Graduate Degrees, page 2
Institute of Safety and Systems Management

Master of Science

Safety and Systems Management Common Core Curriculum

The mission of the Institute of Safety and Systems Management (ISSM) is to provide education and research related to the management of complex technology based systems -- in short, the management of technology. Over its 40-year history, ISSM has developed three academic areas in support of technology management: safety and health, human factors, and systems management. While these academic areas are organized into separate degree programs, their overall theme is integrated and interdisciplinary.

However, the institute has not lost sight of the great value of academic disciplines as solid foundations for professional degree programs. It has achieved the necessary balance by requiring a three-course interdisciplinary common core for all its master of science programs and by offering a range of discipline-based areas of specialization in its three master's programs. Breadth is enforced by requiring students to take courses from several areas of specialization.

Master of Science in Safety and Health

The Master of Science in Safety and Health program prepares graduates to meet an increasing need for safety professionals in both the public and private sectors. In fact, the demand for university-educated professionals well exceeds the supply. According to the California Employment Development Department, the health and safety professional fields are among the most rapidly growing and highly rewarding in the state. The need is driven by the high human, social and economic costs of ineffective risk management and made dramatically clear by a string of catastrophes -- Bhopal, Chernobyl, the Exxon Valdez.

The integration of safety with the institute's other disciplinary fields provides this program with an especially broad-based approach to safety and a rich diversity of faculty and curriculum; yet the program also meets the specific knowledge requirements of the safety profession. The integration is achieved by the required three-course ISSM common core; the knowledge and skills required of safety and health professionals are provided in a safety and health core and the areas of specialization offered within the M.S. in Safety and Health program. These are: safety, industrial hygiene, risk management, ergonomics, and hazardous waste management.

Course Requirements

Successful degree candidates must complete 39 units, including the nine-unit ISSM common core and nine required Safety and Health units.

Core curriculumUnits
SSM 513Systems Management and Organizational Theory3
SSM 531Human and Organizational Factors in Technological Systems3
SSM 552Probability, Risk and Statistics3

Safety and Health required coursesUnits
SASC 414 Accident Investigation3
SASC 456Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology3
SASC 670Regulatory Aspects of Technology and Safety 3

Areas of Specialization

M.S. in Safety and Health degree candidates must select one of the following areas of specialization and successfully complete nine units from the available courses:

SafetyUnits
HUFA 532 Human Factors in Accident Causation3
SASC 572Safety Management -- Functions and Concepts3
SASC 576System Safety Analysis and Management3
SASC 582Structural Safety and Failure Analysis3

Industrial HygieneUnits
SASC 574LIndustrial Hygiene Laboratory3
SASC 578Advanced Industrial Hygiene3
SASC 586Industrial Toxicology and Epidemiology3

Risk ManagementUnits
SASC 554 Applied Reliability and Risk Analysis3
SASC 560Environmental Safety3
SASC 576 System Safety Analysis and Management3
SYMA 571Risk Management3

ErgonomicsUnits
HUFA 532Human Factors in Accident Causation3
HUFA 539Environmental Design in Human Factors3
HUFA 540Occupational Ergonomics3

Hazardous Waste ManagementUnits
ENE 502Environmental and Regulatory Compliance3
ENE 513LInstrumental Methods for Environmental Analysis3
ENE 516Hazardous Waste Management3
SASC 560Environmental Safety3

Other elective coursesUnits
SASC 458Introduction to Radiation Protection3
SASC 580Technical Aspects of Motor Vehicle Safety3
SASC 584 Technical Aspects of Flight Vehicle Safety3

Integrating Experience/Thesis

All ISSM master of science programs require a final integrating experience. This will consist of a master's thesis (up to six units) or an integrating project. The integrating project is accomplished by successful completion of SSM 587 Seminar: Critical Synthesis and Project (3 units). For the thesis option, students must enroll in SSM 590 (2 units) and SSM 594ab (4 units). Approval for proceeding with the thesis option is the responsibility of the student's faculty advisor. The student's guidance committee is responsible for the content and bibliographical consistency of the thesis.

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Produced by the USC Division of Student Affairs, Office of University Publications, May 1, 1995
David Henriquez
univpub@stuaff.usc.edu