We compared occupational health related laws and occupational health systems on ethics in Germany, France, USA, UK, and Japan, and reviewed them. The duties of appointment of occupational physicians, competence of occupational physicians, responsibility for maintaining the confidentiality of the medical records, professional independence of occupational physicians, employment and dismissal of occupational physicians, etc. were discussed. Concerning maintaining the medical privacy of workers, the Japanese law and system are thought to be different from those of other countries. Concerning the professional independence of oocupational physicians, the Japanese law does not have this point of view. We hope that Japanese oocupational physicians express their opinions on these issues.

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The aim of this study was to collect and examine foreign researchers' evaluations of Japanese school lunch cooks' workload, risk of musculoskeletal disorders, and some related issues by means of video tape discussion method at international conferences. The author reported work-related musculoskeletal disorders of Japanese school lunch cooks' at three international conferences. Together with the presentation a video tape recorded at one school kitchen during working hours was shown and the participants at the conferences were asked to evaluate the workload and risks of the Japanese school lunch cooks in the form of a questionnaire. Out of 151 participants from 21 countries at three conferences, 86 participants from 18 countries answered the questionnaire. The median of the values for Japanese school cooks' workload, derived by the Visual Analogue Scale method ranging from 0 (easy) to 10 (severe), was 8.5. Concerning the possibility of occurrence of muscloskeletal problems, 83% of the respondents pointed out that the occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders was certain, and 17% of them estimated that it was probable. Out of 18 countries from which participants came from, 12 countries were serving meals at school, and school lunch cooks in these 12 countries had similar occupational problems to those in Japan, such as musculoskeletal disorders, skin disorders and injuries, etc. The participants also pointed out that Japanese school lunch cooks were exposed to various problems, i.e., excessive workloads for women, and too few replacements of manual work by machinery. On the other hand, the cleanliness of the school kitchen, quality of meals, and conscientious cooking work were evaluated as very high. There were 36 researchers who asked for a copy of the video tape in order to use it in the education of industrial health personnel, medical students, and so on. These results showed the same tendency as Japanese researchers have found over the past 16 years. The video tape discussion method is proved to be useful in deepening mutual understanding at international conferences.

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The effects of short-term low intensity aerobic training on the physiological indexes and the Quality of Life were examined in 43 middle-aged White Collar Workers. Training was carried out for 205±117 minutes/week, at least 2-3 times/week for 2 months on a cycle ergometer or walking with intensity level set at the 50%V^^.O_<2max>. Following this training protocol, thirty-six men (exercise group) completed the 2-month training program and 7 men dropped out (the dropout group). In the exercise group, both the V^^.O_<2max> (l/min) and V^^.O_<2max>/wt increased significantly (V^^.O_<2max> (l/min): P<0.05, V^^.O_<2max>/wt: P<0.01), whereas the weight, body mass index, %fat, fat (kg) and the waist hip ratio (WHR) decreased significantly (WHR: P<0.05, others: P<0.01) after 2 months. In addition, the DBP and serum TC, LDL-c/HDL-c decreased significantly (LDL-c/HDL-c: P<0.01, others: P<0.05) whereas the HDL-c increased significantly (P<0.05). A modified Croog questionnaire was used to assess the subject's Quality of Life. The questionnaire consisted of 59 questions and the overall assessment was based on eight components. Regarding the Quality of Life, physical symptoms, work performance and satisfaction, total Quality of Life all improved significantly (physical symptoms, P<0.05; others: P<0.01) and social participation also tended to improve (P<0.08). There was a significantly negative correlation between the initial Quality of Life and the changes in the Quality of Life (6 of the 8 components). In the all subjects, there was a significantly positive correlation between the changes in physical symptoms and the changes in V^^.O_<2max>/wt (r=0.36, P<0.05). In the dropout group, the FBS increased significantly (P<0.05) but no other variables regarding the Quality of Life significantly changed after 2 months. In conclusion the above results suggest that short-term low intensity aerobic training in the present study can help improve the physiological indexes, V^^.O_<2max> and Quality of Life in middle-aged White Collar Workers and the observed improvement in the Quality of Life was also found to be greater in the subjects with a low Quality of Life than in those with a high Quality of Life.

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