Book excerpt: The Portuguese Society of Occupational Safety and Hygiene (SPOSHO) organised on 14 and 15 February 2013 the 9th edition of the International Symposium on Occupational Safety and Hygiene, SHO 2013. Similarly to the past six years, the event was held in the main Auditorium of the School of Engineering at University of Minho in Guimarães. The 2013 edition covered the issues of Ergonomics and Physical Environment, Chemical and Biological Risk, Fire Safety and Prevention Management, which occurred in plenary sessions, as well as in parallel sessions of submitted works in more than 25 subjects covered by the event, and several sessions of posters.