Occupational Health and Safety

This research guide will provide you with starting points for finding information on industrial health, industrial safety, human engineering and work environment.

Other relevant guides:

For more information contact Irene Caleb, Liaison Librarian for School of Applied Sciences.

Background information

Find definitions and background information using a selection of dictionaries, encyclopedias , handbooks and introductory textbooks available online and in our Library's collection.

  • Aerosols handbook: measurement, dosimetry, and health effects via NANOnetBASE
  • ATSDR's toxicological profiles via CRCnetBase
  • Australian code for the transport of dangerous goods by rail and road, REF 363.17 A938, Swanston
  • Bretherick's handbook of reactive chemical hazards , 660.2804 B844, 541.393 B844, Bundoora, Swanston
  • CCH occupational health and safety glossary, REF 363.11068094 O15, Bundoora, Swanston, 363.1103 O15 Business
  • Dictionary of substances and their effects, REF 615.9003 D554, Bundoora, Swanston
  • Documentation of the threshold limit values, REF 615.902 D637, Swanston
  • Encyclopaedia of occupational health and safety, REF 613.6203 E56, Swanston, Carlton
  • Encyclopedia of toxicology and searchable from Reference Works in Science Direct
  • Encyclopedia of work-related illnesses, injuries and health issues, REF 616.980303 K45, Bundoora, Carlton, 616.980303 K45 Swanston
  • The handbook of health and safety practice (UK), 363.110941 S897, Swanston
  • Handbook of occupational safety and health (US), 613.62 H236, Carlton, Swanston
  • Hunter's diseases of occupations, REF 616.9803 H945, Bundoora, Swanston
  • Illustrated dictionary and resource directory of environmental and occupational health, REF 616.98003 K844, Swanston
  • Illustrated dictionary of environmental health and occupational safety , REF 616.98003 K84, Swanston
  • Kirk- Othmer encyclopedia of chemical technology, REF 660.03 E56, Bundoora
  • Occupational health and safety terms, definitions and abbreviations, REF 613.6203 C748, Swanston and Carlton
  • The occupational ergonomics handbook , 620.82 O15, Bundoora East, Swanston
  • Proctor and Hughes' chemical hazards of the workplace , 615.902 P964, Bundoora and Swanston
  • The safety officer's concise desk reference, 658.382 O13, Bundoora and Swanston
  • Sax's dangerous properties of industrial materials, REF 604.7 S272, Bundoora and Swanston
  • Ullmann's encyclopedia of industrial chemistry via Wiley Interscience , REF 660.03 U41, Swanston, Bundoora
  • Van Nostrand's scientific encyclopedia, REF 503 V269, Swanston
  • See also Dictionaries, encyclopedias and more (http://www.rmit.edu.au/library/reference/dictionaries/)

Books, audiovisual and journals

Use the Library catalogue when searching for books, audiovisual material and journal names. If you see Find itbutton in the catalogue record, click on it to link to an electronic version of the title. Help is available on how to make the most of our catalogue. To check other libraries, use Libraries Australia.

Browse the catalogue records using subject headings

  • Building - safety measures
  • Corporate culture
  • Disasters
  • Explosions
  • Hazardous substances
  • Human engineering
  • Industrial accidents
  • Industrial health
  • Industrial hygiene
  • Industrial hygiene--Statistical methods
  • Industrial safety
  • Industrial safety--Psychological aspects
  • Occupational diseases
  • Occupational health
  • Organizational behavior
  • Organizational change
  • Occupational diseases
  • Overuse injuries
  • Psychology, Industrial
  • Radiation - safety measures
  • Risk assessment
  • Stress Psychology
  • Stress management
  • Work design
  • Work environment
  • Wounds and injuries

Browse the shelves using call numbers

  • Hazardous materials technology: 604.7
  • Human factors and safety engineering: 620.8
  • Industrial and occupational health: 613.62
  • Industrial and occupational medicine: 616.9803
  • Industrial psychology: 158.7
  • Industrial toxicology: 615.902
  • Occupational health and safety hazards: 363.11
  • Provision for building safety: 690.22

