European Safety Certification Standard Launched
The European Network of Safety and Health Professional Organisations (ENSHPO) announced Tuesday the launch of its new voluntary European certification standard EurOSHM (European Occupational Safety and Health Manager), saying it will help to verify the competence of OSH professionals and is particularly relevant for people with professional remits across several European countries.
"This initiative is a significant step forward for European health and safety professionals," said Certification Committee Chairman Andrew Hale. "It's intended that this will eventually help achieve a common standard of health and safety practice throughout Europe and lead to easier recognition of equivalent qualifications across member states."
The Certification Committee was set up in 2007 to oversee the scheme, working closely with Swiss-based IFE Institut für Ergonomie GmbH, which administers the standard and the registration process. In addition to the scheme for this pan-European certification standard, ENSHPO is already working on producing a technician-level European standard in the very near future, the organization said, adding that a considerable amount of interest has already been expressed from practitioners across Europe.
Jukka Takala, director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, said "We are very pleased about ENSHPO's launch of its European certification standard as it means a clear step forward for occupational health and safety in Europe, and the agency will be very happy to support this activity in the future."
Potential applicants should go to www.enshpo.org for further background information and to www.euroshm.org for the application process. Further details can also be obtained from the ENSHPO Secretariat via e-mail to [email protected].