Sheldon W. Samuels, A Champion of Air Pollution Control and Worker Health.

Forty years has passed since the first issue of the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health. Over these four decades of rapid change in scientific publishing, the Journal has stabilized its position as the top international periodical in Occupational and Environmental Health. Our latest (2014) impact factor is 3.454, with a 5-year impact factor of 4.060. The journal now ranks 21st of 160 journals in the Public, Environmental and Occupational Health category of the Journal Citation Report - and the best among more than a dozen occupational health journals on the list.Authors refer to that are important for their own new research. But what makes an important publication in occupational health research? At the very least, it should be an innovative and high-quality publication. One paper alone is rarely responsible for societal impact, but a good one can further catalyze, support, or enhance our understanding of the elements of good practical solutions and cost-effective interventions. The aim of Scand J Work Environ Health has always been to promote good and impactful research in the field of occupational and environmental health and safety and increase knowledge through scientific publication.Over the years, although the goals of the Journal have remained unchanged, scientific focus, research methods, and academic publishing itself have undergone a monumental change.Looking back, the first paper published in the Journal in 1975 was a review by Anna Maria Seppalainen (1) on the applications of neurophysiological methods in occupational medicine. At that time, neurophysiological methods were recommended for the research and diagnosis of vibration and exposure to, for example, insecticides, carbon monoxide, acrylamide, and lead. The first issues of the Journal were rich in exposure assessment methodology and toxicology. Likewise, there were many papers related to occupational medicine. In the third issue from the same year, however, a paper did emerge on sleep length and adaption to shift work among Swedish railroad workers (2), varying the content. A study of the distribution of the research topics of 85 (ie, papers with >100 citations) from 1950 to 1997 in five major occupational medicine journals (including Scand J Work Environ Health) revealed some interesting findings. While a few citations classics dealing with toxicology were published during each decade, classics concerning solvents appeared only during the 1970s and 1980s, and those dealing with work-related musculoskeletal disorders emerged in the 1980s and increased significantly in the decades thereafter (3).During the last ten years, the most popular topics in the Journal have been occupational epidemiology, musculoskeletal disorders, and psychosocial factors. These papers also performed better than average with respect to citations (especially psychosocial factors), while papers on, eg, toxicology and respiratory disorders have appeared less frequently and have also been less frequently cited (4). During the last two years (see the top-cited articles www.sjweh.fi/list_top_cited.php) , many well-cited papers have investigated key issues relating to present working life, factors predicting return-to-work (5, 6), decreased sickness absence (7, 8), longer work careers (9, 10), and higher productivity (7, 11) at work. The solutions studied were often practical interventions related to work modifications and working hours, but also changes in individual, social or lifestyle factors. The evolution of the Journal's contents seems to reflect the current trends in general occupational safety and health (OSH) research policies (see eg, http://www.perosh.eu/research-priorities/). The Journal has come a long way in updating its expertise and focus areas but is still open to all relevant topics in the area of occupational and environmental health. Also toxicology, which the Journal initially targeted, is still an issue in today's working life. …

