Safety Science Group

The history of the Safety Science Group goes back to 1978 when a symposium was held in Delft to discuss the contribution which could and should be made at university level to safety in society. From this initiative the Group grew, establishing a chair in Safety Science in 1984 and expanding its staff to a multidisciplinary group of some 15 researchers by the end of the 1980s. 

Mission
The human and material consequences of accidents and ill health caused by technology are a serious drain on the economy and an unacceptable burden of suffering. The risk level of a technology or activity is a crucial factor in deciding whether it can be developed, how it should be designed, where it can be sited and how it should be managed and exploited. The Safety Science Group develops tools and approaches to predict, understand and measure risk and its perception, to evaluate and improve its on-line control and its institutional and organisational management and to learn from past mistakes how to perform better in the future. Its ultimate mission is to help in reducing the suffering and cost of risks which become accidents. 

Research
The Group participates in the Faculty programme "Reflection on Technology" and is setting up the newly formed programme on "Design, Technology Development and Risk". Its research is organised around four themes.

1. Risk Modelling for design and management
2. Incorporation of risk criteria into the design process
3. The learning organisation as manager of risk
4. Risk regulation
5. Bijzondere leerstoel toezicht

The group aims, in its research, to carry out studies in different technologies, industries and types of system, in order to learn the extent to which principles, methods and approaches can be generalised across system boundaries. What are technology or industry specific approaches and what can be learned or adapted from one system and applied in another? 
The main areas of application in which the group has worked, or is working now, include: 

• Home and leisure
• hospitals & health care
• high hazard industry (chemical, process, steel) 
• disaster management
• construction
• manufacturing
• transport - rail, air, sea and inland waterways, road

For further details on the Safety Science research program please refer to the research pages and the advisory project pages. 

Education
The Safety Science Group runs full courses and training courses both at Undergraduate and Master University level teaching and Postgraduate teaching. The courses at Postgraduate level reflect the demand from industry and government for qualified staff in risk assessment and control and other aspects of safety and health. The most important course run by the group is the Masters Course in Management of Safety, Health & Environment (MoSHE). 
Furthermore the group takes part in training courses for other working conditions specialists for managers, inspectors and designers. More specialised courses on specific aspects of safety are run at intervals, either in companies or open to all comers. 
For information on the MoSHE course as examples of short courses refer to the education pages.

The group runs compulsory and facultative courses for Bachelor and Master programs at various faculties of the university in Delft. Students from other universities may take part in these courses. It also provides courses for the universities of Eindhoven and Wageningen. 
The group runs an open introductory course in safety methods and a project-based course for those wishing to apply safety methods to specific aspects of their study. Furthermore the group coordinates a module of the Delft International MSc course on technology and society. Finally, the group supervises final year projects and industrial placements for students from Delft University and, on request, from a number of other universities. 
For more information on the specific courses provided by the Safety Science Group for Bachlor and Master level refer to the education pages. 

The RiskCentre
The RiskCentre is an umbrella under which new and existing activities in the field of risk analysis, risk assessment and risk management of Delft University are united. In this way the synergy between the various risk activities of Delft University can be fully exploited to the advantage of the promotion of science. It allows a multidisciplinary view on risk problems of today. In this way students will receive a comprehensive view of the issues involved in modern risk management and customers can be served with the best advice the TU can provide.

Short Advisory Projects
Besides the research described under the themes of the Group, a number of short advisory projects are carried out into the areas of expertise of group members. This work is used to fund new areas of scientific development and conference visits. Examples of projects carried out by the group can be found on the project page.