Free Safety Resource – International Labour Organization’s Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety
This link was brought to our attention by a reader – thanks Mike. This is an enormous volume and body of safety knowledge and pretty heavy going at times. But, as a resource for safety and risk management info, probably second to none. See it here
The ILO’s Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety is the most comprehensive reference source on the subject. It has a long and honourable history, having had four editions: in 1930, 1971, 1983 and 1998. It is one of the flagship publications of the International Labour Office and is widely respected worldwide by health and safety professionals, students and policy-makers alike.
Extract from the preface:
Volume I
· The Body and Health Care take a medical approach and provides information on disease, its detection and prevention, and occupational health services and health promotional activities.
· Prevention, Management and Policy covers legal, ethical and social policy aspects of the field, as well as educational and informational and institutional resources.
· Tools and Approaches provides insight into the disciplines which comprise the study and application of occupational health and safety: engineering, ergonomics, occupational hygiene, epidemiology and statistics and laboratory research.
Volume II
· Hazards spans the range of chemical, physical and social hazards, accidents and safety management methods that may be encountered around the world. The nature of the hazard is detailed, together with technical information on its recognition, evaluation and control.
Volume III
· Chemicals presents basic data on use in industry and chemical, physical and toxicological properties information on more than 2,000 chemicals categorized by chemical family
· Industries and Occupations takes a “how things work” and “how to control hazards” approach to all the major industries. The hazards associated with a variety of occupations which span several industrial sectors are presented in a hazard card format.
Volume IV
· Indexes and Guides provides a how-to-use the Encyclopaedia guide; lists of tables and figures and collaborating institutions; and indexes of chemical substances, cross-references, subjects and authors cited.
Several thousand internationally recognized experts have been called upon to be writers and reviewers of this Encyclopaedia. They have been drawn from virtually all the major institutions around the world and we have attempted to assure that international perspectives are represented because such perspectives are not the same everywhere and it is the responsibility of the International Labour Organization to promote the free interchange of different conceptualizations. Further, problems and solutions vary around the globe and it makes good sense to seek out the expertise of those who personally know and understand the issues.