İş Sağlığı ve Güvenliği hayatımızın her aşamasında yer almaktadır. İlk aklımıza gelen işletmelerde çalışanların sağlığının korunması ve güvenli bir çalışma ortamının sağlanılması şeklinde düşünülebilir. İş sağlığı ve güvenliğinin amacı; iş kazası ve meslek hastalıklarının önlenmesi, çalışanların sosyal, ruhsal ve bedensel olarak tam iyilik halinin sağlanmasıdır. Ayrıca, üniversitelerde iş sağlığı ve güvenliği dersinin müfredata eklenmesi ile iş sağlığı ve güvenliği bilincinin kazanılması amaçlanmıştır. Zaman içerisinde İş Sağlığı ve Güvenliği alanında profesyonellere ihtiyaç duyularak İSG Uzmanlığı mesleği ortaya çıkmıştır. Üniversitelerde, önlisans ve lisansda İş Sağlığı ve Güvenliği programı açılarak sektörün ihtiyacı olan uzman ihtiyacının giderilmesi hedeflenmiştir. Programların kuruluşlarında alanından yetişmiş hoca olmadığından, fizik, kimya, biyoloji, mühendislik fakülteleri ve teknik eğitim fakültelerinde bulunan akademisyenler derse girmiştir. Zaman içerisinde İSG uzmanlığı ya da İSG eğitici belgesine sahip hocalar derse girerek, yüksek lisans ve doktora ile alanında yetişmiş akademisyenler yetişmeye başlanmıştır. Günümüzde alanında yetkin hocaların sayısı azdır. Belirli bir uzmanlık alanı hala yoktur. Bu çalışmada, Üniversitelerde İSG eğitimi veren akademisyenlerin İSG alanındaki akademik kariyerlerini, uzmanlık alanlarını, demografik yapılarını, bu alanda akademik kariyerlerine devam etmek isteyip istemediklerini incelemek üzerine yapılmış bir çalışmadır. Elde edilen veriler “IBM SPSS Statistics 22.0” programı ile analiz edildi. “Cronbach Alpha (α)” değeri 0.623 bulunarak çalışmanın güvenirliği sağlanmış oldu. Erkek, evli, C sınıfı belgesi, öğretim görevlisi akademisyenlerin çoğunlukta olduğunu görüyoruz. Ankete katılanların İş Sağlığı ve Güvenliği alanında doçent ünvanı almak istediklerini, İSG Programının mühendislik fakültesinde olması gerektiğini düşündüklerini görüyoruz. Sonuç olarak; İş Güvenliği alanında akademik çalışma yapan hocaların azınlıkta olduğunu görüyoruz. Bu sonuçlara göre İş Sağlığı ve Güvenliği alanında doçent ve prof ünvanına sahip hocaların yetişmesinin zaman alacağını söyleyebiliriz.

Over time, the Republic of Moldova has gone through several stages of development and reform of the Occupational Health and Safety System. This article aimed to assess the complex legal and regulatory framework in the field of occupational health and safety in the Republic of Moldova. Currently, the Republic of Moldova has ratified 43 conventions and 1 protocol, namely - 8 out of 8 fundamental conventions, 4 out of 4 governing conventions (priority) and 31 technical conventions. Over the years, 2 conventions have been denounced. At the beginning of 2021, the Moldavian parliament adopted the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No.161 (1985) on occupational health services. The legal and regulatory framework in occupational safety and health is good enough, but major problems are identified in their implementation.

Introduction Occupational health and safety is a major issue for healthcare establishments. Future nursing students are confronted with physical, chemical and psychological risks associated with their daily activities in the clinical learning environment. The aim of this study is to describe the knowledge and attitudes of nursing students in the field of occupational health and safety. Methods This quantitative cross-sectional study involved 120 students in the nursing course at the Higher Institute of Nursing Professions and Health Techniques Tiznit. A structured online questionnaire was distributed and a 5-point Likert scale was used. Data were analyzed using Jamovi software version 2.2.5. Results and Discussion The mean age of participants was 20.2 ± 1.92, and the majority were female (80%). Mean knowledge and attitude scores were respectively (M±SD: 31.4 ± 7.23, M±SD: 74.5 ± 9.42). For knowledge, mean scores were statistically significant by age, academic level and between students who had taken an occupational health and safety course and those who had not (P value < 0.05). Concerning attitudes, a statistically significant association exists in relation to the option, previous experience of a needle stick or sharp object and full vaccination against hepatitis B (P value < 0.05). Conclusion To develop the knowledge and attitudes needed for effective occupational risk management among nursing students, it is essential to ensure adequate training based on the latest scientific and technical advances in the field of occupational health and safety. Keywords: occupational health and safety, knowledge, attitude, nursing students, occupational risks.

