Environmental Management Measures Research Articles

Do we know how scabies outbreaks in residential and nursing care homes for the elderly should be managed? A systematic review of interventions using a novel approach to assess evidence quality.

Currently no national guidelines exist for the management of scabies outbreaks in residential or nursing care homes for the elderly in the United Kingdom. In this setting, diagnosis and treatment of scabies outbreaks is often delayed and optimal drug treatment, environmental control measures and even outcome measures are unclear. We undertook a systematic review to establish the efficacy of outbreak management interventions and determine evidence-based recommendations. Four electronic databases were searched for relevant studies, which were assessed using a quality assessment tool drawing on STROBE guidelines to describe the quality of observational data. Nineteen outbreak reports were identified, describing both drug treatment and environmental management measures. The quality of data was poor; none reported all outcome measures and only four described symptom relief measures. We were unable to make definitive evidence-based recommendations. We draw on the results to propose a framework for data collection in future observational studies of scabies outbreaks. While high-quality randomised controlled trials are needed to determine optimal drug treatment, evidence on environmental measures will need augmentation through other literature studies. The quality assessment tool designed is a useful resource for reporting of outcome measures including patient-reported measures in future outbreaks.

Environmental quality management systems in public procurement regarding wastewater infrastructure

The application of environmental criteria in public procurement should be considered in terms of implementing the principle of sustainable development. Hence, dissemination of environmental criteria in public procurement is one of the strategic objectives of the European Union, enabling the improvement of environment.There are specific solutions that allow the contracting authority to take environmental aspects into account while evaluating offers and contractors educationse.g. Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). The contracting authority has the option of requiring the contractor to demonstrate the implementation of environmental management measures or systems. During the procurement procedure, the contracting authority may require from the contractor to demonstrate the implementation of environmental management measures or systems and verify that the contractor’s existing quality system guarantees the proper performance of the contract or minimizes negative environmental impacts or whether the proposed products meet the requirements of certain standards or technical specifications.To confirm that the offered supplies, services or works meet the specific requirements, the contracting authority may demand specific documents. The legal system, indicating the executive regulations of the Public Procurement Law, provide such opportunity.The purpose of the paper is to indicate how the contracting authority can apply environmental requirements at the stage of preparing tender documentation for the construction and extension of waste water treatment plants and wastewater infrastructure.The article presents the original research carried out in dozens of municipalities, which in 2009−2015 carried out public sewage infrastructure contracts.The results of the studies indicated that the contracting authorities generally did not require the contractor to implement environmental management systems and did not indicate such criteria when selecting contractors.

Materials on the distribution of plant species which are rare for the Volgograd oblast

The information about the distribution of 28 rare and endangered species of vascular plants under Federal and regional security, registered in 2018 on the territory of the Volgograd oblast under the Federal and regional security is given. Among them, 2 species (Crambe tataria Sebeok и Stipa zalesskii Wilensky ex P. A. Smirn.) are included in the List of Threatened plant species of Europe. Each location is linked to the grid of Atlas Flora Europaea. The obtained materials about the distribution of rare and endangered species of vascular plants represent an important data for long-term monitoring and also for environmental management measures at the regional level.

The usefulness of alos-palsar dem data for drainage extraction in semi-arid environments in The Iishana sub-basin

Study regionThe study area is the Iishana sub-basin located in north-central Namibia. The basin is characterised by low-lying interconnected ephemeral drainage networks locally known as Iishana. In the past decade, the basin has experienced frequent droughts and flooding events due to recent weather anomalies possibly enhanced by the sprawling urban development. Study focusAlthough extensive studies have been conducted on water availability in the basin, no attempts have been made to update existing hydrological maps which provide limited information on the impacts of geo-hydrological dynamics in the area. The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite Digital Elevation Model (ALOS DEM) for drainage network extraction. ArcHydro tools were used for drainage feature extraction. Validation of extracted networks was based on field observations and delineated networks from earth observation data and Normalized Difference Wetness Index (NDWI). The accuracy of extracted drainage networks was assessed through visual observation of data overlay and the coefficient of line correspondence (CLC). New hydrological insightsThe resulting drainage networks will be used to update the current hydrographic map of the area which will aid in the development of flood and drought mitigating measures for environmental management. The CLC computed metric obtained a 0.91 match between extracted and delineated drainage networks. The results show that ALOS DEM is capable of extracting drainage networks within the Iishana sub-basin.

