IMPACT OF CHANGES IN THE ORGANIZATION OF WORK ON QUALITY OF LIFE

Guidance for Occupational Health Services in Medical Centers

That Occupational Health is a neglected field is a fact that has been discussed, deliberated and debated upon for many decades. In a developing country like India, where priorities in the delivery of preventive health services – whether publicly driven or privately promoted – the attention has always been focussed on several other aspects of public health including maternal and child health, family planning, infectious diseases and more recently non-communicable diseases. Occupational Health has always been given the short shrift – not only in the teaching of the subject at universities but also in the practice of medicine in hospitals. Authors have for long lamented about the absence of occupational history in patient records and the importance of the same. Evidently not much heed has been paid to Ramazzini’s circa 1700 plea to add that one more question: what occupation does he (the patient) follow? The International Labour Organisation identifies occupational health and safety as “the discipline dealing with the prevention of work-related injuries and diseases as well as the protection and promotion of the health of workers”. This definition lands the specialty directly into the laps of community health/medicine practitioners or those who were previously referred to specialists in “preventive and social medicine”. This term, probably, more accurately describes the mandate of a modern-day occupational health practitioner – if not elsewhere in the world, in developing nations. In India, wherever reference to Occupational Health is made in academic circles, it is considered to be the domain of Community Medicine – a subject that is a mandatory part of the course work leading to the award of the undergraduate MBBS degree. It was not surprising then that the Ross Institute of Occupational Health (a Unit of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) relocated from the tea-growing region of Jorhat in the state of Assam in Northeast India to the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine at St. John’s Medical College, Bangalore in South India. Though the exact reasons for this shift have been unclear, it was at the behest of South Indian plantations that a three-cornered link was created between the United Planters’ Association of Southern India (UPASI), the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine (now Community Health), St John’s Medical College (SJMC), Bangalore and the Ross Institute, London. The Occupational Health Unit (Ross Institute Unit of Occupational Health) was established at SJMC in July 1974. Fifty years ago, it was the first medical college with a division devoted to the health of the working population. During the initial years of its functioning, most of the work centered around the plantations in South India and to a smaller extent the agricultural sector in the rural field practice area of the College. This Unit went into decline within the first decade of its establishment – there are a number of reasons attributed to this fall; foremost among them being the loss of key personnel at all three organizations involved in the pioneering partnership. The Unit became practically non-functional in 1984. Following its resurrection, the Division is still one of the few providing occupational health services in any of the 700 medical colleges in the country. Almost fifteen years later, in 1997, it was serendipity that drew the author to the plantation sector. The focus of the health care services in the Estate Hospitals were on the provision of medical facilities for labouring mothers and their children; and on the provision of mandated housing, water supply and environmental sanitation. The health and welfare audits were initiated and developed with a focus on the preventive and promotive health services that were being provided by the Medical Officers of the tea estates. These are required by the Plantation Labour Act that governs the health and welfare services in the plantation sector. The concentration was on the provision of primary health care. These audits helped identify lacunae in the existing systems and provided solutions to the estate management. Over the years, the estates have ensured that health promotion, disease prevention and standards of treatment of common illnesses were maintained at the highest possible level. Despite facing challenges like falling prices of South Indian tea in the international auctions, the emigration of skilled workforce to other sectors and the immigration of uninitiated employees from East and Northeast India – the estates have succeeded in maintaining their superior primary health care indicators. The focus has now shifted to health and safety at the workplace. While initially these audits have been voluntarily employed by a few plantation companies to monitor the progress of their health services, others have also followed suit and ensured that the health, safety and welfare of the employees and their families are well taken care of. With decreasing absenteeism and the consequent improved productivity, companies have recognized the value of investing in the health of their employees. In the apparel manufacturing sector, the importance of investing in the health and welfare of employees was brought into focus in the 1990s by the growing concept of corporate social responsibility and was a direct reaction to the newfangled incursion of social compliance audits. This entire situation was an outcome of the outcry of university-going youth in the western world to the atrocious working conditions of employees in vendor factories in the global south manufacturing apparel for popular brands. The Department’s involvement started with the Occupational Health Services Division (no longer the Ross Institute Unit of Occupational Health) facilitating the establishment of functional crèches, canteens and clinics (3 Cs) for factories belonging to one large corporate organization in Bangalore. This caught the attention of international not-for-profit organizations which soon established links with the Occupational Health Services Division. Investing in the 3 Cs and promoting the health of employees through a peer education model were pioneering interventions that have found worldwide acceptance – thanks to the reach of our international partners. In recent years, the focus of our attention has shifted to the mental health of employees (and staff and management) – the investment in training and support provided to “lay counsellors” is already providing rich dividends to factories. Currently, research on the return-on-investment of these interventions is in progress. While dabbling with other occupational sectors, our third most significant sector has been the health care system. Starting with our own institution – St. John’s Medical College and its allied establishments (Hospital, Nursing College and Research Institute) employ more than 4000 individuals. The Staff Clinic is the fulcrum around which all the interventions are provided which include training in hospital health and safety, clinical services (care during acute illness and preventive health care including vaccinations) and environmental checks. “No survey without service” has been a long-standing dictum of the Department. In keeping with this, the published studies emanating from the Occupational Health Services Division have been rather muted. The reluctance of managements of our partnering companies to permit dissemination of data has also played its role in the relative paucity of published papers. Even so, small studies have been conducted and published – more in national and regional journals (where they are more relevant) and also in international publications. Our experiences over the past 25 years indicate that the initial focus on primary health care services makes for a better investment before moving on to occupational health and safety interventions. The faculty associated with the Occupational Health Services Division have made conscious efforts to teach Occupational Health to the undergraduate and postgraduate students – with specific focus on the lessons learnt in the field. Exposure visits to factories, plantations, mines and other work settings have given emphasis on the importance of occupational health and the impact of occupational exposures on health outcomes among employees. In a country where trained occupational health physicians are a rare breed, it is hoped that the training imparted to a small group of students will have a ripple-effect – calling to attention other medical colleges where the focus on the domain is poor. Simultaneously, drawing the attention of existing health care providers to basic occupational health services at the primary health care level both in the private and public health sectors through training programmes at the provincial level is the way forward.

