VIOSH History

The First 21 Years: A History of the GDipOHM

(Dianne E. Elshaug)

Introduction

The University of Ballarat established Australia’s first tertiary course in OH&S in 1979. Since then a range of courses has been developed and the University has maintained its respected position as a leader in the provision of tertiary OH&S education.

This year sees the University of Ballarat reach a milestone in OH&S education, with thirty years of education being celebrated through its Graduate Diploma in Occupational Hazard Management program. More than 650 people have graduated from the program and represent a strong network of OHS professionals spreading across Australia and in to the Asia-Pacific region.

Origins of the Course

The seed of GDipOHM was planted during 1974 – 1975 when a guest of the local Accident Prevention Group suggested that the Ballarat Institute of Advanced Education (BIAE) could develop a safety course to train managers, safety advisers, factory inspectors and nurses (Beggs-Sunter, pg. 71). In doing so, it was suggested that the BIAE would be establishing a new curriculum area in Australia.

Meanwhile, the Federal Education Committee of the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA), under the chairmanship of Dr. Eric Wigglesworth, had for a number of years been pressing for teaching in OHS at a tertiary level to be instigated (Greenwood-Thomas, pg. 150). The SIA was therefore supportive (Beggs-Sunter, pg. 71) when an academic group was brought together under the aegis of the Mechanical Engineering Department to explore the possibilities and develop a course (Woolley, pg. 1). Tom Norwood, then Head of Department, chaired the inter-disciplinary working party.

The course proposal started with a generalised concept of a one-year full time course in the area of safety. Impetus for further course development was given by Derek Viner, following his involvement in a professional experience programme at Cranfield in the UK (Woolley, pg. 1).

Support was gathered from outside the Institute along with advice from the UK and the USA. A formal external advisory panel was established comprising:

Mr. S.M. Barclay, Loss Control Officer, CRA, Immediate Past President of the SIA.

Mr. F.E. Davis, Safety and Management Consultant, Member Victorian Industrial Safety Convention, Education Segment Training Scheme.

Mr. H.E. Jones, Vice-Principal (Academic), SCV, Hawthorn.

Mr. C.D. Polglaze, Deputy Vice-Chairman (Engineering), SEC Victoria.

Mr. C.G. Willis, Loss Control Consultant.

Mr. E.C. Wigglesworth, Injury Research Unit, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

Mr. W. Jinkins, Safety Engineer, Gas and Fuel Corporation, Victoria.

Mr. S. Worthley, Safety and Environment Adviser, ICI Melbourne.

Mr. F. Turley, Director, Victorian Division of the NSCA.

Mr. F. McCabe, Director, Marsh and McLennan Pty. Ltd., Insurance Brokers.

(Woolley, pg. 4)

In 1976, the Injury Research Project, through Dr. Eric Wigglesworth, was largely responsible for a meeting at Monash University, which took advantage of the presence of Gordon Atherley, foundation Professor of OH&S at Aston University. It structured a weekend workshop to discuss possible formats for post-graduate safety courses in Australia. Several possible courses based on proposals from Aston University in Birmingham, Monash University and the then Ballarat College of Advanced Education (BCAE) were discussed (Personal Communication between Wigglesworth and Woolley, 1990).

The Victoria Institute of Colleges, the State co-ordinating body for non-university education, gave approval for development of a course, scheduled for commencement in 1979, subject to academic accreditation regarding format and content of the course.

It was decided that the course would not be delivered in a traditional manner and “co-operative mode” was used to describe the course at accreditation stage. The reasons for this approach were threefold:

Ballarat was not a large enough city to enable a traditional part-time graduate diploma (eg 2 evenings per week, for two years) to be conducted;

There was not enough demand Australia wide for a full time course; and

Those practising professionals undertaking the course would require some form of block release to complete the course.

During 1977 and 1978 work continued on the development of a course proposal. Key staff included Derek Woolley as Dean of Engineering, Tom Norwood, Zig Plavina and Derek Viner as Engineering Department staff and Max Brooke from the Faculty of Business. Eric Wigglesworth continued to play a crucial advisory role.

During this development period a number of highly respected international safety experts visited Australia and they continued to encourage the staff at the BCAE in their endeavors to establish a graduate diploma program.

