Graduate Certificate in Safety Leadership

Students undertaking the Graduate Certificate in Safety Leadership in the School of Humanities at Griffith University will have:

1. specialised knowledge of current ideas, theories, principles and views on safety accountability in complex fields of practice
2. have gained deeper insight into sociological and psychological mechanisms behind our reactions to failure
3. understand some of the legal constraints on the ability of organizations and countries to protect the free reporting and flow of safety information
4. have developed an ability to think critically about how to make progress on the creation of a just culture (that prevents people’s “honest mistakes” from being seen as culpable) in their own operating world and elsewhere
5. learned to balance pressures for learning from failure with calls for holding those involved accountable.

Learn the skills necessary to enact a new kind of safety leadership that puts a focus on the practical expertise needed to get the job done. This graduate certificate will help you advance from the simple, linear cause-effect thinking that has typically characterised safety work in Australia and help you to challenge pre-occupations with process and compliance. You will learn about resilience, complexity science and holism and be taken on an exciting journey into a new era of safety.

You will study a range of theories that focus on why accidents happen and how they can be prevented, including normal accidents theory, human reliability theory, as well as structural and interpretational perspectives to risk and safety. With this knowledge, you will be capable of critiquing safety practices and comparing and contrasting the strengths and weaknesses of accident models, ensuring your analysis and critical thinking can help improve safety systems in your own workplace.

By looking beyond the narrow understandings of safety that still exist at many organisations and institutions, you will understand how to address safety using safety management systems and the processes and procedures that have proven roles in achieving high safety standards. Importantly, you'll view people as a solution to safety issues, not the problem, putting empathy at the centre of your plans to create a safe workplace.

Recommended study pattern

As a guide, core subjects in this degree can include:

• Foundations of Safety Science
• Understanding Human Error and Just Culture
• Safety Management Systems
• Critical Safety Theory

As part of your application, you’ll be guided through how to get the right degree structure in place for you.

Award requirements

To be eligible for the award of Graduate Certificate in Safety Leadership (GCertSafLead), a student must acquire 40 credit points as prescribed below:

• gain 40 credit points for the prescribed courses.

With a network of campuses spanning three cities in South East Queensland, Griffith University is committed to progressive multidisciplinary teaching and research and a valuable online provider with Open Universities Australia. Already attracting students from over one hundred countries, Griffith's dedication to academic excellence is available across Australia through OUA.

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QS Ranking 2024:

18

Times Higher Education Ranking 2024:

20

To be eligible for admission to the Graduate Certificate in Safety Leadership, applicants must:

• hold a Bachelor degree from a recognised University (or another tertiary education institution of equivalent standing)
• OR have completed a minimum of four years of relevant work experience in industry - applicants will have either operational of safety equipment experience in an industry that has some kind of plausible safety concern, or where man-made disasters can happen (for example, construction, mining, oil and gas, aviation, healthcare, catering etc or in areas of IT, electricity, shipping, insurance depending on their documented experience).

Note: Degrees from overseas institutions must be assessed as equivalent to a recognised Australian bachelor-level degree.

English language requirements apply to International applicants and other applicants whose previous study was undertaken in a language other than English. The minimum English language requirements for such applicants for entry to this program are as follows:

• A minimum overall band score of 6.5 on IELTS (Academic) with no sub-score of less than 6.0
• OR a minimum score of 575 on TOEFL
• OR an internet-based (iBT) TOEFL score of 79 (no sub-score less than 19)
• OR no score less than 3+ in each skill of the ISLPR (conducted by ISLPR Language Services only)
• OR a minimum overall score of 176 (no score less than 169) on C1 Advanced (formerly Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English) or C2 Proficiency (formerly Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English)
• OR an overall score of 58 in the Pearson Test of English (Academic) with no score less than 50.

English test results must be no more than two years old.

International students who successfully complete the Direct Entry Program (DEP) will satisfy the English Language requirements for this Griffith degree.

The Direct Entry Program (DEP) is not available for Domestic students.

Applicants should refer to the English language requirements section of the following University policy for exceptions to these overall requirements:

• Postgraduate Programs Admission Policy

Reduce the time it takes to finish your degree. You can apply to Griffith to recognise your prior learning, including:

• Formal learning through courses completed at uni and TAFE.
• Informal learning through workplace experience or volunteer training.
• Non-formal learning through social experiences and hobbies.