ObjectiveHigh quality and effective occupational health service (OHS) is heavily dependent on smart use and analysis of data. To provide OHS in an innovative and economically efficient way using real...

ObjectivesOccupational health (OH) professionals could play a prominent role in smoking cessation treatment and support (SCTS) and help individuals and workplaces become smoke free. However, their role has not been evaluated. The aim of this study was to assess differences between OH professionals' perceptions of their role in SCTS by measuring three groups of OH professionals' attitudes, knowledge, and motivation concerning SCTS.MethodsWe collected data through an online survey completed by a cross‐sectional sample of OH professionals: OH physicians (n = 182), OH nurses (n = 296), and OH physiotherapists (n = 96), collected from national trade union registers. The differences between the OH professional groups were analyzed using ANOVA, the Kruskal‐Wallis, and chi‐square tests.ResultsThe OH professionals had a positive attitude toward offering SCTS and were highly motivated to enhance their knowledge of this topic and acquire further training. The OH physicians and OH nurses assessed their current knowledge as sufficient. Conversely, the OH physiotherapists' level of knowledge was seen as insufficient. Traditionally, OH physicians and OH nurses have been responsible for carrying out SCTS, but the majority of the OH physiotherapists thought that SCTS should also be included in their job description.ConclusionsAll the OH professionals were highly motivated to deepen their knowledge of SCTS. The barriers between different professionals need to be recognized in occupational health services (OHS). OHS should organize its SCTS more effectively, strengthen their contributions to smoking cessation programs, and recognize the potential of OH physiotherapists for providing SCTS and enable them to expand their training.

DONs Build Teams Even in Challenging Times

Analyses of the economic activity of the Polish population indicate that in 2023, about 7% of all employees performed, usually or sometimes, their work in the form of remote work. The purpose of this publication is to analyze the impact of working with screen-monitor devices on computer vision syndromes, musculoskeletal disorders, circadian rhythm, and to identify recommendations for the proper organization of the home office. A narrative review of the existing literature on the impact of work with the use of devices equipped with screen monitors on the health of employees was performed, as well as recommendations in the above-mentioned area were presented. The most important factors determining the load on the visual organs and musculoskeletal system and affecting the overall health and well-being of employees during remote work are the proper arrangement of the workstation (in accordance with ergonomic principles) and the organization of work (limiting the time spent working at the computer/laptop, systematic active breaks) and healthy sleep habits. It is crucial that both employers, occupational health professionals and employees themselves are aware of the importance to their health of correct preparation of the home office, and have adequate knowledge in this regard. Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2024;75(1):69-80.

