The Joint Education and Training committee of the BOHS, IOH and BEBOH – a discussion on the future of occupational hygiene education and training in the UK

This paper begins by drawing a clear distinction between the principles of occupational hygiene, which may be used by many occupational safety and health practitioners, and the profession of occupational hygiene. A new definition of occupational hygiene, which focuses on the objective of promoting health by intervention in the workplace, is proposed.

Occupational hygiene professionals should be able to carry out a wide range of activities allied to this objective, from recognizing factors which may affect workers’ health to setting priorities for risk management. A description of the competence of a professional hygienist, based on a document produced by the World Health Organization, is presented. The interaction between the various occupational safety and health practitioners is explored and the increasing interaction between the different skill groups recognized. The changing pattern of hazards in the workplace and the changing role of the hygienist are also discussed. In particular, the necessity for hygienists to develop management skills is highlighted.

The paper concludes that occupational hygiene education and training must reflect the changing hazards in the workplace and the current approaches to the management of the risks.