Global research trend evolution in occupational health and safety over the past decade

Abstract

Occupational health and safety (OHS) is crucial for any organisation to create a safe work environment and protect employees’ well-being. The field of OHS has evolved significantly over the past decade, with pandemic distractions, evolving labour trends and technological advancements. Thus, this study focuses on investigating the evolution and key trends in scholarly publications related to occupational health and safety. Accordingly, a Scopus-based systematic review was conducted to analyse the journal articles related to this field. As the key outputs of this research, leading countries, authors and journals were identified related to this field. Further, this research reviewed the evolution of research themes and trends over the past decade as a basis for future research. The outcomes of the analysis reveal that the number of publications related to the OHS has increased consistently. Further, the United States was identified as the leading country, while Miyamoto T. was identified as the leading author of the field. According to the Scopus database, “International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health” was recognised as the prominent journal which has the highest number of publications. Heeding research themes and trends, analysis reveals that the current trends are moving towards an integration between novel technology, such as artificial intelligence, with occupational health and safety in recent years. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of global OHS research trends over the last decade by highlighting the evolution of themes and key contributors in this field.