Annals of Occupational Hygiene Advance Access originally published online on June 16, 2005
Annals of Occupational Hygiene 2005 49(6):543; doi:10.1093/annhyg/mei026
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© 2005 British Occupational Hygiene Society Published by Oxford University Press
Letter to the Editor |
Letter to the Editor
I read with great interest the article on Knowledge Management (Schulte et al., 2004
) and felt that it illustrated, among other things, a point I believe is important in organizing for the most successful OH&S management (and one which has too often been lost sight of in ‘downsizing’ and ‘outsourcing’)—that a crucial ingredient therein can be termed ‘corporate memory’; hence, that in any organization of a size that should be capable of its support, a corporate OH&S unit is by far the best way to ensure its creation and retention. A corporate memory is not created or retained by outsourcing the organization's OH&S requirements to consultants, however experienced they may be. Those of us who, like myself, have moved into consultancy on retirement from salaried employment in a corporate OH&S unit will have become well aware of the importance of their previous status when attempting to provide help and guidance to large organizations as a ‘visiting fireman’. Notwithstanding this, our knowledge and experience are nevertheless vital in the role of providing the next best thing for SMEs unable to support a professional unit of their own.
Yours sincerely,
Coles & Rutishauser Consultants, Metung, Victoria, Australia E-mail: engel{at}deakin.edu.au
Received March 18, 2005;
REFERENCE
Schulte PA, Lentz TJ, Anderson VP et al. (2004) Knowledge management in occupational hygiene: the United States example. Ann Occup Hyg 48: 583–600.
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