Codes of ethics in occupational health – are they important?

Abstract

This article addresses the ethical competence of occupational health professionals (OHPs). Ethical dilemmas and moral challenges are part of everyday life in occupational health (OH), increasingly requiring that OH practitioners are competent in dealing with these issues. According to Susanne Rameix of the Sorbonne University of Paris, ethics is not a science,1 nor is it an institutionalised system of regulations. It is a matter of knowing what to do. Since the days of Socrates, philosophers have engaged the difficulties of teaching ethics.