Safety Engineering Course to be taught on two sites

For the first time engineers are able to develop their safety skills without having to take long breaks from work or leave their families.

The area of safety engineering is a crucial one in many industries which have safety critical systems, controlling the flight of aircraft for instance.

The University is teaching its new postgraduate degree in Safety Engineering at two sites, Plymouth and Lancaster allowing engineers in both regions to take advantage of the unique course. The course is also going to be offered in London.

The part-time degree uses guest lecturers with industry experience to complement the standard teaching by Lancaster University Engineering staff.

James Giblett a Radiological Hazard Assessor for DML says that as a graduate trainee he needs to develop a more detailed understanding of the issues and complications of safety engineering to meet his company's training objectives.

"The Masters course helps me achieve my company's policy of continuing professional development. The benefits of having the course near to where I work is that I don't have to travel and my company thinks it is good value for money."

Lecturer Dr Malcolm Joyce explained that keeping the students involved and interested is important as with busy jobs, they could soon get discouraged: "students get together to discuss coursework and air any problems, and this also means that they are mixing with each other and sharing best practice.

"Even though some students will only come onto campus for a few weeks out of the year, they are kept motivated by staff who travel to see them and who are on hand to advise over email."

The course covers management in a safety culture, design of safety-critical systems, operational safety and human safety and then offers choices of three specialisms, nuclear, aerospace and rail. Students on the course come from a range of companies including British Energy, DML Dockyard ltd, Qinetiq, BAE Systems and train manufacturer Alstom. Several engineering consultancies have also sent engineers on the course.