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5th Anniversary of Occupational Safety and Health Section

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Occupational Safety and Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 12492

Special Issue Editors

Department of Public Health, University of Naples Federico II, Via Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy
Interests: occupational medicine; public health; nanosafety; active aging; occupational toxicology; industrial health; biological monitoring; occupational risk assessment; occupational diseases; occupational carcinogens
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Section of Occupational Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Naples Federico II, Via S. Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy
Interests: medicine; public health; nanosafety; active aging; occupational toxicology; industrial health; biological monitoring; occupational risk assessment; occupational diseases
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health established the Section “Occupational Safety and Health” in 2017. To celebrate the fifth anniversary of this Section, a Special Issue titled “5th Anniversary of Occupational Safety and Health Section" is being planned. In recent years, significant changes have occurred in the world of work, and the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has accelerated these beyond anything we could have imagined.

Technology and digitalization have sparked radical shifts in how we work and have been identified as the primary drivers of the future of work in most occupational settings. Globalization, changes in work organization, workforce demographics, climate, economic conditions, and urbanization have also been considered influential factors. Industry 4.0 smart manufacturing strategies, as well as innovative materials, such as those at the nanoscale, have revolutionized the production and properties of industrial and consumer goods, while attempting to achieve safety and sustainable goals.

This has inevitably led to an evolution in the health and safety risk factors experienced by workers, with an increase in “new” or “exacerbated” physical, chemical, biological or psychosocial risks along all the products’ lifecycles (from their synthesis, manufacture, handling, utilization, disposal, or recycling phases) and in innovative conditions of work (i.e., technological assisted tasks, use of robots, smart working).

In this view, occupational health and safety strategies need to be updated starting from a suitable identification of those hazards and risks experienced in the workplace, an appropriate assessment of the levels of exposure, up to an adequate risk characterization and management. Indeed, helping people to successfully navigate the changing world of work means helping them to acquire the right skills for new jobs and new tasks and ensure for them an appropriate job quality as determined by wages, stability, and working conditions, from safety to human relationships. These are all critical issues for protecting and promoting the health and wellbeing of the future workforce.

In this Special Issue, we welcome original and review articles that examine challenges raised by these evolving occupational scenarios and innovative approaches to the evaluation of hazards and the exposures in workplaces engaged in innovative activities, both through environmental and biological monitoring, needs and frameworks for a suitable occupational risk assessment, management and governance, and occupational health and safety approaches to promote workforce wellbeing.

Prof. Dr. Ivo Iavicoli
Dr. Veruscka Leso
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • advanced manufacturing
  • technological advancement
  • industry 4.0
  • smart factory
  • hazardous exposures
  • exposure assessment
  • toxicological assessment
  • risk assessment
  • risk management
  • future of work
  • decent work
  • sustainability
  • occupational safety and health

