72)
- Postgraduate Certificate in Technology Management (C49)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Computing for Commerce and Industry (C02)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Decision Making (D38)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Systems Thinking in Practice (E28)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Technology Management (E08)
- MBA (Technology Management) (F03)
- MSc in Computing for Commerce and Industry (F05)
- MSc in Environmental Decision Making (F13)
- MSc in Science (F12)
- MSc in Systems Thinking in Practice (F47)
- MSc in Technology Management (F36)
Some postgraduate qualifications allow study to be chosen from other subject areas. These qualifications allow most postgraduate courses to count towards them. We advise you to refer to the relevant qualification descriptions for information on the circumstances in which this course can count towards these qualifications because from time to time the structure and requirements may change.
If you have a disability or additional requirement
Some of the course material is presented on video cassette and some on floppy disk. You will need to spend considerable amounts of time using a personal computer and the internet. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.
If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our booklet Meeting Your Needs which you can download or request from our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
You can also find information about accessible course materials, financial support and the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services, on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.
Course materials
What's included
Course books, other printed materials, DVD, CD-ROMs, software.
You will need
A DVD player.
Computing requirements
This course has online computer activities – you can access these using a web browser that can play Flash and Shockwave. The course software is provided on CD-ROM or DVD.
You will need internet access and a computer. If you have purchased a new Windows computer since 2002 it should meet your course computing requirements. Check our Technical Requirements section if your computer is older than this or is otherwise unusual. Please note that you can use an Apple Mac or Linux computer if you can run Windows using Boot Camp or similar.
Teaching and assessment
Support from your tutor
You will have a tutor who will be responsible for monitoring your progress on the course, marking and commenting on your written work and whom you can contact for advice and guidance. There is also an often lively online forum for all students on the course which one of the course tutors moderates. Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.
Assessment
The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.
You will be expected to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) online through the eTMA system unless there are some difficulties which prevent you from doing so. In these circumstances, you must negotiate with your tutor to get their agreement to submit your assignment on paper.
Professional recognition
Our Diploma in Environmental Decision Making, if it includes T835, can satisfy the academic requirement for Graduate membership of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). On its own, T835 may also be used in conjunction with a relevant degree, and our Diploma in Environmental Decision Making may be accepted as part of the personal portfolio required for Chartered membership (please check with IOSH). The Open University is registered with The Association of Building Engineers (ABE), The Institute of Quality Assurance (IAQ), and Institute of Materials (IOM) for professional recognition.
Students also studied
Students who studied this course also studied at some time:
Future availability
The details given here are for the course that starts in November 2009 and May 2010. We expect it to be available twice a year.
How to register
To register a place on this course return to the top of the page and use the Click to register button. For more information and advice about registration see OU Study Explained.
About this page
A postgraduate course in Environment, Development and International Studies and Engineering and Technology.
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