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1. Study
2. Postgraduate
3. Taught Courses
4. Masters
5. Occupational Health

Course Fact File

Code	MSCOH
Duration	24 Months Part-time
Teaching Mode	Part-Time. See Additional Teaching Mode Information for more info.
Qualifications	MSc
NFQ Level	Level 9
Fees	See Fees and Costs for full details.
Closing Date	Rolling deadline. Open until all places have been filled. Early application is advised.
Non-EU Closing Date	Not currently open to Non-EU applicants
Start Date	8 September 2025

Course Outline

Our MSc Occupational Health is a part-time blended learning programme offered by the School of Public Health at University College Cork (UCC). We designed this programme to suit the demands of the busy professional with approximately 70% of the teaching delivered on campus and 30% of content delivered online.

The MSc in Occupational Health will give you the expertise and key skills required to effectively address health & safety issues in all workplaces and promote employees’  wellbeing. This multidisciplinary course is delivered by academics, industry experts and professionals with national and international experience. Health and safety lie at the heart of an organisation’s commitment to its workforce and makes good business sense. Looking after the safety, health and well-being of employees helps to reduce costs and build a healthy,  resilient and motivated workforce.

We offer our students the opportunity to study modern, cutting-edge scientific concepts and research evidence on causation, prevention and management of work-related accidents, injury and disease and the promotion of physical and mental health and wellbeing. The programme incorporates the following subject areas:

Public Health & Health Promotion Psychology Risk Assessment and Management  Ergonomics & Safety Science

Occupational Medicine and Hygiene Law Training and Development Epidemiology & Environmental Health

This programme may be suitable for you if you are already working in occupational safety and health, or if you have a strong interest in occupational health and, have a primary degree in a related area. The course consists of three elements — formal coursework, self-directed learning using case studies and project work leading to a thesis.

The MSc in Occupational Health programme received accreditation from the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) in the Certified Member category. As this programme is accredited by IOSH, eligible enrolled students can access IOSH Student Membership for the duration of their studies and, on successful completion, they will meet the academic requirements for Certified membership. It is important to note that in addition to academic requirements, there are also work experience requirements for progression through IOSH's member grades. The level you progress to will take into account your academic qualification and relevant experience in IOSH. As IOSH is the only organisation in the world that offers Chartered Membership to health and safety practitioners, this can help members achieve the highest professional standards and gain international recognition. Additional information on how you can pursue graduate and chartered membership with IOSH is available through the IOSH website. 

Programme Content

The programme comprises 90 credits taken over two years as follows:

Year 1 

Core Module	Title	Credits
EH6008	Information Retrieval & Interpretation in Occupational Health	5
EH6015	Occupational Health and Safety Management in the Workplace	10
EH6059	Principles of Psychosocial Epidemiology	5
EH6060	Risk Assessment and Management of Psychosocial Work Risks	5
EH6061	Applied Research for Occupational Health	5
LW6107	Legal Aspects of Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare	5
AD6800	Training and Development Issues in Occupational Health	5

Year 2

Core Module	Title	Credits
EH6017	Principles, Theory and Practical Application of Risk Assessment in the Workplace	10
EH6041	Psychology Applied to Occupational Health and Safety	5
EH6062	Workplace Health, Safety and Wellbeing Dissertation	30

Plus one elective module from the following, subject to availability:

Elective Module	Title	Credits
EH6000	Implementation Science in Health	5
EH6130	Critical Appraisal of Publications for Research and Practice	5
EH6140	Environmental Health: Principal Aspects and Burden of Disease	5
EH6159	Health Promotion II	5

Learning Outcomes 

On successful completion of this MSc programme, you will be able to:

• Demonstrate an awareness of occupational health from a multidisciplinary perspective including occupational medicine, epidemiology, psychology, public health, law and training and development;
• Practise measures to prevent disease and injury, and to protect and promote health and safety in occupational settings;
• Perform risk assessments in the workplace including psychosocial risk factors;
• Identify the role of psychology in improving the quality of work-life and develop basic skills to protect and promote the safety, health and well-being of workers;
• Employ skills to critically appraise publications and statistics and stay up-to-date with the newest research evidence;
• Discuss the wider aspects of health protection;
• Apply research evidence into occupational health and safety interventions and health promotion strategies by taking relevant legislation into account;
• Design occupational health training and development programmes in line with organisational policy;
• Carry out a focused piece of scholarly research and health and safety programme evaluation.

Additional Teaching Mode Information

This part-time MSc programme will be taught on most Monday and Thursday evenings from 6.15 pm to 9.15 pm for 18 months followed by a self-directed and supervised research activity over two years.

Our multi-faceted delivery of content includes online teaching and learning components, such as pre-recorded and live online delivery of lectures, tutorials, practical lab work (IT), interactive seminars, student presentations, online discussion boards and online activities including quizzes and interactive case studies.

Typically we will deliver approximately 70% of the teaching on campus and 30% online.

Course Practicalities

Assessment

There will be continuous assessments through oral presentations, online discussion boards, online activities, group work and written essays. During Year 2, you will be required to undertake a group project and a reflective case study. An important aspect of this year is the formulation of a research project. The thesis assessment will involve submitting a dissertation and a journalistic article based on your dissertation.