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

28 pages, 847 KiB  
Article
Occupational Safety and Health Staging Framework for Decent Work
by Paul A. Schulte, Ivo Iavicoli, Luca Fontana, Stavroula Leka, Maureen F. Dollard, Acran Salmen-Navarro, Fernanda J. Salles, Kelly P. K. Olympio, Roberto Lucchini, Marilyn Fingerhut, Francesco S. Violante, Mahinda Seneviratne, Jodi Oakman, Olivier Lo, Camila H. Alfredo, Marcia Bandini, João S. Silva-Junior, Maria C. Martinez, Teresa Cotrim, Folashade Omokhodion and Frida M. Fischeradd Show full author list remove Hide full author list
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(17), 10842; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710842 - 31 Aug 2022
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 7584
Abstract
The 2030 United Nations Goal 8 for sustainable development focuses on decent work. There is utility in identifying the occupational safety and health aspects of Goal 8, as they pertain to the four pillars of decent work: job creation, social protection, rights of [...] Read more.
The 2030 United Nations Goal 8 for sustainable development focuses on decent work. There is utility in identifying the occupational safety and health aspects of Goal 8, as they pertain to the four pillars of decent work: job creation, social protection, rights of workers, and social dialogue. A workgroup of the International Commission on Occupational Health and collaborators addressed the issue of decent work and occupational safety and health (OSH) with the objective of elaborating a framework for guidance for practitioners, researchers, employers, workers, and authorities. This article presents that framework, which is based on an examination of the literature and the perspectives of the workgroup. The framework encompasses the intersection of the pillars of decent (employment creation, social protection, rights of workers, and social dialogue) work with new and emerging hazards and risks related to various selected determinants: new technologies and new forms of work; demographics (aging and gender); globalization; informal work; migration; pandemics; and OSH policies and climate change. The OSH field will need an expanded focus to address the future of decent work. This focus should incorporate the needs of workers and workforces in terms of their well-being. The framework identifies a starting point for the OSH community to begin to promote decent work. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 5th Anniversary of Occupational Safety and Health Section)
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10 pages, 327 KiB  
Article
Association between Long Working Hours and Psychological Distress: The Effect Modification by Request to Stay Home When Sick in the Workplace during the COVID-19 Pandemic
by Ayako Hino, Akiomi Inoue, Kosuke Mafune, Mayumi Tsuji, Seiichiro Tateishi, Akira Ogami, Tomohisa Nagata, Keiji Muramatsu, Yoshihisa Fujino and on behalf of The CORoNaWork Project
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(7), 3907; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19073907 - 25 Mar 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2269
Abstract
The effect of workplace infection control measures required by the COVID-19 pandemic on the association between long working hours and psychological distress has not yet been fully revealed. This study investigated the effect of requesting to stay home when sick (RSH) on the [...] Read more.
The effect of workplace infection control measures required by the COVID-19 pandemic on the association between long working hours and psychological distress has not yet been fully revealed. This study investigated the effect of requesting to stay home when sick (RSH) on the association between long working hours and psychological distress. We conducted a cross-sectional survey in December 2020 among participants who had previously registered with a Japanese web survey company. A total of 27,036 workers completed a self-administered questionnaire which assessed usual daily overtime work hours. RSH was assessed using an original single-item scale, while psychological distress was measured with the K6 scale. After the interaction effect of overtime work hours and RSH on psychological distress was tested, we conducted stratified analyses using RSH. The statistical analysis demonstrated a significant interaction effect (p for interaction < 0.001). When we conducted stratified analyses, the odds ratios increased with longer working hours, both with and without RSH groups; however, the risk of long working hours causing psychological distress was greater in the latter group (odds ratio = 1.95 [95% confidence interval: 1.62–2.36] than in the former group (odds ratio = 1.73 [95% confidence interval: 1.55–1.93]). We found that working without RSH could strengthen the association between long working hours and psychological distress. Our findings contribute to preventing the deterioration of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 5th Anniversary of Occupational Safety and Health Section)
14 pages, 2381 KiB  
Article
Association of Occupational Noise Exposure and Incidence of Metabolic Syndrome in a Retrospective Cohort Study
by Gwansic Kim, Hanjun Kim, Byungyoon Yun, Juho Sim, Changyoung Kim, Yeonsuh Oh, Jinha Yoon and Jiho Lee
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(4), 2209; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042209 - 15 Feb 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1830
Abstract
Metabolic syndrome is one of the common causes of cardiovascular diseases and cancers. Although noise is an environmental factor to which people can be commonly exposed at work and in daily life, there are currently insufficient studies on the relationship between noise and [...] Read more.
Metabolic syndrome is one of the common causes of cardiovascular diseases and cancers. Although noise is an environmental factor to which people can be commonly exposed at work and in daily life, there are currently insufficient studies on the relationship between noise and metabolic syndrome. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between noise and metabolic syndrome. Using a multivariate time-dependent Cox proportional hazard model, the impacts of occupational noise exposure on metabolic syndrome and its components were analyzed in a retrospective cohort of 60,727 participants from 2014 to 2017. The noise exposure group showed a significantly higher incidence of metabolic syndrome and was associated with elevated triglycerides, blood sugar, and blood pressure, but decreased high-density lipoprotein, among subgroups. There was no statistically significant association with abdominal obesity. Occupational noise exposure significantly contributed to the incidence of metabolic syndrome and changes in its components. This study could be a basis for establishing policies and guidelines to reduce noise exposure that might improve workers’ health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 5th Anniversary of Occupational Safety and Health Section)
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