History of the development of the Department of Technosphere and Environmental Safety and its contribution to improving occupational safety in railway transport

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to trace the formation and development of the Department of Technosphere and Environmental Safety over 75 years of its existence and assess the contribution of its staff to the development of the science of occupational safety, environmental protection, and the training of occupational health and safety specialists for Russian enterprises. Materials and methods: Archival documents of PGUPS and activity reports of the Department were reviewed. Findings: For the first time, this paper presents the stages of the Department’s formation, from an associate professorship in safety engineering and fire safety equipment to a department with highly qualified personnel, material resources and technologies for solving challenging scientific problems and high-quality training of students. Practical significance: Based on the study of archival materials, memoirs of the Department’s long-timer members, and reports, the stages of the Department formation were reconstructed. The collected materials allow for preserving the memory of the employees who made the greatest contribution to the development of the Department, its scientific activity and scholarly works. The contribution of the Department to the training of qualified university graduates is assessed.