Curriculum, general information and admission
What you will study on the master's degree in Occupational Health and Safety
Teaching model
The curriculum is based on the content detailed in Appendix VI of Royal Decree 39/1997, of 17 January, approving the regulation of prevention services, a regulation derived from the provisions of Law 31/1995, of 8 November, on the prevention of occupational risk. The curriculum has also been adapted to the needs of the world of work: thus, in the different modules, the emphasis is on everyday situations, and students are taught how to fulfil the functions of senior occupational health and safety specialists in a correct and effective manner.
The master's degree aims to train students in the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to take on high-level professional responsibilities in occupational risk prevention. Specialisation in three non-medical areas—Safety at Work, Industrial Hygiene, Ergonomics and Applied Psychosociology—enables students to keep their technological knowledge up to date and to access doctoral studies. It is structured so that the compulsory subjects give students tools and knowledge in the fields of economic management, quality, energy and built heritage, and in company management and construction sector projects.
Master's thesis
Students on the master's degree write a thesis on occupational risk prevention that makes a personal contribution and appraisal and integrates and concludes the training received during the degree. The master's thesis may have a research orientation, which is especially aimed at students who wish to go on to pursue doctoral studies, or it may develop a particular topic.
The topic of the thesis may be related to what has been worked on during the external placement, as a continuation or extension of an aspect of specific motivation or interest.
Competencies
Generic competencies
Generic competencies are the skills that graduates acquire regardless of the specific course or field of study. The generic competencies established by the UPC are capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship, sustainability and social commitment, knowledge of a foreign language (preferably English), teamwork and proper use of information resources; an awareness and understanding, in the field of the degree, of sexual and gender inequality in society; the ability to integrate needs and preferences by reasons of sex and gender in designing solutions and solving problems.
Specific competencies
- In-depth knowledge of the relationship between working conditions and health, and ability to analyse the main occupational health problems and prevent workplace accidents.
- Ability to differentiate between workplace accidents, occupational illnesses and work-related illnesses.
- Knowledge of the activities of the medical services, the fundamental aspects of health promotion in the workplace and the structure of the health and safety system (public bodies with authority in such matters, private insurance companies, etc.).
- Knowledge of legislation on workplace health and ability to follow updates to this legislation, identify the autonomous community, national and European technical bodies related to workplace health and safety and interpret specific legislation and technical regulations concerning matters of safety in the workplace.
General information and admission
- Duration: 1.5 academic years (3 semesters
- Study load: 90 ECTS credits
- Start date: Starting September
- Language of instruction: Spanish
- Timetable and delivery: Afternoons. Face-to-face.
- New places: 30
- How to pre-enrol
- Academic requirements for admission
- Legalisation of foreign documents
- Fees, grants and financial aid
- Official degree: Recorded in the Ministry of Education's degree register
- Academic coordinator:
Mr Rogelio López Bravo
(master.univ.prl@upc.edu)
Pre-enrolment
Admission and documents
- Sufficient technical knowledge to carry out risk assessments and to suggest corrective measures for general hazards related to the workplace, facilities, working equipment, fire hazards, explosions, industrial hygiene, ergonomics, applied psychosociology, etc.
- Ability to apply prevention-related techniques: product safety, management of capital assets and road safety, and communication techniques in the prevention of workplace risks.
- Abiity to identify and differentiate between the basic elements of organisation, management and integration of health and safety within a company.
- Good negotiation techniques, research techniques into workplace health, design and evaluation of ventilation systems, etc.
- Ability to identify and differentiate between advanced techniques of noise evaluation and control in industry, mechanisms for transmission and entry routes for biological agents.
- Ability to identify and differentiate between specific risks associated with construction, machinery, agricultural installations, offices, computer equipment, etc., and to develop intervention plans to correct them.
- Ability to coordinate health and safety activities with health awareness activities and to provide first aid.
- Ability to promote the system of responsibilities regarding workplace risk prevention.
- Ability to develop emergency plans, training plans and information plans for employees, including detection of needs and establishment of evaluation systems and monitoring measures.
- Ability to communicate appropriately with employees and their representatives and with other technical and management agents in the company with responsibilities in the area of workplace health and safety conditions.
- Ability to evaluate chemical, physical and biological risks in relation to physical and mental strain at work, etc., and to suggest corrective measures.
- Ability to draw up health and safety plans, biological waste management plans, works safety plans, etc. Ability to apply epidemiological methods to solving problems and to design epidemiological studies to check hypotheses.
- Ability to manage disasters related to the climate, road accidents involving hazardous chemical products, radioactive substances or fires.
- Ability to prevent and detect psychosocial problems and to implement techniques of adaptation between the demands of the job and the employee's abilities.
- Ability to encourage healthy behaviour, habits, consumption and lifestyles and the active participation of employees in their own health, while encouraging a culture of health and safety within the company and the creation of healthy environments.
- Ability to exchange and integrate information with multidisciplinary teams and to exercise workplace risk prevention in accordance with ethical criteria.