Professional opportunities

Professional opportunities

Graduates of this master’s degree course will be experts able to work as technical staff with high-level workplace risk prevention functions. It should be remembered that, since 1995, the Prevention Law 31/1995 and Royal Decree 39/1997 make it obligatory for companies to have preventive resources organised as internal or external health and safety services, which must consist of qualified technical staff.

Competencies

Generic competencies

Generic competencies are the skills that graduates acquire regardless of the specific course or field of study. The generic competencies established by the UPC are capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship, sustainability and social commitment, knowledge of a foreign language (preferably English), teamwork and proper use of information resources.

Specific skills

• In-depth knowledge of the relationship between working conditions and health, and ability to analyse the main occupational health problems and prevent workplace accidents.
• Ability to differentiate between workplace accidents, occupational illnesses and work-related illnesses.
• Knowledge of the activities of the medical services, the fundamental aspects of health promotion in the workplace and the structure of the health and safety system (public bodies with authority in such matters, private insurance companies, etc.).
• Knowledge of legislation on workplace health and ability to follow updates to this legislation, identify the autonomous community, national and European technical bodies related to workplace health and safety and interpret specific legislation and technical regulations concerning matters of safety in the workplace.
• Sufficient technical knowledge to carry out risk assessments and to suggest corrective measures for general hazards related to the workplace, facilities, working equipment, fire hazards, explosions, industrial hygiene, ergonomics, applied psychosociology, etc.
• Ability to apply prevention-related techniques: product safety, management of capital assets and road safety, and communication techniques in the prevention of workplace risks. 
• Ability to identify and differentiate between the basic elements of organisation, management and integration of health and safety within a company. 
• Good negotiation techniques, research techniques into workplace health, design and evaluation of ventilation systems, etc.
• Ability to identify and differentiate between advanced techniques of noise evaluation and control in industry, mechanisms for transmission and entry routes for biological agents.
• Ability to identify and differentiate between specific risks associated with construction, machinery, agricultural installations, offices, computer equipment, etc., and to develop intervention plans to correct them.
• Ability to coordinate health and safety activities with health awareness activities and to provide first aid. 
• Ability to promote the system of responsibilities regarding workplace risk prevention.
• Ability to develop emergency plans, training plans and information plans for employees, including detection of needs and establishment of evaluation systems and monitoring measures.
• Ability to communicate appropriately with employees and their representatives and with other technical and management agents in the company with responsibilities in the area of workplace health and safety conditions.
• Ability to evaluate chemical, physical and biological risks in relation to physical and mental strain at work, etc., and to suggest corrective measures.
• Ability to draw up health and safety plans, biological waste management plans, works safety plans, etc. Ability to apply epidemiological methods to solving problems and to design epidemiological studies to check hypotheses.
• Ability to manage disasters related to the climate, road accidents involving hazardous chemical products, radioactive substances or fires.
• Ability to prevent and detect psychosocial problems and to implement techniques of adaptation between the demands of the job and the employee's abilities. 
• Ability to encourage healthy behaviour, habits, consumption and lifestyles and the active participation of employees in their own health, while encouraging a culture of health and safety within the company and the creation of healthy environments.
• Ability to exchange and integrate information with multidisciplinary teams and to exercise workplace risk prevention in accordance with ethical criteria.