Incorporating basic needs to reconcile poverty and ecosystem services.

Conservation managers frequently face the challenge of protecting and sustaining biodiversity without producing detrimental outcomes for (often poor) human populations that depend on ecosystem services for their well‐being. However, mutually beneficial solutions are often elusive and can mask trade‐offs and negative outcomes for people. To deal with such trade‐offs, ecological and social thresholds need to be identified to determine the acceptable solution space for conservation. Although human well‐being as a concept has recently gained prominence, conservationists still lack tools to evaluate how their actions affect it in a given context. We applied the theory of human needs to conservation by building on an extensive historical application of need approaches in international development. In an innovative participatory method that included focus groups and household surveys, we evaluated how human needs are met based on locally relevant thresholds. We then established connections between human needs and ecosystem services through key‐informant focus groups. We applied our method in coastal East Africa to identify households that would not be able to meet their basic needs and to uncover the role of ecosystem services in meeting these. This enabled us to identify how benefits derived from the environment were contributing to meeting basic needs and to consider potential repercussions that could arise through changes to ecosystem service provision. We suggest our approach can help conservationists and planners balance poverty alleviation and biodiversity protection and ensure conservation measures do not, at the very least, cause serious harm to individuals. We further argue it can be used as a basis for monitoring the impacts of conservation on multidimensional poverty.

Research on Water Environment Regulation of Artificial Playground Lake Interconnected Yangtze River.

With the rapid development of China, water pollution is still a serious problem despite implementation of control measures. Reasonable water environment management measures are very important for improving water quality and controlling eutrophication. In this study, the coupled models of hydrodynamics, water quality, and eutrophication were used to predict artificial Playground Lake water quality in the Zhenjiang, China. Recommended “unilateral” and “bilateral” river numerical models were constructed to simulate the water quality in the Playground Lake without or with water diversion by pump, sluice and push pump. Under “unilateral” and “bilateral” river layouts, total nitrogen and total phosphorus meet the landscape water requirement through water diversion. Tourist season in spring and summer and its suitable temperature result in heavier eutrophication, while winter is lighter. Under pumping condition, water quality and eutrophication of “unilateral” river is better than “bilateral” rivers. Under sluice diversion, the central landscape lake of “unilateral river” is not smooth, and water quality and eutrophication is inferior to the “bilateral”. When the water level exceeds the flood control level (4.1 m), priority 1 is launched to discharge water from the Playground Lake. During operation of playground, when water level is less than the minimum level (3.3 m), priority 2 is turned on for pumping diversion or sluice diversion to Playground Lake. After opening the Yangtze river diversion channel sluice, priority 3 is launched for sluice diversion to the Playground Lake. When the temperature is less than 15 °C, from 15 °C to 25 °C and higher than 25 °C, the water quality can be maintained for 15 days, 10 days and 7 days, respectively. Corresponding to the conditions of different priority levels, reasonable choices of scheduling measures under different conditions to improve the water quality and control eutrophication of the Playground Lake. This article is relevant for the environmental management of the artificial Playground Lake, and similar lakes elsewhere.

Sensitivity Analysis in Socio-Ecological Models as a Tool in Environmental Policy for Sustainability

The assessment of environmental policies and sustainability in socio-ecological systems (SES) should be tackled from a holistic perspective, using methodologies such as dynamic system models. However, the integral assessment of SES generally suffers from high levels of uncertainty. In this work, the potential of sensitivity analysis (SA) to assess uncertainty and its implications in SES models, specifically in the Fuerteventura sustainability model, has been explored. An extensive SA was applied in different stages of model development and application. The different SA techniques applied allowed, besides a detailed assessment of robustness, the identification of leverage points and their application to define environmental policies and management measures intended to improve sustainability. The results suggest that measures based on leverage points identified by the SA in the model are more effective than others proposed so far by different agents. Furthermore, the assessment of uncertainty of measures thought to contribute to sustainability shows that, when uncertainty ranges are considered, the thresholds of some sustainability indicators might be exceeded, whereas mean values would not. Therefore, the surpassing of some sustainability thresholds might go unnoticed if uncertainties are not considered in the policy analysis. This work shows SA to be a powerful tool that provides important insights to policy makers and end users, with regard to improving environmental policies for sustainability.

