On the 140th anniversary of the
National Technical University
«Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute»
The establishment and development of the department began with events that took place much earlier.
Back in 1882, at the congress of the Southern Society of Technologists, professor V. L. Kirpichov gave a presentation entitled “Precautionary measures when handling machines and drives.” Later, after the Kharkiv Technological Institute was established in 1885, its first director, V. L. Kirpichov (1885-1898), prepared and personally taught students a course on “Factory Hygiene,” in which he addressed occupational safety issues.
Over the following decades, as a result of intensive industrial development in the early and mid-20th century, attention to occupational safety issues continued to grow. Some academic disciplines covered specific issues related to the safety of technological processes and the operation of industrial equipment and machinery. However, an urgent task arose to establish a specialized department that would summarize existing approaches to improving working conditions for employees and provide systematic knowledge on occupational safety. Therefore, in 1963, a specialized department of “Occupational Safety” was established, which began teaching general disciplines such as “Occupational Safety” and “Industrial Construction” for various departments throughout the university.
The department was initially located in the Technology Building, then on the 12th floor of Building U-1, and is now located in the Main Auditorium Building.
The first head was associate professor S. S. Naumov, who led the department from 1963 to 1970.
Students who graduated from the institute in those years remembered well the first teachers of the department: associate professors, candidate of technical sciences Y. I. Asnin and F. K. Zamnius, senior lecturers and assistants I. V. Denderin, L. G. Kasatkina, L. M. Belyaeva.
N. P. Vershynina
Given the numerous scientific achievements in this field, a postgraduate program in occupational safety was launched at the department in 1965. The work of postgraduate students was supervised by associate professor Y. I. Asnin, an expert in the field of heat transfer and thermal insulation. The first postgraduate student of the department was N. P. Vershynina, who, after defending her dissertation, worked fruitfully at the department for many years.
From 1970 to 1983, the department was headed by associate professor O. D. Pryvalov. It was during this period that experienced lecturers, candidates of technical sciences V. V. Roshchupkin, S. D. Masterov, and associate professor V. I. Keis, who were highly qualified specialists in the field of electrical and fire safety, noise and vibration protection, etc., joined the department. The department is also joined by candidates of technical sciences M. M. Latysheva, L. M. Chunikhina, M. A. Piyukov, T. S. Bondarenko, I. M. Sapunov, L. F. Shamshaya, and G. V. Medvedev.
 professor L. M. Chunikhina |
 professor T. S. Bondarenko |
 professor L. F. Shamsha |
 А. К. М. Eyam-Berdiev |
 lecturer G. G. Valenko |
At the same time, Y. S. Zair-Bek, a specialist in environmental protection with a PhD in technical sciences, moved from the State Research Institute NIOCHIM to work at the department. This has undoubtedly given impetus to the development of another promising area, namely environmental safety. The department is stepping up its work on environmental protection.
Young and promising assistants V. V. Berezutsky and O. M. Dreval defend their candidate dissertations during this period and later become leading lecturers at the department.
Head of Department O. D. Pryvalov has succeeded in creating a creative atmosphere and consolidating the department staff. Thanks to the department’s strong scientific and pedagogical potential, scientific and methodological work is being intensified, methodological and laboratory facilities are being improved, and training laboratories for occupational safety and ecology are being created. It was during this period that the foundations of methodological work were laid-teaching materials for conducting classes were published, and the instrumental base for practical and laboratory work on occupational safety and environmental protection was prepared, on which all subsequent generations of teachers were trained.
In 1970, associate professor Y. M. Madievsky, candidate of medical sciences, joined the department. He was the founder of the scientific field and discipline of “Ergonomics.” His group included candidates of medical sciences A. A. Krivova and A. K. M. Eyam-Berdiev, as well as young assistants G. G. Valenko, V. O. Lyapun, A. Y. Fomin, and O. S. Khilko. In 1972, Yu. M. Madievsky defended his doctoral dissertation, and in the summer of 1973, he tragically died in the mountains. The scientific achievements of Y. M. Madievsky’s group continue to be useful and relevant today, and his educational and scientific works on ergonomics have not lost their practical significance.
It should be noted that during this period, game-based teaching methods, initiated by associate professor G. V. Medvedev, were widely introduced at the department. Associate professors N. P. Vershynina and M. M. Latysheva were among the first at KhPI to complete an advanced training course in Kyiv on these teaching methods. As a result of fruitful educational and methodological work, the department staff developed an original two-volume methodological manual approved by the Ministry of Education of Ukraine on the use of a set of active teaching methods in the course “Occupational Safety and Environmental Protection,” which repeatedly won second and third places in university methodological development competitions.