Suggested e-books and books

Suggested audiovisual titles

  • Accidents aren't just one of those things , (videorecording), AV 363.11 A171, Carlton
  • Behavioural safety, (DVD), AV 363.117 B419, Carlton
  • Bradford fire, (DVD), AV 363.379 B799, Swanston
  • Building site accident prevention , (DVD), AV 363.11969 B932, Carlton
  • Chemical handling safety , (DVD), AV 363.179 C517, Swanston, Carlton 
  • A cloud over Bhopal, (videorecording), AV 363.17909543 C647, Carlton
  • Communicating safety , (DVD), AV 363.11 C734, Brunswick
  • Confined space safety , (videorecording), AV 363.117 C748, Carlton
  • Construction safety essentials , (DVD), AV 363.11969 C758, Carlton
  • Construction site safety: OHS induction , (videorecording), AV 690.22 C758, Swanston
  • Disaster: crash in the dark, (DVD), AV 363.12209429 S498, Swanston
  • Fatal error: taking liberties , (videorecording), AV 363.12492 F252, Swanston, Carlton
  • Fire safety for industry , (DVD), AV 363.377 F523, Brunswick, Carlton
  • Hard to handle , (videorecording), AV 363.119 H258, Bundoora, Carlton
  • The HAZCHEM code , (videorecording), AV 363.17620994 H428, Carlton
  • If only I'd- : health, safety and security procedures in the hospitality and tourism industries , (DVD), AV 363.11969 I231, Swanston
  • Industrial ergonomics , (DVD), AV 620.82 I42, Brunswick
  • Job safety analysis , (videorecording), AV 363.117 J62, Swanston
  • Kansas City : death by design , (DVD), AV 303.485 K16, Swanston
  • Manual handling for industry: the new approach (DVD), AV 363.110994 M294, Brunswick
  • Manual handling , (videorecording), AV 363.11 M294, Swanston
  • October fire , (DVD), AV 363.119359 O21, Swanston
  • OH & S: duty of care in the workplace , (videorecording), AV 363.11 O36, Swanston
  • Piper Alpha: the human price of oil? (DVD), AV 363.119622 P665, Swanston
  • Public safety, private profit, (videorecording), AV 338.620994 P976, Swanston.  Four Corners story on Intergraph.
  • REACH , (videorecording), AV 363.117 R281, Carlton
  • A safe workplace for all , (videorecording), AV 363.11 S128, Carlton
  • Spiral to disaster: Piper Alpha training package (DVD), AV 363.11962233819 S759, Carlton
  • Staying alive in industry: knowledge, attitude and judgement , (videorecording), AV 363.11 S798, Carlton
  • Safe manual handling: 3 steps to a safer workplace (DVD), AV 363.116 S128, Carlton
  • Safety essentials , (DVD), AV 363.11 S128, Carlton
  • Safety matters , (DVD), AV 363.17 S128, Carlton
  • Work safety essentials , (DVD), AV 363.117 W926, Brunswick
  • Working safely at height , (DVD), AV 363.117 W926, Carlton
  • Understanding safety at work , (DVD), AV 363.119 U554, Carlton
  • Understanding safety in the office, (DVD), AV 363.119651 U55, Brunswick, Business
  • The unflyable plane, (DVD), AV 363.12492 U56, Swanston
  • Up close and toxic, (videorecording),  AV 363.739 U65, Swanston
  • See also Audiovisual collection in the Library (http://www.rmit.edu.au/library/av/)

Suggested journals and e-journals

Titles available on Science Direct:

  • Accident analysis and prevention
  • Applied Ergonomics
  • Chemical health and safety
  • Ecotoxicology and environmental safety
  • Fire safety journal
  • International journal of industrial ergonomics
  • Journal of chemical health and safety
  • Journal of hazardous materials
  • Journal of occupational accidents
  • Safety science
  • Journal of safety research

Titles available on Proquest:

  • AIHAJ : American Industrial Hygiene Association journal
  • Archives of environmental health
  • International journal of occupational and environmental health
  • Occupational hazards
  • Occupational health
  • Occupational health & safety
  • OHS Canada occupational health & safety
  • Professional safety
  • Safety and health practitioner

Titles available on Oxford Journals:

  • Annals of occupational hygiene
  • Occupational medicine
  • Radiation protection dosimetry
  • Toxicological sciences

Titles available on Meditext - Informit:

  • CCH's Australian OHS
  • The Journal of occupational health and safety, Australia & New Zealand

Databases

Databases give subject access to information found in journals, conference papers, newspapers, reports and other publications. Some databases provide the full text of publications online, others only index journals or provide summaries of the articles. In many cases you can link to the full text by clicking on the Find Itbutton.

