TEACHING EVALUATION STRATEGIES FOR OCCUPATIONAL-HEALTH AND SAFETY PROGRAMS

A tool in the process of implementing and assessing quality is program evaluation, a tool which is now essential for occupational health and safety professionals to have. This paper describes one approach to learning program evaluation. The approach is used in the Master and Diploma of Occupational Health and Safety programs conducted by Worksafe Australia - the tripartite body responsible for advising the Australian government on occupational health and safety, in conjunction with the University of Sydney. The approach includes three major activities for participants. The first is undertaking an exercise, the second is experiencing evaluation of a range of real programs which serve as models, and the third is conducting an evaluation under supervision for an organisation. How these activities are conducted is described.