Bachelor of Occupational Health and Safety

The Occupational Health and Safety Program at Imam Abdul Rahman bin Faisal University is distinguished by being the first academic program established at the level of all universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1442 AH (2021 AD). The program is concerned with all aspects related to the health and safety of workers in the work environment. It focuses on evaluating and analyzing the work environment and designing programs and procedures necessary to control and prevent diseases or injuries resulting from exposure to various risks that may harm the health of workers.

College

College of Public Health

Campus

Dammam

Track

College of Public Health Track

Level

Undergraduate

Degree

BSc

Gender

Female, Male

Years of study

5 ((including foundational year and internship))

Credit hours

130

Additional requirements

Graduation Project, Internship

Vision

A leading program in education, research, and community service in the field of occupational health and safety locally and regionally.

Mission

Preparing qualified professionals in the field of occupational health and safety by providing distinguished educational, training, research and community services. 

Values

Respect, transparency, diversity, teamwork, professionalism, perfection, innovation

Goals

The program generally aims to prepare an occupational health and safety specialist who possesses the following skills:

• Familiar with the concepts of occupational health and safety.
• Apply the principles of risk management to anticipate, identify, evaluate and control the risks to which employees are exposed in the course of their work
• Interpret and apply local and international legislative requirements and best practices in the work environment
• Inspection and audit of adherence to occupational health and safety standards in the work environment.
• Understand and evaluate individual and group behavior to improve the health and safety of the work environment
• Understand the organizational culture and its impact on the level of health and safety of the work environment
• Using effective communication, technology and modern applications appropriate to work tasks
• Designing, supporting and evaluating occupational health and safety programs for different work environments.

Fields of Employment

• he industrial sector of all kinds, such as Aramco, Sabic, Ma'aden, etc.
• The health sector, such as hospital and healthcare facilities.
• Governmental sector such as: Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, General Authority for Civil Aviation, Public Health Authority, Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, General Organization for Social Insurance, and Ministry of Transport.
• The educational sector, such as universities, colleges, technical and training institutes.
• The regulatory sector such as the Ministry of Human Resources, the Industrial Cities Authority (Modon), the Supreme Authority for Industrial Security, the Royal Commission in Jubail and Yanbu, the General Directorate of Civil Defense, the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Authority, and the Public Health Authority.
• The military sector, such as the Civil Defense and the National Guard.
• Occupational health and safety consulting offices.

Department graduation requirements:

1. Success in all approved academic courses for the bachelor's program in Occupational Health and Safety
2. Successful completion of the internship year

The bachelor's program:

The theoretical and practical preparation stage in which the student prepares to understand the basics of occupational health and safety sciences in theory and practices scientific skills for a period of four years, with a total of 130 credit hours. 

 The Internship program:

It is the period of practical field training, and its duration is twelve months. This phase begins after the student successfully passes the academic courses, during which the student practices the profession through cooperative training programs in various institutions under the supervision of the EH department. This phase participates – to a large extent - in preparing the graduate to work at various sectors of the society as an occupational health and safety specialist, this is done through the following:

1. The practical application of all occupational health and safety sciences studied and passed by the student.
2. Acquiring basic field skills during this stage
3. Apply the information that the student has acquired during the previous four years
4. Field contact with practicing professionals and professionals in the various work environments before joining the occupational health and safety cadres in the community.

A student applying to the program is required to be:

1. Meet all the admission requirements for Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University
2. Demonstrate an acceptable scientific background in chemistry and biology
3. Demonstrate an acceptable level of English language skills
4. Maintain a GPA of no less than 3.5 out of 5

First year

The student studies basic science and humanities courses and university requirements.

Second Year

Students at this stage study college requirements and OHS core courses such as anatomy, physiology and introduction to public health, in addition to basic courses of the program such as fundamentals of occupational health and safety, essentials of environmental health, fundamentals of air quality, occupational toxicology, and other. 

Third Year

Students study several specialized courses in the field of occupational health and safety such as: fire safety, chemical, physical and biological hazards in the work environment, accidents investigation and loss prevention, ergonomics, occupational health psychology and others.

Fourth year

Students study several advanced courses in the field of occupational health and safety such as occupational risk assessment, industrial safety, emergency and disaster management, and others. In this year, there is focus on enhancing practical, technical and research skills such as research methodology, the final graduation project, field visits, and the study of contemporary topics in occupational health and safety.

Fifth year (internship year)

This year represents the field training program for the program’s students, where students acquire several competencies and practical experiences through training and application in several locations representing different activities such as: industrial sectors, health care facilities, administrative agencies and others