Though the rise of big data in the field of occupational health offers new opportunities especially for cross-cutting research, they raise the issue of privacy and security of data, especially when linking sensitive data from the field of insurance, occupational health or compensation claims. We aimed to validate a large, blinded synthesized database developed from the CONSTANCES cohort by comparing associations between three independently selected outcomes, and various exposures. From the CONSTANCES cohort, a large synthetic dataset was constructed using the avatar method (Octopize) that is agnostic to the data primary or secondary data uses. Three main analyses of interest were chosen to compare associations between the raw and avatar dataset: risk of stroke (any stroke, and subtypes of stroke), risk of knee pain and limitations associated with knee pain. Logistic models were computed, and a qualitative comparison of paired odds ratio (OR) was made. Both raw and avatar datasets included 162,434 observations and 19 relevant variables. On the 172 paired raw/avatar OR that were computed, including stratified analyses on sex, more than 77% of the comparisons had a OR difference ≤0.5 and less than 7% had a discrepancy in the statistical significance of the associations, with a Cohen's Kappa coefficient of 0.80. This study shows the flexibility and the multiple usage of a synthetic database created with the avatar method in the particular field of occupational health, which can be shared in open access without risking re-identification and privacy issues and help bring new insights for complex phenomenon like return to work.

ObjectivesThough the rise of big data in the field of occupational health offers new opportunities especially for cross-cutting research, they raise the issue of privacy and security of data, especially when linking sensitive data from the field of insurance, occupational health or compensation claims. We aimed to validate a large, blinded synthesized database developed from the CONSTANCES cohort by comparing associations between three independently selected outcomes, and various exposures.MethodsFrom the CONSTANCES cohort, a large synthetic dataset was constructed using the avatar method (Octopize) that is agnostic to the data primary or secondary data uses. Three main analyses of interest were chosen to compare associations between the raw and avatar dataset: risk of stroke (any stroke, and subtypes of stroke), risk of knee pain and limitations associated with knee pain. Logistic models were computed, and a qualitative comparison of paired odds ratio (OR) was made.ResultsBoth raw and avatar datasets included 162,434 observations and 19 relevant variables. On the 172 paired raw/avatar OR that were computed, including stratified analyses on sex, more than 77% of the comparisons had a OR difference ≤0.5 and less than 7% had a discrepancy in the statistical significance of the associations, with a Cohen’s Kappa coefficient of 0.80.ConclusionsThis study shows the flexibility and the multiple usage of a synthetic database created with the avatar method in the particular field of occupational health, which can be shared in open access without risking re-identification and privacy issues and help bring new insights for complex phenomenon like return to work.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to companies’ commitment to ethical practices that benefit society and the environment. Occupational safety and health (OSH) ensures safe work environments, preventing risks and promoting employee well-being. The combination of both can contribute to forming a competitive advantage for companies. To this end, a research is proposed with the general objective of: Analyzing corporate social responsibility practices as a competitive advantage in the field of occupational health and safety from a comparative theoretical perspective of the bridge and access road construction sector, with emphasis on developed countries, Latin America, and Ecuador. The methodology was qualitative, descriptive- explanatory, using the inductive-deductive, analytical-synthetic, and comparative methods. The information collection units comprised international and national databases on legislation, regulations, and practices in developed countries, Latin American countries, and Ecuador. The analysis and presentation techniques of the results were structured in comparative descriptive tables and semantic networks coded in the Atlas.ti V-7.5.18 (2019) Software. The results showed that the countries mostly agreed that CSR and OSH practices provide beneficial results in terms of quality of life, talent retention, and improvement of business reputation. However, these efforts face financial and bureaucratic barriers that hinder their adoption, especially in less developed contexts and in smaller companies.

Evaluation of work conditions and occupational health risk factors in enterprises within a 10-year period in Latvia The objective of the study was to conduct a survey in the field of occupational health and safety the results of which could be used in rational and effective decision making for elaboration of employment and social policy programmes and for ensuring occupational safety and health programme development. During the study the following groups of people were surveyed: employers, occupational health and safety specialists, and employees. The traditional work risk factors (physical, chemical, biological) have changed to new risks (psychosocial, ergonomic, microclimatic) in Latvia today. The study included objective assessment of occupational health and safety situation (analysis of work environment risk factors measurement data bases, information on occupational diseases, workplace accidents). Results of measurements showed that one-third of measured risk factors values exceeded mandatory or recommended limits but situation has been improved during the last years (2002 compared to 2006). The results of surveys reveal insufficient assessment of risk factors in workplaces and selection of most hazardous ones only. Awareness and understanding of employers and employees regarding occupational health and safety requirements was dissatisfactory. The results of the study reveal a low level of workplace accidents compared to other countries within EU, which may be the result of poor registration system in Latvia. Strengthening of occupational safety and health normative basis and improvement of qualification of occupational physicians has increased the number of occupational diseases and patients revealed for the first time from 1996 to 2006. Early diagnose of occupational diseases and effective rehabilitation is an important question to favour a more rapid return of workforce after occupational morbidity. Study showed that attention should further be paid to simplification of legal requirements, development of alternative methods for informing and educating people, as well as recurrent definition of national indicators to assess efficacy of implemented measures related to occupational health and safety.