In late 1978 the Victoria Institute of Colleges formally advised the Director of the then Ballarat College of Advanced Education (BCAE), that the Graduate Diploma in Occupational Hazard Management had been approved for delivery.

The First Intake

The co-operative mode nature of the course received widespread support from industry, unions and the government (Beggs-Sunter, pg. 72) and the first year of the first course was conducted in 1979 under the leadership of Derek Viner.

The flexibility of the co-operative mode program not only attracted students from around Australia but also allowed for overseas visitors to spend periods in Australia contributing to the course. Early visitors included Prof. David Klein from Michigan State University; Prof. Peter Compes from Wuppertal University, Prof. Ralph Vernon from Texas A&M and Dr. Dennis Else from the University of Aston.

The first intake of students who arrived to commence the GDipOHM included:

Peter Bailey; Allen Pang; Bill Davis; Gwyn Griffiths; Ron Cordingley; Noel Arnold; Laurie Mason; Ross Wyatt; John Florence; John Moroney; Bill Embling; Bob Blunt; Neville Betts; Alistair Allen; Graham Suckling, Roslyn Mancy; Peter Wilson.

The Latter Years

In 1984 Dr. Dennis Else from the University of Aston, in Birmingham joined the Ballarat College of Advanced Education and established the Health and Safety Unit within the School of Engineering.

As well as conducting the GDipOHM, the Health and Safety Unit conducted their first “short course” – a three month course in industrial safety for AIDAB Factory Inspectors. The group comprised twelve Chief Inspectors or Deputy Chief Inspectors from India and one from Fiji. Conducting “short courses” was a necessity, if the Unit expected to grow and expand its staffing base.

The Health and Safety Unit continued to grow, and in 1988 the Ballarat College of Advanced Education again led the way by developing and introducing a Master of Applied Science (OHS) program, building on the GDipOHM. Again, this course was the first of its type in Australia (Beggs-Sunter, pg. 72).

Today

The course today is conducted by VIOSH Australia, which is the Centre for Teaching and Research in OH&S positioned within the School of Engineering at the University of Ballarat. The course continues to attract students with a wide range of backgrounds, diverse work experience and, increasingly, from a range of different cultures. In recent years, increasing numbers of students have been attracted from neighbouring countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

VIOSH Australia now delivers a suite of OHS programs comprising a Certificate IV, Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma and Masters degree. It also offers a range of workplace training programs and has an active solution-orientated research and consultancy program.

The Certificate Course is a very popular enabling program that has now been offered for close to a decade. With over 370 graduates it significantly extends the VIOSH Australia networks and complements the GDipOHM.

Activity in the workplace training market has also been considerable. To the end of 1998, 226 courses have been conducted both in Australia and overseas. These courses have been delivered over 1,025 days, attended by in excess of 5,000 people.

The development of a centre of excellence in OH&S, built around the foundations of the GDipOHM, has undoubtedly influenced the work and lives of many people. Today the networks remain strong and continue to grow as graduates recognise the wealth of knowledge and experience available to them. Increasing numbers of graduates return to the Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony to renew friendships and expand their networks, demonstrating the continued support and strength of OHS education at the University of Ballarat.

The Future

The founders of the GDipOHM program in the late 1970’s foresaw a need to provide professional education in occupational health and safety. They envisaged the market for this changing within 5 years and the life of the program was unlikely to be longer than this.

In 1999 the program has been offered for 21 years and annually enrols around 40 new students. Numbers have been maintained despite the rapid changes in tertiary education funding which have led to the imposition of full-fee charges for graduate programs.

The tertiary education environment is rapidly changing. Simultaneously the needs and expectations of students are changing and the University of Ballarat must rise to the challenges this presents.

Despite major changes to the course in the past and with the likelihood of further major changes to keep pace with changing delivery patterns and professional needs, the GDipOHM maintains a focus on its origins and a set of core essential principles. Students attending the course today are introduced to the same foundations of a professional education in OHS as the students commencing in 1979. However the knowledge, skills and values built on and around those foundations have changed over the years and will continue to change as the position of the course is reinforced and the delivery of leading edge OHS education is assured for the future.