Objective: The coronavirus pandemic has emphasized stay-at-home and social distancing policies. Since the beginning of the outbreak of COVID-19, there has been a declining trend of hospital mortality indicating that the pandemic might keep patients from seeking emergency care in a hospital setting. This study was carried out to determine the mortality trends pre-COVID and pandemic periods in a tertiary care hospital. Methods: Study design: Retrospective observational study Place and Duration: 1st January 2019 to December 2021 at Federal Government Polyclinic (FGPC) Hospital Islamabad It was a retrospective review done on death data of pre-COVID (January-December 2019) and pandemic(January 2020-December 2021) period. Data on death was retrieved from medical male and female wards, medical ICU and isolation ward. The mortality rate was measured for both pre-COVID and pandemic periods along with co-morbid for the pandemic period. Descriptive statistics were measured with the SPSS software version. 23. Association with age, gender and mortality was observed using a chi-square test taking p value ≤ 0.05 as significant. Result: In this study of the 366 deaths, the average age of patients in the pre-COVID and pandemic era was57.40±17.910 and 64.31±16.065 respectively. The males and females were 50.9% and 49.1% in the pre-COVID period while 61.5% and 38.5% in the pandemic period. The frequency of deaths was 46.7% in the pre COVID and 53.3% in the pandemic period with a p-value <0.05. Patients with co-morbid died more in the pandemic era. Conclusion: It was observed that hospital mortality trends were in decline during the COVID-19 pandemic in our setting which may be associated with lockdown, decreased access to the hospitals or fear of going to hospital.

Introduction The African continent has a long history of mining and is a major producer of many minerals and metals such as gold, diamond, cobalt, bauxite, iron ore, coal, and copper, among others. Mining as an occupation is very high risk and there is significant morbidity and mortality from occupational diseases and injuries in the sector. Notable diseases are asbestosis, silicosis and mercury poisoning. Occupational health and safety services are not well developed in Africa, leaving workers exposed to significant risks. Methods This is a narrative of Africa's journey in occupational health. Africa’s journey in mining started with the building of the pyramids millennia ago, to formal mining in the 19th century and is now evolving rapidly as formal and artisanal mining with new deposits being discovered. Results Research done through the World Bank in southern Africa showed that the availability of occupational health services and skilled occupational health professionals in the region was limited. The structuring of occupational health services is different across countries with most large companies providing occupational health services for their employees. Smaller mining companies rely on the public health sector that has limited occupational health services. Discussion Mining offers a great opportunity for economic development in Africa but this requires that occupational health and safety policies, standards and practices are strengthened at the same time to ensure optimal health of employees. Conclusion The journey has been protracted but progressive over the century. Best practices from Africa will be presented and these can be adopted by other countries.

