The OHS Body of Knowledge is the collective knowledge that should be shared by Australian generalist OHS professionals to provide a sound basis for understanding the causation and control of work-related fatality, injury, disease and ill-health (FIDI). This knowledge can be described in terms of its key concepts and language, its core theories and related empirical evidence, and the application of these to facilitate a safe and healthy workplace.

A defined body of knowledge is required as a basis for professional certification and for accreditation of education programs giving entry to a profession. The lack of such a body of knowledge for OHS profes-sionals was identified in reviews of OHS legislation and OHS education in Australia. After a 2009 scoping study, WorkSafe Victoria provided funding to support a national project to develop and implement a core body of knowledge for generalist OHS professionals in Australia.

The process of developing and structuring the main content of this document was managed by a Technical Panel with representation from Victorian universities that teach OHS and from the Safety Institute of Australia, which is the main professional body for generalist OHS professionals in Australia. The Panel developed an initial concep-tual framework which was then amended in accord with feedback received from OHS tertiary-level educators throughout Australia and the wider OHS profession. Specialist authors were invited to contribute chapters, which were then subjected to peer-review and editing. The OHS Body of Knowledge was formally launched in April 2012 at the SIA National Convention, Safety in Action

The OHS Body of Knowledge not only supports Patrick Hudson’s assertion that "OHS is not rocket science, it's much harder" but sets Occupational Health and Safety up to meet one of the key requirements of a profession as defined by Professions Australia in 1997.

"A profession is a disciplined group of individuals who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by the public as possessing special knowledge and skills in a widely recognised body of learning derived from research, education and training at a high level, and who are prepared to apply this knowledge and exercise these skills in the interest of others” [emphasis added].

The OHS Body of Knowledge, 2012, is not intended to be a definitive statement, fixed in time. Rather it is the beginning of the discussion; a discussion that will occur on a national and international basis and so the OHS Body of Knowledge will be regularly amended and updated as people use it and as the evidence base expands.

     Updating of the OHS BoK

While the SIA ‘owns’ the OHS Body of Knowledge the Australian OHS Education Accreditation Board is the ‘custodian’ and so has the responsibility for maintaining and updating the OHS Body of Knowledge. It is intended that this will be through national and international workshops supplemented as required by specially commissioned writing by specialist authors on particular topics. The Accreditation Board is currently identifying topics for further development. You can have input to this by making comment on the OHS Bok Feedback Form. Click here to download.

The OHS Body of Knowledge provides a basis for accreditation of OHS professional education programs and certification of individual OHS profes-sionals. It provides guidance for OHS educators in course development, and for OHS professionals and professional bodies in developing continuing profes-sional development activities. Also, OHS regulators, employers and recruiters may find it useful for benchmarking OHS professional practice.

Importantly, the OHS Body of Knowledge is neither a textbook nor a curriculum; rather it describes the key concepts, core theories and related evidence that should be shared by Australian generalist OHS professionals. This knowledge will be gained through a combination of education and experience.

The application of the OHS Body of Knowledge will be facilitated by the learning outcomes currently being developed to describe the core activities that a new graduate generalist OHS professional should be able to do as an outcome of engaging with the Body of Knowledge.

For information on the application of the OHS Body of Knowledge in OHS education go to www.ohseducationaccreditation.org.au.

The OHS Body of Knowledge for generalist OHS professionals hard cover book is available for purchase on the Safety Institute of Australia website. Each chapter can be downloaded separately. However users are advised to read the Introduction, which provides background to the information in individual chapters. They should also note the copyright requirements and the disclaimer before using or acting on the information.

The material may be downloaded and used for reasonable personal, or in-house, non-commercial use for the purposes of workplace health and safety as long as you attribute the work using the citation guidelines below and do not charge fees directly or indirectly for use of the material. You must not change any part of the work or remove any part of this copyright notice, licence terms and disclaimer below.

OHS professionals and practitioners can freely download and print single copies of the OHS Body of Knowledge from the web site for their own professional use. Organisations wishing to print multiple copies of any chapters may acquire a licence to do so for a small fee. Organisations who acquire a licence will be recognised as a user and supporter of the OHS Body of Knowledge. Organisations wishing to use chapters of the OHS Body of Knowledge as part of training program may also require a licence.

A licence will be required and may be granted by the SIA for use of the materials if you wish to:

• reproduce multiple copies of the work or any part of it
• charge others directly or indirectly for access to the materials
• include all or part of the materials in advertising of a product or services, or in a product for sale
• modify the materials in any form, or
• publish the materials.

Enquiries regarding the licence or further use of the works are welcome and should be addressed to:

Registrar, Australian OHS Education Accreditation Board
Safety Institute of Australia Ltd, PO Box 2078, Gladstone Park, Victoria, Australia, 3043
registrar@OHSeducationaccreditation.org.au

Citation of the whole Body of Knowledge should be as:

HaSPA (Health and Safety Professionals Alliance).(2012). The Core Body of Knowledge for Generalist OHS Professionals. Tullamarine, VIC. Safety Institute of Australia.

Citation of individual chapters should be as, for example:

Pryor, P., Capra, M. (2012). Foundation Science. In HaSPA (Health and Safety Professionals Alliance), The Core Body of Knowledge for Generalist OHS Professionals. Tullamarine, VIC. Safety Institute of Australia.

The Body of Knowledge is available to download and print for non-commercial purposes.

Click back to the top