The professional working environment consultant - A new actor in the health and safety arena

This article examines the development of the professionalized working envir onment activities as they are executed in the Danish Occupational Health Se rvice (OHS). In an historical analysis of OHS, the development of professio nal approaches to the working environment is shown to have shifted in focus from: an early concern with the control of occupational diseases and machi ne safety, to a more technical prevention emphasis in the early 1980s, thro ugh to a change agent and process consultant approach. The article conclude s that we are entering a new era for cooperation with new role models for w orking environment professionals. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.