The SIA was founded by a small group of students who enrolled in and attended the first industrial safety and accident prevention course conducted by Melbourne Technical College in 1948.
After completing the course, the group of students collaborated to form the nucleus of the Safety Engineering Society of Australia, and held regular monthly meetings.
Membership of the society expanded steadily in the early years of its existence, reaching a point where eventually every state had formed a division, affiliated with the federal body.
With time, it became apparent that the term "safety engineering" in the society's name had an implied bias and emphasized only one of the many disciplines associated with the effective control of accidents, injuries and diseases.
Some of the notable people who carried forward the aims and objectives of the society at that time were Eric Wigglesworth, Samuel Barclay, Sol Freedman, Frank Kuffer, Roger Smith, Cip Corva, Hilton Ludekens and Fred Catlin.