EurOSHM and EurOSHT certifications as a response to the professional labyrinth of occupational safety and health in Europe

This post is also available in: Spanish

[…] These requirements (directive 89/391 on OSH) have been enacted in different forms into the national legislation of all member states, causing a lack of transparency and recognition of competences and qualifications for OSH managers and technicians” [1]

That is the way how Project EUSAFE site -for the European qualification of occupational safety and health professional- expresses.

Standardization of European professional qualifications is a complex process which, in the worker´s level may become into a real professional labyrinth.

Labyrinth_Chartres_Cathedral
Fuente: Wikipedia

In the specific case of OSH professional, apart from the background education (high school, university, etcetera) a large number of qualifications have been emerging and – as EUSAFE remarks- in a unclear way.

In Spain, for example, there are basic, intermediate and superior OSH practitioners. Superior officers have, in turn, three specialities (safety, hygiene, ergonomics). There are also superior technicians from the vocational training schools. All this catalogue of accreditations -among others- issued by training centres both public and private with suspicious solvency in some cases.

Now, imagine a framework -more or less- similar to this in every member state of the Union.

Within this context, the EUSAFE project aims to develop a new professional qualification and training framework based on the already existing certification standards by means of two qualifications meeting European recognition:

  • European Occupational Safety and Health Manager (EurOSHM);
  • European Occupational Safety and Health Technician (EurOSHT).

In the ENSHPO webpage is available all the information about these certification standards.

I will seriously think about the EurOSHM.

I will tell you.

References:
[1] EUSAFE, EUROPEAN QUALIFICATION OF OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH PROFESSIONAL. Eusafe Project. http://www.eusafe.org/index.php/en/theprj-eng.html. Consulted 27 may 2014.

Bibliography:
ENSHPO, THE EUROPEAN NETWORK OF SAFETY AND HEALTH PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS. European Occupational Safety and Health Manager (EurOSHM) and European Occupational Safety and Health Technician (EurOSHT). http://www.euroshm.org/index.php. Consulted 27 may 2014.