BASIC PRINCIPLES IN OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE

BASIC PRINCIPLES IN OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE Day 5

22- CAREERS IN OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE

Education and Training

Organisation of Occupational Hygiene Services • The size and resources of the employing organisation. • The need for specialist expertise. • The availability of outside help.

Role of Occupational Hygienist • Know the workplaces, plant, processes, materials, sources of exposure and people involved • Know the legal requirements • Be well versed in the recognition of potential health hazards and their association with disease or discomfort • Understand the derivation of the accepted hygiene standards • Design appropriate workplace or biological sampling programmes

Role of Occupational Hygienist • Select, purchase, calibrate and maintain appropriate field equipment • Carry out surveys of the workplace and be aware of the limitations of such surveys • Evaluate the risk to health by using his professional judgment and with reference to reliable hygiene standards • Apply statistical treatment to the data obtained • Store and retrieve data as necessary • Assess control methods by observation and measurement • Recommend new or improved control measures to management

Role of Senior Occupational Hygienist • Formulating occupational hygiene policies and standards • Auditing and monitoring the effectiveness of the policies • Risk assessment of new processes, by scrutinising materials, plant designs etc. and anticipating problems • Educating and training management and workforce in occupational hygiene • Supervision and professional development of hygiene staff • Management of an occupational hygiene laboratory • Quality assurance of hygiene measurements and programmes

Further Roles of Hygienists • Coordinating data for standard setting • Serving on national and international committees • Liaison with many national scientific, industrial and academic bodies • Commissioning or conducting research • Producing guidance on the whole spectrum of prevention and control issues • Drafting and reviewing legislation

Quality Assurance Quality systems may be formal or informal, and will be influenced by: • the size and status of the organization • the management structure and culture • the calibre of staff employed • the services offered

Hygienists as a Manager • Managing occupational hygiene programmes - designing programmes, planning their implementation, conducting and monitoring them • Managing a hygiene service - either in-house or as a consultancy, with responsibility for staff, budgeting etc. • Being part of a company's management team, advising line managers on specialised hygiene matters to meet the needs of the business • Changing careers - moving into an area such as marketing or line management on the strength of the abilities acquired through practising as a hygienist

The Effectiveness of a Hygienist It may involve: • influencing employees to use the control measures provided properly • supervising other hygiene staff to perform optimally • influencing managers to make or support decisions

Key Skills • Executive & administrative skills such as setting objectives, planning, supervision, problem solving, decision making, time management, delegation, budgeting and auditing • People management skills including recruitment interviewing, training and development of staff, counselling, disciplinary interviewing, team building, leadership and motivation • Communication skills like report writing, making presentations and public speaking, handling meetings, persuasion (or selling) and negotiation

Join a Society • Established occupational hygiene societies in nearly 30 countries • Conferences, newsletters, websites • Get involved • Arrange/attend local meetings • Join internet forum • Give presentations • Find a mentor

Ethics • Safeguard health and well-being of the workforce • Responsibilities to employer, client, general public • Confidentiality of data • Conflicts of interest and loyalties • Junior staff when senior expected • Professional bodies have written Codes of Ethics

BASIC PRINCIPLES IN OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE