Occupational Health: Current Status and Future Challenges

Dear Colleagues,

Occupational health is undergoing a period of profound transformation driven by rapid changes in work organization, technological development, and global socio-economic dynamics. The rise of digitalization, remote and platform-based work, workforce aging, migration, and increasingly flexible employment arrangements has reshaped exposure patterns to occupational risks and created new challenges for the protection of workers’ health and safety. At the same time, traditional hazards related to physical workload, chemical and biological exposures, and unsafe working conditions remain highly prevalent in many sectors and regions. These evolving contexts require continuous adaptation of occupational health systems, policies, and practices.

Despite important progress in occupational safety and health regulations and preventive strategies, substantial gaps persist in the identification, prevention, and management of work-related health problems. Mental health issues, psychosocial risks, and work-related stress have gained particular relevance, while inequalities in occupational health protection and access to preventive services remain evident across different countries and occupational groups. Moreover, emerging technologies and new forms of work organization offer both opportunities for improving working conditions and risks that are not yet fully understood. Addressing these challenges demands interdisciplinary research, robust evidence generation, and effective knowledge translation into policy and practice.

This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate recent advances on the current status of occupational health and to explore future challenges and opportunities for protecting and promoting workers’ health. We welcome contributions addressing clinical, organizational, public health, and policy perspectives, as well as innovative preventive interventions and methodological approaches in occupational health research and practice.

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Current trends and emerging challenges in occupational health;
• Work-related diseases and occupational risk factors;
• Psychosocial risks, mental health, and well-being at work;
• Impact of digitalization and new technologies on workers’ health;
• Occupational health inequalities and vulnerable worker populations;
• Workplace health promotion and preventive strategies;
• Organizational factors, leadership, and safety culture;
• Future directions and policy implications in occupational health.

Dr. Guillermo Moreno Muñoz
Prof. Dr. Manuel Romero Saldaña
Guest Editors

Prof. Dr. Alfonso Meneses Monroy
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

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• occupational health
• future challenges
• work-related diseases
• workplace prevention
• psychosocial risks
• workers’ well-being
• occupational safety
• digitalization at work