Occupational Safety

Though the Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed in 1970, the field of occupational safety remains an emerging profession with the demand outpacing the supply of safety professionals. In industry and government, many practicing safety professionals do not possess a degree in occupational safety. For example, prior to teaching at EKU, Dr. Scotty Dunlap worked for a global organization where he was one of only two occupational safety professionals working in the corporate safety office who held a degree related to the profession among approximately 24 corporate, division, and auditing professionals charged with occupational safety responsibility. Many of those currently working in the field began their career in another discipline before moving into an occupational safety position. Therefore, many of our SSEM trainees are current occupational safety professionals who are seeking training and a credential to remain and progress in the field. There is a great need to have a regional training center to provide the academic training and research opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills of the occupational safety profession.

The occupational safety profession has evolved to include a broad multi-disciplinary skill set to effectively manage injury reduction in the workplace. The Department of Safety and Security at EKU receives a large number of requests from regional businesses for occupational safety students to fill internships as well as fulltime positions in the profession. We often receive more requests for positions for our graduates than can be filled with the current volume of students. By being a part of CARERC, we are able to provide the strong interdisciplinary training needed by our graduates and we anticipate continued growth of our program.

Students in the training program must meet the admissions requirements of the School of Safety, Security, and Emergency Management. Students seeking admission should hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution of higher learning with a 2.5-grade point average overall. Students with an undergraduate grade point below 2.5 may be considered for Probationary Admission but are required to sit for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and acquire a target score in three categories: Verbal; 149, Quantitative 141, and Analytical Writing 3.0. Students who have previously earned advanced degrees including but not limited to M.S., M.A., M.B.A., J.D., or other recognized graduate degrees from an accredited university will be exempt from the GRE requirement. Applicants without an academic and/or experiential background in a related discipline or field of study including, but not limited to occupational safety, security, fire, homeland security, emergency management, emergency medical, insurance, and risk management may be accepted into the program with departmental approval. When deficiencies are deemed to exist, applicants may be required to satisfy all designated deficiencies prior to admission to candidacy. Students must also meet the general requirements of the EKU Graduate School.

Trainees are provided tuition, a monthly stipend, and health insurance if needed. Trainees are also provided financial support for their research and funding for travel to conferences and professional meetings to present their work.

The MS in SSEM is a generalist degree and requires core classes in administration, security management, emergency preparedness, regulatory compliance, auditing, and research methods. It requires a minimum of 36 credit hours for graduation. Of the 36 required hours, 7 credit hours (Occupational Health and Safety (CPH 620), Occupational Health and Safety Seminar (CPH 716), and Occupational Safety and Health field study (BAE 678) are UK-EKU interdisciplinary courses required for CARERC funding. In addition, the MS in SSEM students must complete a capstone addressing a research topic in occupational safety. Though not required, a practicum experience is highly encouraged and the University Cooperative Study and Placement office identifies suitable practicums focused on occupational safety within our service region. This office also assists students with employment opportunities upon graduation.

The overall CARERC curriculum requires that all graduate students who receive tuition support and/or stipends must register for BAE 750-401 and BAE 678-001 with an interdisciplinary focus on occupational health and safety issues. These core courses include students from all disciplines within CARERC including Occupational Safety (OS), Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing (OEHN), Mining Safety and Health (MSH), Occupational Epidemiology (Occ Epi), Industrial Hygiene (IH), Agricultural Safety and Health (ASH) and Occupational Athletic Training (OAT). EKU trainees attend the CPH 716 Proseminars, but do not register and require the payment of tuition due to 1 hour of credit having no benefit toward degree completion. For more information click this link: Complete Curriculum of Core Courses

Dr. Dunlap serves as the primary academic advisor for CARERC trainees and assists in finding the trainees appropriate mentors for their capstone research. He works to ensure each trainee’s core courses, occupational safety concentration courses, and CARERC courses are taken in a manner that facilitates timely completion of the degree program. Along with his core faculty, Dr. Dunlap provides mentoring to trainees in additional areas of career development opportunities, such as attending conferences and taking additional courses that may benefit their careers. The Capstone process requires carrying out an original research project. The collaboration between EKU and UK has increased students’ access to experienced researchers, a greater diversity of capstone topics, and occupational safety and health data.

Trainees are typically employed in the occupational safety field before or very soon after graduation. The field of occupational safety management remains a profession that holds a great deal of opportunity for OS trainees in numerous industrial sectors and government.

Recent Graduate Trainee Placements
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EHS Specialist II - Hyster-Yale Group
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