OCCUPATIONAL-HEALTH AND SAFETY PROMOTION - PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Most occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals would agree that having a good OSH promotion programme is a challenge, and problems can be encountered at almost every stage in the planning and delivery of the programme. The first obstacle which may be encountered is programme justification. How does one convince employers and employees of the need for OSH promotion, and does competition from ''Wellness Programmes'' reduce available resources? Programme planning, deciding what constitutes a programme, and what to include in the OSH promotion programme, may be a dilemma. The programme implementation, deciding who implements the activities and how a programme is sustained, may be other difficult issues. Finally, programme evaluation can be problematic: How is it done properly? and Who should evaluate the programme? Possible solutions to these problems may include the costing of work accidents and occupational ill health to justify the need and benefits of an OSH programme, and riding on the bandwagon of ''wellness promotion'' instead of competition for limited resources. In programme planning, knowing what is wanted and employing a professional to plan the programme is essential. The programme coverage should encompass health and safety issues, and preventive strategies should be directed towards both environment and lifestyle factors. There should be a prioritization of topics according to the needs of workers. The choice of OSH professionals versus ''wellness promoters'' or human resource officers as programme co-ordinators may affect the programme outcome. Training supervisors and line workers to be trainers would involve those directly in contact with work hazards in the programme. Programme evaluation is crucial. There should be provision for both process and outcome evaluations, and pains should be taken to ensure independence and objectivity of evaluations. The idea of linking programme results to the OSH personnel assessments is worth considering. The delivery of OSH promotion programmes in a relevant and effective manner poses a real challenge. While some obstacles and problems appear to be insurmountable, these challenges have to be faced and overcome in order to achieve the goals of protecting and promoting the health of the worker.