Preliminaries

Preliminaries

STATEMENT FROM WORKSAFE VICTORIA

WorkSafe Victoria is dedicated to improving the health and safety of workers. As part of this commitment we strive to ensure workplaces have access to the most up to date strategic, evidence based occupational health and safety advice through suitably qualified OHS professionals.

The Safety Institute of Australia (SIA), in collaboration with industry and health and safety professional bodies, is now able to present this body of knowledge, providing consistent standards to guide OHS educators and professionals.

This work leads the way to consistent education for OHS professionals through accreditation of tertiary courses and is a credit to the extensive knowledge contributed by OHS educators and experts from around Australia. The accreditation process will play a significant role in both raising the standard of professional OHS advice and giving employers great confidence when engaging OHS expertise.

I would particularly like to thank the team from the SIA for their dedication and hard work, the Technical Panel for contributing their knowledge and coveted time to this important project, and the Health and Safety Professionals Alliance (HaSPA) that steered the project. Most importantly I acknowledge the significant contributions of the chapter authors. Without their work the Body of Knowledge could not have been written.

SIA and all parties involved can all be extremely proud of this piece of work and the collaborative spirit in which it was created. In developing these standards for education, SIA has achieved an acknowledged world first and generated much international interest. I have no doubt it will be of huge benefit to the OHS profession and as a result, the safety of workers.

Greg Tweedly

Chief Executive WorkSafe Victoria