Abstract
In recent years, public health doctors have taken on a much greater role in the investigation of environmental hazards that impact on the health of the general population, including the management of both acute and chronic chemical incidents. A chemical incident management guidance manual for public health professionals has been developed from a four-year research programme. This paper reports on an assessment of its effectiveness in improving performance in chemical incident management by public health professionals. The study concludes that the chemical incident management guidance manual significantly improved the level of performance and also that training in chemical incident management is a significant factor in improving the level of performance.