Accredited OHS professional education: A step change for OHS capability (original) (raw)
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2010
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Occupational health and safety curricula: the factors that decide—an Australian experience
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Certification of occupational health and safety professionals: A comparison
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The introduction of Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 and its Regulations has come closer to achieving its objectives. Over the years, various strategies have been adopted and implemented at the national level to reduce the number of occupational accidents. One of the strategies is the training and development of competent health and safety professionals. Official job title for a person who is given the responsibility, authority and accountability to promote hazard-free working environments in his/her organisation differs from one country to the other. In this paper, the term 'health and safety professionals' (H&S professionals) will be used to denote those who have an appropriate qualification and professional experience in the field of occupational health and safety, and possess a certificate of registration from health and safety professional body. The term 'professionals' instead of 'practitioners' or 'officers' is chosen to acknowledge worldwide efforts by professional bodies in various countries to develop occupational health and safety as a profession. In this paper, we examined certification requirements for a few major professions before zooming in to discuss qualification requirements and methods of assessment for the UK, the US and Malaysia. Apparently, the requirements for the registration of H&S professionals in Malaysia are very minimal, lacked of details, and based on wrong assumptions about competence and professionalism. For example, by allowing those with a Diploma in Occupational Safety and Health to be registered as competent practitioners without having to gain valuable experience by working in the area of H&S, the policy assumes that qualification is equated to competence. This assumption is clearly against the arguments of Hedlund et al. (2003, p.121), Cheetham and Chivers (1998), and Schon (1983, p.51) about types of knowledge that are largely acquired through one's work experience such as tacit, procedural, and contextual knowledge. Another example, by requiring applicants to attend the two-week training course in H&S, the policy is against one of the pillar characteristics of a profession i.e. a specialised training or education of exceptional duration and perhaps of exceptional difficulty to acquire the high degree of generalised and systematic knowledge and skills [
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There have long been discussions on the professionality of occupational health and safety (OHS) and concerns about standards of practice, with the recognition of OHS as a profession further inhibited by lack of clarity on role and variations in terminology and principles underpinning practice. In 2013, the International Network of Safety and Health Practitioner Organisations (INSHPO) recognized the need for a global approach to reconceptualise OHS professionals as influential leaders who can work to integrate OHS within business processes. The Occupational Health and Safety Professional Capability Framework: A Global Framework for Practice was subsequently developed by this international body representing OHS professional associations across 10 countries with the outcome endorsed by 53 organisations at a ceremonial signing of the Singapore Accord. This paper reviews the development of the framework and the emergence of two clear roles; the OHS Professional and OHS Practitioner. It explores the process for clarifying the roles and required knowledge and skills together with the challenges experienced along the way. The paper recognises that the framework should not be a static document and so concludes by considering the work still to be done. 1.2. The starting point From the time of its establishment INSHPO set a priority on comparing and harmonising the roles and education of OHS Professionals
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Occupational safety and health education and training: an innovative format and experience
6th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'20), 2020
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International Journal of Vocational Education and Training Research, 2020
Effective health and safety training can contribute to a reduction of workplace accidents and assist employers to meet their health and safety legal obligations as prescribed by health and safety legislation. This paper considers the competency requirements for trainers of health and safety within the Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) context from a standards perspective. Currently, there are not specific specified requirements for these trainers, but rather generic requirements that apply to all trainers in the VET sector. An interpretive qualitative method utilizing observations based on a review of a range of sources, including published research, standards documents, general internet sources and industry publications is applied such that the health and safety training practices and environments in the VET sector are explored and described. Health and safety training, in order to be effective, warrants careful attention to the training environment, the training practices implemented and the skills and knowledge of the trainer. The role of standards for health and safety training, with ANSI/ASSE Z490.1-2016 and CAN/CSA Z1001-18b provided as examples, is considered and a these standards provide a basis for a proposed standardization for health and safety training practitioners in the Australian VET system. The findings offer inclusion of a specific training and assessment unit of competency in the TAE Training and Education Training Package to address the specific requirements for safety trainers, which then be used as a benchmark in the VET sector and by employers and industry. The paper, in conclusion, posits that inconsistent training practices and trainer qualifications could be minimized by utilizing a national, consensus-based standard on the training practices in health and safety training, which can be achieved through a competency specification.