Strategic Leadership in Occupational Safety and Health MSc

This module covers the aspects of ‘healthy workplaces’ : evaluating regulatory requirements, audits, and environmental oversight; applying research and data analysis for effective risk management strategies; assessing occupational hygiene, hazardous agents, and workplace stressors; addressing organisational change, workforce health, and sustainable safety improvements using Best Available Techniques (BAT) in industrial hygiene management.

This module explores risk management in workplace safety, addressing physical and organisational hazards while integrating legal frameworks and practice-based strategies. Students develop skills in inspection, identification and evaluation of workplace risks, including technological challenges. It emphasizes accident investigation, auditing, and proactive solutions for occupational safety and health improvements.

This module covers the critical aspects of risk management: evaluating risk-based approaches, resilience strategies, and limitations of risk assessment; synthesizing empirical evidence to inform decisions; analyzing communication and human factor challenges; examining environmental management systems and circular economy contributions ( UN Sustainable Development Goals) and developing emergency management and business continuity management.

This module covers the key aspects of leadership, strategy, and organisational psychology in occupational safety and health: evaluating management theories, change implementation, and strategic policy positioning; assessing human factors, perceptions, and risk acceptability; developing professional identity, accountability, and interdisciplinary collaboration; interpreting financial data; and addressing challenges in contract selection, project management, and resource allocation.

develops and fosters appropriate methodologies and analytical techniques (including where appropriate developing familiarity with relevant data analysis programmes e.g. Excel, SPSS, Nvivo etc.) to support students in undertaking their MSc Project. This will include the skills required in the management organisation and delivery of a workplace project.

Teaching will be block teaching – for each 30-credit module delivered per semester there will be 3 periods of 2 consecutive days on campus (36 hours) supplemented by 12 hours per module per semester, delivered on line. Through embedding practice into the award will improve student experience that insists on exposure to industry. Students are to be allocated an Academic Advisor who will also act as a mentor, who together with Module Leaders will provide support for students who miss the block teaching.

Key to all of this is getting prospective students to register for an award that is delivered more flexibly yet being part of a diverse student community will be geographically disparate already in work and often with family commitments. By integrating action learning sets where students can support each other during assessment preparation we will create a professional supportive community. 

By having on campus activity on two consecutive days there is opportunity for students to socialise as a group rather than rushing home. Students will normally be part of the broader IOSH community and so there will be professional support to ‘integrate’ the student experience. Use of monitored interactive blogs will encourage students to share and support each other’s academic and professional journey.

You'll be based at our Hendon campus, north London.

For this master's level degree, the emphasis is on your own independent study. Academic-led teaching will take up approximately 15% of the 1800 hours required to complete this degree.

Outside of teaching hours, you’ll learn independently through reading articles and books, working on projects, undertaking research, and preparing for assessments including coursework and presentations. If you are a part-time student, it is advantageous if you are in relevant work and able to access your workplace for your project.

To succeed you must also do your own independent study and make use of online learning resources, including professional databases and Health and Safety Executive campaign sites. The enrolled student website (Unihub) also has interactive exercises, links to external sources of information and podcasts, and a message board for discussions.

Timetable

Whether you are studying full or part-time, your course timetable will balance your study commitments on campus with time for work, life commitments and independent study.

We aim to make timetables available to you at least two weeks before the start of term. Some weeks are different due to how we schedule classes and arrange on-campus sessions.

Typical weekly breakdown

A typical week (full-time) looks like this:

Learning terms

On-campus: This includes tutor-led sessions such as seminars, lab sessions and demonstrations as well as student-led sessions for work in small groups.

Online learning: This is teaching that is delivered online using tools like Skype or Zoom, as well as work that you do yourself using online teaching resources.

Independent study: This is the work you do in your own time including reading and research.

Part-time study

You can also study this course part-time.

Coursework, exams and assessments

Summative assessment will be via coursework which will be a mixture of presentations, portfolios of activity, action research and reflection. Students will finish with a workplace project looking developing real-world learning building on your organisational data.

Feedback will be given via the university assessment portal but also through 1 to 1s. For your research project your will be allocated supervisor who will provide continual support through the research period.

There is also formative activity built into the design of the award, through blogs and discussion groups.