Interactive research into proactive risk control and its facilitation.

This issue of " Industrial Health " marks the start of the 50th volume, building on the remarkable developments published on the many pages since it began in 1963. The journal has served as an interacting focal point for scientific research in the fields of occupational safety and health. Through the pages of this journal, we can clearly see the role of collaborative scientific research in enhancing occupational safety and health practice in diverse work situations. In the fields of occupational safety and health, collabora-tive research generally focuses on two directions that have been and are being pursued as aims of scientific research. One direction is to develop proactive risk assessment and control for protecting and promoting safety and health of workers in varied workplaces. Another equally important direction is to extend effective teamwork services for protecting and promoting safety and health of workers to all workplaces. The two directions seem essential in addressing changing safety and health needs in increasingly diversifying work settings in globalizing economy 1, 2). This is clearly visible in good practices reported from various regions 3, 4). The new developments reported in this journal evidence the importance of the close link between research and practice in these two main directions. A special attention is drawn to the interactions the reported research developments have with the varying and emerging needs of occupational safety and health that reflect the technological and socioeconomic changes in the world of work. It is well known that research in our fields deal constantly with both traditional and emerging risks at work, and that the means and procedures for risk assessment and control evolve so as to address these risks in a comprehensive way and to fill gaps seen among different workplaces 5, 6). The two directions mentioned should be further pursued as direct responses to the changing, emerging needs in our fields. In addressing the urgent needs we are facing in our fields today, three recent advances seen in 2011 are noteworthy. Firstly, the midterm research strategy in occupational safety and health compiled in 2010 and reported in early 2011 by the Occupational Safety and Health Priority Research Promotion Council designates, as priority areas of research, (a) safety and health needs of workers in diverse employment situations in industrial society, (b) primary prevention of emerging risks and (c) effective work-related risk management systems 7). These priority areas of research are consistent …