OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY DEVELOPMENT IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION Tappura, S Center for Safety Managements and Engineering Industrial Management, Tampere University of Technology P.O. Box 541, FI-33101 Tampere, Finland E-mail: sari.tappura@tut.fi Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) regulations prescribe the essential occupational safety requirements in Finland. The regulations are also applied to students work in connection with vocational education. The Finnish National Board of Education funds OSH development projects in vocational education. This paper introduces a networking project which aims to promote OSH awareness and competence in vocational education. Four Vocational Education Providers received funding for the OSH development projects in 2009-2010. The Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health initiated cooperation between these projects by providing funding for their coordination. There were workshops in which the subprojects were presented and discussed. The results were presented to other VEPs through the VEPs association. Keywords: Vocational education, Vocational Education Provider, Occupational Safety, OSH, On-the-job learning 1 Introduction Vocational education requires three years of full-time study at the upper secondary level in Finland. It aims to provide students with the necessary vocational knowledge and competence for working life, while also giving students general eligibility for polytechnic and university studies. Vocational education includes theoretical education at vocational institutions and supervised on-the-job learning at workplaces inside or outside the institutions. During on-the-job learning, students familiarise themselves with the practical requirements of an occupation, and achieve the core objectives of the occupation as laid down in the sector s curriculum. Vocational education may also be conducted as apprenticeship training, in which case most of the training takes place at a workplace outside the vocational institutions (Finnish National Board of Education 2011). According to the Finnish Vocational Education Act (1988), the aim of vocational education is to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to gain vocational expertise, and the capabilities to find employment or become self-employed. Vocational education provides students with extensive basic vocational skills for various assignments in their field and specialised competence as required by working life in one sector of the chosen qualification (Vocational Education Act 1998; Decision
of the Council of State on the Vocational system of Degrees and Common Curricula 1999). Vocational Education Providers (VEPs) are responsible for organising education in their respective regions. There are over 80 VEPs in Finland, involving thousands of students and several educational branches. They operate in numerous vocational institutions across a large area covering several municipalities. (Finnish National Board of Education 2011) The European Framework Directive on Safety and Health at Work (Council Directive of 12 June 1989) stipulates the fundamentals of European safety and health legislation. In Finland, the Framework Directive has been transposed into the Finnish Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act (2002), and supplementary regulations. In the construction sector, the Government s Decree on Safety in Construction Work (2009) further defines the OSH requirements. These regulations describe the responsibilities of both employers and employees. VEPs operate under these occupational regulations, since the Finnish OSH Act (2002) also applies to work done by students in connection with their education. When the work is done under a VEP s direction, this provider must comply with the provisions of the Act pertaining to employers. The provisions regarding employees shall be applied to students performing the work. According to the Vocational Education Act (1998), students have the right to a safe learning environment, which also applies to on-the-job learning. When students conduct work or on-the-job learning associated with their studies or become acquainted with work life in a workplace outside the VEP, the provisions on leased labour shall be applied to the obligations of the VEP and the workplace (labour recipient) as follows (Occupational Safety and Health Act 2002): The workplace (labour recipient) shall define the occupational qualifications of the employee; define the specific circumstances of the work and communicate these to the VEP; orient the students with respect to the work, the work conditions and the occupational safety and health procedures. The VEP shall inform the students of specific work circumstances; ensure that the students have adequate occupational skills and are fit for the work. Based on the statutory requirements, the most important OSH responsibilities of different parties (VEPs, on-the-job workplaces and students) are presented in Figure 1 (Tappura 2012).
Figure 1. Responsibilities of vocational education providers, workplaces (labour recipients) and students (Tappura 2012). The occupational safety requirements are quite demanding for general vocational teachers who direct and supervise on-the-job learning. They are professionals in their own field but are not usually occupational safety specialists. The VEPs and teachers need information and guidance in complying with the OSH requirements and in ensuring the occupational safety of the students during on-the-job learning in vocational education. (Tappura 2012) In 2009, The Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE) granted annual state subsidies to VEPs especially for projects that developed occupational safety during onthe-job learning. Four VEPs received funding for 2009-2010 based on their project proposals. In the four projects (subprojects), occupational safety and risk assessment procedures and practices were developed in vocational education. The Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (FMSAH) saw the importance of the issue of OSH in vocational education, and became interested in promoting cooperation between these four subprojects. At the beginning of 2010, FMSAH initiated a networking project by granting funding for the coordination of the four subprojects. The aim of the networking project was to spread the good practices developed in the subprojects and to increase occupational safety awareness among the participating