The article focuses on the importance of mobile applications in enterprises with a focus on logistics in the service sector. In the theoretical part, individual software applications in the field of occupational health and safety, fire protection, which are used in Slovakia and the Czech Republic are clearly described. The article contains a brief overview of the legislative regulations on the basis of which the obligations for management decisions in enterprises arise. A telephone survey was conducted in 110 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises between 2022 and 2023 in order to determine the use of software solutions in ensuring the fulfilment of obligations in the field of occupational safety and health and fire protection. To collect data, research questions were set and a questionnaire was developed, which included 6 merit questions, identification questions and a specific question aimed at finding out the prioritisation of the most preferred mobile application features in the study area. The questions were closed-ended, with options where the respondent could choose only one answer. SPSS for Windows version 21.0 was used for statistical analysis and processing of the collected data. We used methods of statistical description, analysed using relative abundance, arithmetic mean, standard deviation and median. At the level of statistical inference, we used chi-square goodness-of-fit tests to analyse categorical variables. We also used nonparametric tests, Friedman analysis of variance, 3D pie charts, and 3D group bar charts. We found that business representatives had a significantly higher preference for the functionality "record of initial and recurrent BOZP and PO training", followed by the second most preferred functionality "OSH inspections and fire prevention inspections". The research focused on logistics enterprises.

Objective: To analysis the projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China in the fields of occupational health (code H2602) and occupational diseases (code H2402) from 2008 to 2019, to provide a reference for the project application of scientific researchers in the field of occupational diseases in China. Methods: In October 2021, the information of all National Natural Science Foundation projects in the field of occupational health and occupational diseases from 2008 to 2019 was collected through LetPub website. It mainly analyzes the types of funded projects, the types of supporting units, the occupational disease hazard factors of the funded projects, the types of occupational injuries and representative research directions. Results: From 2008 to 2019, the National Natural Science Foundation of China funded a total of 282 projects in the field of occupational health and occupational diseases, with a total funding of 113.902 million yuan. Among them, 138 projects (48.94%) were funded, 96 (34.04%) were funded by youth science funds, and 35 projects (12.41%) were funded by regional science funds. 31 (79.93%) funded projects relied on the type of institutions of higher learning, 126 (46.84%) occupational disease hazard factors were chemical factors, and 83 (30.86%) occupational damage types were lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis. Epigenetic regulation is the most important representative research direction of the funded projects. Conclusion: The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) project funding in the field of occupational health and occupational diseases in China has maintained a stable trend, but there are still problems such as incomplete funding system and late start of some research directions.

North Africa mainly includes Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and on top of that Mauritania. 210 million people live there. The average GDP per capita is 3 513 $, while the world’s average sits around 14 956 $, and the economical growth doesn’t exceed 3%. Occupational health is directly linked to the social environment and to the company’s performance, it can also impact prevention policies, management of critical circumstances and daily practices. Most of the time, human resources contributors don’t include new occupational health managerial, strategic nor legal stakes in the process of managing companies in African countries. The lack of human resources in the field of occupational health in these countries, enforces us to coordinate efforts to establish practical programs allowing us to address basic occupational health issues. A unique repository for occupational physicians, nurses, engineers and managers should be implemented, either during initial or continuing training. We should build an occupational health training network by creating links between different actors in all these countries. All those occupational health actors should be certified by an independent organisation. The exchange and adjustment of experiences as well as the sharing of means, will enable us, both in short and medium term, to use occupational health as a performance lever for our companies.

