A Systematic Scoping Review: Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Policies and Management in Vocational High Schools

Vocational High School (VHS) implements curricula designed to produce work-ready graduates. Therefore, aligning VHS educational standards with industrial safety standards is essential to establish a coherent link between vocational education and the industrial sector. This study employs a systematic scoping review to examine the implementation of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) policies and management in SMKs. Articles were selected from reputable international English-language databases, including Scopus, ProQuest, PubMed, ScienceDirect and Semantic Scholar. Eligible articles included original research, systematic literature reviews, meta-analyses, and international conference proceedings published between 2019 and April 2025, with the main keywords being “health,” “safety,” “school safety,” “occupational health and safety,” “vocational school,” “OHS Policy,” and “OHS management”. Ten articles were summarized in this paper. The findings indicate that despite efforts to integrate Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) policies, several weaknesses persist, including inadequate policy support, ineffective management systems, insufficient training for teachers and students, limited integration of OHS into the VHS curriculum, and inadequate infrastructure and availability of personal protective equipment. Significant discrepancies were identified between the implementation of OHS in VHSs and the established standard. The implementation of OHS in VHS requires collaborations among policymakers, educational practitioners, and researchers to address existing gaps and formulate more effective interventions to enhance OHS in VHS.