Ethics, Professionalism, and Program Evaluation
Professional practice rests on integrity, competence, confidentiality, and objectivity. Understand the duty to protect worker health even under commercial pressure, the obligation to report accurately and not suppress unfavorable findings, and the requirement to work within one's competence and seek expert advice when needed. Know conflict-of-interest concepts and the importance of transparent, evidence-based recommendations.
Program evaluation uses structure, process, and outcome measures. Structure covers resources and organization; process covers activities such as inspections and training; outcome covers results such as exposure reduction and injury trends. Familiarize yourself with audit versus evaluation, benchmarking, and the use of both leading and lagging indicators. Recognize that evaluation should inform management review and continuous improvement.
Traps: choosing an outcome measure when the question asks about program activity; treating an audit as a substitute for improvement; and ethical scenarios where the "efficient" answer conflicts with the duty to protect health. In ethics questions, the correct answer is usually the one that prioritizes worker health, transparency, and lawful disclosure.
Rule of thumb: if a decision would be uncomfortable to defend publicly to workers and a regulator, it is probably the wrong choice. Worked example: a manager asks you to omit a rising exposure trend from a board report. The professional response is to report the data accurately with interpretation and recommended actions.