Archives Of Occupational Health
Volume:4 Issue: 4, Oct 2020

Investigating the influence of various proactive factors on reactive indices in the chemical industries can result in providing preventive and control measures in these industries. This study was designed and conducted to measure the relationship between reactive and proactive safety indices in the chemical industry.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018 in 12 chemical industries. The study data were associated with a period of 5 years (2013-2017). Study data has been analyzed based on factor analysis using analytical software IBM SPSS AMOS v. 22.0. χ2 / df, RMSEA, CFI, NFI, and NNFA (TLI) indices were used to evaluate the modelchr('39')s goodness fit in this study.

The mean reactive indices of recurrence coefficient and accident severity in this study was 14.15(18.32) and 182.112(10.50) days, respectively. The exploratory factor analysis results determined that 16 indicator variables were categorized into 4 groups of proactive indices, including safety training, risk management, control of unsafe situations, and unsafe acts. Analyzing the confirmatory factor additionally confirmed that there is a significant relationship between the two groups of reactive and proactive indices in this study(P <0.05), and the goodness of model fit was also recognized appropriate (RMSEA = 0.055).

This studychr('39')s findings approved that the proactive indices affect the incidence and severity of accidents as safety reactive indices in the chemical industries. Also, the risk management proactive index and insecurity conditions were more effective than other indices.

Analysis of accident data based on social and economic factors can be useful in determining injury patterns and establishing operational policies to improve safety and health. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of socio-economic factors in accidents.

This descriptive-analytical study was conducted based on information obtained from the Labor Inspection Office of Qom Province in 2017. In this study, the required information was extracted from recorded accident forms of 1048 accident cases occurred among victims who were over 18 years old. In this study, the dependent variables include the outcome of accidents divided into two groups of accidents leading to death and injury. Data were analyzed using Stata Software version 23 (Stat Crop. USA).

Based on the results, the presence of a safety officer in the industry reduced the risk of accidents leading to injury (AOR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.72-0.91, P<0.05), people who had received safety training were 0.0009 times less likely to experience accidents leading to injury compared to the other group (AOR = 0.009, 95% CI: 0.0-0.16. P<0.05), and people with undergraduate education were 1.98 times more likely to experience accidents leading to injury (AOR = 0.009, 95% CI: 1.25-2.2. P<0.05). It was further found that people who have experienced the accident beforehand are less likely to have accidents leading to injury than the other group (AOR = 0.05, 95% CI: 0.005-0.72. P<0.05).

Therefore, as indicated, many factors have domino effects on different social damages and problems. Accordingly, to lower accidents and modify workforce cul ture, multi-faceted strategies should be applied properly.

Regarding the operating roomchr('39')s sensitivity and performing various invasive procedures, it is important to investigate the relationship between occupational fatigue and the occurrence of medical errors. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the relationship between occupational fatigue and medical errors among surgical technologists.

This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in operating rooms of hospitals of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences in 2019. The research population included 141 surgical technologists selected via stratified random sampling. Data were collected using the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) and nursing errors in the operating room questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS16 software.

82.2% of surgical technologists had moderate to severe fatigue. Non-compliance with the sterile technique with a 49.6% incidence rate was the most frequent error among participants. The findings showed that there was a significant positive correlation between the incidence of medical errors among surgical technologists with mental fatigue (r =0.160, P=0.04) and reduced motivation (r =0.185, P=0.02).

The level of mental fatigue and reduced motivation among surgical technologists was directly related to the level of the incidence of medical errors. Therefore, it is recommended to implement effective programs to adjust and decrease mental fatigue and increase motivation to improve surgical technologistschr('39') performance.

Permit to Work system is a documented system to control activities that are inherently hazardous and may cause incidents. The aim of this study was to evaluate performance of Permit to Work (PTW) system in an oil refinery.

The Study was a cross-sectional study that was done during 2019 in one of the oil refineries in southern Iran. A total number of 125 participants who were experts that were working in an oil refinery and were in charge of Permit to work (PTW) issuing, were selected based on census method and were entered into the study. The instrument of this study was a questionnaire about evaluating performance of Permit to work system, which was completed by the participants after explaining the aim of the study and training them how to complete it. In order to data analysis SEPPTW software was applied.

The results showed that the performance of Permit to work system in the studied refinery is generally in the moderate level (41.2 score). Also, in the field of hazard identification and risk assessment, the performance of Permit to work system was poor, but its performance in the field of coordination and informing was at a good level.

Identifying the weak points and causes of defect in Permit to work system can result in increased levels of Permit to work system, and then reduced incidents from work related to permit to work in process industries.

