New check-in desks in an airport: The OHS consultant as a 'political reflective navigator'

The occupational health service (OHS) in Denmark is only sparsely involved as adviser when technologi-cal changes take place in client enterprises. In order to promote the OHS efforts in this area, the work practise of OHS consultants has been studied in four cases of technological change. Traditionally the role of OHS consultants is placed on a line between an expert and a process consultant. Based on evidence from the cases and concepts from actor-network theory on technological development, we suggest a sup-plementary third role, the ‘political reflective navigator’. In this role the OHS consultant is seen as an ac-tor pursuing a work environment agenda in a complex network with several actors pursuing other agendas such as productivity, economics, quality, etc. The competencies of a political reflective navigator are out-lined with the aim of revising the training needs of OHS consultants.