General introduction on the knowledge infrastructure needed for OSH

Background: the need will be explained for a good global knowledge infrastructure informing about occupational health risks and empowering toward solutions through information and education. To date the journey from valid knowledge or information toward application is still too long while the need for an effective approach is high as many workers are still at risk.  An adequate knowledge infrastructure is needed to get reliable knowledge or information, tools, guidelines, learning materials and methods there where they are needed. Scientific articles, the first generation products of science, consequently have to be ‘translated’ in quality reviews as a second generation of knowledge. Thereafter other knowledge products are to be produced as bridges between science and practice: evidence-based guidelines and examples of ‘good practice’, protocols, tools, threshold limit values or reference values. There is a clear role for the storage of these materials in virtual libraries and repositories, when possible promoting open access to the literature, tools and guidelines. The role of modern licenses such as based on Creative Commons will be explained. Next, the function of education in occupational safety and health, and of education and training in how to organize an evidence-based practice will be discussed briefly. Examples will be given of the growing international collaboration as started from ICOH, ILO and WHO, of possibilities of modern ICT and of challenges for the near future. A special focus will be on possibilities to support basic occupational health services (BOHS) for those worker populations and companies at high risk without professional support. The usefulness and first experiences of online platforms and repositories that can facilitate the exchange of quality materials and expertise will be mentioned.