Foundations of System Safety Engineering (FSSE)

Introduction

This course is an introduction to the principles of system safety, including risk, basic terminology, and the main types of hazard and safety assessment techniques. It also provides an overview of a range of safety topics such as legal issues, and management of safety critical projects.

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

Identify safety risks and challenges from a wide range of sources associated with the entire lifecycle of complex systems and services
Communicate consistently and clearly about safety engineering and management issues in a manner appropriate for different industrial domains.
Demonstrate how legal and ethical issues applicable to real-world safety engineering problems can be addressed.
Describe how to design, execute and monitor an organisation’s safety management processes to achieve and maintain safety
Explain the scope and nature of systems engineering in the context of high safety risk industries

Indicative course content

This course will cover a range of topics including:

Introduction to safety critical systems engineering
The concept of risk
Ethics and legal frameworks
Systems thinking
Lifecycles and the relationship with safety techniques
Accident evolution and analysis
Safety management systems
Through-life safety

How will this course be taught?

This course is taught in a blended format. Course teaching will consist of three days of face-to-face sessions on campus, taking place from Tuesday to Thursday of the teaching week at the University of York. The on-campus teaching will include lectures as well as extensive group exercises where you will have the opportunity to apply what you have learned through case studies. Students will also be provided with self-study materials totalling up to 15 hours of study time. These materials will comprise of work to be completed before the on-campus sessions in York, and materials to be studied afterwards.

Following the taught element, students have an opportunity to complete an assessment. The assessment is completed remotely, and is expected to take around 65 hours to complete including additional reading. The assessment for this course comprises coursework and an online exam. The assessment is compulsory for students who require the module to be credited towards a degree award.

When will this course be taught?

The key dates for this course in the 2025/26 academic year are as follows:

Registration closes: Friday 05/09/2025

Preparatory materials released: Friday 19/09/2025

Face-to-face teaching: Tuesday 30/09/2025 - Thursday 02/10/2025

Booking conditions

Booking Conditions

Acceptance onto a short course is at the agreement of the course leader. They will want to assure themselves that you have the relevant level of background knowledge. You may therefore be asked to provide a CV detailing your knowledge / experience in particular areas.
Course fees quoted include all relevant course materials, tuition and examinations, lunch and refreshments.
A completed booking form with Purchase Order or payment is required no later than one month before the course starts, or immediately for bookings made within one month of the beginning of the course.
Fees are payable to The University of York.
Payment can also be made by credit or debit card.

Cancellations

We regret that a fee must be charged when confirmed bookings are cancelled or transferred to future dates. In the event of a cancellation, you may nominate a substitute
(acceptance of this substitution is subject to academic and availability conditions). If a suitable substitute cannot be found the following scale of charges will apply:

56 days or more before the programme starts ‐ full refund
55 days or less ‐ 50% refund
28 days or less ‐ 25% refund
14 days or less ‐ no refund

Transfers to a postgraduate award

Students who attend any short course(s), and subsequently choose to undertake a full MSc, Diploma or Certificate will be entitled to some credit of the fees already paid, which can be used towards the cost of the full award. The credit a student is entitled to is calculated as follows:

Module	Credit % of the fees already paid
1st module	85%
2nd module	75%
3rd module	70%
4th module	70%

You should apply for your chosen postgraduate award after taking no more than 40 credits of modules. All components, including modules taken as SCSE short courses, must be taken within a five year time period.

We reserve the right to amend published information.

Book your place

Before you make your booking, please ensure that you have read our booking conditions.

Please complete the Short Course Booking Form.

If your employer will be paying for your training and you would like us to raise an invoice, please complete the Short Course Payment Form.

To pay online by card payment please complete the Short Course Payment Form and make a payment online.

If you have any questions please contact cs-safety-courses@york.ac.uk.

Postgraduate awards

You can attend this module as a short course on a stand-alone basis. This module also forms part of the following postgraduate courses:

If you successfully complete the course and assessment your results can count towards the completion of the Masters, Diploma or Certificate award. To use the course towards a postgraduate award in this way, you must complete the assessment at the same time as you take the module (you will not be able to take the assessment at any other time). All components of your chosen postgraduate award, including modules taken as short courses, must be completed within a five year time period.

Contact us

MSc SCSE and Short Courses Team

cs-safety-courses @york.ac.uk