B.S. in Occupational Safety & Health management

Program Director: Van Fleet.

Internship Coordinator: Open Position

                                                         OHS Laboratory Coordinator:  Open Position

Professor: Van Fleet. Open Tenure Track Position/Safety: Open Tenure Track Position Industrial Hygiene; Adjunct Faculty: David Cox, CSHM and Daive Huizen, CIH.

Degree offered: B.S. in Occupational Safety and Health Management

The B.S. in Occupational Safety and Health Management and the B.S. in Health Professions degrees are housed within the Occupational Safety and Health program.  The Occupational Safety and Health Management curriculum is designed to full the undergraduate educational requirements of those wishing to enter the professional safety field. Considerable federal and state legislation enacted during the past half century has firmly established safety as a fundamental goal for improving the quality of work life in this country. These laws are extensive and profoundly affect every element of our society. The demand for competent, fully qualied safety professionals to assume positions within government, industry, and community agencies is increasing.

Grand Valley’s B.S in Occupational Safety and Health Management degree is structured to provide students with the proper balance of safety management and scientic training required in the field. The program prepares graduates for careers in both the private and public sectors.

The B.S. in Occupational Safety and Health Management degree is a secondary admission program. To be admitted into the program, the student must have completed 45 semester hours of instruction and obtained an overall G.P.A. of 2.25. Additionally, the student must have completed one course in chemistry and be enrolled in or have completed PHY 200. 

Because many of the Occupational Safety and Health courses serve students in other majors or minors (as elective credit) students wishing to take particular OSH courses should seek instructor approval.  The following courses are not open to Non-OSH majors: OSH 316, OSH 326, OSH 416, and OSH 495.

Career Opportunities
With increased emphasis on workplace safety, career opportunities for occupational safety and health management graduates continues to be strong. Most employers with 200 or more employees have one or more full-time persons working in the safety area. In addition, many smaller employers (those with fewer than 200 employees) also hire a full-time safety professional. Job opportunities exist in hospitals, municipalities, manufacturing, retail, wholesale, construction, transportation, consulting, and insurance, to name a few.

Major Requirements

Students planning to major in occupational safety and health management degree must complete the following requirements:

1. General University Degree Requirements:  As identified in the General Academic Policies section of the Grand Valley State University Undergraduate Catalog
2. OSH Core:
   • Forty-eight semester hours
     • OSH 300 - Introduction to Occupational Safety and Health Credits: 3
     • OSH 310 - Hazard Control Credits: 3
     • OSH 316 - Health and Safety Techniques Credits: 3
     • OSH 326 – Principles of Industrial Hygiene Credit: 3
     • OSH 330 - Principles of Loss Control Credits: 3
     • OSH 350 - Behavioral Aspects of Safety Credits: 3
     • OSH 400 - Critical Incident Analysis Credits: 3
     • OSH 410 - Ergonomic Safety Engineering Credits: 3
     • OSH 414 - Environmental Safety and Health Regulations Credits: 3
     • OSH 424 - Fire Science Credits: 3
     • OSH 440 - Safety and Health Program Development Credits: 3
     • OSH 490 - Internship in Occupational Safety and Health Management Credits: 3 to 6
     • OSH 495 - Safety and Health Administration Credits: 3
3. OSH Electives:
   • In addition to the above, students must take nine hours of electives. The following OSH Elective courses satisfy the elective requirement: 
     ·          OSH 360 – Motor Fleet Safety Credit: 3
     ·          OSH 370 – Product Safety Liability Credit: 3
     ·          OHS 416 - Advance Industrial Hygiene Credit: 3
     ·          OSH 420 – Health Care Facility Safety Credit: 3
     ·          OSH 430 – Construction Safety Credit: 3
     Non-OSH Electives must be approved by the OSH advisor.
4. OSH Science Cognate:  Twenty-four semester hours to include:  One year of chemistry, PHY 200, and electives from the behavioral (ie: anthropology, psychology, sociology, etc.) sciences or the natural (ie: biology, chemistry, physics, etc.) sciences with OSH advisor approval.
5. B.S. Degree Cognate
   • Students must take the following courses.
     • MTH 110 - Algebra Credits: 4
     • MTH 125 - Survey of Calculus Credits: 3
     • or STA 215 Introductory Applied Statistics Credits: 3
     • PHY 200 - Physics for the Life Sciences Credits: 3