Archives Of Occupational Health
Volume:2 Issue: 2, Apr 2018

Various studies have shown that vascular changes in the retina can be a primary indicator of cardiovascular disease risk. CRAE, CRVE, and AVR are three important markers for determining retinal vascular changes. The aim of this study was to determine the changes in these three ocular markers and their relationship with blood pressure and heart rate.
In this cross-sectional analytical study, 96 workers from one of Yazd's tile and ceramic industries were studied. Fundus images were prepared from both eyes and then analyzed using ARIA software and related protocols. Data were analyzed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and Mann-Whitney test and Correlation test was performed.
The mean and standard deviation of age and working experience of the population under study were 34.93(6.06) and 9.85(6.26) years, respectively. There was no statistically significant correlation between ocular parameters with blood pressure and heart rate (p-value >0.05). The relationship of CRAE and CRVE with heart rate, although not statistically significant, was inverse.
The results of this study showed no relationship between retinal vascular changes with changes in cardiovascular parameters such as blood pressure and heart rate among workers. Also, there was no significant difference between BMI and mean of three ocular parameters.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between sleep disorders and job stress among nurses working in educational hospitals in Sanandaj.
This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 160 nurses working in educational hospitals of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences in Sanandaj in 2014. A quotient sampling method was used to select nurses. Data were gathered using two questionnaires: Expanded Nursing Stress Scale (ENSS) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Then, the results were analyzed by using SPSS 16 software, independent t-test, and Spearman correlation.
56 of the nurses (35%) were male and 104 nurses were female (65%). The results of Spearman correlation test showed that nurses’ sleep quality was significantly correlated with nurse's job stress. Also, the findings of this study showed that nurse's sleep quality was significantly different in terms of working and age groups. However, nurse's job stress did not show any significant difference between different work experience and age groups.
The study showed that there is a direct relationship between job stress and sleep quality in nurses. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the underlying factors that cause stress and sleep disorders and in addition to precisely planning the work shifts, preventing the increase of the volume and duration of work should be designed to eliminate them.

According to the Labor Code, one of the important duties of employers in the field of safety and health is the provision of personal protective equipment and its training to workers. How to train workers who are willing to use the earmuff all the time is an issue that needs to be addressed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a training intervention with the BASNEF model in increasing the duration of the use of hearing protective equipment by workers.
This is an evaluation study that was carried out in Yazd tile industry in 2015. The research population in this study was 50 workers who were trained according to the BASNEF model. After developing a questionnaire based on the structures of Kirk Patrick's evaluation model, with the acquisition of validity, trained workers completed the questionnaire.
The highest mean scores were respectively in the results 87.06 (12), behavior 86.30 (9.59), learning 84.87 (13.55), content 81.36 (10.70) and the response 81.28 (11.33). In general, the score of the evaluation domains is above 80.
According to the findings, BASNEF‘s training course is effective in increasing the duration of worker's use of protective hearing equipment.

Research has shown that dermal exposure to multi-ring aromatic compounds can lead to skin and systemic absorption of these materials. Due to the low vapor pressure of these materials, the main cause of occupations exposure in certain occupations is skin contact. The production of bitumen products due to the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHS) in the bitumen of the production line has a health hazard. It is noteworthy that skin rashes with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in this industry can cause skin problems in the workplace. This study evaluates skin exposure to these compounds in the ISO-industry using DREAM method.
In this study, we evaluated 120 different workers in different groups of four waterproofing plants with aromatic hydrocarbons. In the DREAM method, five types of skin exposures including distributing exposure, transitional exposure, displacement exposure, probable exposure, and actual exposure are assessed and calculated using tables and software.
The highest transmission and distribution exposure was found to be 28.81 (19.5) and 9.1 (4.86), respectively, in the manufacturing jobs and bitumen ponds. Displacement exposure was observed only in roll-up and labeling groups. The areas of the hand and shoulder were more likely to be exposed than other parts of the body. The probable and real exposure to the head and arm was lower than elsewhere. In all occupations, the most important exposure to the skin was transmission and distribution exposure.
DREAM method can be used to assess skin exposures. In this study, the actual and probable skin exposure levels were approximately the same, indicating a lack of proper skin protection in the workforce. Unhealthy behaviors, non-use of personal equipment and inappropriate connection are the causes of this finding.