Changes in Environmental Awareness and Its Connection to Local Environmental Management in Water Conservation Zones: The Case of Beijing, China

This paper aims at investigating the change over time in the environmental awareness in rural Chinese communities and its correlation with environmental management measures implemented at the local level. We identify three main components of awareness, namely: perception, behavior, and attitude toward environmental management measures. Data were collected from two surveys in three villages in northern China in 2006 and 2015 that interviewed 125 and 129 respondents, respectively, and were analyzed employing an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach. The results discussed in the paper show that environmental awareness increased between 2006–2015, and was mainly manifested in better environmental behavior and understanding of environmental status due an improvement in rural infrastructure and a greater amount of information provided to rural residents about the environment. Place of residence had a considerable influence on respondents’ environmental awareness: residents in eco-villages had a higher environmental awareness than those living in common agricultural villages. This appears to indicate a positive nexus between the comprehensiveness of environmental management measures implemented locally, and environmental awareness. Also, the universality of environment issues reduced the importance of socioeconomic and demographic factors in determining the degree of environmental awareness. However, more attention should be paid to villagers’ external behavior and inner feelings, such as their attitude to governmental management policies. These findings yield important policy implications that are relevant to the promotion of environmental awareness in China’s rural communities, and the adoption of more effective environmental management measures.

Variabilidad y tendencia de la temperatura superficial de los grandes embalses del Río Negro

Water temperature is a fundamental parameter to understand the dynamics of continental waters. Surface water temperature trend and variability of the large reservoirs of the Rio Negro river, Rincon del Bonete and Baygorria, using 16 years of satellite data (MUR-GHRSST) with a spatial resolution of 0.01o between 2002 and 2018 was studied. The average temperature was 18.8 oC, with a minimum of 12.1 oC and maximum of 25.2 oC, in July and January, respectively. Spring and autumn showed the highest intraseasonal variability, and winter the highest interannual variability. The surface temperature of the reservoirs showed a signifcant trend towards warming of 1.3 °C per decade for spring-summer, while the seasons of autumn and winter did not exhibited a signifcant trend. The warming trend increased towards downstream. The satellite information was correlated with opportunistic observed data (n = 67), with a correlation of 0.94 and a root mean square error of 1.92 oC. Generating time series of continuous measurements in situ would allow an evaluation of the product and viability for operational usage. These results demonstrate the utility of remote sensing of water temperature as a monitoring tool based on freely accessible information. In addition, the seasonal cycle, trend and variability of the reservoirs of the Rio Negro river were described for the first time. It is expected that these results contribute to the environmental management measures of the Rio Negro river reservoirs.

A participatory sustainability assessment for integrated watershed management in urban China

This paper introduces a participatory framework for Sustainability Assessment (SA) for urban Integrated Watershed Management (IWM). The framework is applied to the Lihu Lake Basin (Wuxi City), where between 2002 and 2012 an IWM program was implemented, coordinating water environmental management measures with urban planning. The framework for SA introduced in this paper is based on a Multi-Criteria-Decision-Analysis (MCDA) approach integrating criteria of environmental, economic, and social sustainability. Local stakeholders were engaged in focus group discussions (FGDs) to validate and weigh criteria and attributes employed in the SA framework. Results of the model application indicate that the programme implemented in the Lihu Basin yielded positive results in enhancing environmental conditions, providing more sustainable avenues of environmental management funding, and fostering economic growth. Despite efforts put forward by local authorities, performance of social indicators was comparatively worse, due to relocation policies, increase in housing prices, and scarce public participation. Results show that decision makers pursued viability, rather than comprehensive sustainability.

Historical changes in primary production in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, after implementing regulations to control the pollutant loads

Abstract A total pollutant load control system (TPLCS) was implemented in the Seto Inland Sea in 1979 to reduce the water pollution and the frequency of red tides. We estimated primary production from 1981 to 2010 to determine the effects of reducing the nutrient loadings from the surrounding land. While primary production has decreased overall in the Seto Inland Sea in response to the TPLCS and the associated reductions in the total nitrogen (T-N) and phosphorus (T-P) loads from land since 1981, the reductions were limited to 4 of its 11 subareas. Primary production has increased in the Harima Nada but has been stable in the Bingo Nada subarea, reflecting the fact that the T-N and T-P stocks have not decreased in these subareas over the study years. The inconsistent responses of the 11 subareas suggest that the characteristics of each subarea should be considered when environmental management measures are established and implemented in the Seto Inland Sea. The controls on the nutrient loadings according to the TPLCS should be modified to permit better management of this semi-enclosed sea.