VEPs, as well as the whole sector. The networking project was directed in cooperation with the FNBE and FMSAH. In this paper, the networking project, its results and future prospects are presented as an example of the secondary level education approach to health and safety, as well as an example of how the requirements of the OSH framework directive are applied to on-thejob learning, and how the students are involved in the prevention and risk assessment process. 2 Objectives The primary objective of this project was to coordinate the four subprojects, discuss and learn from the good OSH practices developed and promote their application within onthe-job learning in vocational education. The secondary objective was to increase OSH awareness and the competence of the parties responsible for on-the-job learning (VEPs, teachers, students and work places), thus promoting the occupational safety of the students. The aim of this paper is to present the project as an example of how the requirements of the OSH framework directive are applied to vocational education and on-the-job learning, and how vocational education providers and teachers are informed and guided with respect to these requirements. 3 Methods To commence the networking project, the FMSAH granted funding for coordination to Tampere University of Technology, and nominated the author to work as an OSH specialist and coordinator of the project. The steering group of the project was the existing occupational safety expert group of FNBE. The FNBE funded the four subprojects of the VEPs. At the beginning of the project, the network of subprojects was established, and the objectives of the network were set. During the project, OSH procedures were developed within the four subprojects. There were four workshops in which the subprojects were presented and discussed. The results were presented at the national on-the-job learning seminar of the VEPs association; as such, the results were broadly communicated to the VEPs in general. Feedback on the networking project was collected from the participants. 4 Results In 2009-2010, the VEPs developed the following subprojects: Occupational safety in practical work training in social and health training at Helsinki Diakonia College of HDO Occupational safety and risk assessment in on-the-job learning in construction, and heating, plumbing, and air-conditioning sector at Vantaa Vocational College Varia Occupational safety in on-the-job learning at Satakunta Vocational School Sataedu The risk assessment procedures in a large vocational training organization at Training Centre Sedu
In four network meetings, the participants reported each other on knowledge, experiences and good practices, and brought together the subproject outcomes. The networking project and its results were presented in the national on-the-job learning seminar of the VEPs association. There were representatives from 26 VEPs in the seminar. The seminar material was divided into an intranet of the VEPs association for all the members (some 60 VEPs, including the most important VEPs in Finland). The seminar revealed that safety issues still need a lot of development within vocational education. Job hazard identification and risk assessment, as well as the related obligations seemed to be unclear to the participants. The seminar highlighted the need for a separate safety and risk assessment training program. Within the network project, the seminar and the steering group of the FNBE considered that hazard identification and risk assessment is in its early stages in vocational education, and that there are varying fields of expertise within occupational safety issues. The network participants felt that the cooperation between the VEPs was advantageous; however, they still felt the need for further support with the development of occupational safety, and hoped that this cooperation would continue. As part of the network project, new VEPs were activated to apply to the FNBE for annual funding for their occupational safety projects. In 2011, FNBE granted state subsidies to eight large VEPs to develop their occupational safety procedures, and the network was extended considerably. At the moment, the network cooperation will continue between these eight VEPs at least until the end of 2012, at which point they can apply for further funding. 5 Discussion Occupational safety and health regulations outline the essential safety requirements for VEPs with respect to students work in connection with education (Occupational Safety and Health Act 2002). Furthermore, vocational education regulations give students the right to a safe learning environment (Vocational Education Act 1998). These requirements are quite demanding for the teachers who supervise on-the-job learning in vocational education. Teachers are professionals in their own field but are usually not occupational safety specialists. Therefore, they need information and guidance on OSH issues in order to ensure the occupational safety of students during their vocational education. The participants of the network found the cooperation between other VEPs and teachers very advantageous for their work, and they hoped for even more VEPs to participate in the network. They felt it necessary to get support and assistance from experts and from each other in developing OSH procedures and sharing the good practices that developed. The participants did not have the resources or competence necessary to continue with the occupational safety issues by themselves, and thus hoped that the networking project and cooperation between VEPs would continue in the future. The long-term development of occupational safety issues was seen as a very important aspect of vocational education, not merely a topic for annual seminars and separate development projects.
The network is a good forum to discuss the general safety issues, safety responsibilities and obligations of the organizations, but also to launch initiatives concerning these obligations. Recruiting new VEPs into the network would gradually improve the awareness of occupational safety issues in the vocational education sector. After 2010, the cooperation project has received further funding, and continues with an expanded network of VEPs and new themes. At the end of 2011, the FNBE decided to actuate a compilation project of 15 brand-specific occupational safety guidebooks for VEPs and teachers supervising and directing on-the-job learning in vocational education (Tappura 2012). In addition to the network project, the safety guidebooks project actively promotes occupational safety awareness and competence of the VEPs and teachers involved in vocational education. Acknowledgements The author sincerely acknowledges the funding and contribution of the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Finnish National Board of Education, the participating Vocational Education Providers, and the Finnish Foundation for Economic Education to the present study. References Council directive of 12 June 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work 89/391/EEC. Decision of the Council of State on the Vocational System of Degrees and Common Curricula 213/1999. (in Finnish) Finnish National Board of Education. 2011. Performance indicator for initial vocational education and training in Finland 2011. http://www.oph.fi/download/132466_performance_indicator_for_initial_vocational_ed ucation_and_training_in_finland_2011.pdf. Available on 23/03/2012 Government s Degree on Safety in Construction Work 205/2009. (in Finnish) Occupational Safety and Health Act 738/2002. (in Finnish) http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/2002/en20020738.pdf (unofficial translation) Available on 23/3/2012 Tappura, S. 2012. Promoting Occupational Safety Awareness in Vocational Education. The 10th International Conference on Occupational Risk Prevention ORP2012, May 23-25, 2012, Bilbao, Spain. (full paper accepted) Vocational Education Act 630/1988. (in Finnish)