Summary The concept of quality of school life is based on the more general concept of “quality of life” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Land a Spilerman, 1975; Williams a Batten, 1981; cited in Linnakyla a Brunell, 1996, p.205). Quality of life is considered as a general and continual well being state and is generally determined both by positive experiences which bring happiness, pleasure and satisfaction and by negative experiences and feelings. These experiences are evaluated in terms of some concepts such as family, friends, school, work, free time etc. which are all important and meaningful for the individual (Linnakyla a Brunell, 1996, p.205). Education is also considered as an important dimension of general quality of life. Gander and Gardiner stated that (1993, p.456), school experiences clearly contributed both to the professional and social aims and to the adolescents' intellectual and esthetic development. Schools are responsible for students' social development as well as their academic development (Marks, 1998). Consequently, educational environment should help to support both their academic and social development. In their research which consisted of 5932 adolescents Mok and Flynn (1997) found that, 20% of variance in students' academic achievement can be explained by quality of school life. Besides that Wolf, Chandler and Spies (1980; cited in Mok a Flynn, 2002) asserted that, children who have a positive school life can take more responsibility of their own behaviours. Also, Perry (2000) in his research which consisted of 1500 high school students found that, quality of school life has an important role among factors which affect students' general life satisfaction. Due to its important effects on students' academic achievement and on other outputs of education, quality of school life draws attention of educators and a lot of studies about students' well being at school have been done. However, there is very few research done on this topic in Turkey. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to investigate students' perceptions about their quality of life in their high schools. In direction of this general purpose, the following questions were asked: 1. According to perceptions of students' what is the level of quality of life in high schools in the Adana central province? 2. Are there any significant differences between the male and female students' perceptions about quality of their school life 3. Are there any significant differences in the level of school life quality by SES of the schools? 4. Are there any significant differences in students' perceptions of quality of life in their schools by their grades? Method The participants of the study included a total number of 478 students; 243 of whom were female and 235 of whom were male students. They attend six different state high schools in 2004 n 2005 educational year in Adana, Turkey. 163 of these students (34.1%) attend schools of high SES, 141 of them (29.5%) attend schools of middle SES and 174 of them (36.4%) attend schools of low SES. As for distribution of them, 200 students (41.8%) were at ninth grade, 202 students (42.3%) were at tenth grade and 76 students (15.9%) were at eleventh grade. QLHSS which was developed by the researcher through adaptation of the “Quality of life in University Scale” (Doganay a Sari, 2006) was used to gather data. The scale consist of 40 items with seven dimensions (Teachers, Positive feelings about school, Negative feelings about school, Student- student interaction, School administration, Social activities and Status) after it was tested for reliability and validity. The Cronbach alpha coefficient of internal consistency of these dimensions were calculated in sequence .89, .86, .81, .86, .80, .74, .71 and for the total of the instrument was .86. These seven dimensions could be account for 46.8% of the total variance. The instrument, being a Likert type consists of five scales which are certanly not agree, not agree, undetermined, agree and certanly agree. The minimum and maximum scores which can be collected from the scale are 40 n 200 and the scores can be analysed both on the base of subscales and the total scale. To analyse the gathered data, means and standard deviation distributions were investigated and independent samples of t-test and one way analysis of variance was performed. Findings and Discussion Results demonstrated that students perceived the quality of life in their schools at an average quality. Except for the School administration and the Social activities subscales, the mean was calculated between two and three for all the other dimensions. The highest mean was calculated for the School administration subscale and the lowest for the Status subscale. There were significant differences between the perceptions of male and female students regarding the dimensions of Feelings about school in favour of male students and regarding the dimensions of Social activities in favour of female students (pl.05). Although there were not significant differences between perceptions of girls and boys generally, according to literature, girls' perceptions of quality of life in their schools are more positive than the boys'. For example, Marks (1998) and Majeed, Fraser and Aldridge (2002) found that, when compared with boys, girls perceive the quality of life of their schools more positively than boys. On the base of this result of the study, it may be said that, different factors except sex have more important influences on students' perceptions of quality of life in their high schools in Turkey. Results show that in all subscales of QLHSS, the highest means were calculated in schools have high SES and the differences were statistically significant at the .05 level. According to this results it may be said that, the higher the SES of the school, the more positive the quality of school life was perceived by students. It may be because of that the schools in high SES, have both physical and socio-cultural opportunities to establish well environment to their students. On the other hand, students gradually become pretty selector persons and they can evaluated their education process quite critically. Studies show that adolescents not believe in their important needs are met enough in schools and they are not satisfied with service submitted to them (Flanagan, 1978; cited in Karatzias et al. 2001a). The result of students in schools with low SES perceived the life quality in their schools more negatively may be reflected such a critical perceptiveness. However in the high SES, the educational level of the parents are generally high too. Marks (1998) found that, students who have more educated parents were more satisfied with their quality of life in school. In the light of all of these results, it is suggested that, it can be beneficial to take some precautions to increase the quality of life in high schools which is a critical period of time for young students. Especially, if studies which will be done focus on high schools which are in low SES, it may be help to eliminate the inequality of opportunities between students. Also it may be beneficial to carry out a series of orientation programs for students who are at 9th grade, who are new in this environment. It is clear that, programs like that may help them to know the characteristics of life of their schools closely and to come over of adaptation problems easily. In the high school period which is accepted as a critical term for identity development, it may be said that, the quality of school life which is submitted to students has an important influences on the quality of personal identities which are formed by the students. Thus, investigating this topic in more detail by scientific research may led to submit to students a school life which has superior quality and satisfying for them.

