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1. Occupational Risk Assessment and Management
Occupational risk assessment and management is a systematic, standardized and evidence-based methodology used to identify and evaluate the risks within the working environment that can potentially harm the health of the working population. The assessment of the risk type, the severity, and the likelihood of adverse effects on the workers’ health or the occurrence of a workplace accident is a prerequisite to design and to implement the occupational risk management process to remove, control or mitigate the risk.
Occupational risk assessment outlines in a methodical and standardized way the different occupational risk categories (physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, organizational, and psychosocial) that are present in every workplace and takes into account the characteristics of each working environment and of the different occupational groups.
Occupational risk assessment and management is a legal obligation of the employer in every work setting in Greece according to chapter 43 of the law 3850/2010 in which all the duties and the contents of the risk assessment process are described. Occupational physicians and health and safety managers play an important role in the occupational risk assessment process in collaboration with the employer and the employees. Occupational risk assessment needs to be repeated periodically as it is an important tool in securing the health and safety of all the workers in every workplace.
2. Environmental Risk Assessment and Management
Environmental Risk Assessment is a scientific and systematic approach to identify and evaluate potential risks to the environment, which practically includes our surroundings.
Within the process of environmental risk assessment focus is placed on the collection and analysis of data related to the potential burden on the natural ecosystems. These mostly refer to data on physical and biological risk factors which interact with all living organisms. The disruption of the equilibrium between ecosystems and the living organisms may have adverse impacts on their health.
The scope of the environmental risk assessment process is the evaluation of the parameters affecting the balanced living within the environment, the likelihood of occurrence and the magnitude of risk using a specific methodology. The next step is the management of the identified risks which involves specific interventions to remove the risks or to mitigate the adverse effects.
The environmental risk assessment and management process is continuous and constantly evolving as it follows the evolution of the environmental systems and the living organisms. It consists of applying standardized evaluation procedures of the risk management measures and measuring their effectiveness.
3. Pharmaceutical Risk Assessment and Management
Risk assessment is a systematic methodology to identify risks and to measure the probability of the occurrence of adverse effects in a series of processes. In the line of producing, circulating, and using pharmaceutical products a series of potential risks may occur. The assessment and management of these risks is of utmost importance as the production and use of these products are directly linked with the health of humans and the health of the natural environment. The effectiveness of the risk assessment methodology and the adherence to the risk management measures and interventions heavily relies on the understanding of the risks by all the involved stakeholders in the chain of pharmaceutical production and medicinal use.
Within the framework of pharmaceutical risk assessment clinical trials, pharmacovigilance, industrial quality risk management, transportation and storage practices and guideline development for proper use and safe disposal of pharmaceutical products are included.
The sector of pharmaceutical production is constantly changing and rapidly evolving as the advancements in the health sciences and the study of population morbidity indicators is closely linked to the necessity of the effectiveness of the currently available medicines, the use of novel production technologies and the imperative need to develop new pharmaceutical products.

Health and Safety at Work - Risk assessment and management

The area of occupational health and safety and the risk assessment process refer to the health of employees, their well-being and safety in the workplace and it is an interdisciplinary area of work involving professionals from a wide range of scientific fields. Occupational health and safety policies and practices aim to reduce occupational exposures at work and consequently to reduce the frequency of occupational diseases and occupational accidents and to ensure a safe working environment.

Healthy and safe workers have a high sense of job satisfaction, are more efficient and actively contribute to increasing productivity and raising the socio-economic level of their country.

In the European Union, over 2 million accidents at work are recorded annually in the 28 Member States which are linked to a minimum absence of 4 days from work. More than 3,000 fatal occupational accidents are also recorded according to Eurostat data. The workforce is also affected by the presence of occupational diseases, since it is estimated that over 3 million workers in the EU are affected by an occupational disease or accident at work annually. In the context of protecting workers, the European Commission has adopted the Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work (2021-2027) setting out priorities and actions to promote workers' health and safety (https://osha. europa. eu/el/safety-and-health-legislation/eu-strategic-framework-health-and-safety-work-2021-2027).

The importance of health, safety and risk assessment at work, in the environment and in pharmaceutical activities became very clear during the COVID-19 pandemic when all occupational and population groups without exception faced new health challenges that shaped an imperative need to apply risk assessment procedures.

The MSc program in " Environmental, Occupational and Pharmaceutical Risk Assessment and Management" focuses on the targeted training of postgraduate students in risk assessment and management through a combination of theory and practical examples, presentation of methodological tools, documented implementation methodology in specific environments combined with systematic presentation and practice the academic skills of writing and implementing research protocols, conducting field work, scientific text writing.

Graduates of the MSc "Environmental, Occupational and Pharmaceutical Risk Assessment and Management" are employed in Occupational Health, Health and Safety, Public Health and Pharmacovigilance departments both in the Public and Private sectors. They are in high demand as they have a high level of specialized knowledge and skills in the field of risk assessment and management. It has also been noted that a significant number of course graduates collaborate dynamically and provide scientific and teaching to the program. As such, they form a link between academia and the various work environments which secured the continuous renewal and update of the course teaching content.

MSc Environmental, Occupational and Pharmaceutical Risk Assessment and Management

Health and Safety at Work - Risk assessment and management

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