Occupational Health and Public Safety

Biography

Biography   Dr. Lum, a graduate of the University of Southern California, is the e-communication and research translation senior advisor to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Office of the Director where he connects with communities, partners and organizations helping to navigate the digital space and creating new channels for providing science-based occupational safety and health information for engagement, action and impact. Dr. Lum served for fifteen years as NIOSH’s Communication Director. His most recent publication: Communicating Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health Information Effectively: A Practice-Based Approach. In Koh, D., Textbook of Occupational Medicine Practice, World Scientific, Singapore (2017).                                                          

Abstract

Background. Wikipedia a collaboratively written, web-based encyclopedia that is the dominant online global reference for patients, health providers and the public. Wikipedia ranks as the seventh most accessed web site with over 18 billion page views in 2017. This presentation provides an overview of “lessons learned” concerning the systematic editing of Wikipedia by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, (NIOSH-CDC) to stimulate OSH information dissemination to a global audience. 

Methods. This presentation is guided by an evaluation of the results of how traffic to Wikipedia articles correlate with traffic to the main NIOSH-CDC web site, how page view statistics compare to organic search and other web site drivers disseminating occupational safety and health information. Over a two-year period investigators compared Wikipedia’s occurrence, content, mean position, key edit factors, long tail search results, edit comparisons, and topic page views to other web sites, and examined which factors influence audience engagement. 

Findings. By developing and implementing a carefully crafted online strategy Wikipedia, with the exception of organic search has become the major source of driving searchers of OSH information to the NIOSH web site after organic search Wikipedia is the most important driver of visitors to the Institute’s web site

Implications.  The rank of a web sites among search engines results depends on search engine algorithms and search engine optimizations strategies (SEO). Wikipedia enhances search algorithms. A well-managed, secure Wikipedia editing activity   has the potential of enhancing the global delivery of free, high quality, up to date OSH information.