Redesign of Secondary Magnesium Metallurgy in the "Mg Serbien" Complex

Securing a sustainable production nowadays is a key issue taking into account the need for clean and sustainable solutions for the production of magnesium, in order to avoid harm to the environment. Redesign of secondary magnesium metallurgy in the complex Mg Serbien is presented.
 The integrated approach has been pointed in order to deliver industrial sustainability which significantly contributes to the material flows management and cleaner production, as well as preventive measures for environmental management. The research propose is to show that sustainable magnesium production is feasible only by principles of closing the production cycle through optimization and synergy between primary and secondary magnesium production in order to generate as least as possible waste, emission and pollution. The technical and economical view-point evaluation has been illustrated by material balance sheets and economic parameters which are the most favorable parameters for projects of this kind. The unit capital expenditures and unit operating expenses are indicators of the economic success for this integrated approach by using UNIDO and the World Bank methodology.

The impact of soil erosion on soil fertility and vine vigor. A multidisciplinary approach based on field, laboratory and remote sensing approaches

Soil erosion processes in vineyards, beyond surface runoff and sediment transport, have a strong effect on soil organic carbon (SOC) loss and redistribution along the slope. Variation in SOC across the landscape can determine differences in soil fertility and vine vigor. The goal of this research was to analyze the interactions among vines vigor, sediment delivery and SOC in a sloping vineyard located in Sicily. Six pedons were studied along the slope by digging 6 pits up to 60cm depth. Soil was sampled every 10cm and SOC, water extractable organic carbon (WEOC) and specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA) were analyzed. Erosion rates, detachment and deposition areas were measured by the pole height method which allowed mapping of the soil redistribution. The vigor of vegetation, expressed as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), derived from high-resolution satellite multispectral data, was compared with measured pruning weight. Results confirmed that soil erosion, sediment redistribution and SOC across the slope was strongly affected by topographic features, slope and curvature. The erosion rate was 16Mgha−1y−1 since the time of planting (6years). SOC redistribution was strongly correlated with the detachment or deposition areas as highlighted by pole height measurements. The off-farm SOC loss over six years amounted to 1.2MgCha−1. SUVA254 values, which indicate hydrophobic material rich in aromatic constituents of WEOC, decreased significantly along the slope, demonstrating that WEOC in the detachment site is more stable in comparison to deposition sites. The plant vigor was strongly correlated with WEOC constituents. Results demonstrated that high resolution passive remote sensing data combined with soil and plant analyses can survey areas with contrasting SOC, soil fertility, soil erosion and plant vigor. This will allow monitoring of soil erosion and degradation risk areas and support decision-makers in developing measures for friendly environmental management.

Risk profile for Leishmania infection in dogs coming from an area of visceral leishmaniasis reemergence

Until the 1980s, visceral leishmaniasis was concentrated in poor rural areas of Brazil. The Vale do Rio Doce, located in the Southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, was an endemic area with high numbers of human and canine cases. Prophylactic measures adopted since the 1960s reduced the number of cases and the region became a ‘controlled endemic’ area. In the early 1990s, however, the program was interrupted, and the human disease reemerged in 2008. This cross-sectional study evaluated the prevalence and the risk profile of infection of dogs with Leishmania spp in this reemergence area of visceral leishmaniasis. Among a population of approximately 280,000 people, a total of 3835 dog owners were interviewed about socioeconomic conditions, housing, peridomicile features, and their dogs’ characteristics and behavior. Blood samples were collected from 5822 dogs of an estimated canine population of 20,000 and anti-Leishmaniasis antibodies were identified using Dual-Path Platform and ELISA. We observed that 1282 of the 5822 dogs were seropositive for the protozoan indicating a seroprevalence of 22%. The risk factors associated with Leishmania infection in dogs were: non-paved backyard (OR 1.4; 95%CI 1.2–1.7); the presence of dry leaves and decaying fruit in the backyard (OR 1.3; 95%CI 1.1–1.5); medium-sized (OR 1.3; 95% 1.1–1.5) or big-sized dogs (OR 1.8; 95%CI 1.5–2.3); short-haired dogs (OR 1.8; 95%CI 1.5–2.1); dogs that slept in the backyard (OR 2.6; 95%CI 1.8–3.6) or in the balcony (OR 1.6; 95%CI 1.1–2.3); and history of canine visceral leishmaniasis in the household (OR 1.3; 95%CI 1.1–1.5). Our results suggest a strong reemergence of canine visceral leishmaniasis after the discontinuation of the control programs. Also, the observed risk factors reinforce the role of health education and environmental management measures to the effective control of the disease.

