Quality assessment in occupational health services: a review.

Various understanding of occupational health services (OHS) roles, structures and functions in European counties depends mainly on the legal, financial and organizational issues, which influence the health of employees. The OHS aims and functions are often related to public health, and/or to the management of enterprises. In consequence, quality assessment (QA) of OHS is used in the management of enterprises and the implementation of health policy. The study was performed to delineate the methods and techniques used in OHS QA and to find the most useful ones, which might be applied in Polish occupational health services. The web pages, current literature, and international reports on OHS were reviewed. The OHS tasks, activities and methods for OHS QA are different in different European countries. Numerous voluntary methods are believed to be more effective, but their effectiveness is not as yet unequivocally proven. Quality assessment methods in Polish OHS are more similar to those used in clinical medicine. Good Practice in Health Environment and Safety Management in Enterprises (GP HESME) offers a new insight into in OHS QA.