Promotion of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene through Education

Abstract

Occupational-related injuries and deaths continue to be a widespread international problem, especially in the developing world, even though the problem has been well recognized for decades. A significant contributor to this problem is the lack of occupational health resources in much of the less developed world. The 1994 World Health Organization (WHO) meeting in Beijing, China, highlighted this dilemma even further. A key element of this is the lack of adequately trained occupational hygienists who can anticipate, recognize, evaluate, and control occupational hazards. Based on this pressing need, the Occupational Hygiene Training Association (OHTA) was formed. OHTA provides an internationally accepted training and qualification framework which is a stepping-stone for developing professionals in their early careers. Quality, peer-reviewed teaching packages available free to download at https://www.OHlearning.com">www.OHlearning.com are translated or suitable for translation into local languages, and can be used by a variety of institutions across the world. These modules provide a means for delivering consistent, quality training on core aspects of occupational and environmental hygiene. OHTA has evolved to become a significant global force in the training and development of the occupational and environmental hygiene profession. It has focused on identifying gaps in the resources available to develop occupational and environmental hygiene expertise and has achieved this through a strategy of collaboration with established professional bodies, aiming to enhance capability and create a career ladder for entry to the profession. Its structure is deliberately designed to be responsive to the views of the established global occupational and environmental hygiene community while retaining a razor-like focus on the needs of businesses and others to build occupational hygiene capability.