Access: The databases listed below are available to RMIT students and staff on and off campus. ( NDS login and password are required for remote access.  More databases can be found on Search It.

Key databases for this subject

  • CSA Illumina
    • - follow the Specific Databases link to select those relevant to OH&S.
    • Safety Science and Risk Abstracts includes Health and Safety Science Abstracts and Risk Abstracts. Provides comprehensive, timely information across the fields of public health, safety and industrial hygiene.
    • Medline - the main index to medical literature. This version covers from 1997 onwards, for older material use PubMed.
    • TOXLINE - topics covered include: carcinogenesis via chemicals; Chemically-induced diseases; Hazardous materials;  Health and safety.
    • Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management - collection of environmental sciences databases. Coverage includes scientific journals, conference proceedings, reports, books and government publications. Subject areas relating to OHS include air quality, environmental engineering, hazardous waste, industrial hygiene, risk assessment and safety science.
    • PsycINFO - indexes and abstracts journals and books in psychology and related disciplines.
    CCOHS - Web Information Service - gives chemical data, as well as references, in the areas of occupational health, safety and transportation of goods.
    • OSH References - A collection of bibliographic databases including, NIOSHTIC with OSHLINE (U.S. National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety) and HSELINE (U.K. Health and Safety Executive).
    • CHEMINDEX - Database of chemical names, synonyms and CAS Registry Numbers. CHEMINDEX will indicate which CCOHS databases contain information on a specific chemical.
    • RTECS - Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances -Bibliographic database and specific toxicity data such as LD50, LC50, tumorigenic and reproductive effects.
    • CHEMpendium - Chemical hazard information
    • MSDS - Over 310,000 Material Safety Data Sheets from 2,000 North American manufacturers and suppliers.
    • CHEMINFO - Health and safety information for more than 1,300 important workplace chemicals, including safe work practices, and fire and reactivity hazards.
  • Science Direct - large full text multidisciplinary journal database. If you need to narrow your search try limiting to the Science Direct OHS journals listed above under Journals, Periodicals, Magazines . (Select Browse and check the Favorites box for each OHS journal.  Then select Search then Journals and change Source from All Journals to My Favorite Journals.)
  • Ergonomics Abstracts Online - index to resources in ergonomics and human factors.

Other recommended databases

  • Factiva - full text database of Australian and international newspapers. Also covers trade magazines.
  • Informit Online - Major source for Australian information.  Databases relevant to OHS include:
    • TVNews - Provides access to Australian TV news and documentary series. Within the database click on Titles to view a list of the programs available.
    • Informit eLibrary Collections
    • AGIS Plus Text - Produced by the AGIS Section of the Lionel Murphy Library, Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department. Covers all aspects of Australian law
    • APA-FT - Australian Public Affairs - Full Text - Contains full text of major Australian journals and magazines.
    • Meditext - Source documents include journals, conference proceedings, government reports, selected monographs and National Health and Medical Research Council ( NHMRC ) session reports.
  • Informit Online archival databases - relevant databases no longer being updated include:
    • WORKLIT - archive only: 1907 - 31 December 2002.
      Covers the literature on industrial relations, workplace reform, organisational management, policy and legislation, work and family relationships, job design, technological change.
    • IREL - Australian Industrial Relations Database - archive only: 1983 - 31 October 2000.
      Subject coverage includes industrial conflict, wages and conditions, labour law, occupational health and safety, workplace reform and enterprise bargaining.
  • Proquest hosts many databases, those potentially relevant to OHS include:
    • ABI-Inform- major business database. Coverage includes management, building and construction and project management.
    • Academic Research Library- comprehensive database covering a wide range of subject areas.  Bibliographic with full text.
    • Health and Medical Complete covers more than 380 leading health journals.
    • Proquest Research Library covers a broad range of general reference subjects.
    • Proquest Psychology Journals - nearly 300 academic journals in psychology and related fields, all in full text.
    • Science Journals ( Proquest ) - general coverage of all aspects of science and technology.
  • EBSCO Business Source Premier covers all areas of business. There is full text access for more than 3,000 business journals, including nearly 1000 peer-reviewed business publications. Harvard Business Review is available in full text from 1922.
  • Emerald Full-Text - Abstracts and full text articles in the areas of marketing, management, human resources, training and education.
  • Expanded Academic ASAP - Full-text articles across all academic disciplines.
  • Scopus - Multidisciplinary database. Coverage includes over 14 000 peer reviewed journals in the physical, life and health sciences. Cited reference searching from 1996.
  • Engineering Village2 (Elsevier) Collection of engineering indexing and abstracting databases.  Ei Village covers a broad range of topics within applied science, engineering, earth sciences, ecology etc.
  • SciFinderScholar provides the most accurate and comprehensive chemical and related scientific information.  Coverage includes journal articles and patents, substance data, chemical reactions, chemical regulatory data and chemical suppliers. Access on campus only. May not be available in School computer laboratories. Includes both the Chemical Abstracts Database and Medline.
  • Web of Science - The Science Citation Index within Web of Science covers over 9000 key journals across all science and engineering disciplines.  In addition to keyword and author searching it allows cited reference searching which is useful for finding related articles.  The Social Science Citation Index includes business and management publications.

