UNIVERSITY – INDUSTRY COLLABORATION: SAFETY ENGINEERING EDUCATION AT KU LEUVEN

In collaboration with Essenscia, a multi-sector umbrella organisation that represents the numerous sectors in the field of chemicals and the life sciences, KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium) adapted and expanded its safety study program to train safety experts at the university level. This program leads to the degree of master in safety engineering. The program is directed towards students who already have a master degree in engineering or in the exact sciences. It consists of two parts, Prevention and Process Safety, which have a number of courses in common. The common courses introduce safety as a science. They cover subjects such as safety of industrial installations, building safety and fire and explosion safety, safety aspects of chemical and biological products and processes, qualitative risk analysis and safety management. The option Prevention of the program trains students to become general safety experts to be active in industry, government or general safety services (consulting…). The option Process Safety aims at the training of technical safety experts in the field of industrial processes. The whole program requires one year of full time study. The large majority of the courses are taught by professionals active in the field of safety. Visits to e.g. industrial plants or laboratories are part of the program. In addition a large number of seminars given by experts in the field are planned illustrating the application of the various course topics.