Background: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is one of the main urological pathologies that affects men in adulthood. The high frequency of the symptoms of this pathology is correlated with a perception of worsening of the quality of life, and can lead to deterioration in the activity and work productivity of the patient, leading to stress, depression and social isolation. Objective: To know the association between quality of life and prostate symptoms in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia in the family medicine unit #27 of Tijuana, Mexico. Methods: Participants answered IPSS questionnaire to determine the severity of lower urinary tract symptoms and quality of life. Descriptive statistics were used, the qualitative variables were expressed in frequencies and percentages, and the quantitative variables in measures of central tendency and dispersion. The assumption of normality was made by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The Chi-squared test was used to analyze differences in categorical variables, and the Odds ratio was used to calculate risk. The information obtained was analyzed in the statistical program SPSS version 25. Results: A total of 356 patients were included in the study. In the evaluation of the severity of prostate symptoms, 59.27% presented mild symptoms (n=211). Regarding quality of life results, 76.69% (n=273) considered as good quality of life, finding an association between both variables (P <0.001). Conclusions: We can conclude that there is an association between the severity of prostate symptoms and quality of life. It is important to constantly evaluate the presence of symptoms, in order to carry out preventive actions to avoid the effect on the quality of life of these patients.

Introduction Currently, the world is going through a major challenge in the context of public health, after the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic. This problem, in addition to cause inconvenience to the population, proves to be an inducing factor for occupational stress for those who need to face the virus directly, the healthcare workers. Objectives What is the level of occupational stress among health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic? What are the possible strategies to be adopted by the occupational health service in order to provide support and follow-up to health professionals? Based on the questions raised, the aim is to analyze which individual and organizational variables predispose healthcare workers to higher levels of occupational stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and identify which strategies should be adopted by occupational health services, to provide support to their workers Methodology This is an integrative literature review, initiated through research carried out in February 2021, in the scientific databases CINAHL plus with full text, Medline with full text, Academic Search Complete, MedicLatina, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection and Repositório Científico do Instituto Nacional de Saúde. Results Seven articles were included. Through the studies analyzed, it was possible to conclude that the workload of healthcare workers increased during the pandemic. Healthy lifestyle habits were neglected by those professionals and the consumption of alcohol, tobacco and sugar increased. Females and professionals with fewer years of experience, lower educational qualifications or with less income earnings experienced higher levels of stress. Conclusions Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has spread around the world, a mental health emergency is now considered. A large number of professionals work in jobs that are already considered to generate high levels of stress. Healthcare workers are an indisputable example. During a pandemic, they often have to work longer and stay for continuous shifts, in addition to the recommended hours. Health professionals presented themselves as a population with high levels of stress in a pandemic context, so the great majority of them mention the importance of having psychological support available. Through the identification of which individual and organizational variables predispose healthcare workers to higher levels of occupational stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is possible to plan and develop strategies that mitigate or eliminate the effects caused, providing an improvement in the quality of work life. The articulation between the occupational health and psychology services of the institutions is highlighted. Keywords: COVID-19, Sars-Cov-2, Coronavirus, Occupational stress, Healthcare Workers, Occupational Health Nursing.

Access to occupational health services for primary prevention and control of work-related injuries and illnesses by the global workforce is limited (World Health Organization [WHO], 2013). From the WHO survey of 121 (61%) participating countries, only one-third of the responding countries provided occupational health services to more than 30% of their workers (2013). How services are provided in these countries is dependent on legal requirements and regulations, population, workforce characteristics, and culture, as well as an understanding of the impact of workplace hazards and worker health needs. Around the world, many occupational health services are provided by occupational health nurses independently or in collaboration with other disciplines' professionals. These services may be health protection, health promotion, or both, and are designed to reduce health risks, support productivity, improve workers' quality of life, and be cost-effective. Rantanen (2004) stated that basic occupational health services must increase rather than decline, especially as work becomes more complex; workforces become more dynamic and mobile, creating new models of work-places; and jobs become more precarious and temporary. To better understand occupational health services provided by occupational health nurses globally and how decisions are made to provide these services, this study examined the scope of services provided by a sample of participating occupational health nurses from various countries.