    Contents Page Services

    Contents page services add the contents pages from thousands of journals to their databases on a daily basis. These databases allow you to register and then set up a "journal alert" in which the the latest contents pages of specified journals are emailed to you. It is also possible to set up a "search alert" in which a search is run on a regular basis and the results emailed to you. Other databases may provide a similar service, look out for links to "Alerts" or "My Profile" on the database welcome page.

    • Current Contents To set up journal alerts, select My Journal List from the drop down box at the top of the page. To set up a search alert, do your search then select Search History, then Save History.
    • Ingenta Connect The option to Receive New Issue Alert will appear on the record for each journal title.  The Search Alerts Option appears when you select Search History.

    News

    • New Scientist - select the Science Direct option for up-to-date full text access to the magazine
    • Science Daily - online magazine and Web portal devoted to science, technology, and medicine.
    • Proquest ANZ Newsstand Full-text newspapers and newswires from Australia and New Zealand. Browse issues or keyword search for topics.
    • Factiva provides full-text access to major Australian and international newspapers.
    • TVNews (Informit) Access to Australian TV news and documentary series. Within the database click on Titles to view a list of the programs available.
    • See also our guide to News and newspapers (http://www.rmit.edu.au/library/reference/news/)

    Theses

    Material safety data sheets

    • Get MSDS.com (http://www.ilpi.com/msds/index.html) provides an FAQ on Material Safety Datasheets and lists 100 sites for MSDS and other chemical safety information. The list is organised by category - General Sites, Government and Non-Profit Sites, Chemical Manufacturers and Suppliers, Pesticides and Fertilizers, and Miscellaneous.
    • MSDS plus CHEMINFO on CCOHS Web Information Service MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) for chemical products and more detailed information on common workplace chemicals.
    • Oxford University (http://physchem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/) - Chemical and other safety information from the Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory at Oxford University.
    • SIRI MSDS Index (http://hazard.com/msds/) includes both MSDS and toxicity reports.

    Standards and codes

    • Annual book of ASTM Standards , REF 620.112 A512, Swanston. Standards from the American Society of Testing and Materials.Categories include Industrial Hygiene & Safety, Industrial Chemicals, Fire Resistance and Fire & Flammability. Index for this publication is available online (http://www.astm.org/) only .
    • Australian OH&S Online (IHS) A full-text database of Australian federal and state legislation, standards, codes of practice and guidelines.  Some overseas material. Full-text documents from over 130 organisations. Emphasis on current material.
    • Australian Standards Online contains the full text of all current Australian Standards and draft Australian standards to which Standards Australia holds the copyright. ISO and IEC standards are also indexed, but the full text is not available online.
    • See also Standards collection (http://www.rmit.edu.au/library/standards/) for further information.

