BASIC PRINCIPLES IN OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE

Day 5

22- CAREERS IN OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE

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 which may apply.• 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 environmental or biological sampling programmes.• 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

• the size and status of the organization.

• the management structure and culture.

• the calibre of staff employed.

• the services offered.

Quality systems may be formal or informal, and will be influenced by:

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; or

• 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.

Simple Development Exercises

• Attend a public meeting of a local authority to analyse how the debate is conducted and what type of arguments are effective.

• Give a presentation to a hostile audience on a sensitive health topic.

• Have someone track your use of time and give you feedback.

• Move from a small firm to a large one (or vice versa) to experience the cultural shift.