The development of Occupational Epidemiology in Italy is closely correlated with the political and social awareness of the needs of preventive strategies in the workplace. In the late '60s the Trade Unions supported a model of intervention based on the involvement of the so-called "Homogeneous group of workers" in the validation of the preventive measures taken on the workplace. In spite of the shortcomings of the model, it was extremely effective resulting in enhanced perception of the priority of preventive strategies and in the formation within the National Health Service of the Occupational Health Services. In Italy over the period 1973-2002 there has been an impressive trend of research in field of occupational epidemiology (a search on Medline shows an increasing trend over the years and, in terms of international comparison, higher figures than in Germany, France and Spain). Occupational Epidemiology is now present in the activities of the local Occupational Health Services and in the teaching activities of the Medical Schools throughout the country.