Evidence from scientific research is increasingly used to support evidence-based policy making. Often immediate answers are needed but the number of articles is overwhelming for almost any topic. Without a proper summary of the available research, it is difficult to draw inferences from science to practice. Also on important OSH topics numerous high quality reviews are being conducted but there is no coordination in this field in order to prevent duplication of work.
To coordinate and improve the usability of systematic reviews on OSH topics, the OSH Evidence Systematic Reviews Clearinghouse, a joint project of 7 PEROSH institutes has built a database of high quality reviews that have been conducted in the field of OSH. The database available on the PEROSH website is currently organized in 20 OSH research questions and includes systematic reviews of etiological studies, prognostic, diagnostic and prevalence studies.
Recently, PEROSH has intensified its collaboration and new reviews on occupational risks for tuberculosis, psychosocial work characteristics, physically demanding work, return to work after interventions for common mental disorders and early retirement have been uploaded on the Clearinghouse database. The number of these searches is expected to grow even more now that universities are involved in the OSH Evidence Group. The existing database will get bigger and this is why the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) is currently developing a new database in order to make the OSH Evidence Database better accessible and user friendly. The new database will be easily accessible and will include also other types of reviews (scoping reviews) and will enable a quick overview of available evidence for both policy makers and researchers.
Click here to view the database
Contact:
Dr. Fishta Alba (BAUA): fishta.alba@baua.bund.de
Dr. Jos Verbeek, Project Leader (FIOH): Jos.Verbeek@ttl.fi
