Classification system for work in occupational health services

Even though the World Health Organization has repeatedly advocated research on occupational health services to increase knowledge of its priorities and efficiency, no empirical study on work in such services is registered in major data bases. A common classification system for work in occupational health services is not available, but would facilitate comparison between studies. This report presents a feasible, reliable, and relevant classification for this purpose. Central among the policy-relevant questions on occupational health services is whether or not they work in accordance with their aims. Therefore, the project started from the aims of such services (in Norway and in the convention proposed by the International Labour Office in 1985) to obtain congruence between the instrument's eight categories of work and the aims of occupational health services. The classification was constructed in cooperation with occupational physicians and proved to be easy to use.