Occupational Safety, Health & Wellbeing Masters - MSc/PgD/PgC

• Worker Safety, Health and Wellbeing
  The aim of the module is to evaluate the positive and negative influences the workplace has on the safety and health of workers and evaluate the evidence for creating an all-inclusive approach to improving safety, health and wellbeing at work.
  
• Influencing Behaviour and Developing Interventions
  The aim of this module is to enable students to critically evaluate approaches to influencing worker behaviour and construct a strategic response and multidisciplinary approach to improving safety, health and wellbeing in the workplace.
  
• Risk Perception, Communication and Assessment
  The aim of the module is to enable the student to evaluate the impact a wide range of factors including psychological and psychosocial influences have on the perception, assessment and communication of risk. The module will include hazard identification, risk assessment, mitigation factors and their general impact on safety, health and wellbeing.
  
• Measuring Safety, Health and Wellbeing Performance
  The aim of the module is to enable the student to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of health, safety and wellbeing programmes through the appraisal of individual and organisational performance outcomes.
  
• Worker Engagement and Wellbeing
  The aim of this module is to enable students to develop strategies for improving worker engagement and wellbeing and to critically evaluate the influence of such strategies on organisational outcomes.
  
• Applied Research Methods and Design
  The aim of the module is to enable students to develop their research skills in order to apply principles of evidence-based practice, and design and carry out robust research projects.
  
• Project and Career Planning
  The aim of this module is to enable students to design and develop an advanced specialist project in their discipline to enhance their own and/or others' learning, work, or practice, and to evaluate their own knowledge, skills, interests and ambitions to create their own personal career development plan.
  
• Project
  ​The aim of this module is to enable students to work independently to investigate an area in their discipline relevant to their own learning, work, or practice, and to present and discuss their findings, demonstrating a systematic understanding and critical awareness of their discipline and area of professional practice. We offer a broad range of project types including empirical research projects, enterprise/innovation projects (e.g., business planning or consultancy), or product/intervention design. Students can also complete the project as a placement/professional practice development project, focused on developing and demonstrating a specific set of professional knowledge, skills and competencies and their application in practice.
  

A well-balanced mix of theory and practice is delivered via a range of teaching methods across the programme, including:

• Live learning activities on-campus - e.g., lectures, seminars, workshops/practical sessions, facilitated group work, etc.
• Academic support activities - e.g., academic skills sessions, subject-based tutorials, assessment workshops, research supervision. These may be delivered on-campus or online depending on the requirements of the module and programme.
• Asynchronous learning activities that students complete in their own time - e.g., pre-recorded video mini-lectures, flipped learning activities, preparation tasks for seminars, etc.

A typical 20-credit taught module will have approximately 40-45 hours of associated scheduled teaching activities, using a combination of the above approaches. Most of these scheduled learning activities will take place on-campus. Alongside these scheduled activities, you'll undertake your own independent learning - such as reading and research to prepare for seminars or assessments, unsupervised group work with fellow students, engaging with academic skills support, data collection for individual projects, etc.

The teaching and learning strategy for the programme places a strong emphasis on application of theoretical frameworks to real problems and situations. Teaching focus on case studies, exercises and scenarios reflecting contemporary occupational safety, health and wellbeing issues, often located within students own professional experience and, if applicable, working environment.

We encourage you to meet with academic staff regularly throughout the programme to discuss feedback on assignments and the development of academic skills. You'll be allocated a Personal Tutor at the beginning of the programme, who you can work with to develop your academic skills and consider how you can integrate your learning experiences with your own professional development needs and aspirations.​

Extended student induction programme

To support you with the transition into post-graduate study we offer an extended induction programme over the first 6 weeks of the autumn term. The programme aims to build your confidence about learning & assessment, recognising the different academic cultures and experiences that all our students bring to the programme.

The transition programme includes:

• Six sessions addressing various aspects of studying successfully at master's level at Cardiff Met - what you can expect and how that might differ from your previous experiences.
• Completion of a short practice assignment - a chance to try a master's level task and get rapid feedback on what you have produced.
• Discussion and feedback with your personal tutor to create an action plan for continuing to develop your academic skills and practices.

