The history of talent cultivation in (occupational) safety and health at the CULR can be traced back to the 1950s, when labor protection training was conducted for cadres nationwide under the guidance of labor protection experts from the Soviet Union. In 1984, CULR established the Department of Labor Protection Management, becoming one of the earliest higher education institutions in the country to set up departments related to (occupational) safety and health. In 2002, CULR was approved by the Ministry of Education to establish a special program in "Occupational Health and Safety", initiating full-time undergraduate talent cultivation.

In September 2005, CULR established the Department of Safety Engineering and launched the undergraduate program in "Safety Engineering (Occupational Safety Management)". In September 2007, with the increasing number of sudden public incidents in China and the urgent need for emergency management talents, CULR added the direction of "Safety Engineering (Public Safety Management)". In 2016, the talent cultivation for "Master of Public Administration (Public Safety Management)" in this specialization began.

In 2010, the Department of Safety Engineering added the direction of "Safety Engineering (Occupational Health)" and became a pioneer in talent cultivation for "Occupational Health Engineering". In March 2019, approved by the Ministry of Education, the undergraduate program in "Occupational Health Engineering" was established for the first time in CULR, making the school the first in the country to offer this program. This new undergraduate program fills the gap in talent cultivation for "primary prevention of occupational hazards" in China.

In April 2019, CULR established the School of Safety Engineering. In 2020, with the approval of the Ministry of Education, the major, Emergency Technology and Management, was introduced. Currently, the school offers three majors: Safety Engineering, Occupational Health Engineering, and Emergency Technology and Management.

In June 2022, the Safety Engineering major was approved as a "National First-Class Undergraduate Major Construction Site".

So far, the School of Safety Engineering has formed a teaching team with 30 teachers, including 7 professors, 8 associate professors, and 14 postdocs, with around 500 students.