For half a century, that is to say since 1959, the International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre (CIS) worked for the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases through the dissemination of OSH information. It has fulfilled this role through the identification, selection, analysis and international dissemination of key documents in the field of OSH. The main tool for doing this has been through the creation, maintenance and continuous updating of its bibliographic database CISDOC and its associated products. The network of CIS centres, now numbering about 150 institutions, has been of vital importance in aiding CIS to do its work properly.

Virtually every year since its creation CIS has held a general meeting of its centres. This year will be the 47th such meeting, which will take place at ILO Headquarters in Geneva on 22-23 October 2009. It has also been decided to organize several major events tied to this historic 50th anniversary meeting.

One of these events will probably be a joint meeting of the CIS Network with the WHO Collaborating Centres in Occupational Health network, to be held in the morning of Wednesday, 21 October. On the same afternoon, it is planned to organize a high-level meeting with key experts from the International Labour Office (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as other invited prominent people from the field. This session will enable stakeholders to exchange their views and experience concerning the main challenges facing the international community in the context of the crisis and to demonstrate how the prevention of occupational risks may contribute to good governance, an increase in productivity and good work relations in the enterprise.

This anniversary will also be the occasion to honour the CIS by publishing information on its history, and to debate its future in a world in constant technological and social change. Several promotional products will be published concerning CIS, including a brochure on its history.