Our programme and modules are designed to offer opportunities for formative tasks and feedback to help build confidence and develop your ability to evaluate your own progress. We use authentic assessment tasks which enable you to apply your knowledge and skills to scenarios, activities and settings commonly encountered in professional practice. Many assessment tasks encourage students to select specific topics of study that are relevant to them and their practice.

The programme includes a range of assessment methods, including:

• Professional reports
• Case studies
• Academic posters
• Oral presentations
• Viva voce interviews
• Research proposal and research paper

To reflect the applied nature of your studies, the programme contains no unseen written examinations.

We carefully plan our assessment schedule to avoid excessive bunching of similar types of assessment, and realistic deadlines. Every assessment includes a detailed briefing and clearly defined marking criteria, which have been developed and tested in partnership with students.

Accreditation by IOSH - Certified Membership of IOSH

The MSc Occupational Safety, Health and Wellbeing is accredited by the Institution of Safety and Health (IOSH). Students who successfully complete the PgDip element of the programme will be eligible for Certified Membership and will subsequently be able to begin the Initial Professional Development (IPD) stage of their progression to gaining Chartered status. Please note that IOSH retains the right to change its membership standards, recognition and grade entry requirements.

Improved career potential

The 2022 IOSH salary survey indicates that the average salary for a Health and Safety professional with a master's degree qualification ranges between £39,000 to £73,000. This is commensurate with senior level positions (manager to director/head) and more than those with an undergraduate degree or equivalent qualification. Students who have completed the MSc at Cardiff Metropolitan University have gained senior management and Director Level positions. Other students have gone on to undertake a PhD or lecture at university.

Career development planning & work-based learning opportunities

In the Project & Career Planning module, you will engage in reflective self-evaluation of your knowledge, skills, and experiences, benchmarking these against relevant disciplinary standards/competency frameworks. We'll support you to evaluate your current strengths and prioritise areas for improvement relevant to your own career goals and ambitions.

In the Project module, you can elect to complete an industry placement/work-based learning project, focusing on developing your skills and competencies in a complex professional context. If you select this project you will need to obtain a suitable placement (minimum duration: 200 hours, maximum duration 6 months). We'll support you to find and obtain an appropriate work-based learning experience using our network of industry contacts. We cannot guarantee a placement opportunity for every student, and it is likely that many placement opportunities will involve some kind of competitive recruitment process.

Or you may prefer to select one of the other types of projects (e.g., empirical research, consultancy, enterprise/innovation, or product/intervention design project) and complete it in a work-based setting, working in partnership with an employer or other organisation. This might be your own organisation or workplace - a common approach taken by part-time students investigating a project aligned to their own professional practice.

We welcome applicants from all sectors both here in the UK and elsewhere from across the world:

• Potential students are normally expected to have a degree in a discipline relating to occupational safety and health.
• However, candidates with other relevant academic or professional qualifications or experience in occupational safety and health, or an allied profession, will be considered.

Recognition of Prior Learning:
Where applicable candidates may apply for exemption from modules through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process. This may include credit transfer from another level 7 programme, recognition of prior credited learning and recognition of prior experiential learning.

Details of the RPL process can be found on the Cardiff Metropolitan University website.

English Language Requirements

Taught programme
Students whose first language is not English will need to provide evidence of fluency to at least an academic IELTS 6.0 standard with no sub-score lower than 5.5 or equivalent​. Pre-sessional English courses are available through Cardiff Metropolitan University for those who do not initially meet the requirement.

International Applicants
For full details about how to apply and English Language qualifications please visit the International pages on the website.

How to Apply:
Applications for this course should be made direct to the University via our self-service facility. For further information please visit our How to Apply pages at www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/howtoapply.

If you are interested in using credit from another institution, or have obtained qualifications and/or experience to study for a course at Cardiff Met, you can find further information on this as well as information on how to apply on the RPL page.

​Tuition Fees and Financial Support:
For up to date information on tuition fees and the financial support that may be available, please refer to  www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/fees

Partner Programme:
The MSc Occupational Safety, Health and Wellbeing programme is also available as a full and part-time taught master's degree in Singapore. For further details, please see the DIMENSIONS website.

For general enquiries please contact the Admissions Team on 029 2041 6044 or email directapplications@cardiffmet.ac.uk

For course specific enquiries, please contact the Programme Director, Valerie Schole​y

Email: vscholey@cardiffmet.ac.uk