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Government Documents
Reference & Circulating Materials
Journals
Databases
Internet Sites
Writing & Citing
Job Search
The Marvin K. Peterson Library has a strong collection of resources for research in the field of occupational safety and health. These resources include print materials as well as electronic periodicals, journal indexes, and research databases.
This guide presents a selection of useful resources, both ours and the Internet sites we list. Use our catalog to find more resources, and search the Internet -- carefully and critically -- for additional websites. You can find all our other library guides from the library home page. For a good overview of library research and resources, take the Virtual Reference Tour. You can also come to the Information Desk for assistance with your research, call us at (203) 932-7189 or e-mail us. For help writing papers, visit the Center for Learning Resources Writing Lab in Maxcy Hall.
Note: This online guide contains direct links to databases and websites. If you have printed out this guide, type the name of the organization in Google or another search engine to find a link to the site.
Go to the Peterson Library home page and take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with it. If you start at the UNH website, click on Library in the top middle. All the links for accessing library materials and services are on the left of the library home page. The most important are the ones for the Catalog, Databases, Journals, and library Guides, but a quick look at all will be time well spent.
Use the library catalog to find circulating and reference materials, including books, audio-visual holdings, government documents, and periodical titles. (For periodical articles, see the 'Journals' section, below.) Our catalog uses the Library of Congress (LC) classification system and subject headings. LC assigns call numbers (letters and numbers) according to the book's primary subject.
Quick search tips:
- Truncate with '?': hazard? will get hazard, hazardous, etc.
- Put phrases in " ": "industrial hygiene" or "human engineering" or "mine safety"
- Sort results by Publish date descending to get newest items at the top of the list.
- Click on the Bibliographic tab to determine the LC subject headings for an
item and then click on those headings as links to additional material with the
same subject.
- Always click on the Linked Resources tab to check for electronic access for single
items. In multiple-result searches, the URL box at the right of the screen is a
reminder to look for a web link on the next page or click on 'Linked Resources.'
Look for more tips at the bottom of the catalog search page, see Using the UNH Library Catalog (OPAC), or take our interactive Online Library Catalog Tutorial.
If you can't find something in our catalog, please use our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service. ILL request forms for books and articles are available at the library Information Desk, and online from the library's website. You should complete a separate ILL request form for each item requested. Incomplete or incorrect information will slow down receipt of material, so please be accurate.
Selected Reference and Circulating Materials
Reference [Ref.] materials, such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, statistical and legal compilations, are important research tools. This collection, on the library's entry level, can only be used in the library. Circulating materials are in the stacks on the second and third levels of the library and may be borrowed.
Federal Work Safety Laws and Regulations
Employment Law Guide. U.S. Dept. of Labor. Online and via catalog link. See the Occupational Safety and Health and Mine Safety and Health sections.
Employment Safety and Health Guide. Commerce Clearing House (CCH). Looseleaf, updated regularly. Covers the 1970 OSHA law and the 1977 Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. Includes current regulations, new developments, and recent decisions. Development section pages are moved into transfer binders (1979/80-current) and shelved with guide supplements. Ref. KF3568.4 .E4
Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission. FMSHRC and Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) decisions back to 1979 are online. Keyword searches for cases can be done from the FMSHRC home page.
OSHA Field Inspection Reference Manual. Current edition is online from OSHA and also in Employment Safety and Health Guide, vol. 4. Ref. KF3568.4 .E4
Earlier editions: OSHA Field Operations Manual for Inspectors (1992).
Ref. KF3568.4 .O246;
and OSHA Field Operations Manual (1983) and Industrial Hygiene Technical Manual (1984).
Ref. KF3568.4 .O244 v. 1-2
Occupational Safety and Health Cases. Bureau of National Affairs (BNA). 1974-1984. Ref. KF3568 .A2 B87
Occupational Safety and Health Reporter. BNA. 1972-1982. Ref. KF3568.4 B9
Occupational Safety and Health Decisions. CCH. 1979-current. Ref. KF3568.4 .O24
U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission Decisions. [GovDocs] Y 3.OC 1:10-2 CD-ROM. OSHRC and ALJ decisions back to 1972 are also online. Keyword searches for cases can be done from the OSHRC home page.
Other Federal Law Resources
All the resources below are available via catalog links and freely online from GPO Access.
Federal Register. No longer received in paper; available online from GPO and also in the HeinOnline database.
Federal Register Index. 1982-2003 [fiche] Ref KF70 .A2 Index. Also online.
Code of Federal Regulations. Current edition in reference, previous edition in circulating stacks. Ref. KF70 .A3 C6. Also online. OSHA standards are in Title 29.
Code of Federal Regulations: Index to the CFR. 1977-79 [paper]; 1983-87 [fiche]. Ref. KF70 .A312. Also online.
