Occupational health and safety placements undertaken by physiotherapy students
What is it about?
Physiotherapists in the field of Occupational, Health and Safety (OHS) help employers and their employees make work safe and rehabilitate injured workers. This requires real-world practical experience at different workplaces to develop observational and problem-solving skills. This article describes workplaces that students go to for experience; mostly healthcare and manufacturing industries. Students write a report about their findings; nearly all reports (97%) demonstrated that students undertook risk management activities as required of employers by OHS legislation.
Why is it important?
To date, little is known about OHS practice in the field of physiotherapy education. The industrial environment provides opportunities for students to extend their communication skills, professional behaviour, knowledge of work and work-related health issues beyond the conventional teaching within the classroom. The students’ experiences align with the professional practice standards, which set them up to practise in the OHS specialty. Host organisations benefit from students’ activities through improved awareness of work safety and compliance. Overall, this paper lays groundwork for comparisons between educational institutions providing OHS training for students.