Access to occupational health services for primary prevention and control of work-related injuries and illnesses by the global workforce is limited (World Health Organization [WHO], 2013). From the WHO survey of 121 (61%) participating countries, only one-third of the responding countries provided occupational health services to more than 30% of their workers (2013). How services are provided in these countries is dependent on legal requirements and regulations, population, workforce characteristics, and culture, as well as an understanding of the impact of workplace hazards and worker health needs. Around the world, many occupational health services are provided by occupational health nurses independently or in collaboration with other disciplines' professionals. These services may be health protection, health promotion, or both, and are designed to reduce health risks, support productivity, improve workers' quality of life, and be cost-effective. Rantanen (2004) stated that basic occupational health services must increase rather than decline, especially as work becomes more complex; workforces become more dynamic and mobile, creating new models of work-places; and jobs become more precarious and temporary. To better understand occupational health services provided by occupational health nurses globally and how decisions are made to provide these services, this study examined the scope of services provided by a sample of participating occupational health nurses from various countries.

Dietitians as healthcare professionals could decrease their quality of life during the SARS-COV-2 pandemic period; therefore, this study aimed to compare Brazilian dietitians’ perceptions of quality of life before and during the pandemic. This nationwide cross-sectional research aimed to evaluate Brazilian dietitians’ quality of life before and in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, using a previously validated self-administered instrument WHO-QOL-BREF in Brazilian-Portuguese. The questionnaire was composed of 26 items (four domains) to evaluate life quality (physical, psychological, social relationship, and environment). The questionnaire also presented some sociodemographic variables and three questions about the COVID-19 pandemic. It was applied using GoogleForms® platform (Google LLC, Mountain View, CA, USA). For the statistical analysis of data, Paired T-test, Chi-squared test, and Analysis of Variance were used. A total of 1290 Brazilian dietitians replied to the instrument. Comparing quality of life (QoL) before SARS-COV-2 (3.83 ± 0.59) and during the pandemic (3.36 ± 0.66), data was statistically different. Comparing prior and in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, all variables and domains presented statistical differences (better before the pandemic period). Among Brazilian dietitians, the psychological health domain was the most affected. The Sars-Cov-2 pandemic negatively impacted the QoL of Brazilian dietitians since health professionals face changes in their lives because of work.

BackgroundAlcohol consumption is a major public health challenge; the majority of employees consume alcohol regularly and a considerable proportion of employees can be characterized as risky drinkers in need of interventions. Occupational health services (OHS) are uniquely positioned for implementing alcohol prevention interventions targeting employees, but rarely do so. Studies have shown that lack of knowledge among OHS personnel is a barrier to alcohol prevention activity. This study aimed to explore OHS personnels’ levels of theoretical and practical alcohol knowledge, and whether these two ways of knowing were differentially associated with alcohol prevention activity.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, survey data were collected from 322 OHS personnel in Norway in 2018 (response rate = 53.6%). The survey included variables of two ways of knowing (theoretical and practical) and three types of doing (intervention frequency, conducting individual interventions, and conducting group interventions). Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, paired sample t-tests, bivariate correlations, and adjusted linear and logistic regression analyses.ResultsOHS personnel rated their theoretical alcohol knowledge higher than their practical knowledge (η2 = 0.33, p < 0.001). Higher reported levels of practical knowledge were associated with higher intervention frequency (b = 0.39, β = 0.60, p < 0.001) and greater likelihood of conducting individual interventions (OR = 1.60, p < .001) as well as group interventions (OR = 1.84, p < 0.001). Theoretical knowledge was not associated with conducting interventions, and there was no evidence of an interaction between the two ways of knowing in their association with doing. Sensitivity analyses did not indicate clustering effects of OHS personnel being employed within different units.ConclusionsDifferent ways of knowing about alcohol among OHS personnel were dissimilarly associated with conducting alcohol prevention interventions in occupational health settings. For doing, knowing how seems to be more important than knowing that. Training programs for OHS personnel should emphasize knowledge about how to deal with alcohol-related issues and how to conduct prevention interventions, rather than focus on detrimental effects of alcohol.