Service Provision Staffing Facilities Quality assurance

198

21.1.4 Research and Teaching

The universities, colleges and research organizations provide the last major employment area for hygienists. They may:  carry out research into health hazards, measurement techniques or control methods  teach undergraduate and postgraduate courses, and lecture to doctors, nurses, safety officers, engineers etc, as a subsidiary subject.  conduct occupational hygiene investigations within the organisation and sometimes externally as consultants. The career structure of lecturer, senior lecturer and professor is common to other university functions and does not necessarily relate to occupational hygiene qualifications.

21.2 Implications for hygienists

These differing characteristics of the various types of occupational hygiene services have a profound effect on what they are like to work in. The objectives, management and funding of the organisations all impose constraints on how they operate. We can consider a number of aspects:

21.2.1 Service Provision

An organisation might be able, in theory, to provide a wide range of services such as policy preparation and auditing, field surveys and investigations, laboratory analysis, training and information, research etc. In practice, the services actually delivered will depend on the underlying constraints.

21.2.2 Staffing

The quality of a service is dependent on the calibre of its staff, but professional occupational hygienists and competent technicians are in short supply. Recruitment, training, payment and retention are influenced by the status, image, resources and policies of the organisation. 199 Competition for staff between different types of services can be good for professional development but may also be damaging for the continuity of the organisations work and the viability of its operation. Some services may need to be multidisciplinary, employing engineers, doctors, safety officers etc as well as hygienists. The degree to which specialist expertise is developed will depend on the range of services provided and the back-up available.

21.2.3 Facilities

The standard of facilities and instrumentation provided will depend on the amount of capital funding available, the basis of funding decisions and the services to be offered. So, for instance, a research institute may have specialised equipment that a consultancy could never justify.

21.2.4 Quality assurance

Maintenance of quality in testing and advice is crucial to any effective service. Different types of organization will have different approaches to quality assurance. Quality systems may be formal or informal, and will be influenced by  the size and status of the organization.  the management structure and culture.  the calibre of staff employed.  the services offered. Consultancies will often hold formal independent quality accreditations, perhaps through a national accreditation service. These schemes demand considerable resource to maintain the standard of quality expected, but consultancies have to prove their quality to their clients and so can justify the cost. Few in-house laboratories or universities hold these accreditations. Quality control in universities tends to rely heavily on the calibre of the individuals concerned and is often very informal. 200

21.3 The Hygienist as a Manager