[The Italian Society of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene: one hundred years of history]. / La Società Italiana di Medicina del Lavoro e di Igiene Industriale: cento anni di storia.

This research project, in conjunction with the SIMLII foundation's 80th anniversary, is aimed to reconstruct the historical chronology of the institutional life of the Society: the Directive bodies, the by-laws, the main steps of the scientific activity, especially the Congresses of Occupational Health. The research will also analyze the most important elements of historical context explaining Society's evolution: the relationships between SIMLII and political-institutional and legislative framework, social and economic changes, medical science's evolution and the university teaching and research, and finally the interactions with the international context. The research covers the years since the first national meeting of Occupation Health, in 1907, in which scientific activity was particularly intense, although the foundation was officially only in 1929. The investigation of the documentation after the 2nd World War is aimed at reconstructing the reborn of the international relations and the social, cultural and economic changes occurred between 1968 and 1978 and the deep impact on industrial relations and the enactment of the "Statuto dei lavoratori" in 1970 and the Health Reform in 1978.

[Development of an educational programme for schools to promote the awareness on child labour]. / Sviluppo di un percorso formativo per le scuole orientato alla conoscenza del lavoro minorile.

The main aim of the ISPESL project "Child Labour: to know in order to take action" is to introduce the subject of the problem of child labour in primary schools. This is done through pedagogical tools and communication methods, using the child's curiosity and point of view as a starting point and giving support to the child as he/she expresses his feelings, messages and emotions and at the same time, develops his own reaction to the problem. This project has been developed within the activities of ISPESL as WHO Collaborating Center and addressed to all the reference figures interacting with school such as teachers, educators and headmaster, but also families and local Institutions who promote understanding and awareness on child labour. The project aims at giving a general picture of the phenomenon, by focusing on the multiple and complex causes affecting the physical and psychosocial well-being of children and on fostering the increase of awareness among children on child labour issues. Observation and investigation tools will be developed and used in specific training modules suited to the cultural and geographic framework of each field of teaching, in order to allow the children to acknowledge and express their better awareness on child labour.

[The perception of stress in the European stakeholders]. / La percezione del rischio stress negli stakeholders in Europa.

Stress at work is a thoroughly studied issue, also on the basis of ILO, WHO and European Parliament guidelines. Nevertheless, although there is a great amount of research on causes of occupational stress and on its impact on workers' health, few investigations have been carried out on stress perception and the known data shows that there is no unanimous point of view among the different parties in the world of work (employees, employers, trade unions and institutional bodies). While on the one hand some European stakeholders have a poor perception and recognition of stress risk (ISPESL, 2004), on the other hand one of the occupational health problems most frequently reported by workers is stress (European Foundation, 2005). The PRIMA - EF project (Psychosocial Risk MAnagement - European Framework) has been developed in this context, and it is funded by the Sixth EC Framework Program (FP6). It is carried out by an international consortium with the participation of ISPESL (Department of Occupational Health). The project deals with occupational stress management with a special focus on how such an issue is perceived by the different European stakeholders.

[Health risks associated with child labor: activities and proposals of WHO collaboration centers]. / Rischi per la salute connessi al lavoro minorile: attività e proposte dei centri di collaborazione dell'OMS.

Child labour should be analyzed with regard to the main frameworks where it arises: particularly, the small family based enterprises in agricultural, hospitality and restaurateurs' sectors play a leading role. In these contexts the child can underestimate the risks related to the carried out work activity and assimilate the work background to the family background. In spite of the national thorough regulations on child labour, the network of WHO Collaborating Centres is working to develop a common awareness in order to evaluate, communicate and prevent the occupational health and safety risks for children, at national and international level.

[The antimony conflict]. / La battaglia dell'antimonio.

Antimony, which was already well known to the ancients, in the Middle Ages was known as Lupus metallorurn--the grey wolf--a key material in alchemists' attempts at purifying gold. Over subsequent centuries antimony returned within the bounds of conventional scientific and experimental knowledge, but inspired numerous studies, works of literature and investigations in important fields of medicine. Antimony has always aroused more interest than one might expect from a simple metal. The fact that it has been used since ancient times in cosmetics and then in alchemy gave it both positive and negative connotations, reflecting its possible uses and the benefits for health but also the potential harm. For a certain period antimony was virtually the symbol for a range of uses in alchemy or empirical medicine, in the face of modern scientific knowledge, and aroused debate that went well beyond its actual physical and chemical properties. Bernardino Ramazzini's work in the 17th-18th centuries signalled the recognition that the use of antimony was linked to health risks. Today it is put to many uses in many fields of industry and medicine, so our interest in this metal is no longer exclusively a question of history, but is highly topical.