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Master of Engineering with a Concentration in Advanced Safety Engineering and Management

Transforming Safety in Workplaces

Safety in workplace settings has often focused on protective equipment and training as a means to reduce accident severity and risk. The Master of Engineering (MEng) with a concentration in Advanced Safety Engineering and Management (ASEM) explores injury and catastrophe prevention through a different paradigm. Through a “Prevention through Design” approach, ASEM students examine error provocative environments as a means to design away risk.

Integrating Engineering with Occupational Health and Safety

By teaching students both the language of engineering as well as safety concepts, graduates are able to bridge the divide between design engineers and occupational safety and health professionals.

Excellence in Online Education

The Master of Engineering with a concentration in Advanced Safety Engineering and Management (ASEM) is the first master’s degree in engineering with a safety emphasis offered totally online. Designed for working safety professionals, the curriculum focuses on current industry best practices with an emphasis on leading through change and/or crisis. The ASEM faculty and Practitioner Scholars are prominent industry professionals and researchers.

The UAB School of Engineering has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report for its online graduate engineering programs. ASEM is ranked #28 among all online graduate engineering programs in the country.

Quick Facts

No GRE entrance exam required

100% online

Finish in only five semesters

Scholarships available

A Focus on Experiential and Peer-to-Peer Learning

Students not only master the course content, they also engage in a variety of activities that teach them how to apply that content to their own business environment. Students also explore course content with fellow classmates through online discussion boards, virtual classroom sessions, virtual seminars, and group projects. 

“It will make you a better engineer. It will make you a better manager, and it will make you a better safety professional.”

Tera Huppi Preussel ‘18

Students in the ASEM concentration explore safety and management issues such as:

  • Using the latest techniques to retrospectively analyze real-world disasters and “near misses,” and applying the lessons to your own company
  • Developing financial models to make the business case that system safety reduces total cost of ownership (TCO)
  • Engaging with industry and legal professionals in online forums to explore the role of the civil justice system in promoting or discouraging best corporate safety practices
  • Participating in unique exercises to acquire a thorough knowledge of design aspects of ergonomics

“Being a more effective problem solver and someone who actually helps people better has opened a lot of doors for me, and that has a lot to do with the ASEM program.”

Ron Gantt ‘18

  • Developing risk assessment matrices for specific case studies in your business sector
  • Identifying and redesigning error-provocative environments in your workplace
  • Reviewing provided incident investigation reports, and analyzing their strengths and weaknesses
  • Examining current whistleblower protection law, and discussing methods to determine whether or not your company has ethical and legal procedures in place for transparent reporting of wrongdoing in the safety arena
  • Analyzing case studies to gain an understanding of the critical role of safety specifications being included in your company’s procurement documents
  • Conducting gap analyses of your company's policies by comparing them to best practices, and identifying unintended consequences of poor safety policy in your business and industry sectors
  • Completing a capstone project in which you develop an advanced safety management plan for your business unit that is consistent with the ANSI Z-10 standard

Hear from Our Students

Class of fall 2018

Class of spring 2014