I have to say I have NEVER met ANY Health & Safety Officer/Advisor (who did not hold appropriate nursing qualifications also) who would describe him/herself as an Occupational Health Practitioner! My experience is that while they see themselves as Health & Safety Parishioners they recognise their limitations - and they fully recognise that OH is a complex and highly qualified profession. If there is a problem out there perhaps it should be raised with the Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (most H&S Practitioners worth their salt are members)
Mary.
Mary J. Clayton.
Medical/Health & Safety Advisor.
Mono Pumps Limited.
Martin Street.
Audenshaw.
Manchester M34 5JA.
Tel: +44(0)161-214-2221 (Direct Line)
Email: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
-----Original Message-----
From: Amanda Dowson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 04 February 2004 13:19
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Occupational Health structure
I agree with your perception Kate and, as you know, have concerns about
those Health and Safety Officers who call themselves Occupational Health
Practitioners because they have an interest in the field, not
qualifications.
I do think that in many cases each person we come into contact with has a
snapshot of what we as OH professionals do, and what our priorities should
be. Safety officers obviously have a vested interest in safety issues and
feel that our priorities should lie in that direction, HR have a vested
interest in absence management etc. Even one of the most enlightened safety
officers have commented to me that they think HR are monopolising OH and
misusing the service to manage their sickness absence.
Is there an issue of not knowing what they don't know? (or whatever Donald
Rumsfeld's most unplain English quote was!) and within our vision for 2010
and beyond we, as OH specialists, should be seeking to bridge this knowledge
gap for a greater understanding of occupational health related issues
amongst all of our stakeholders.
Amanda
-----Original Message-----
From: Kate Venables
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 04 February 2004 12:52
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Occupational Health structure
I agree with the comments about the undesirability of reporting through
Safety. In many NHS organisations, and some others, Safety reports
through OH. This seems to me much more logical because trained OPs and
OHAs have had many years more of postgraduate training and also have a
breadth of outlook which few Safety Officers share. Many OH staff have
H&S qualifications but no H&S staff. I have met safety officers who
believe that changing their job title from safety officer to H&S officer
gives them authority to deal with all OH issues - it illustrates the
shallowness of their backgrounds, in many cases. We are used to
treating problems in the round and advising both employees and managers.
In my experience, safety officers see themselves as advising only
management. We are also used to providing ad hoc professional opinions
based on experience and knowledge, whereas Safety Officers only
interpret the law. This can lead to a narrowly legalistic view that
OH&S is simply legal compliance. It follows from that view that the
place of OH is in the consulting room dealing with legal compliance
issues such as health surveillance.
I also think that many of my colleagues in HSE, both policy and
operational, are not aware of the mushrooming of H&S posts. Some HSE
colleagues see things as safety (accident prevention) versus OH
(prevention of wr ill-health) and cannot understand why OH people are
fussing. We are fussing because people with no qualifications or
background in OH are claiming virtually the whole of OH as theirs. Some
HSE colleagues think that H&S officers cost less than OH, so it is an
initiative which should be supported as a way of getting OH to larger
numbers. But no - in many organisations, the unqualified H&S staff are
paid more than the majority of the OH staff. Other HSE staff have a
concept of the "H&S manager" basically a lay manager to whom safety and
OH report. I am afraid that this animal does not exist, in my
experience. (S)he is either a H&S officer, or an OHA or OP. The best
ones, in my experience, have been OHAs or OPs.
Rant over - Kate
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