Hazard Control
Natural disasters, technical failures, chemical incidents, major fires – all these and other hazards pose a threat to people, property and the environment.
Successfully combating and preventing these dangers requires specialists with a high level of multidisciplinary expertise. This Bachelor’s degree course in Hazard Control provides a comprehensive education in issues of fire and accident prevention, the logistics of response to major incidents at home and abroad, chemical safety, and the assessment of environmental risks.
The broad-based engineering expertise and the practical skills students acquire during the course enable its graduates to assume specialist and leadership roles taking care of hazard control in civil protection and disaster and emergency response management, risk management and fire prevention in industry or elsewhere.
Your future career
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The multidisciplinary and application-centred nature of this degree course opens up a diverse range of careers to graduates. They include:
- Hazard prevention, disaster management or environmental risk management in state institutions
- Management roles in fire services
- Risk and occupational safety management in industry, transport or utilities or in hospitals/healthcare facilities
- Acting as assessors and providing expert opinions for insurers
- Providing services in the area of safety planning and consultancy (e.g. in architecture and engineering firms)
- Product development for manufacturers of firefighting equipment and safety technologies
- Specialist journalism and PR
- Management positions in international aid projects
Course content and structure
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The course’s first three semesters centre on fundamental principles in STEM subjects and a grounding in hazard control, relevant areas of psychology and sociology, measurement technology, business administration and logistics. In semester 4, students begin with more specific modules, including major incident and loss management, occupational safety, fire prevention, legal aspects of hazard control, building and energy engineering, risk assessment and prevention in relation to technical, chemical and physical hazards, and HR management.
We make sure our students get a real-world education by partnering with organisations such as Hamburg’s fire department, the German Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance, the THW (German Federal Agency for Technical Relief) and the fire protection engineering firm hhpberlin. In the course’s later stages, students can choose required elective modules to enhance their competencies in areas such as crisis intervention, operations abroad, or operational tactics.
You’ll spend your sixth semester doing an internship, and your seventh and (in accordance with the course’s standard duration) final semester writing your Bachelor thesis.
Your interests and skills
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You’ll have a firm basis for doing well in this course if you enjoy STEM subjects such as physics, maths, biology and chemistry. We’re looking for candidates who are keen to solve technical problems and like working in teams. We welcome applicants with experience of volunteering in first aid or volunteer fire brigades.
Interested – but not quite sure yet whether this is the right course for you? Our self-assessment test can help you make up your mind. Take it here: HAW Navigator
Admission requirements
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Higher education entrance qualification
You can apply directly for this course if you hold one of the following qualifications:
- Fachhochschulreife
- Allgemeine Hochschulreife
- Fachgebundene Hochschulreife (subject-specific HE entrance qualification)
- Meister*in (vocational qualification – master tradesperson)
- Fachwirt*in (certified specialist)
Applicants who do not hold a higher education entrance qualification but have completed vocational training (Berufsausbildung) and at least three years of subsequent work experience can apply under Section 38 of the Hamburg Higher Education Act, which sets out special provisions for these applicants (Besonderer Hochschulzugang für Berufstätige).
Find out more at Applying for a Bachelor's degree course / Selection criteria.
Pre-course experience
Students on this course are required to complete 13 weeks of pre-course experience. You don’t need to have completed it before you enrol, but you must have done so by the time you complete your second year of study. We strongly recommend that you fulfil this requirement before you begin the degree course.
International applicants
If you completed your schooling outside Germany and want to study here for a Bachelor’s degree, you need to hold an academic school-leaving qualification which entitles you to admission to higher education; that is, it needs to be comparable to a German Abitur or Fachhochschulreife. The organisation uni assist will check your certificates from school and any degree-level studies to establish comparability. Please note that you are also required to have proof of German at level C1 – for example, in the form of a TestDaF certificate – in order to apply for all Bachelor's degree courses (except Information Engineering).
You can find more information about HAW Hamburg’s application criteria at International applicants.
Application process
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We only accept online applications. Before applying, applicants must register with www.hochschulstart.de. During the application period (for the winter semester: 1 June–15 July) you can find the online application and detailed information about the application process on the Applying for a Bachelor's degree course page.
You can find information about the selection process and the numerus clausus (NC) from the previous semester here: Applying for a Bachelor's degree course/Selection criteria.
International applicants are also required to apply during the application period.
To make the process easier for you, we have compiled a step-by-step checklist: International applicants
Questions about selecting a course, applications, admissions and degree courses
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Applications and admissions
Student Admissions and Registration Office (Studierendensekretariat)
Stiftstraße 69, 20099 Hamburg (ground floor)
T +49.40.428 75-9898
studierendensekretariat (at) haw-hamburg (dot) de
Contact us with your questions about applications and admissions
The Information Point is open at the following times:
Monday–Thursday: 10:00 am–1:00 pm
Friday: closed
In-person office hours:
Thursday: 2:00 pm–4:00 pm
Telephone office hours:
Monday and Tuesday: 9:00 am–10:00 am
For general queries about HAW Hamburg degree courses and course choice
Student Counselling Team (Zentrale Studienberatung)
Stiftstraße 69, 1st floor, room 122
20099 Hamburg
T +49 40 42875 9110
Contact form
Office hours
Contact person for applicants with disabilities or chronic health conditions
Meike Butenob/Dieter Röh
Stiftstraße 69, Haus 3, room 37
Tel. +49.40.428 75-7220
inklusion (at) haw-hamburg (dot) de
Contact the department
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Specifically subject-related queries
Student advisor
Prof. Dr. Susanne Heise
Ulmenliet 20, room S 2.07, 21033 Hamburg
Tel.: + 49.40.428 75-6217
susanne.heise(@)haw-hamburg.de
Advice on practical experience:
Prof. Dr. Bernd Kellner
Tel.: +49 40 42875-6220
bernd.kellner(@)haw-hamburg.de
