Objective In order to improve the service quality of the occupational health technical service industry in Chongqing, the status and influencing factors of professional competence among personnel in this industry were surveyed.

Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted on 197 participants in the first skills competition of professionals in the occupational health technical service industry. Their competition scores and associations with their characteristics were analyzed.

Results The skill competition covered three categories, namely occupational health assessment and testing (64 persons), radiation health assessment and testing (40 persons), and occupational health examination (93 persons), respectively. Among 197 participants, the majority were male (59.9%), held a bachelor's degree (73.1%), had an intermediate professional title (53.3%), and were aged 31-40 (49.2%). The pass rates of theoretical examinations in 3 categories were 41.6%, 22.5%, and 19.4%, respectively, while the pass rates of practical skills were 81.3%, 90.0%, and 5.4%, respectively. Multifactorial logistic regression analysis showed that males, those who participated in occupational health skills training or worked longer, had higher pass rates in this competition(OR = 2.447-4.079, P < 0.05), while the elderly had a lower pass rate(OR = 0.053, P < 0.05).

Conclusions The results of this skill competition indicated that the theoretical knowledge and practical skills of participants were not good enough. The occupational health service industry in Chongqing needs further enhancement or improvement of professional competency, talent allocation, and continuing education for employed staff.