Applying the criteria of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award should help guide the implementation of total quality management, or continuous quality improvement, within occupational and environmental health organizations. Based upon the prior elucidation of necessary parameters to achieve this goal, the Baldrige criteria framework is found to encompass these components in an integrated way and to provide a rigorous method of assessment. Also, its guidelines provide a number of other unique advantages for occupational physician-managers whose aim is quality excellence and future competitiveness.