| The purpose of this minor is to educate
science and engineering students with basic
concepts and fundamentals in the field of
occupational safety. This field seeks to
protect the safety and health of workers.
Companies and organizations are interested in
protecting the safety and health of their
workers for humanitarian reasons, for regulatory
reasons, and for economic reasons. This minor
seeks to recognize the importance of integrating
occupational safety into corporate culture and
across all business sectors. Each scientist and
engineer has a primary ethical obligation to
hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare
of the public.
The minor will allow SDSM&T graduates to
augment their education in their chosen major
field with some emphasis on occupational safety
and will improve their marketability to
employers. This minor is important, at least on
the engineering side, for the following reasons:
- An NCEES (National Council of Examiners
for Engineering and Surveying) survey
indicated that nearly all engineering
disciplines included significant
responsibilities for safety.
- Most engineering curriculums do not
include safety and health courses.
- The ABET 200 curriculum guidelines
state, "Students must be prepared for
engineering practice through the curriculum
culminating in a major design experience
based on the knowledge and skills acquired
in earlier course work and incorporating
engineering standards and realistic
constraints that include most of the
following considerations: economic,
environmental, sustainability,
manufacturability, ethical, health and
safety, and political."
The Minor in Occupational Safety is
offered to students enrolled in any Bachelor of
Science undergraduate degree program at SDSM&T
and must adhere to the policy for minors in the
Undergraduate Catalog (p.51). The minimum
math/science competence must be demonstrated
prior to notification of intent to seek the
minor. A minimum of 21 credits must be earned
from the list of required courses, which
includes a minimum of six elective credits.
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