ABSTRACT
The evolution of the labour market and the various productive sectors has required regulatory efforts to ensure adequate levels of security in the performance of work tasks. Since the appearance of the first occupational safety technicians, its presence and training have evolved in response to the pressing needs of the fit between the skills of workers and the requirements of the job. Six years after the introduction of the qualification of Technician in Occupational Risk Prevention as a specific degree, framed in the design of current curricula of the European Higher Education Area, it is worth considering what actions should be made to adjust the training model to the specific tasks and competencies, according to the different areas of activity, in order to improve the quality of teaching and provide better and faster job placement.
The research has been designed based on interviews to a panel of 40 experts working in the area of prevention, to assess their views on three aspects: the training in three official masters being imparted in Valencia Autonomous Community, in relation to the training needs of technicians; specific or technical skills and general or human skills to be met, and the order of importance to their company or organization have the different activities that according to American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) perform most of the safety professionals.
The analysis of opinions about the teaching matters has resulted about the overall training that there is a parity between those who think that it has been regular, and the group composed of those who think that the training was good or very good, although on theoretical training 50% of experts believed that "it is good" and 35% being "very good", but on practical training 45% say that the training is "bad" and 30% think it is "regular". About the analysis of competencies, the most valuable of specific or technical skills is the realization of business practices, for personal competencies/about oneself are "ethical commitment" and "Motivation, enthusiasm, curiosity and eagerness to learn". According to expert opinions on ASSE activities, the most important one is “Acknowledgement of risks: the identification of conditions or actions that may cause injury, illness or property damage”, followed by “Advice to Management”, "Training: providing employees and managers the knowledge and skills needed to recognize the dangers and do their job safely and effectively" and "Control of health risks".
The conclusion is that the technician's professional profile is defined in relation to their professionalism, roles, functions, activities, tasks and competencies, and curricula should be reconsidered taking into account the demands of the labor market, through its modulation by levels ENTRANCE/MEDIUM/EXPERT, which can be aligned with academic standards of graduate, postgraduate and doctoral programs.