Acute hearing loss due to noise and hearing impairment is one of the most common occupational diseases which imposes significant direct and indirect costs on the government and exposed individuals. The steel industry is one of the industries that a great deal of noise is produced in different parts of its working process. Therefore, in this research, we tried to investigate the relationship between noise exposure and permanent hearing loss due to noise, as well as hearing impairment among employees of rebar production unit in Kerman Steel Industries.
In this descriptive-analytic study, two methods of bioassay and environmental monitoring were used. In bioassay method, seventy one workers of the production line audiology condition, which was selected by census method, were tested and in the environmental monitoring, sound state of the production sector was measured and evaluated. Also, using a questionnaire, their personal information and work experience were recorded.
From the 71 workers surveyed, 20% were between 25-30 year old, 70% aged 30-40 years old, 10% were more than 40 years old, 63% had a work experience of 1-5 years and 37% had work experience more than 5 years. Comparison of the sound pressure level with the permissible national standard states showed that in 93% of the measured points, the sound pressure level was higher than standard, and the results of the audiometric data showed that in 55% of individuals, the hearing threshold in the right ear at a frequency of 4000 Hz has risen above 25 dB, and this value is 46% for the left ear.
Considering that the increase in hearing thresholds at 4000 Hz is the main symptom of hearing loss due to working in industrial environments, we can conclude that taking control measures is very necessary. The percentage of auditory hearing impairment in the left, right and both ears is less than 10% and this can be attributed to the worker's work experience.

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a debilitating and irreversible disease and one of the ten most important occupational diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between individual risk factors and NIHL in textile workers.
This cross-sectional study was carried out on 128 employees of one of the textile factories of Tehran Province in 2017. At first, data were collected using a demographic questionnaire including age, marital status, level of education, and work shift. Then, using an audiometer, the worker's threshold of hearing was measured in both ears for frequencies of 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, and 8000 Hz, and data were analyzed by the SPSS version 18.
The mean age of the workers was 30.59 ( 3.5) years, their mean work experience 5.7 (2.76) years, and the mean environmental noise level at work 87.88 ( 6.13) dB. The findings showed that there was a significant relationship between the level of exposed noise and age, education level, work shift, and marital status.
Increased age of population and level of environmental noise are two factors for increased hearing loss, which can be partly prevented by using engineering approaches such as using mufflers and silent rooms.

Musculoskeletal disorders in kitchen workers are prevalent due to the nature of work and repetitive work. But few studies have been done on this profession. The RULA procedure is one of the best posture assessment methods for assessing upper limbs. The aim of this study was to evaluate musculoskeletal disorders using RULA method among Gonabad kitchen workers.
In this descriptive analytical study, Work postures of 78 workers in all Gonabad kitchens and restaurants were recorded using the camera while working. And the most repetitive and awkward posture were chosen and analyzed using the RULA method. Data analysis was done using SPSS software and double-duplex scores were compared with R software (programming software).
The results showed that the highest postural score and level of actions at the workstations were earned at points 7 and 4 respectively which was related to the task of cleaning the kitchen. The duties of carrying the pot and pouring the material in the next ranks were high RULA privileges. The highest mean scores for each of the organs examined were neck, wrists, and trunks respectively. Also, 51.20% of all workers carried an average load of more than 11 kilograms. The highest loaded weight on duty carries the pot with an average of 30 kilograms. According to the study, 100% of Gonabad's kitchen postures should be improved.
In order to prevent musculoskeletal disorders, the correction of postures and the reduction of carried load are necessary. Since ergonomic studies on kitchen workers are very limited, it is suggested that further studies on ergonomic interventions, such as the design of workstations should be performed to correct postures of the neck, trunk, and wrists of workers.