EUSAFE - European Qualification of Safety and Health Professionals: An International Perspective

Abstract

The EUSAFE Project, carried out by a Consortium of six European Partners among leading Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Professional Associations, Universities, Training Providers from Italy, UK, Germany, Portugal and Cyprus - is formally closing on February 28 with the release and posting of the Final Report on the EUSAFE web site and its transmission to the European Agency. The project has been inspired and produced by the European OSH profession who recognized the need to harmonize regulated and non-regulated standards of practice and to facilitate also the professional mobility within the EU. The project has been implemented with the financial support of the EU Commission under the Leonardo da Vinci Programme. The EUSAFE started in October 2010 and addressed the development of new harmonized profiles for OSH professionals (Technicians and Managers) making reference to EQF and ECVET systems and providing relevant training models. It also considered previous work made by ENSHPO (European Network of Occupational Safety and Health Professionals). The result of the project provides a tool to assure the EU community that the OSH profession is delivering harmonization of the profession standards and, in particular, is applying European education policy through the mechanism of the European Qualification Framework. Such harmonization should also facilitate, through a mutual recognition of qualifications, mobility of OSH professionals within EU Member States. The EUSAFE Project will be of potential interest from various perspectives to: - Professionals working or aspiring to become qualified in OSH - Employers who need to know what credentials provide a level of assured competence - Representatives of employees - to ensure that management appointments are capable of providing co-worker safety and health - Regulating bodies who are responsible for ensuring that EU standards were being correctly interpreted and applied and by employers or their OSH practitioners