International Journal of Occupational Hygiene
Volume:7 Issue: 3, Sep 2015

Electrospun nanofibrous filter media have attracted considerable attention in the last decade. The present study aimed to develop the electrospun PAN (polyacrylonitrile) filter media through experimental investigations for application in high-performance air filters. For this purpose, an experimental design was proposed to assess the effect of electrospinning process conditions including solution concentration, electric voltage and nozzle-collector distance on the structural properties of filter media including the fiber diameter, percent of porosity and bead number. Optimization of electrospinning parameters was conducted through the Response Surface Methodology to obtain the desired values for fibrous media variables. The morphology of the mats (including bead number and fiber diameter) were studied using SEM images through, Microstructure Measurement image analyzer. The porosity was determined using image analysis algorithms by MATLAB. The findings indicated that the concentration is the most influencing factor on fiber diameter (r= 0.73, p<0.05) and bead number (r= -0.51, p>0.05), so that the lower concentrations led to lower fiber diameter and more bead number. Among the electrospinning parameters, the highest correlation coefficient was achieved between porosity of PAN media and applied voltage (r=0.39, p>0.05). There was a negative relationship between fiber diameter and both percent of porosity (r=-23; p>0.05) and bead number(r=-0.53; p<0.05). Thus, media with the lower fiber diameter had the higher porosity and more bead number. Since the fibers diameter, bead number and porosity can have different effects on the quality factor of filters, the well-considered selection of electrospinning conditions can be of great importance for obtaining the arbitrary values of filter characteristics.

Occupational diseases are any chronic ailment that occurs as a result of work or occupational activity. This study was conducted to examine the frequency and risk factors of some Skin and Musculoskeletal Disorders among nurses at a referral-teaching hospital. All 197 nurses in the hospital from different working shifts were engaged in the study. All nurses filled out a questionnaire containing demographic and occupational data. In the questionnaire, they specified the following: sex, age, job experience, any history of respiratory, skeletal and muscular diseases over the past year, chemicals and physical conditions they have been exposed to, history of allergy. Thirty nine nurses had skin diseases. Those who did not regularly wear gloves were further susceptible to skin diseases. 68 nurses in this study had musculoskeletal, respiratory and allergic diseases. The skin and respiratory diseases had nothing to do with gender, but skeletal, muscular and allergic diseases were more in women. In 93% of the cases, skin diseases left lesions in the elbows, wrists, palms and fingers. In our study, it was demonstrated that 39 nurses had skin diseases. 68 nurses in this study had skeletal, muscular, respiratory and allergic diseases. Out of 93 percent of the cases, skin diseases were characterized by the appearance of lesions. The incidence of Skin and Musculoskeletal Disorders had no meaningful relationship with age, height, employment and matrimonial status of the nurses, but it did have with the number of working shifts and beds under their supervision.

Emotional intelligence (EI) has been subject of significant amounts of literature over the past two decades. However, little has been contributed to how emotional intelligence may be practically applied to enhance both accident prevention program and general health in workplaces. Purpose of this paper is to survey relationship among these variables in working society of Iran in 2014. As well as identify practical approaches to application of emotional intelligence skills to manage work change process.This was a cross-sectional study, conducted among all workers in functional units of a manufacturing company (n=178), located in a central province in Iran. Emotional intelligence assessed using Bradberry and Greaves’ questionnaire and Goldberg’s General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) was the other tool used in the study. Descriptive statistics used to describe data by SPSS V22. Also, relationship among studied factors analyzed applying structural equations (SEM) modeling by EQS software. Majority of workers (99.32%) were male. Mean (SD) age was 39.13 (8.23) also 64.19% of participants were married. Mean and standard deviation of EI score calculated 90.64 and 19.33, respectively. Also, results indicated that mean of GH score was 22.24 (±9.83). Analyzing relation between main variables (EI & GH) with occupational accidents depicted that both of them are in significant relationship with accident (P<0.05). Regard to relationship between emotional intelligence and general health with occurrence of accidents in workplace and GH improvement with increase in EI, three strategies are recommended: appropriate job selection, Suitable training and intervention for workplace condition improvement.

Musculoskeletal problems, resulting from lifting and transferring patients, are often reported among hospital orderlies worldwide. The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence and factors associated with musculoskeletal disorders in Thai hospital orderlies. This cross sectional study was conducted in a government tertiary care hospital (2,221-bed hospital) in Bangkok, Thailand. Data were collected over three months between April and May 2014. The self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 189 hospital orderlies. Finally, 153 hospital orderlies that met the criteria participated in the study. The results revealed that the prevalence rate of musculoskeletal disorders among hospital orderlies was 84.3%. Musculoskeletal disorders were present in various body parts with the lower back being reported most often (74.4%), followed by hips/thighs (72.1%), and upper back (60.5%). Factors affecting causality of musculoskeletal disorders were years of employment (OR 3.9, 95% CI 0.04-0.77), repetitive movement (OR 2.7, 95% CI 0.02-0.68), heavy load handling (OR 1.2, 95% CI 0.28-2.43), and tasks that required handling patients over 30 round per day (OR 3.3, 95% CI 0.02-0.64). Findings indicate that hospital orderlies should recognize the importance of enhancing musculoskeletal health, particularly as an effective approach to risk reduction and health promotion.

Evaluation of lymphadenopathy is of clinical significance as the underlying disease may range from a treatable infectious etiology to malignant neoplasm. The aim and objective of the present study was to evaluate palpable lymph nodes of population working in small to medium scale industries represented as Group A by Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) and to compare the results with the general population designated as Group B comprising dependent non-working family members of Group A population. The results were categorized into two main headings of benign and malignant diseases with sub categorization. The prevalence of benign diagnoses in Group A and Group B was 81% and 79% respectively while that of malignant diagnoses in Group A & Group B was 19% and 21% respectively. The predominant cause of lymphadenopathy in Group A & Group B was reactive lymphadenitis, followed by tubercular lymphadenitis respectively. Metastatic carcinoma was the comment malignant neoplasm (Group A- 16.31% & Group B -17.33%) followed by Non Hodgkins lymphoma (Group A - 2.63% & Group B - 2.89%). Squamous cell carcinoma was the commonest cytological type in metastatic carcinoma. Surprisingly, the Group A had a decade earlier incidence of metastasis compared to the general population represented by Group B. Early and continuous exposure to the carcinogens among the workers may be the cause of early occurrence of metastasis. FNAC being an easy and reliable procedure is recommended for screening of lymph node lesion of the worker population for early diagnosis and management.

Shift work is a common work schedule that has several inappropriate consequences, the most important of which is fatigue. The aim of this study was to invest gate the impact of the shift length on the occupatio al fatigue of operators in filling stations. This cross-sectional study was carried out on operators of the filling station in National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company, Hamadan region, western Iran. Participants were chosen using the random sampling. In order to assess occupational fatigue, the Persian version of Swedish Occupational Fatigue Inventory (P-SOFI) was used in 8, 12 and 24-hour shift schedules. The total score of fatigue (P=0.05), functional fatigue (P=0.001) and conceptual fatigue (P=0.013) had significant difference in various shifts length, but physical dimension score had not significant differences. Among all aforementioned shift works, the 24-h shift had higher fatigue score in P-SOFI. It seems that shift length has a significant impact on occupational fatigue among filling tation workers. The result of the study can help to work scheduling and rest-work regime planning for health promotion of workers and accident risk reduction.