On the education and training of occupational hygienists

This article describes the role of occupational hygiene in the prevention of occupational diseases; reviews the development of occupational hygiene since the Erasmus Commission; outlines the needs in South Africa in terms of occupational hygiene personnel; proposes the nature and content of training programmes necessary for occupational hygienists to manage an occupational hygiene programme effectively; and proposes mechanisms for facilitating the training of occupational hygienists nationally and in southern Africa as a whole.