Citation

Jiang C, Zeng M, Cao Y, Bi Y, Wang L, Wang Y. Safety Sci. 2019; 116: 137-148.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ssci.2019.03.005

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The discipline of safety science was first included into the scope of disciplines in Mainland China about 40 years ago. Up to now, it has developed into a first-level discipline. Safety science had a rapid development in China between 1980s and 1990s thanks to the availability of enabling environments and driving forces, both macroscopically and microscopically, such as high attention paid to work safety by the government, the establishment of three-level academic degree education system of higher education, the establishment of national academic societies of safety science, the unprecedented thriving of diversified academic thoughts, the presence of colleges and universities dedicated to high-risk industries, and the specific discipline management systems then in Mainland China and the strong supports from the talents of various aspects. However, the sustainable and healthy development of this discipline is retarded in some ways from the middle and later periods of 1990s due to various factors, such as too much focus on specific industrial safety issues by higher education institutions, the pains coming from the management system reform of higher education institutions, the counteraction of deviation of practical working mode to the research and teaching of safety science, the conflict between the multiple subdivision of safety demands and the limited training capacity of colleges and universities, and the weakening of the direct support from academic societies, etc. Judged from the current situation, the deep reforms of safety regulation system and the emergency management system that were initiated by the central government from the beginning of 2018 will inevitably lead to profound changes in safety practice patterns, which will further promote the combination of safety science with emergency management, the internal integration and differentiation of the discipline of safety science while at the same time making it more urgent to establish and improve the general discipline theory system and bringing more new challenges. It seems that the only way to develop and improve the discipline of safety science better and faster is to see safety researchers and practitioners cooperating more closely, making full use of the pushing force of practical demand while following the inherent rules of safety science and disciplines.

Language: en

Keywords

Discipline; History; Logic; Safety science; Trend