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Mainstreaming occupational safety and health into university educationE u r o p e a n Ag e n c y f o r Sa f e t y a n d He a l t h a t Wo r kTo improve the occupational safety and health (OSH) of young people it is generallyrecognized that a two-way approach is needed – one aimed at making sure that theright measures are in place at workplaces for the safety and health of new starters, andone aimed at integrating or mainstreaming OSH into education. This report focuseson the second area and specifically on the inclusion of OSH and risk education as partof university studies.EU Strategy on OSH in educationThe European Union Community strategy on health and safety at work for 2002–2006underlined the need to strengthen the prevention culture by means of educationand training (European Commission, 2002: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2002:0118:FIN:EN:PDF). OSH should be part of an integratedstrategy to encompass all the necessary aspects of education, training, research, andinnovation for tomorrow’s European Union. The Community OSH strategy for 2007–2012 (European Commission, 2007: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52007DC0062:EN:NOT) again considers the prevention culture to be animportant area of action and builds upon the aims of the previous strategy in thisarea. According to the 2007-2012 strategy, risk education should be included in alllevels of education. The strategy also recognises the vulnerability of young workersand therefore the need to pay attention to their health and safety needs.Elements of the European Community health and safety strategy 2007-12 related tooccupational health and safety and education include:OO fostering and promoting a common preventative safety and health culture;OO addressing all parts of society and going beyond the workplace and workingpopulation;OO integrating health and safety into education and training programmes at all levelsand in all fields, including vocational and university education;OO calling on Member States to use EU funding programmes to develop trainingprojects;OO meeting the needs of young workers;OO paying special attention to the training of young entrepreneurs in OSHmanagement.To support the Community strategy in the area of mainstreaming OSH into education,particularly through the sharing of information and the exchange of experience on thetopic and its developments, the agency has, since 2002, carried out various activities,including publishing reports and organising seminars. The reports provide examplesof programmes and practices at national, intermediary and educational establishmentlevel. This report on mainstreaming OSH into tertiary-level (university) educationfollows on from a previous report that examined how OSH was being mainstreamedinto education curricula at all levels in the EU Member States (Mainstreaming OSH intothe education curriculum (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2009)).W h a t i s m a i n s t r e a m i n g o c c u p a t i o n a l s a f e t y a n d h e a l t h i n t oeducation?Safety and health should be an inherent part of lifelong learning from pre-school untilpost retirement.‘Mainstreaming’ or integrating safety and health into education and training means:OO to educate children and young people about dangers and risk prevention and toteach them safety and health attitudes and behaviour; and12
Mainstreaming occupational safety and health into university educationOOto improve the safety and health culture in schools and other educationalestablishments.Mainstreaming OSH into education concerns integrating one policy area —occupational safety and health — into another — education. This means that differentsystems — with different institutions and different thinking — have to communicatewith each other and to take joint action.Mainstreaming in relation to OSH at the workplace is about making risk managementprinciples and ‘thinking OSH’ an intrinsic part of the way that actions are taken atthe workplaces, so that occupational safety and health is not just an additional task.It is easier to achieve this if employees and managers come to the workplace wellqualified and with a basic understanding of OSH and having developed a culture ofrisk prevention already during childhood, youth and early adulthood. Thus pre-workeducation at all levels, from nursery to university can play a key role in ‘boosting’ theprevention culture.E u r o p e a n Ag e n c y f o r Sa f e t y a n d He a l t h a t Wo r kMain conclusions from the report Mainstreaming occupational safety andhealth into education (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2004)OO Safety and health have to be an inherent part of lifelong learning from preschooleducation until post-retirement.OO Mainstreaming or integrating safety and health into education and trainingcovers:OO developing safety and health knowledge, attitudes and behaviour in childrenand younger people; andOO improving the safety and health culture in schools or other educationalestablishments for staff and students.OO The Community strategy on health and safety at work for 2002–06 called forstrengthening the prevention culture and improving the quality of work bymeans of education and training. Operational goals (quantitative and qualitative)for meeting this objective should be set concerning how to prepare childrenand young people for future working life and how to improve the workplace forteachers and trainers.O S H i n t h e c u r r i c u l u m o f u n i v e r s i t y c o u r s e sIt is important to integrate OSH into university-level education as promoting a safetyculture in the workplace is not just about ensuring that shop floor workers learn howto act safely. Modern OSH legislation is goal-setting and follows a non-prescriptiverisk-based approach – risks must be assessed and appropriate measures put inplace. All parts and all levels of industry and business need to understand how riskassessment and risk management are essential to good business management.Future designers, architects, engineers, finance officers, doctors and other healthprofessionals and managers and supervisors at all levels, right up to the director level,are among those who need relevant education about their future OSH roles andresponsibilities. Future teachers and trainers also need OSH education in order todeliver OSH education themselves effectively.13
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TE-WE-09-007-EN-CIn order to improv
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