Development of safety science in Chinese higher education

The results show that 1999 is a demarcation point for the development process of safety science in China. Until 2016, there are 183 higher education institutions established safety discipline with different research fields. The focus of safety professionals' cultivation has gradually expanded from technical competence to the promotion of comprehensive ability and quality. Influenced by economy, the number of universities establishing safety discipline decreased from southeast coast to central region, to western region, and its research fields are basically consistent with the local prop industries. Furthermore, in order to solve the main problem of single industrial research field of safety discipline, Chinese universities should propose new research directions, improve discipline contents and make further efforts to soften the industrial effect of safety discipline.