INVESTIGATING KEY TRENDS OF WATER RESOURCES ATTRACTION INTO ECONOMIC TURNOVER

Urgency of the research. Saving water is the biggest problem of modern humanity. The water quality generates quality of life and health of everyone. Thus, there is a need to analyse water condition, to find the ways of effective water management and implement the measures for sustainable environmental management. Target setting. Today water is extremely exposed to pollution, furthermore, issues around effective use of water resources are the number one problem worldwide. Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. A number of well-known Ukrainian scientists R. H. Dubas, A. V. Yatsyk, L. H. Melnyk, O. I. Karintseva, S. M. Shevchenko, M. A. Khvesyk, Y. M. Hryshchenko, as well as other researchers conducted investigations on salient and emerging trends in water resources' attraction into economic turnover. Uninvestigated parts of general matters defining. The research objective. Water use in different sectors of economy still faces a number of issues which have to be rganized, investigated and resolved. The purpose of this study is to establish guidelines of effective water use in line with sustainable development and environmental management principles by identifying salient trends of water use in modern Ukraine, as well as to reveal its issues in order to determine the ways to overcome existing deficiencies. The statement of basic materials. In our study, we consider the impact of water use on the actual water bodies to be the most important criterion in the classification of water consumption. The impact may be focused on quantitative or qualitative characteristics of water bodies, or on none of them. The level of qualitative changes in water use is pretty high. Attraction of water resources to the economy should be based on sustainable development approach. Sustainable development of hydro-economic complexes is defined by the сriterion of maintaining renewable water resources at acceptable levels and by water use efficiency. Conclusions. The authors suggest taking measures in order to rationalize water use basing on existing hydroeconomic systems and establishing cooperation with potential foreign institutions by creating a system of global national water complex through the institutionalization of water environment; the researchers offer to implement step-by-step decentralization and to create the interaction algorithm between the centralized and decentralized approaches to water supply in the municipal sector; they also recommend creating economic conditions for changeover to closed system in agriculture in order to save 1.8-2.5 thousand cubic meters of water per each hectare of irrigated, which will allow creating a more effective mechanism of water management in Ukraine with the use of the best foreign experience.

Conservation of deep-sea ecosystems within offshore oil fields on the Brazilian margin, SW Atlantic

The exploration of deep-sea mineral resources on continental margins is increasing worldwide. In the SW Atlantic, Campos Basin has been Brazil's main deep-sea area for oil and gas extraction since the 1980′s, with currently over 11,000km2 of leased blocks below 200m depth. The historical record of exploration and the lack of a basin-wide management for the offshore industry in the SW Atlantic threaten the biodiversity and ecological function of vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems. This study identified habitats of biological interest on the Campos Basin and proposes relevant areas for conservation (EBSAs) that could be included in the first deep-sea Marine Protected Area (MPA) network in the South Atlantic. A total of 42 benthic habitats were mapped including cold-water coral reefs, submarine canyons, soft sediment slope and a seamount. Those habitats fill conservation criteria to be proposed as EBSAs along Campos Basin and could support a MPA network with a 5.5% overlap (2330km2) to current leased blocks. If implemented, the MPA network would cover 31% of the Campos Basin and offer 31–100% protection of EBSAs with minimal interference on industry. This study is the first to identify EBSAs in a deep-sea basin of major economic importance in Brazil's EEZ and their conservation would also protect areas at two biogeographic provinces in the South Atlantic. Furthermore, the methods demonstrated here could be widely applied to other offshore oil and gas areas that lack environmental management measures at early stages of bidding rounds or during the process of environmental licensing.

