Occupational Hygiene - Personal Professional Development

To apply for a place on our CPD in Occupational Hygiene please complete and submit our online application form.

For information and guidance, see: How to apply

Our blended online and on-campus CPD course in Occupational Hygiene offers an innovative approach to learning that meets the professional development and training needs of occupational hygiene and health professionals in the areas of occupational exposure assessment and control.

The course concentrates on hazardous substances but the underlying principles are also applicable to other agents that are harmful to health in the workplace.

Professionals working in occupational safety and health and occupational hygiene will benefit from technical training and education that is accredited by the British Occupational Hygiene Society.

As a CPD student on our programme, your course is delivered under the framework of The University of Manchester Postgraduate Taught Programmes and upon successful completion you will attain 30 credits at masters’ education level (180 credits is required for MSc qualification). This also means for the duration of your CPD course you are a student of The University of Manchester entitling you to use the library resources and access the University student support services.

 If you are interested in further study after completing the CPD course, you can enrol onto our BOHS accredited MSc in Occupational Hygiene or enrol onto our MPH programme in Occupational Health. You can use your 30 credits from the CPD towards these qualifications.

Our CPD course is mapped to the curriculum set out in BOHS OHTA Modules W501 Measurement of Hazardous Substances and W505 Control of Hazardous Substances. Successful completion of our CPD course exempts you from the W501 and W505 modules on the Certificate of Operational Competence in Occupational Hygiene, in accordance with our BOHS accreditation and BOHS endorsement as a training provider.

In addition, our CPD course contains topics not included in the BOHS modules – Exposure Modelling, Dermal exposure, Human Behaviours, and Occupational Infections.

Our face-to-face on campus practical workshop takes place in the spring. This is a minimum 4-day occupational hygiene practical workshop which takes place on The University of Manchester campus. Details will be provided at the welcome and introduction event.

Attendance is compulsory if you wish to benefit from the BOHS accreditation, to achieve exemption from BOHS W501 and W505 training modules, and to gain 30 MSc course credits.

All CPD students must attend the occupational hygiene practical workshop in person. If you are unable to attend the face-to-face component due to mitigating circumstances, you may be permitted to repeat this element in a subsequent year.

You are expected to provide their own transport and accommodation for the face-to-face practical workshop. Confirmation of attendance will be sought once you have applied for the course.

Additional opportunities

You also could get involved with our sister programmes in Public Health. We also run the Geneva Winter School, monthly public health journal clubs, the annual Festival of Public Health, an International Summer School, CPD events and our free open-access courses. If you are interested in further study for a PhD, our Integrated PhD pathway will enable you to combine your postgraduate taught course with a related PhD project in biology, medicine or health.

This is a blended learning course which is delivered using a combination of online and face to face workshop activities including:

• Online lectures, seminars and tutorials.
• Online texts and directed reading using online platforms, with access to core texts in The University of Manchester Library – one of the five National Research Research Libraries.
• Case studies and exercises.
• Video resources.
• Academic advising and personal tutorials.
• Online workshops.
• Semester 2 on campus 5-day practical workshop to reinforce practical aspects of exposure assessment and control, in particular relating to ventilation systems.

A learning structure with a recommended pace is in place throughout the course units, with specific deadlines for all summative assessments.

The course is delivered on a part-time blended learning basis over two semesters or approximately six months. 

You will use several assessed and non-assessed activities to develop key skills and expand your knowledge base. There are no written exams; assessment is based on assignments and other activities such as moderated discussion boards and group work.

Learning for each of the two units is assessed by:

• Formative self-assessment questions and online exercises.
• An extended summative assignment based on a case study.

Most of our students complete the CPD course part-time while working in a variety of job roles and industry sectors. Some students use their experience and qualification to help them to move into predominantly occupational health, occupational hygiene and occupational safety, health and environment roles.

This course is intended to give students the specific occupational exposure assessment and control skills to apply within their own professional setting, or to further their career in industrial or occupational hygiene.

Intercalating medical students from Manchester and elsewhere may take the MSc and these CPD elements if they are interested in careers in occupational health and industrial hygiene.