Technical Safety Systems (SAM610)

This course is designed for master students that want to understand measures and arrangements that prevent dangerous situations to develop into accidents or how we can reduce the damages if accidents occur.

What will you learn?

  • Protection of critical infrastructure: From small technical systems to national safety and security systems.
  • Technical safety systems: Explore systems designed for safety and learn how safety is integrated into technological solutions.

Why choose this course?

  • Relevance at all levels: Gain insights into safety at the micro, meso, and macro levels.
  • Practical and theoretical knowledge: Combine theory with practical skills that are needed in today’s society.
  • Tailored for master’s students: Acquire advanced knowledge and skills that can be applied in your future career.


Course description for study year 2025-2026. Please note that changes may occur.

Facts

Course code

SAM610

Version

1

Credits (ECTS)

10

Semester tution start

Autumn

Number of semesters

1

Exam semester

Autumn

Language of instruction

English, Norwegian

Offered by
Time table

View course schedule

Content

NB! This is an elective course and may be cancelled if fewer than 10 students are enrolled by August 20th for the autumn semester.

Emphasis is put on protection of critical infrastructure in society and other areas in which technical safety systems are important, which could be defined on all levels; micro, meso and macro levels. Systems theory, design philosophy, engineering and system requirements, loads, performance of emergency response arrangements (for example reliability, effectiveness, vulnerability), emergency preparedness and response phases (monitoring, detection/alarm, combat, search and rescue, evacuation and normalisation/business continuity) and risk are all important aspects of how technical safety systems are constructed and operated. The interaction between humans, organisations and the technical safety systems, and the interactions between different systems will be emphasized. Deterministic and probabilistic design principles for engineering technical safety systems are important for the project work. The project work will either consist of a critical assessment of existing or detailed designed systems, or the work will be oriented towards design of new systems. The students' backgrounds are important for choice of projects, and the course will enhance in depth studies of relevant technical safety systems.

Learning outcome

Students shall after finished course be able to:

  • evaluate design principles for technical safety systems
  • analyse risk, vulnerability and emergency performance in relation to technical response arrangements
  • create design solutions adapted to production and safety targets
  • understand how to deal with complex interactions between systems, organisations and humans
  • understand systems theory and systems thinking in design and operation of technical safety systems

Required prerequisite knowledge

None

Recommended prerequisites

RIS520 Technical Safety, SAM510 Risk Based Management
The teaching is based on basic knowledge in risk and vulnerability analysis, for example SAM510 Risk based management, and bachelor within an engineering discipline. The teaching should be seen in conjunction with RIS520 Technical safety.

Exam

Form of assessment Weight Duration Marks Aid
Oral exam 1/1 Letter grades None permitted

The oral exam (up to an hour) will include a presentation of the project work, which shall be orally defended in light of the course's curriculum (individual or group)

Coursework requirements

Compulsory assignment

The student shall conduct a project work that will be presented as a (scientific) article. The project work shall be granted pass, to provide access to oral exam.

The following requirements are mandatory in order to get the project work evaluated:

  • Candidates must, to scheduled deadlines, hand in a 1st and a 2nd draft project report and participate in guidance sessions based on the drafts.
  • Candidates must select at least three scientific articles on the basis of a documented literature search. The selected articles must be relevant to and applied in the project work.
  • Candidates must design the project work in order to incorporate central parts of the subject's curriculum. The students shall incorporate systems theory and model for safety management into the project work.
  • Candidates must, to a scheduled deadline, hand in the final project report, which must be granted pass to provide access to oral exam.
  • Participate in all student presentations.

Course teacher(s)

Course coordinator:

Ove Njå

Head of Department:

Tore Markeset

Method of work

Seminars, projects, report writing

Overlapping courses

Course Reduction (SP)
Technical safety (MOS260_1) 10

Open for

Open to all students associated with a master's program at the Faculty of Science and Technology.

Course assessment

There must be an early dialogue between the course supervisor, the student union representative and the students. The purpose is feedback from the students for changes and adjustments in the course for the current semester.In addition, a digital course evaluation must be carried out at least every three years. Its purpose is to gather the students experiences with the course.

Literature

Search for literature in Leganto