Code of Federal Regulations: List of CFR Sections Affected. 1964-83 [paper]; 1982-2004 [fiche]. Ref. KF70 .A34 C6 Index. Also online.
United States Code. Current edition and previous edition. Ref. KF62 2000 .A2. Also online.
Other Reference Materials
Accident Prevention Manual for Business and Industry: Administration & Programs. Ref. T55 .A333; Engineering & Technology. Ref. T55.A334
Bretherick's Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards. Ref. T55.3 .H3 B73 1999
Chemical Hazards Response Information System (CHRIS). Ref. T55.3 .C43. Also online and via library catalog link.
Documentation of the Threshold Limit Values and Biological Exposure Indices. 7th ed. Ref. RA1229.5 .D63 2004
Guide to Occupational Exposure Values. Ref. RA1229.5 .G84 2005
Injury Facts. National Safety Council. Ref. HA217 .A45 2002
Occupational Injuries and Illnesses--Counts, Rates, and Characteristics. 1997-2005. Ref. HD7654 .U54+CD-ROMs and [GovDocs] L 2.3/11:Year. Also online.
Occupational Injuries and Illnesses in Connecticut. 1975-2003. Ref HD7262.5 .U62 C83. Also online.
Threshold Limit Values for Chemical Substances and Physical Agents and Biological Exposure Indices. Ref. RA1229.5 .T57 2005
Selected Circulating Materials
Basic Guide to Industrial Hygiene. RC967 .V56 1995
Designer's Guide to OSHA: A Practical Design Guide to the Occupational Safety and Health Act for Architects, Engineers and Builders. KF5701 .H67 1982
Driving Toward "0": Best Practices in Corporate Safety and Health. T55 .W55X 2003
Introduction to Employee Fire and Life Safety. T55 .I585 2001
An Investigative Approach to Industrial Hygiene: Sleuth at Work. RC967 .L48 1996
Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society... 1993-2007. TA166 .H85+CD-ROMs; ask at the Circulation Desk for ones on CD-ROM.
Regulation of Health, Safety, and Environmental Risks. HB1 .A2 N3 no.11934. Also online.
Working with Stress [videocassette]. [Perm. Reserve] HF5548.85 .W68 2002 DVD. Ask at the Circulation Desk. Also online.
The Marvin K. Peterson Library has been in the Federal Depository Library Program since 1971, and currently gets about a third of what the Government Printing Office (GPO) publishes. Information about items issued since 2000 will found in library catalog searches. Look for the URL box on the right or click on Linked Resources to check for online access to the actual document. Many are also freely available online via GPO Access or from the issuing agencies. Find them at USA.gov. Request [GovDocs] items that are not online at the Information Desk. To learn more, consult our Government Documents library guide.
Here is a hyperlinked list of some pertinent online government documents. Most are also physically available in the library as well.
Building Safer Highway Work Zones Measures to Prevent Worker Injuries From Vehicles and Equipment. [GovDocs] E 21.7102:2003005722
Easy Ergonomics: A Practical Approach for Improving the Workplace.
[GovDocs] L 35.2:ER 3/2
Fire Service Features of Buildings and Fire Protection Systems. [GovDocs] L 35.2:F 51
Inside the Green Line: OSHA Responds to Disaster. [GovDocs] L 35.2:G82
Occupational Safety and Health Laws in the United States, Mexico and Canada: an Overview. [GovDocs] L 35.2:OC1/21
OSHA Technical Manual. [GovDocs] L 35.8:IN7/995.
Preventing Deaths and Injuries While Compacting or Baling Refuse Material.
[GovDocs] HE 20.7123:D 34
Preventing Mold-Related Problems in the Indoor Workplace: A Guide for Building Owners, Managers, Occupants. [GovDocs] L 35.8:M 73
Principal Emergency Response and Preparedness - Requirements and Guidelines.
[GovDocs] L 35.8:EM 3/2
Safeguarding Equipment and Protecting Employees from Amputations.
[GovDocs] L 35.2:SA 1
Stairways and Ladders: A Guide to OSHA Rules. [GovDocs] L 35.8:ST 1
Periodical articles from magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals are a valuable source of information in all research fields. The Journals link on the library home page is a listing of most of the periodical titles, current and historical, to which you have access through the library. Formats of journals include print, microform and electronic (online). Use the Journals link to find:
- Single journals or articles: If you have the citation for an article, type the title of the journal into the top search box. Results will show which databases contain the journal electronically and give you a list of available issues to search through. Available UNH library holdings are also given to enable you to find and copy the article in the library. Current and older issues of most of our print periodicals are on the lower level. Ask for current newspapers and assistance with microform holdings at the Circulation Desk.
