First online

Status of the 5

th

edition of the Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety

PD Dr.sc.nat. Michael Riediker Head research group particles and health at IST (and Encyclopaedia chapter editor “nanotechnology”) Geneva, joint WHO-CC and ILO-Meeting, 2009-10-21

The First Edition of 1930

At the Dawn of the Great Depression, A small cluster of doctors, lawyers, industrial hygienists and governmental professionals… – collected the

best thinking

reflecting the

state of the art

of their time in 2 volumes – – –

for anyone

who could read In global economic depression they saved lives Physician, ask your patient first: “What is your work?” ( Ramazzini, 18th Century)

Based on slide provided by Ilise Feitshans

The current 4 th Edition

– Produced with the collaboration of thousands of recognized experts – from over 50 countries; – the private and public sectors, – academia and industry, – labour and management – 1,000 articles, complemented by over 1,000 tables

Based on slide provided by Ilise Feitshans

Goal for 5 th Edition: Completely web based

– The 5 th edition of the Encyclopaedia will be electronic. – located on the ILO web site – Additionally, CD-ROMs and servers outside the ILO (subject to agreement with outside information providers) .

– The 5 th edition will feature natural language search terms, such as: “Research to practice”

Based on slide provided by Ilise Feitshans

2008-2009 Achievements 5 th edition preparation

– Without budget or staff, building on good will among established professionals – Recruitment of Steering committee members and International Advisory Committees – 3 Sample Chapters in progress: Emergency Response, Lighting and Nanotechnology – Funds raised, sponsors on board – Two new CIS Centres inspired by interaction with 5 th edition staff – MoU with ASSE will exchange of experts and allow expert meetings during their conferences at no cost to ILO

Based on slide provided by Ilise Feitshans

6

Basic idea for the web-based edition

Goal

– Web-based collaboration – Distributed work – Modules that link to each other – Volunteer-effort

-> Open-source community as a functioning model

Publish

new,

archive

old version

Workflow

Define

goals

for next version

Review

and finalize

Work

on next version

7

Proposed* concept to create a chapter (content)

*) Concept proposed by Michael Riediker and agreed by Ilise Feitshans, Mark Hoover and Roger Rosa in Feb. 2009

Identify chapter

• Propose chapter • Recruit editor

Draft chapter Define chapter

• Chapter editor proposes chapter outline • Approval by ILO Encyclopaedia Steering Committee • Recruitment of authors • Sub-chapter authors write briefs, glossary & links

Write articles

• Eds. review input, develops task list and revise input • Authors write sub-chapter, joint glossary & links

Complete chapter

• Eds. review and suggest revisions • Approval by ILO Encyclopedia Steering Committee

8

Example: Chapter Nanotechnology

(ed. = MR) Properties of nanomaterials and –objects •

Physico-chemical properties of nanomaterials and –objects

Sub-chapter author: Expert with background in chemistry and physics

This sub-chapter provides an overview on the physico-chemical characteristics of nanomaterials and objects. Specifically, it describes which properties change with smaller size (or only appear at this size-range), and it explains how this affects their potential use for various physical, chemical, optical, electrical, and mechanical applications. It provides background information for several other chapters.

• … … • …

Use of web-based tools Authors

• Create brief • Define glossary

(important terms)

• Define links

(from where, to where)

Editor

• Review briefs

(together with all authors)

• Define tasks •

Joint glossary

•

Up- &down-links

Authors

• Write article • Work off tasks • With other authors

- Glossary - Links

9

Challenges and open questions Procedures

– How to speed up process of describing the current state of knowledge

(presentation of facts => review instead of approval?)

– How to identify, develop and present policy implications resulting from scientific facts

(tripartite discussions needed -> could this be a separate ILO project?)

– How to best integrate results from ongoing CC-projects

(e.g. “automatic” update of chapters with most relevant output)

Process

– Editorial web-tools (with support) not yet available – Proposed concept needs to be approved by ILO – Commitment from ILO / WHO is

now

needed

Merci pour votre attention

Pour toute information complémentaire:

[email protected]

ou

[email protected]

www.i-s-t.ch

Disclosure of interests: My research group receives funding from public sources.

European Commission 7th Framework Programme