Industrial Relations (IDRL) 308

Overview

Industrial Relations 308: Occupational Health and Safety examines issues of life and death on the job within their political and economic contexts. The course is intended to provide both academic and practical information about health and safety issues for human resource and labour relations practitioners.

An extensive amount of scientific and technical knowledge has been amassed in the field of occupational health and safety. Nevertheless, conflicts among practitioners and scholars, on even the most basic questions, persist.

These conflicts reflect the diverging interests of workers and employers in the employment relationship that have been superimposed on the inevitable scientific disagreements. Some of these disagreements are legitimate; others involve attempts to use scientific argument as a cloak for policy decisions about the value that should be attached to preserving life and maintaining health on the job.

Outline

Unit 1: Occupational Health and Safety: An Orientation

Unit 2: Law, Politics, and Economics

Unit 3: Implementation of Occupational Health and Safety

Unit 4: Science, Politics, and Economics

Unit 5: Enforcement of Occupational Heath and Safety

Evaluation

To receive credit for IDRL 308, you must complete three written assignments, write a final examination, achieve a minimum grade of D (50%) or better on the final examination and obtain an overall grade of at least “D” (50 percent) on the entire course. The weighting of the composite course grade is as follows:

The final examination for this course must be taken online with an AU-approved exam invigilator at an approved invigilation centre. It is your responsibility to ensure your chosen invigilation centre can accommodate online exams. For a list of invigilators who can accommodate online exams, visit the Exam Invigilation Network.

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.