Safety has affected the productivity of many industries, including the nuclear power, oil and gas, and railway industry. Resilience engineering is a new field in safety science. This study investigated the dimensions that contribute to safety culture and resilience and their relevance in petrochemical industry.

This is a descriptive-analytical study. At first, a questionnaire was used to assess the level of safety culture in twelve dimensions. Then, a six-factor resilience engineering questionnaire was administered. Data were analyzed in SPSS 19 and EXCEL software programs using statistical tests such as the correlation coefficient.

The mean safety culture score was 290(43.2). The lowest score was related to the training indicator and incident and near-miss reports. The mean score of the resilience index was 201.5(25). The lowest score was related to the learning and reporting culture index. There was a significant correlation between the safety culture score and resilience engineering score (P=0.003). The results also showed that the score of safety culture and resilience increased with age and experience.

Safety culture and resilience are correlated directly, implying that individuals and organizations can become more resilient by increasing levels of safety culture.

Although early warning system processes follow precise models and scenarios, the human part is not fully understood. Most people before and during crises, act according to their interpretive plans, sometimes when the situation may not be dangerous, but can lead to dangerous reactions. The purpose of this study was to provide an indicator that can be used to assess peoplechr('39')s understanding of early warning systems.

This study is a descriptive-analytical study that was conducted in 2019 in a gas refinery in Iran. In the first step, the Perception Index questionnaire was translated into Persian with the help of English language experts. In the next step, the validity and reliability of the questionnaire were assessed. The questionnaires were distributed and completed among 168 refinery personnel. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software version 24, and Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were determined by statistical tests.

The content validity index was 0.8, and the content validity ratio was 0.66. The general index of perception of the rapid warning system in this industry was 71.74 percent. Pearson correlation test did not show a significant correlation between age and perception index (r = 0.060), and also this test showed a positive correlation between perception index and work experience (r = 0.691). Spearman test was used to examine the relationship between two variables of education level and perception index. The results showed that there was a strong correlation between these two variables (rho = 0.746).

The results showed that the perception index in this questionnaire has high validity and reliability and can be used in high-risk industries. The general perception index gained in this industry was in good condition, which means that people are more likely to be well aware at the time of an accident and will behave appropriately. However, it is suggested that the managers of the industry understudy hold training classes related to the early warning systems, hold emergency maneuvers, and familiarize the personnel with different scenarios.

Climate change and global warming present a significant threat to outdoor workers. Climatic parameters change has increased the risk of outdoor workerschr('39') safety and health. The objective of this paper was to examine the hypothesis of an association between six years data of climatic parameters and outdoor workerschr('39') safety and health.

A variety of approaches have been produced to assess and measure workerschr('39') occupational heat exposure and the risk of heat-related disorders. In this study, maximum, mean, and minimum daily temperatures were used in the heat wave models to compare the sensitivity of predictions according to different climatic parameters in the case study of Sabzevar, settled in the north east of Iran, Khorasan Razavi Province. In this perusal, we used a 6-year data (from March 2011 to June 2017) on medical attendance because of outdoor workers disorders and also daily values of different climatically parameters to investigate the hypothesis of an association between heat indices and outdoor workers disorders.

Mean temperature in the case study period was 18.95(0.21) °C. The minimum and maximum recorded temperature in the perusal period was -11.2 °C and 45.4 °C, respectively. The highest and lowest number of outdoor workers disorders was observed for the 11th (max daily air temperature > 35°C for ≥ 1 day) and 4th (mean daily air temperature > 99th percentile for ≥ 2 sequential days) definition of the heat wave in 16 definitions (17.75(4.80) and 0, respectively).

This study found that extreme temperature was associated with outdoor worker disorders in Sabzevar. Research into the future likelihood, existence and magnitude of safety and health consequences of global warming and climate change represent an important input to national policy debates.

Nickel (Ni) compounds are used as pigments in ceramic glazes.

This cross-sectional study was performed on 49 ceramic workers occupationally exposed to nickel and 55 office workers without a history of occupational exposure to nickel (reference group). Urine samples were collected from 49 workers at both pre- and post-shift (98 samples). The reference group was examined only once (55 samples). Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) was used for sample preparation. Analyses were performed by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES).Information about smoking habits, overtime work, work history, skin dermatitis, kind of job, using mask, ventilation system, age, weight, and height was collected through questionnaires. The lung function tests were performed on each reference and exposed group by vitalograph spirometer. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to evaluate the data.

The data demonstrated that Ni concentration in the exposed workers was significantly higher than that in the reference group. Parameters of pulmonary function in the exposed group were significantly lower than those of the reference group (P <0.001). Those using the mask also exhibited a significantly lower Ni concentration than those not using mask.

These findings indicate that exposure to Ni is associated with significant decrements in the pulmonary function parameters.