Safety Center at Keene State College

According to the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) there are three common attributes that are required of a professional in any field, including the safety profession.   Professionals have mastered an identifiable body of knowledge.  Professionals have acquired specific skills.  Professionals also have sufficient experience to act with wisdom and responsibility.  While professionals may rely on a variety of laws, regulations and standards, they must be able to deal with situations for which there are no laws, regulations and standards.  Professionals provide advice and serve as reliable resources for others.

The Safety Studies program at Keene State has been very successful over the past several years.  Working to develop partnerships with industry and professional organizations, the Safety program has made new laboratory space and equipment available to students.  This has been successful because of a strong commitment by the KSC administration to the program.  This has led to a win-win situation for regional industries and the Safety Studies program.

Recognizing the extreme importance of providing experiential learning situations for students in professional programs the Safety program has worked to foster a large network of companies that provide internships for Safety Majors.  While numbers vary, the two past years have seen the Safety program sponsor an average of sixty internships per year.  This surpasses the combined total of all other internship programs on campus.

The students have the opportunity to work in a wide variety of industrial facilities.  Some facilities have a large professional safety program with highly developed safety schemes.  However, other smaller organizations have safety programs that are a collateral duty of various department supervisors or managers.  Situations like the latter provide an opportunity for students to fuse their formal Safety education with the on-the-job experience of company management.  In many cases the product is a formal written Safety program developed jointly by the intern and the company.

The pay received by interns varies widely.  Some businesses are able to reward the students with a rate of pay very close to that of a professional, while other organizations are not able to pay but provide an excellent learning experience for the student.  Examples include the Monadnock Worksource and Wyman Way Co-Op, a sheltered workshop in the city of Keene and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).  In some organizations students from the Safety Studies program, under the supervision of faculty, provide formal training to the staff and the workers.  In addition, over a period of years students have designed and maintained written safety programs.

Historically the Safety Studies program has aided in the development of many safety programs in the region.  In the 1990’s, new laws passed by the New Hampshire legislature required that all companies with five or more employees must have an employee safety committee as well as a written safety program.  The Safety Studies faculty worked with the Cheshire County Safety Consortium to develop and provide training for all safety committees of the consortium members.  This training was provided free of charge as a public service.  This type of partnership has developed into a wealth of opportunities for Safety majors to work as interns with these companies.  In addition to private industry Keene State Safety Majors have worked with several state agencies as well as with federal OSHA.

Some of the businesses that have employed student interns include: Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, Lockheed Sanders, Timken Corporation, Markem Corporation, Kingsbury Corporation, Velcro, Textron, Boston University Medical Center, etc.

It is difficult to name only a few businesses when are there are over 100 different sites where Keene State College Safety majors have completed internships.

KSC currently has more than 250 Safety Majors and has graduates in safety-related jobs across the nation and several countries abroad.  Standards and technologies change quickly, and Keene State officials are determined that their lab and classroom facilities keep pace. (continued)

The College has worked hard to maintain its leadership in the safety field.  A five-year initiative was designed to provide the latest equipment for our facility.  This resulted in the creation of The Safety Center at Keene State College located in Butterfield.  With the help of corporate sponsors, professional organizations, and our alumni, safety studies students become acquainted with the most current technological developments in the field.

Many businesses depend on Keene State graduates for the safety of their employees and customers - and for their corporate well being.  Occupational and consumer product safety are integral components for the survival of companies in today’s world economy.  With the opening of the new Safety Center, students work with the latest innovation in safety technology.  The Safety Center at Keene State College now houses new Industrial Hygiene Laboratories and Research Facilities, new Driving Simulators that can be programmed for industrial training, a new Ergonomics Lab, a Ventilation Laboratory and a new Construction Safety Lab containing a Dräger Confined Space Training Gallery.  With the addition of new facilities The Safety Center at Keene State College now participates in research grants with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Justice and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The Safety Studies major at Keene State is designed to provide a liberal education that prepares students for a variety of safety-related positions in industry, government, and the private sector.