Who teaches this course?

Our teaching staff includes professionals from allied health professions and faculty from the School of Public Health at UCC and include:

• Prof Ella Arensman, Head of School of Public Health, UCC and Chief Scientist, NSRF
• Dr Christie Godsmark, School of Public Health, UCC
• Ms Colette Cunningham, School of Public Health, UCC
• Prof John Gallagher, School of Public Health, Cognate Health, Health Services Executive Southern Area
• Dr Caleb Leduc, School of Public Health, UCC and NSRF
• Dr Dan Gallagher, EHA Soft Solutions
• Dr Sara Leitao, National Perinatal Epidemiology Centre, UCC
• Dr Dervla Hogan, School of Public Health, UCC
• Ms Angela Liddy, UCC
• Mr Robert Lynch, UCC,
• Dr Sheena McHugh, School of Public Health, UCC
• Dr Darren Dahly, School of Public Health, UCC
• Dr Kevin O'Sullivan, Cognate Health
• Dr Mallorie Leduc, NSRF
• Patricia Murray, Psychologist, Health and Safety Authority Dublin
• Frank Power, Ergonomist, Health and Safety Authority Dublin
• Una Feeney, Occupational Health and Wellness Consultant, Ely Lilly, Kinsale
• Guest lecturers from the community of health and safety professionals

 

Why Choose This Course

This course offers you the opportunity to study ‘classical’ occupational health and safety issues, together with contemporary approaches that integrate and strategically combine workplace health and safety prevention with health and wellbeing promotion.

A particular focus of this course is on the management of psychosocial risks and work stress which constitutes a growing concern for health, safety, and wellbeing in industry and the private sector. Looking after the safety, health, and wellbeing of employees helps to reduce costs and build a healthy, resilient, and motivated workforce and is, therefore, a very attractive programme for employers to promote.

The interactive format of the teaching sessions helps student networking, and the sharing of knowledge and practical experience. In several modules, you will work with practical case studies, engage in project work and reflective inquiry. There is an opportunity to specialise in one area of occupational health by choosing a 5-credit elective module.

Throughout the course, you will be invited to masterclasses held by experts in the field. The experience and expertise of our previous graduates are also deployed through lecturing, mentoring new students, and student tutoring. We support our MSc students to professionally engage in health and safety practice and research and to provide leadership to others. The course offers the opportunity to professionally network face-to-face with local academic and industry health and safety experts.

The flexible scheduling of this programme facilitates an easier combination of course engagement for your personal or/and professional life.

Skills and Careers Information

There is a continuous demand for experts trained in the area of occupational health, safety and wellbeing across all sectors of work with many career opportunities. The course encourages a proactive approach in assessing and controlling both physical and psychosocial work hazards in an effort to prevent disease, injuries, and accidents at work; to promote health and wellbeing, and to create safe and healthy work cultures and conditions.

After completion of this MSc in Occupational Health, some of the many career options open to you include work in the following areas: consulting; Health and Safety Authority; Health Service Executive; human factors-ergonomics; safety engineering; human resources; welfare; managerial responsibilities in industry or public sector; occupational health care specialist responsibilities; academia including research and lecturing.

Requirements

Candidates for the MSc programme in Occupational Health must meet one of the following criteria:

1. A Level 8 honours primary degree (minimum Second Class Honours, Grade 2) in a relevant area, e.g. health-related (Public Health, Nursing, Medicine, Environmental Health, Psychology/Behavioural Science, Physiotherapy); Engineering and Human Resource Management and relevant professional experience¹ or work placement in an associated Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare area;
   OR
2. A minimum of a Diploma/Higher Diploma in Occupational Safety, Health and Welfare (minimum Second Class Honours, Grade 1), from UCC, or an equivalent qualification² from another Institution (Level 8 Diploma, minimum second class honours, grade 1) and a minimum of two years relevant professional work experience¹ in an area associated with Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare;
   OR
3. Applicants with a minimum of three years' professional work experience in an associated area¹ of Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare may be invited for an interview to satisfy the selection committee of their suitability for the programme, under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).

¹Relevant professional work experience, job title examples: Health and Safety Officers/Advisors/Managers/Coordinators; Environmental Safety Officers/Managers; Safety Engineers, Health Promotion Officers; HR Officers/Managers; Occupational Health Nurses, Health Scientists, Professional Trainers, Health and Safety Consultants.

²Level 8 examples: Diploma/Higher Diploma/International Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety; Diploma in Environment Management, Diploma in Health Promotion, Diploma in Learning, Development and Work-based Training.

Technical Requirements

To access and interact with the online course content and assignments, students will require access to at least a PC/Laptop running Windows 7 or later and Mac OSX 10.7.4. Common plug-ins such as Microsoft Silverlight, Java and Flash will also be required. Students must have access to MS Office or an equivalent suite of applications such as Libre Office. They must also have access to a modern standards-compliant web browser. UCC recommends either Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.

To engage productively and successfully with the content, basic technical computer skills such as familiarity with word processing, web browsing and email is recommended.

Fees and Costs

See our Postgraduate EU and Non-EU (International) Fee Schedule for the latest information.

How To Apply

The closing date for non-EU applications is Not currently open to Non-EU applicants

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