Associate Degree in Occupational Health and Safety

This course deals with extending the responsibilities of safety program policy and administration in organizational cultures. In some jurisdictions, “joint safety committees” are a regulatory requirement, while in others, they are a vehicle to improve corporate culture and enhance mutual trust/respect across the hierarchy. Those in roles responsible for producing results for the safety program require a rich understanding of the human qualities of communication, trust, power-sharing, and engagement, regardless of whether an issue is compliance or policy-related.

In this course, students will learn about essential elements and processes of professional communication for Occupational Health and Safety Practitioners. This includes the effective use of written, verbal, and electronic communication skills essential for today’s workplace and in an academic setting.

Students will be expected to research, create, and format documents that are well-written and free of errors and well-written, and develop and deliver presentations for a safety briefing.

This course is designed to help students better understand why communication skills are important for your career and how these skills can impact your employer.

In this course, students will explore basic mathematical concepts and improve upon their reasoning based on mathematical methods for solving problems. The aim of this course is to review algebraic operations and a variety of functions, such as linear, exponential, logarithmic, and polynomial functions, and the basics of descriptive statistics.

Students will also learn about operations, functions, equations, and connecting data with descriptive statistics. This course is designed to utilize a variety of resources and tactics to refresh students’ secondary school math knowledge and build their competencies for the rest of the program.

In this course, students will learn about basic human biology at an introductory level, including topics such as human anatomy, the basic principles of microbiology and toxicology, epidemiology, emerging pathogens, and biosafety levels 1 through 4.

Students will also learn about introductory chemistry, including matter and energy, chemical bonding, organic chemistry, and biochemistry.

This course introduces the basic concepts of management and organizational behaviour in the context of using those concepts for the strategic development of occupational health, safety, and environmental processes within an organization.

This course introduces the basic concepts of incident causation and investigation with the intention of using those concepts for the strategic development of occupational health, safety and environmental processes within an organizational context. Students will learn how to apply the content to a wide variety of industrial and commercial settings, as well as many different types of organizations.

People sometimes referred to as human capital are the most under-utilized resource in the developed world. People are our most valuable resource, yet we often fail to equip them with the intellectual and practical skills they need to perform optimally. In this course, students learn effective workplace training tools and the ability to implement intelligent training strategies that are key to effective leadership.

A requirement of any management system is the ability to prevent losses to the organization’s resources. In most jurisdictions, a primary focus of any safety program is compliance with regulatory standards. This is typically an ineffective approach to reducing workplace losses. The field of health and safety has matured and offers a variety of approaches to accomplish this prevention goal.

In this course, students learn several basic risk assessment tools and the skills necessary to mitigate risk proactively. Students will learn how to apply these tools by becoming familiar with the process, needed resources, and practical examples for various methods. The intended outcome for these tools and skills is to foster collaboration with stakeholders to identify and prioritize workplace risks.

Workplaces typically represent many unseen but highly hazardous risks, including air quality, sound pressures, temperature extremes, workstation design, and more. Knowing basic identification and management principles to deal with these common workplace hazards will enable a more effective health, safety, and environmental management program.

One of the most important challenges facing this generation is learning the skills that enable appropriate stewardship of our environment. An effective health, safety and environmental management program integrates stewardship of people, property, environment and processes into one seamless entity.

The Guided Practicum (GP) is a guided practical application of previously studied theory to practical situations. The student will choose from six options, including development of a comprehensive program in a particular context, a detailed program addressing a particular risk issue, development of a business case for their current OSH Program, performing a detailed case analysis for a case study, or creating a presentation or similar option. This exercise requires learners to demonstrate specific research and writing skills in synthesizing prior learning from courses, as well as other information they may choose to incorporate in their work. Students will be coached from the submission of the proposal through to the final submission, with feedback at key points throughout the project.

Litigation for workplace losses can reach into the corporate boardroom, and cut deeply into the corporate treasury. This course offers the basic principles of applying due diligence, as well as compliance with health, safety, and environmental standards.

This course will build upon concepts from MGMT 1212 and provide students with an understanding of how teams, groups, and overall cultures impact human behaviour in organizations. The context for the course will be through a practitioner’s lens with a specific focus, where feasible, on the field of Occupational Health and Safety. Topics to be covered: Leadership, Interpersonal Communication, Group and Team Dynamics, Use of Power and Influence, and Organizational Culture and Cultural Diversity.

This course provides safety and health professionals with the next-level knowledge required to successfully develop, implement, measure, and continuously improve an OHS management system (OHSMS). Each module outlines how to engage key stakeholders in each of these stages to ensure success. OHS 1613 focused on the building blocks of the program; OHS 2623 focuses on the components and evaluation of continuous improvement.

Holistic risk management is (and should be) used within organizations to gain a competitive advantage. Structure and effective processes provide an opportunity to identify and manage risks, thereby limiting negative consequences. Safety is one risk amongst many that organizations have, and therefore, it is important to ensure that processes for safety risk management are integrated and aligned with the wider business activities.

This course extends the knowledge and skills developed during Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment, and Control I by focusing on systematic approaches required to effectively manage an organization’s risk. The course will provide students with an opportunity to develop appropriate risk management strategies and identify the most appropriate tools and methodologies that an organization can use.

Building on the concepts from OHS 1433: Industrial/ Occupational Hygiene, this course explores occupational hygiene instruments and procedures for collecting data on chemical and biological hazards commonly encountered in the workplace. Students will learn how to use a variety of instruments for the evaluation of different chemical and biological hazards and to recommend and assess the effectiveness of control measures in the workplace.

Building on the foundations of OHS 1313: Environmental Management, this course explores current issues and trends in Environmental Management, including biodiversity, climate change, water stewardship, energy management, and land-use planning.

This course is designed for environmental managers who are expected to understand current issues and contribute to the strategic planning, management, and reporting on related matters of performance. The course emphasizes the importance of ecosystem concepts, societal demands, communication, planning, monitoring, and reporting.

In this applied practicum, you will expand upon the information you learned from your completed OHS courses. You will apply your knowledge and perform research in pursuit of a specific solution to an issue or situation related to your organization or the OHS field.

You will have access to an Applied Practicum Facilitator and an External Project Reviewer who will all provide you direction and guidance as you create your project.