Occupational safety and health (OSH) and business strategy: The role of the OSH professional in Spain.

• Occupational safety and health (OSH) technicians work in Spain as advisers in OSH matters. • This paper suggests an integration of OSH professional advice into business strategy. • Spanish firms seem to be driven by the market towards hiring prevention services. • A survey collected data on the role of OSH professionals in Spanish firms. • The survey results suggest improvements for OSH professional praxis in Spain. In the last few years, occupational safety and health (OSH) management systems in Spain have been implemented in firms by professional technicians who are gaining importance as advisers to guarantee minimum occupational accidents and to monitor occupational safety and health. This paper analyses the current situation of this profession in Spain, in terms of (1) individual criteria, referring, among other factors, to their training, qualifications, duties, and responsibilities; (2) collective criteria, referring to the situation of their professional group (prevention services entities, employers, market); and (3) environmental criteria, referring to their external perception as individual professionals and members of a professional group and their relationships with other agents. Along with the description of the Spanish situation we analyse the results of a survey carried out on Spanish OSH professionals (FSSOSHP) in which we collected primary data for each criteria category (individual, collective, environmental) in order to suggest improvements for their professional praxis. Finally, we discuss the results of our survey and emphasize the need to make improvements in individual, collective and environmental areas for OSH professionals and OSH management systems to progress in terms of further integration and increased efficacy of OSH activities in Spanish firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]