Safety Science is the application of physical, health and behavioural sciences to the health, safety and well being of people at work and in other activities. Since Safety Science is about both people and technology, it is an ideal choice for those who are interested in science but want a people-focused career.

Safety impacts on so many aspects of commercial and community life that a wide range of activities are possible and a wide range of undergraduate study areas are relevant.

The majors primarily aim to educate students for a role as a general occupational health and safety, or safety, health and environment professional, though careers in other areas of safety are also possible.

The School's undergraduate majors and minors are part of the UNSW three year BSc 3970 program.  Students should familiarise themselves with the general requirements of the BSC3970 degree to ensure they optimise their studies

NOTE: This major was replaced with the new BSc (major in Safety, Health, and Environment) from 2008. Safety Science is a broad-based science involving elements of behavioural, physical and life sciences applied to keeping people safe and healthy and preventing environmental damage. Safety Science as a major within a three year BSc degree can combine study of a traditional science with the knowledge and skills needed for a career as an occupational health and safety professional. Safety is relevant to all types of work so you can combine safety science with a second science major or with any minor. Typical choices are a minor in human resource management , industrial relations, IT, vision science or aviation.

There are emerging changes in the way organisations manage their OHS and environmental risks, with the emergence of the safety, health and environmental (SHE) practitioner. This person needs a different set of skills than the traditional safety or environmental specialist. SHE personnel still need the specialist skills that were relevant to the traditional organisational problems (for example, dealing with manual handling, overuse syndromes, hazardous plant, hazardous chemicals, noise, infectious agents, spills, fires, environmental pollution, waste disposal, and so on), but they also needed a higher level of management skills to match their new roles in the organisation and technical knowledge of new areas such as risk management, environmental protection, emergency planning and rehabilitation.

SHE jobs are available in all major industries and throughout the commercial sector. Opportunities exist for graduates to work in safety and environmental risk assessment, management and control of SHE risks, and SHE research.

The SHE practitioner can specialise in a range of areas, including of course safety or environmental science, but also chemistry, biological science, health science, engineering, and so on.

There are over 40,000 chemicals and drugs in use in Australia. Many are toxic, and their hazards are often poorly defined. The study of the safety, health and environmental effects of chemicals is called Toxicology. However, toxicology is more than the study of poisons. Toxicologists study the adverse effects of chemicals on people and/or the environment, and the means in which such adverse effects can be identified, assessed and controlled.

A toxicologist has knowledge and expertise in:

1. the structure, function and uses of chemicals;
2. the nature of adverse effects of chemicals on biological systems; and
3. the assessment of the probability of their occurrence.

The BSc major in Toxicology requires study of life sciences, chemistry, mathematics and safety, to establish an initial broad background in science. These build toxicological knowledge with stage 2-4 courses in physiology/pharmacology, chemistry and safety science. Therefore, a toxicology major can usefully be studied with majors and/or minors in safety science, chemistry or pharmacology.

Minors are now not a mandatory part of the BSc3970 progam. However, students interested in obtaining a minor in Safety, Health, and Environment or Toxicology, should complete 24 UoC of core courses listed in the respective majors (see separate entries).

If you get good enough marks in your BSc degree, you can continue into a fourth year and get an honours degree. The fourth year includes a research project and opens up opportunities for going on to a career in research in Safety Science. There are range of possible specialist areas of research in the School of Risk and Safety Sciences including human factors, toxicology, biomechanics, and safety management and disaster and emergency management.. You don’t have to have done one of the School of Risk and Safety Sciences majors any relevant degree is sufficient.