Educators and Corporate Agendas Misaligned in OHS
Press Release – Educators and Corporate Agendas Misaligned in OHS
19 February 2012
Universities cannot keep up with the demand for workplace safety professionals, a survey released today has revealed.
As corporate Australia struggles to meet the demands for safe work places, the pipeline of qualified professionals graduating from universities is diminishing.
The survey by specialist OHS search and recruitment business safesearch, showed the overwhelming majority of respondents highlighted the importance of qualifications in this increasingly complex area.
safesearch Managing Director Julie Honore said this was misaligned with the limited availability of bachelor-level OHS qualifications.
“Queensland and Western Australia are currently the only states that offer a total of four OHS courses for undergraduates in Australia," she said.
“Clearly these states have felt the demand from the resources companies for qualified safety professionals, while undergraduates in other states have few options.”
Pam Pryor, the Registrar for the Australian OHS Education Accreditation board agrees with Honore’s concern, saying the lack of undergraduate courses "threatens the supply of technically competent and broadly skilled OHS professionals”. However she notes that, “to focus only on the Bachelor degrees downplays the importance of the entry level graduate diploma and masters programs which produce a steady stream of OHS graduates”.
Honore, whose recruitment firm, safesearch has been conducting the remuneration survey for the past six years, said respondents to this year’s survey repeatedly highlighted the need for a mixture of tertiary education and formalized mentoring and training programs on the job.
“Our respondents recognise that OHS has to be a top priority in their business. They stated that the intellectual rigor and foundation knowledge attained from an undergraduate degree is essential for driving change and continuous improvement in OHS.”
“It seems that our education system as it stands is not keeping up with the demand. If you can’t access this education at the undergraduate level, then you have missed out on a large potential supply of candidates.”
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Julie Honoré, Managing Director, SafeSearch www.safesearch.com.au
Ph: 03 96635513 Mobile: 0419 859 217
Pam Pryor, Registrar, Australian OHS Accreditation Board, www.ohseducationaccrediation.org.au Ph: 03 8336 1995 Mobile: 0411 193 370
The 2011/2012 survey includes 84 participating organisations with analysis on data for 697 individuals across 11 job positions, with two newly introduced positions, Sustainability Advisor and Energy Manager.
Julie Honoré is the founder and Managing Director of SafeSearch and EnviroSearch, specialist search and recruitment businesses. Previously a Director with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, she led their national HR Consulting practice in Australia. She holds a Masters in Leadership and Management (MLM) and is actively involved with AHRI (FAHRI and past Victorian Councillor), the Safety Institute of Australia – FSIA (Hon) and various committee posts with the SIA. She also chairs a regular General Manager Health, Safety and Environment forum for ASX 200 leaders as well as being a committee member of OSHAC (WorkSafe OHS Advisory Committee Victoria).
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