March 1, 2006

Contact: Gordon Ovenshine: 724-738-4854

SRU ONE OF THREE UNIVERSITIES IN THE COUNTRY RECOGNIZED 

BY INSTITUTE FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University’s Safety and Health Management Program is among the first three programs in the nation to qualify for board approval from the National Safety Management Society’s Institute for Safety and Health Management.

Board approval means SRU’s safety major meets the agency’s curriculum standards for excellence. As a result, the institute designated SRU as one of three universities making a “significant contribution” to the future or workplace safety.

The approval also means SRU safety graduates qualify for the institute’s certification as an associate safety and health manager, said Phil Mueller, institute managing director. The certification adds prestige in job searching.

The Institute for Safety and Health Management is a Missouri-based credentialing organization working to promote safety management. Eight years old, this is the first year the institute began evaluating programs for board approval.

SRU qualified because its major includes more than 36 credit hours of safety-specific instruction, at least nine hours of management instruction, internship opportunities and has shown success in placing graduates into the field.

Three safety graduates work for the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration; five work as safety managers at ALCOA; three work for Washington Group International, a major construction firm with 25,000 employees in 40 states. Others work for Allegheny County, Turner Construction and Dick Corp.

 “Slippery Rock University is now one of three universities in the United States to receive this designation as a significant contributor to the future of safety and health in the workplace,” SRU’s Joseph Cali, program chair, said. “We are pleased and proud of the work being done by our faculty, students and graduates.”

SRU’s program, with 130 students enrolled, prepares graduates for establishing and maintaining occupational safety programs in educational, industrial, governmental and health care settings. Graduates also find employment in construction, emergency planning, retail and insurance.

Topics covered in the curriculum include hazardous materials and waste management, legislative compliance, occupational health, transportation safety, accident investigation, workplace security, ergonomics, safety training and emergency planning. Students complete 12-week internships in manufacturing or servicing industries and 40 hours of HAZWOPER training, which simulates hazardous cleanups.

Beginning the first week of March, Turner Corp., Dick Corp. U.S. Steel Corp. ALCOA, Allegheny Energy and Washington Group International, will be on-campus interviewing safety majors for internship opportunities with possible full-time employment, Cali said.

 “The undergraduate safety major at Slippery Rock University is one of the best undergraduate safety majors of all institutions in the country,” said Dr. Daniel Della-Giustina, author of Motor Fleet Safety and Security Management whose recommendations for transporting students with disabilities were implemented by the U.S. Department of Transportation. “I am amazed at the productivity and specifically the student achievement and success in the workplace.”

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