Reflecting on the 5th National Occupational Injury Research Symposium and looking forward.

For 2-1/2days in October, 2011, more than 200 researchers convened at the 5th National Occupational Injury Research Symposium (NOIRS) to celebrate advances and successes in the field, to learn from each other about recent and ongoing occupational injury research, and to network and establish new professional relationships to advance occupational injury research in the future. This special issue highlights some of the research presented at that meeting. There has been considerable progress in research and worker safety since the first NOIRS in 1997, with demonstrated reductions in worker deaths and injury, an increased depth and breadth of research, and the development and validation of prevention strategies. Despite this progress, occupational injuries continue to exert too high a toll on workers, employers and society, and there are numerous challenges that need to be addressed to continue advancements in worker safety.