Evidence-Based Occupational Health: Proceedings of the International Congress on Occupational Health Services Held in Utsunomiya City, Japan Between 1

Evidence-Based Occupational Health is a collection of papers presented at the 13th International Congress on Occupational Health Services held 30 November 3 December 2005, in Utsunomiya, Japan. This was the annual congress of the ICOH Scientific Committee on Health Service Research and Evaluation in Occupational Health. Globally, there are many workers who are not covered by any occupational health services (OHS). In order to convince employers and policy decision-makers to invest in OHS, it is essential to demonstrate the effectiveness and benefits of OHS. This is in line with the worldwide acceptance of evidence-based medicine (EBM) as a scientific standard, and occupational health professionals are expected to construct evidence-based guidelines for evidence-based occupational health (EBOH) practices and to practise based on EBOH. With the onset of globalization due to information technology this is not an easy task as the evolving realities of working life have produced new kinds of occupational hazards. This Congress, with the main theme Evidence-Based Occupational Health, aimed at bringing together evidence of OHS effectiveness from various countries, sectors and disciplines of OHS. Evidence-Based Occupational Health includes seven chapters, offering not only the state-of-the-art on EBOH but also novel requirements being imposed on OHS.