- Lists of journals by keyword or subject: Use the top search option, with the drop-down box set to 'Title contains all words' and search with title keywords (e.g., industr*, safe*, occupation*, health, etc. ['*'= truncation here]). You can also use the lower drop-down search box and select subject groupings like Health & Biological Sciences or Engineering and Applied Sciences and the listed subcategories. These methods allow you to identify periodicals in a field and browse current issues of these periodicals, either online or in the library.
- If you need a list of articles on a subject, use the journal indexes found in this guide in the Databases section.
Here is a hyperlinked list of some pertinent journals:
Asian-Pacific Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety
British Journal of Industrial Relations
Canadian Occupational Safety
Chilton's Industrial Safety & Hygiene News
Environmental Health Perspectives
Industrial & Labor Relations Review
Job Safety & Health Quarterly: JS & HQ
Journal of Occupational Health
Journal of Occupational Health Psychology
Occupational Hazards
Occupational Health
Occupational Health and Safety
Occupational Health Management
Safety & Health: SH
The most efficient way to find articles by subject is to use an index that searches the contents of many journals at one time. Many of our databases are, in fact, electronic journal indexes. Increasingly, these electronic indexes offer the full text of the article as well as the citation and abstract. In addition, our journal-linking service will frequently offer you ‘Find full text' links to other databases and also tell you the availability of periodicals in the library. For more on searching for periodical articles, consult our library guide on Finding Articles or try our online interactive Database Searching Tutorial. Databases marked [iCONN] are provided through the Connecticut Digital Library and are also accessible as a group from our alphabetical database list.
Electronic Journal Indexes
Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (CINAHL). Indexes over 2,000 periodicals. Some abstracts and linked full-text articles.
Education Journals and Wilson Education Abstracts. Includes articles on occupational safety and health.
Emerald Fulltext Journals. Over 42,000 articles from over 100 of the most prestigious management journals. Covers all major management areas.
Engineering Village 2. Defaults to the Compendex engineering database that draws from over 5,000 journals, monographs, and conference proceedings. Has articles on industrial safety, occupational risks and diseases. Additional databases in this suite cover industry technical standards, patents, and more.
General OneFile. A multidisciplinary periodical resource indexing more than 10,000 titles back to 1980, with over 6,000 titles full text. [iCONN]
Health and Wellness Resource Center. Current medical news and information, including alternative medicine. Includes an online encyclopedia, medical dictionary, directories of health providers and associations, and links to websites and government databases. [iCONN]
HeinOnline Legal Periodicals. Full text back to the late 1800s of many top national and international legal journals as well as the Federal Register from the first issue (1936) to present.
HighWire Press is a Stanford University site that indexes articles in nearly 350 hosted journals from various publishers, including many in the medical and biological sciences. Many free full-text articles.
LexisNexis Academic Universe. A general purpose database that provides the full text of journals and newspapers from around the world. LexisNexis provides full text, but not graphics. There is a separate Statistical module. [iCONN]
ProQuest Newspapers. Full-text, recent coverage of Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and the Hartford Courant [iCONN]. Prior PDF page image coverage for these papers back to their inception dates in the 1800s is in ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Note: These two database groups cannot be searched together or with other ProQuest databases. Also, the Hartford Courant has to be added to historical searches by clicking on ‘Select multiple databases,' and check-marking it on the next screen.
PsycINFO indexes and abstracts the international psychological literature from 1887 to the present. This is the online version of Psychological Abstracts, published by the American Psychological Association. Searches will link to PsycARTICLES, which provides the full text from APA journals, and to the Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection, which provides full text articles from non-APA journals back to the 1970s.
PubMed, the National Library of Medicine's bibliographic database, is freely available. Check for the Journals we have via our home page. Limited full text.
Science Direct is an index to books, conference proceedings, journals, reviews, etc. Check for the Journals we have via our home page. Limited full text.
Science Reference Center. Comprehensive database that offers full-text access to books, journals, encyclopedias, reference books, and more.
Wiley Interscience. Indexes 300 leading scientific, medical and technical journals from John Wiley & Sons. Full text only for library-subscribed journals.
Encyclopedias, Handbooks, Manuals
BNA Human Resources Library. The full-text, online version of the BNA print resources. Contains state and federal laws and regulations and includes analysis, commentary, and questions answered by H.R. experts. Includes sample policies on workplace safety, etc.
Conference Board Online. Online version of print resources on economic and business issues, including workplace safety. See our guide for more info.
E-Books for Colleges/Gale Virtual Reference Library. Includes encyclopedias on cancer, medicine, alternative medicine, and more. [iCONN]
Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. Illustrated articles from the latest edition of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology. Also includes research updates from the McGraw-Hill Yearbooks, Science News headlines, scientific biographies, links to approved web sites, and more.
ENGnetBASE, a database of online handbooks covering all aspects of engineering. Search the text across one title, all titles, or your selected list of titles.
Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. The fully searchable, online version of the standard reference from CRC press.
Illinois Researcher Information Service (IRIS) is a database of funding and scholarship opportunities in all fields. An e-mail alert service is available.
Knovel provides K-Essentials, Permanent Access Titles, and the Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Mechanics & Mechanical Engineering collections with over 300 full-text electronic manuals and handbooks, with a considerable amount of content for industrial safety and occupational health.
There is plenty of what passes for information on the Internet. Evaluating this material, however, is challenging because it is not always readily apparent who is responsible for a website. Look for the ‘About us' link on the home page. Besides considering what qualifies the individual or organization to provide or comment on information, also consider whether the information is up-to-date, whether the site has a particular viewpoint or agenda, and how this relates to your purpose. The following is a brief list of Internet sites with information on this topic or links to additional useful sites.
Associations and Organizations
American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. Important professional organization that promotes education and produces many industry-standard publications dealing with chemical exposure, industrial hygiene, and occupational safety and health.
The American Industrial Hygiene Association. The site includes job listings and links to other resources.
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety. The Canadian federal government agency dedicated to eradicating workplace injuries.
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. Use the ‘Publications' and ‘Statistics' links on the left. Lots of free data and fact sheets.
Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. Independent, non-profit organization established in the U.K in 2003.
International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre. Part of the UN's International Labour Organization (ILO).
National Safety Council. This quasi-governmental organization, chartered by Congress in 1913, promotes workplace safety. Click on ‘Resources' and find Occupational Safety & Health under the ‘Training' tab.
Federal Government Sites
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Use the Safety & Health link find statistics on workplace injuries and fatalities.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Click on Workplace Safety & Health for links to ‘Data and Statistics,' ‘Publications,' other NIOSH databases, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and the Hazdat database.
Electronic Library of Construction Occupational Safety and Health. Search by hazard, construction trade, type of job site, etc. to find safety risk information in this CDC database.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The CDC agency overseeing workplace health. Plenty of links under ‘Web Publications & Products.'
Mine Safety & Health Administration. Part of the U.S. Dept. of Labor. Links for ‘Compliance Assistance,' ‘Education and Training,' ‘Rules & Regs,' and more.
National Library of Medicine. Includes the PubMed database and Toxnet, a collection of databases on toxicology, hazardous chemicals, environmental health, and toxic releases, and Haz-Map, a searchable database of exposures to chemical agents in various occupations.
Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). Another USDOL agency. Use the search box, A-Z index, or links listed along the right hand side.
Regulations.gov is a federal site that allows the public to comment on proposed regulations. You can search for regulations ‘open' for comment.
State Resources
State of Connecticut. Search the site, or go directly to the Department of Labor and look for the 'Worker Safety' link. Look for similar information for other states by searching online for the state plus "labor department" or "occupational health."
Conn-OSHA. Safety statistics are online for the last several years. Publications, standards and more are also available here.
Other Sites of Interest
Directory of Sites in Occupational & Environmental Health. Acclaimed site maintained by a professor who is the director of the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Manchester (UK).
Karolinska Institutet University Library (Sweden). Occupational Safety & Health sites. A meta-site of major occupational safety & health resources.
Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety. Partly supported by NIOSH, conducts research and provides national leadership in this field.
Open Directory - Health: Occupational Health and Safety. Another useful meta-site with hundreds of links.
Osh.net is a gateway to occupational health and safety resources on the Internet from WorkCare, a private consulting firm.
Writing the Paper and Citing Your Research
The library produces guides to several citation styles, and our general style guide includes links to additional online guides. Guides are available near the Information Desk and online from the library web page, where you can link directly to web sites we list. The Center for Learning Resources in Maxcy Hall 106-110 also assists students writing papers.
America's Job Bank is the federal government's site for job hunters across the country in collaboration with state labor departments. Includes links to other resources for entrepreneurs, testing, job skills, and relocation. This free service requires registration.
Career Services Center in Maxcy Hall 205 offers help with the job search process and with writing résumés and cover letters.
JobHuntersBible.com. This encyclopedic web site is the creation of Richard Nelson Bolles, author of What Color Is Your Parachute?
New Haven Free Public Library. A good place to look for online job postings is the website of a large public library. Most provide a job search web page, with local employment listings, résumé assistance, and more.
The Riley Guide offers information on all aspects of the job search, including where to search, résumés, and salary guides.
USA Jobs is the official site for those seeking employment with the federal government. Besides posting these positions, the site includes information on student jobs, scholarships, skills testing, help with resumes and applications.
State of Connecticut. Click on Working for links to a number of useful resources, information on licensing requirements, relocation etc.
Any questions? Come to the Information Desk, call us at (203) 932-7189,
or e-mail us.
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