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Occupational Health Southern Africa is the only dedicated journal for the occupational health disciplines in sub-Saharan Africa. It is accredited by the South African Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). It is also listed in African Index Medicus; and is on the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) website list of journals following the ICMJE recommendations for the conduct, reporting, editing and publication of scholarly work in medical journals.

Aims

Occupational Health Southern Africa aims to provide a platform for scholarly engagement between both emerging and established occupational health professionals, through the publication of high-quality, peer-reviewed research articles, opinions, reports, news and related matters. As a global south journal, it is also committed to nurturing novice African researchers through the writing and publication processes.

Editorial content

The editorial focus is on occupational medicine, nursing and hygiene, as well as primary healthcare at the workplace, safety and other employee health benefits.

Global vision

As a platform for established and emerging African researchers, Occupational Health Southern Africa is uniquely positioned to become an internationally recognised journal that advances knowledge on issues of occupational health importance across the African continent, and beyond. The journal has supported pan-African agencies and organisations working to advance occupational health on the continent, including the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) and OSHAfrica. Articles and reports from these organisations are regularly published.

Publishing policy

Occupational Health Southern Africa is committed to providing an accessible and reputable peer-review publishing platform for emerging African scholars. Accordingly, the journal does not charge author fees, relying instead on a paid reader subscription revenue model. However, in order to make the content widely available to researchers, the journal operates a delayed open access policy, whereby all research content is freely available six months after publication. The journal is published digitally, four times per annum.

Official journal

Occupational Health Southern Africa is the official journal of the following southern African occupational health practitioner societies:

History

The impetus to found the journal came from The South African Society of Occupational Medicine (SASOM) in 1994, joined shortly thereafter by the South African Society of Occupational Health Nursing Practitioners (SASOHN). SASOM had participated in the Wiehahn and Erasmus Commissions of Enquiry in South Africa, leading to the drafting of the Labour Relations Amendment and Machinery and Occupational Safety Acts of the early 1980s. In the early 1990s the South African Government promulgated further Acts and Regulations that impacted health in the workplace, e.g. the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act; the Occupational Health and Safety Act; and the Mine Health and Safety Act. In the midst of this transforming workplace health landscape, the first issue of the journal was published in 1995. From the outset, the journal has provided a communication channel for the various southern African occupational health stakeholders, including healthcare personnel, government departments, academia, employers and trade unions. In 1998, the predecessor Society of the Southern African Institute for Occupational Hygiene (SAIOH) joined the journal, followed by the Society now known as the Mine Medical Professionals Association, in 2002. As their official journal, Occupational Health Southern Africa is pledged to further the aims and objectives of SASOM, SASOHN, SAIOH and MMPA by promoting the discipline of occupational health. The contracted publisher, Mettamedia, serves each issue digitally to their combined membership of approximately 2300.

The overarching aim of the journal has always been to provide current information on occupational health and safety practice in southern Africa, including primary healthcare at the worksite, environmental health, and other employee health benefits; to present current original work and research in the field; to educate members of the discipline, with the objective of protecting the worker; to provide a forum for debate and discussion of topical issues; and to inform readers about conferences, seminars, courses and related events.

After many years of being primarily a print publication, the journal migrated to a digital-only format in 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For a fuller account of the history of the journal, please go to our special history issue, published in 2020 to commemorate a plethora of milestones in the southern African occupational health field, including the 25th anniversary of the journal.

Editorial board

Each Society appoints two members to serve on the Editorial Board. The current members are:

Editor

Gill Nelson, PhD (Occupational Health): University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Affiliations: University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa; MMPA life member

Assistant editor

Ntombizodwa Ndlovu, PhD (Occupational Health): University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Affiliation: University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Society representatives

Johan du Plessis, PhD (Occupational Hygiene): North-West University, South Africa

Affiliations: North-West University, South Africa; SAIOH member

Deon Jansen van Vuuren, BSc Hons (Industrial Physiology): North-West University, South Africa

Affiliations: SAIOH General Manager

Spo Kgalamono, FCPHM (Occ Med): CMSA, South Africa; MMed (Comm Health) University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Affiliations: National Institute for Occupational Health (NHLS), South Africa; University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa; SASOM ExCo member

Daan Kocks, MD: Medical University of Southern Africa, South Africa; FCPHM (Occ Med): CMSA, South Africa

Affiliations: University of Pretoria, South Africa; SASOM Chair

Dipalesa Mokoboto, MBChB: University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; MPhil (Medical Law and Ethics): University of Pretoria, South Africa

Affiliations: Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, South Africa; University of Pretoria, South Africa; MMPA Past President

Vusumuzi Nhlapho, DOccMed: RCP, London, UK

3SixtyHealth, South Africa; MMPA Past President

Publisher

Kevin Beaumont, MA (English): University of Natal, South Africa
Affiliation: MettaMedia (Pty) Ltd

Editorial advisory panel

An Editorial Advisory Panel, comprising highly qualified occupational health professionals, assists the journal. The current members are:

Thomas Fuller, ScD (Industrial Hygiene/Work Environment): University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA; MSPH (Radiological Hygiene): University of North Carolina, USA; MBA (Finance): Suffolk University, USA; Professor Emeritus, Illinois State University, USA

Affiliations: Occupational Hygiene Training Association, UK; IOHA Past President; President, Iberoamerican Board of Occupational Hygiene

Karen Michell, PhD: University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa; Fellow of the Academy of Nursing of South Africa

Affiliation: Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, UK

Jim Phillips, PhD: Leeds University, UK

André Rose, MBBCH, MMed (Community Health), FCPHM, PhD: University of the Free State, South Africa

Affiliation: DSI-SAMRC South African Population Research Infrastructure Network (SAPRIN)

Mary Ross, MBChB: University of Birmingham; Fellowships in Occupational Medicine (South Africa and UK), Public Health South Africa, Travel Medicine UK, Tropical Medicine Australasia

Affiliations: University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa; Faculty of Occupational Medicine, UK; Journal of the Society for Occupational Medicine, UK; International Commission for Occupational Health; World Health Organization; SASOM honorary life member; MMPA honorary life member

Copyright

Once a paper is accepted for publication, the exclusive copyright in the paper is assigned to the journal. Material from the paper may subsequently be used by the authors provided that the wording is different.

Privacy statement

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