By the end of 1998, nationally recognised industry competency standards - including occupational health and safety (OHS) skills - will have been set for the majority of industries which make up the Australian economy. These standards, along with new ways of delivering training and assessing workplace skills, an influx of private training organisations into the vocational training system, and the introduction of school-based workers through new apprenticeships and traineeships, have all occurred with little attention from the OHS sector. This paper describes recent changes to the vocational education and training (VET) system in Australia, the impact of these structural and philosophical changes for the OHS sector and current approaches to prevention in the workplace. In particular, impacts on the OHS regulatory system, training arrangements and the professional and technical skill base are discussed. Current interventions designed to maintain effective standards of OHS training and practice are outlined.
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