    Industry Information and Statistics

    • IBIS World - Australian Industry Reports - Detailed analysis of Australian industries including overviews and statistics, major players, markets, supply and distribution, key sensitivities, segmentation, outlook, five years of financial data, ratio analysis, major companies involved in the industry and recent news. Updated three times a year.
      • The reports are organised by the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industry Classification or ANZSIC code. This is an Australian Bureau of Statistics publication and is held in the Business Library Reference collection (ABS Publication Number 1292.0) or online via ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics).
      • RMIT staff and students can access IBISWorld both on and off campus.  An NDS login is required for remote access. The database will open at a list of the industry reports to which RMIT University Library subscribes.  The Library subscribes to the full text of about 45 of over 500 industry reports. These can be downloaded or printed in part or full.  For reports to which RMIT does not subscribe, you will only be able to see the industry snapshot or summary. Further information on IBISWord (http://www.rmit.edu.au/library/resources/ibisworld)
    • AusStats provides access to all Australian Bureau of Statistics Publications.

    Legal resources

    • SafetyLaw Provides plain language summaries of obligations under the Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2007.
    • Austlii (http://www.austlii.edu.au) provides free internet access to Australian legislation and cases.
    • CCH Collections - Relevant CCH libraries include the OH&S Library, Industrial Law Library, Victorian Accident Compensation Library, Hands On OHS, Hands On OHS Legal Guide.
    • Victorian Legislation - Full text access to Victorian legislation, including the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, is available online at Victorian Law Today (http://www.dms.dpc.vic.gov.au/)
    • Worldlii (http://www.worldlii.org/) free internet access to legislation and case law from 86 countries.
    • Building Code of Australia - Full text database of Australian building regulations.
    • OHSEI Occupational Health and Safety Law and Statistics (http://www.ohseinstitute.org/OHS/ohs_default.shtml) - information for Thailand, Malaysia and Mongolia.
    • See also our guide to Law and legislation (http://www.rmit.edu.au/library/law.html/)

    Doing research

    To locate the latest books on assignment writing and research try searching the Library catalogue using the following subject headings: Study Skills, Report Writing, Technical Writing, Research, Research - Methodology, Dissertations Academic, Dissertations Academic - Authorship, Academic Writing, Authorship - Style Manuals.

    • Assignment and thesis writing , 808.02 A547, Brunswick, Bundoora, Business, Swanston
    • Exploring research , 150.72 S167, Bundoora, Swanston
    • A practical guide to research methods: a user-friendly manual for mastering research techniques and projects , 001.42 D272, Swanston, Bundoora, Bundoora East
    • From research to manuscript : a guide to scientific writing , 808.0665 K19, Bundoora, Swanston
    • Guide to the successful thesis and dissertation , online via netLibrary , or 808.02 M447, Bundoora, Bundoora East, Swanston
    • The hand of science : academic writing and its rewards , 808.0665 C947, Bundoora, Swanston
    • Handbook of research methods in industrial and organizational psychology, 158.7 H236, Bundoora, Business
    • How to write and illustrate a scientific paper , 808.0665 G982, Bundoora, Swanston
    • How to write & publish a scientific paper, 808.0665 D274, Bundoora, Swanston
    • Introduction to research methods , 370.78 B967, Bundoora,  Business, Swanston
    • Practical research : planning and design , 001.42 L484, Bundoora, Business, Carlton, Swanston
    • Practical research methods , online via netLibrary , or 001.42 D272, Bundoora, Business, Swanston
    • The research student's guide to success , 808.02 C957, Bundoora, Swanston
    • Scientific papers and presentations, 501.4 D263, Bundoora, Swanston
    • Starting research : an introduction to academic research and dissertation writing , 808.066 P923, Bundoora, Swanston
    • Your research project : a step-by-step guide for the first-time researcher , 808.02 W211, Bundoora, Swanston
    • Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, 808.02 A512, Bundoora, Swanston.  Guide to the APA style available in general, Reference (REF) and Reserve collections.
    • Style manual for authors, editors and printers , 808.02 S938, guide to the Harvard style available in general and reference (REF) collections at all Libraries
    • See also:

    Search engines and open archives

    Google Scholar - Searches scholarly publications from university, government and academic publisher sites. The Google Scholar link provided here authenticates you as an RMIT user and so also provides access to a range of RMIT-subscribed e-journals.
    Scirus - A comprehensive science-specific search engine. It includes e-print archives, scientists' home pages and institutional repositories.
    OAIster Search - International union catalogue of freely available, difficult-to-access, academically-oriented digital resources.
    ARROW: Australian Research Repositories Online to the World - ARROW's 'Discovery Service' is a search engine for Australian digital repositories. Click on the Advanced Search option.

    Websites of interest

    Centres, Departments

    Health, Ergonomics

    Safety, Education

    State government