Emerging issues in the occupational health field

In 2019, the Japan Society for Occupational Health launched their second international journal, Environmental and Occupational Health Practice (EOH-P). EOH-P is a sister journal to the Journal of Occupational Health (JOH). The scope of EOH-P covers different areas than those of JOH because it emphasizes current developments in the occupational health field. With the launch of EOH-P, we aim to disseminate information to improve occupational health practitioners’ practices.

EOH-P primarily seeks to publish reports on knowledge gained through practical activities and good practice in occupational safety and health (OSH). These reports will have important empirical value for the occupational health field, where perspectives of those who directly contribute to practice are needed. Real-world activities produce much local knowledge; however, information about these activities has rarely been published in academic journals. One of the evaluation indicators for academic journals assesses how many papers published by the journal have been cited in related journals (i.e., the journal’s impact factor could be a relevant indicator). Even superior examples of best-practice activities are difficult to publish because documents on practical activities are seldom cited.

EOH-P hopes to actively discuss issues and topics that have not received much previous coverage. Occupational health issues are expanding globally as well as locally. The low birthrate and longevity in postindustrial societies have caused a labor shortage. The aging workforce has elevated risks for various morbidity and disability issues. Societies also need to consider the health problems of increasing numbers of foreign workers, to whom ordinary occupational health services have rarely been delivered. The occupational health issues of self-employed workers, small-business owners, and freelancers are understudied compared with those of employees. Dual employment or overemployment has become popular in the era of increasing mobility of employment; however, this working style may cause serious health problems for the working poor. These emerging issues are understudied because of the difficulty of investigation using rigorous study designs. Occupational injuries and illnesses among the working poor are often not captured in official statistics. Even small-scale studies can provide worthy data to explore these issues at an early stage of research.

Another perspective is the environmental issues that remain problematic, such as the exposure to high concentrations of toxic substances in not only occupational health settings, but also in natural or urban environmental settings. Environmental issues include many old and new problems. There are many hidden health issues among workers in developing countries. To solve these problems, it is necessary to obtain real data about these problematic agents. For example, data on concentrations of toxic substances have accumulated; however, there is scarce room for these data in ordinary academic journals. We would like to provide a platform where researchers and practitioners can access these useful environmental data.

EOH-P also accepts reports on the development or usage of tools for OSH activities, exploratory research that has the potential for expansion, and methodology studies detailing new initiatives or adjustments useful for work practices. Scientific research obviously progresses based on accurate methodology. A typical example is the scale development study, where developing a valid tool is an accumulation of long-lasting procedures. Each procedure, even small-sized pretests or validation tests in local settings or validation studies with discouraging findings, provides evidence for the appropriateness of the tool. However, these small or local studies, as well as studies with negative or nonsignificant findings, experience difficulty finding a space for publication in conventional academic journals. The publication criteria of EOH-P are based on the rigor of the methodology and appropriateness of interpretations; therefore, studies reporting negative results will also be considered for publication.

Occupational health practitioners have a broad range of challenges to achieve competence as independent professionals. Practical findings provide not only educational information, but also seeds of innovation in the occupational health field. By using the two media, JOH and EOH-P, we aim to disseminate the comprehensive fruits of occupational health work and information gathering, including practical knowledge as well as academic research.

Acknowledgments

I thank Professors Eiji Shibata and Tetsuo Nomiyama, and Mrs. Asuka Kikuchi for their ungrudging support. This editorial was written with the support of the 2017 Work‐Related Diseases Clinical Research Grant (170401‐02) and the Health, Labour and Welfare Sciences Research Grant (H30-meneki-ippan-001) from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan.