The reform of the regulation on occupational health
and safety of 1994 can be seen as a regime shift: from
a supplier market in which the occupational health
professional provider used to determine the aims and
instruments of the OHS, to a customer market in which
companies can decide howto formulate and implement
their occupational health and safety plans. OHSs that
used to have a monopolistic position in a certain region
were now forced to operate in a competitive marketwith different suppliers. The OHSs were transformed
from small and medium size practices, operating on a
regional level, into business-like companies and their
management was taken over by managers from the
health professionals. At the same time all employers
were obliged to hire certified OHS for management of
absenteeism and work disability and the approval of
the Risk assessments and valuation, which implied a
nearly complete coverage of the working population.