Advocacy And Influence: The Hygienist’s Central Role
Presenter(s): Dr Julia Norris
As occupational hygienists, our role is to advocate on behalf of the workforce and influence workplaces to provide healthy work environments for all. In this role we often work alongside other health professionals but traditionally the different health disciplines have operated quite separately, with defined theoretical boundaries and unfortunately, a culture of competition.
However, as occupational health professionals, we are all working towards the common goal of better health in the workplace. Our challenge in providing effective and comprehensive workplace health strategies is to appreciate the importance of our expertise as occupational hygienists, while also recognising our potential synergies with other health disciplines.
There is a wealth of expertise and knowledge that we can all access by fostering closer working relationships with likeminded professionals. Using accelerated silicosis as a case study, Julia’s address will highlight the importance of engaging occupational hygiene in early response to emerging issues and the success that can be achieved through a systematic culture of collaboration.
The differences in how both jurisdictions address the policy, regulation and practice of occupational hygiene and seeks to draw conclusions about how this can inform better workplace health outcomes.
The benefits and challenges of a multidisciplinary approach to exposure control with a focus on the role of the Occupational Hygiene professional in risk identification, stakeholder engagement and the delivery of controls.
A look at the various pieces of LEV test kit available and assess which ones will enable us to make a judgement as to weather adequate control being achieved.
Utilizing digital media is at the very heart of the changing approach to communication for delivering evidenced-based information for good decision-making.