Métodos e procedimentos usados no controle do Aedes aegypti na bem-sucedida campanha de profilaxia da febre amarela de 1928 e 1929 no Rio de Janeiro

to review the challenges and procedures used in Aedes aegypti control and the characteristics of the epidemics in the successful campaign, led by Clementino Fraga, for yellow fever control in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1928 and 1929, before the vaccine (1937) and DDT (1947).a literature review was conducted by searching official reports, scientific journals and historic textbooks on this subject.the A. aegypti control was achieved through the hard and organized work of breeding site police teams, priority in eliminating breeding sites through environmental management measures and a qualified training program for the teams.the reports demonstrate a set of simple but laborious procedures that could effectively control mosquitoes in urban environment through the work of the teams, who were committed to environmental management measures, aiming at eliminating breeding sites and were capable of handling social and environmental obstacles.

How relevant is environmental quality to per capita health expenditures? Empirical evidence from panel of developing countries.

BackgroundDeveloping countries have witnessed economic growth as their GDP keeps increasing steadily over the years. The growth led to higher energy consumption which eventually leads to increase in air pollutions that pose a danger to human health. People’s healthcare demand, in turn, increase due to the changes in the socioeconomic life and improvement in the health technology. This study is an attempt to investigate the impact of environmental quality on per capital health expenditure in 125 developing countries within a panel cointegration framework from 1995 to 2012.ResultsWe found out that a long-run relationship exists between per capita health expenditure and all explanatory variables as they were panel cointegrated. The explanatory variables were found to be statistically significant in explaining the per capita health expenditure. The result further revealed that CO2 has the highest explanatory power on the per capita health expenditure. The impact of the explanatory power of the variables is greater in the long-run compared to the short-run. Based on this result, we conclude that environmental quality is a powerful determinant of health expenditure in developing countries.ConclusionTherefore, developing countries should as a matter of health care policy give provision of healthy air a priority via effective policy implementation on environmental management and control measures to lessen the pressure on health care expenditure. Moreover more environmental proxies with alternative methods should be considered in the future research.

Residents’ Environmental Conservation Behaviors at Tourist Sites: Broadening the Norm Activation Framework by Adopting Environment Attachment

Understanding the factors that affect residents’ environmental conservation behaviors help in managing the environment of tourist sites. This research provides an integrative understanding of how residents near tourist sites form their environmental conservation behaviors by merging the norm-activation model and cognitive-affective model into one theoretical framework. Results of the structural analysis from a sample of 642 residents showed that this study’s proposed composite model includes a satisfactory level of predictive power for environmental conservation behaviors. The findings identify the following two dimensions of awareness of environmental consequences as having a key role in predicting environmental conservation behaviors: (1) awareness of positive consequences of environmental protection; and (2) awareness of disaster consequences. Results also show that environment attachment and personal norms about environmentalism played a mediating role between awareness of environmental consequences and environmental conservation behaviors, and that personal norms about environmentalism were the most powerful factor in predicting behaviors. Several practical implications were derived from the research findings that can contribute to environment management policy both within and outside the field of tourism, mostly notably: (1) how the effective promotion of these factors can encourage environmental conservation behaviors for residents; and (2) how governments can develop and implement environmental management measures to improve locals’ awareness of positive consequences of environmental protection.

Physical Therapy for Musculoskeletal Disorders of Workers: Role of Physical Therapists in Occupational Health.

Musculoskeletal disorders in workers decrease the productivity of companies and result in socioeconomic losses. Low back pain accounted for approximately 60% of occupational diseases in the past and this is still true at present, making it a major occupational health problem in Japan. Herein, the findings about low back pain are explained as follows: the correlation between imaging examination findings and low back pain is low; psychosocial factors are involved in the onset of low back pain and how it becomes chronic; and improvement of activity is more useful than rest. Furthermore, the advantages of employing physical therapists for improving occupational health are as follows: they can 1) evaluate and intervene ergonomically; 2) provide instructions using a behavioral modification technique based on psychosocial factors; and 3) provide instructions regarding exercise programs considering obstacles to the development of a good exercise habit (painful diseases including osteoarthritis and other diseases such as hypertension and diabetes). In addition, falling, whose incidence has recently been increasing and is an important issue in occupational health, is examined from the aspect of musculoskeletal disorders. The following activities of physical therapists are introduced: the items to be checked during a tour of inspection of a workplace and detailed descriptions of work management and working environment management measures. Physical therapists are rarely involved in studies of low back pain and falling, but their knowledge and skills have been demonstrated to contribute to improving occupational health.