Occupational Health and Safety

When a warehouse worker, a nurse or a crane operator goes home uninjured, a safety practitioner has usually done quiet work behind the scenes. RRC Polytech’s Occupational Health & Safety certificate prepares you for that role in eight months of full-time classroom study at the Notre Dame Campus in northwest Winnipeg, ending with a six-week workplace placement.

The curriculum covers the whole safety system. Courses such as OHS - Risk Management, Hazard Recognition, Evaluation & Control, OHS - Hygiene, OHS - Health and Ergonomics - Intro teach you to identify and control physical, chemical and ergonomic hazards. OHS - Safety Audit & Analysis, OHS Documentation & Reporting, OHS - Information Management and OHS - Ethical & Legal Issues build the auditing and legal knowledge employers expect, while OHS - Managing OHS, OHS - Program Development, OHS - Training - Intro, OHS - Environmental Issues and Project Management: Fundamentals prepare you to design and deliver a workplace safety programme.

The capstone is OHS - Workplace Experience, a six-week, full-time placement arranged by the programme in sectors such as construction, manufacturing, healthcare and the public sector. Working under an experienced safety and health facilitator and an RRC Polytech workplace experience instructor, you carry out risk assessments, audits, hazard recognition, safe work procedure development and safety training. A minimum C+ is required in every course, and the certificate is a foundation for professional designations such as those of the Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals, which set their own eligibility rules.

Graduates start as entry-level OHS practitioners, safety coordinators, safety officers, safety auditors, safety trainers or site safety advisors in construction, manufacturing, health care and hospitality. The programme suits organised, persuasive people with a science background who are comfortable challenging unsafe practice and writing clear reports.