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A good OHS is a teaching as well as a learning OHS. Criteria for this

particular OHS quality should be formulated and added to the
certification criteria of OHSs, in countries where there exists such a
system, or where the introduction of OHS certification is considered.
Education and training of the own professionals is not an arbitrary
policy choice of an OHS. It is a critical condition for good quality of
services. Many OHS acknowledge the importance of education and
training, and make annual budget reservations for this purpose.

Education and training of professionals are key activities for OHSs.

Perhaps this is the most promising strategy for maintenance and
improvement of professional quality.

4.4 Competencies

Effectiveness of occupational health services depends on a number of

factors. In addition, it may be assessed from several standpoints. In
many countries the views of customers and clients are now considered
to be important, as well as those of the professionals providing
services. We must consider, also, the effectiveness of occupational
health services in meeting national health agendas.

Occupational health services operate at the interface between the

health care sector and the management of organizations, or
enterprises. This means that the assessment of competencies within a
service must focus on both clinical and non-clinical performance.
Being competent means being capable of performing required tasks.
Any quality assurance system for an occupational health service must
ensure that the staff has the requisite knowledge, skills and
experience, both individually and collectively, to carry out their tasks
competently and consistently. In a continually changing world, it is
necessary to review competencies on a regular basis, to ensure that
they are relevant to, and sufficient for, the activities of the service.

Historically, professional competencies have been determined by

academic standard-setting organizations, in relative isolation from the
customers of services. The ethos has been that the professionals know
best. This is no longer tenable. Competencies must be determined
such that occupational health professionals can meet the challenges of
the twenty-first century. The demands of cost–, as well as clinical–,