The Role of the Physiotherapist in Occupational Health in Sweden

IF MAN" and his environment are to be com¬ prehended as an entity, rather than as sep¬ arate and conflicting systems, those who are expert in the study of man and those who are expert in the study of environment must work in close association.Perhaps nowhere is this more essential than in the field of occupational health, which is such an important component of environmental health.The question is sometimes asked: "Why, when provision has been made for intensive study of the health aspects of air, water, food, and radiation, is it necessary to set up another study category.occupationalhealth.which to some extent involves all these other areas?"The answer is, of course, that man doesn't organize his various activities within the neat classifications of the physical scientist.Work is as characteristic of man as flight of a bird.Man clusters around his occupations in defin¬ able groups set in definable environments.Within these groupings, he encounters special stresses, performs special activities, and de¬ velops special interactions.Far from merely duplicating studies of air, water, food, and radiation, occupational health cuts a revealing cross section which is not merely valuable but essential for comprehension in depth of the natural interactions between the basic environ¬ mental factors.That such interactions pre-

Statement of the problem. In recent years, the state of safety and working conditions at Ukrainian production facilities has continued to be difficult and dangerous, especially at construction companies (one of the ten most injury-prone industries), as evidenced by official statistics on occupational injuries, while Ukraine is living in a state of war. Huge sums of money from the state reserve funds, the Pension Fund, and the owners of enterprises themselves are spent on eliminating the consequences of industrial accidents, accidents, occupational diseases, and on helping victims and families of those killed at work. Ukraine has adopted many laws and regulations on occupational health and safety, including those that, in accordance with the Association Agreement between Ukraine, on the one hand, and the European Union, the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, on the other hand, have adapted Ukrainian legislation to that of the European Union, within the framework of which work is actively underway to implement a risk-based approach at the state level in the system of managing the economic safety and health of employees who are citizens of Ukraine. Business leaders (employers) understand the responsibility for the life and health of employees, the need to create proper, safe and healthy working conditions, and care about the economic development of the business, despite the high risks of today's hazards. Objective. To analyze the most effective ways of economic impact of occupational health and safety regulation, taking into account the risk-oriented approach, while maintaining the economic development of the company. Conclusion. The analysis of the most effective ways of economic impact of occupational health and safety regulation, taking into account the risk-oriented approach, shows that in the current conditions of development of enterprises in our country, it is difficult to find a universal solution that would simultaneously meet the requirements for the budget for financing occupational health and safety measures, the speed and quality of its implementation, and at the same time reduce risks in the field of occupational health and safety at workplaces. Therefore, it is difficult to predict which of these ways plays a primary role and which are acceptable, and how to ensure the efficiency of the entire system. Professional, comprehensive occupational health and safety cost planning will help to find the perfect balance between the measures taken and their economic benefits. The complexity of applying several options for economic regulation of occupational health and safety will allow the company to operate smoothly, without conflicts and have a sustainable operation, which will allow for economic growth, the organization's development strategy for the near future, and will also reduce risks in the field of occupational health and safety by taking effective preventive measures.

The speed of development and variety of potential applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology represents significant intellectual and practical challenges to practitioners and researchers in the field of health and safety at work. While these challenges are likely to dominate research agendas in the coming years, knowledge and expertise about the technology among practitioners in the field of occupational health is currently limited. The challenge is to raise capacity within the occupational health sector so as to establish a coherent and defensible approach to judgment and decision-making about AI. This should address: • The operational and regulatory challenges relating to health and safety at work that AI presents, and how regulators might respond; • Potential opportunities for implementation of new technology (including AI) to improve health and safety at work; • Identifying the foci for research activity to address these questions. Here we present a framework under development at the University of Manchester in partnership with the Thomas Ashton Institute for regulatory research. In recognising the need to bring together disciplinary perspectives, the framework aims to create an inter-professional network involving technologists and OH specialists to establish a “pincer movement” between: 1. Bottom-up descriptions of the technology, its mechanisms, its provenance, its developmental trajectory, and potential impact on occupational health; 2. Top-down descriptions of organizational, social, phenomenological and ecological implications of the technology Early results from this initiative, including results from an inter-professional Delphi study will be presented, identifying key learning needs in the interrelationship between work, health and technology.