International Journal of Occupational Hygiene
Volume:3 Issue: 1, Jan 2011

This study was initiated to assess the effectiveness of designating smoking rooms to control environmental tobacco smoke in nursing homes. Of the 39 nursing homes located in Toledo (a city in Ohio, USA) included in the preliminary survey, 33 facilities (85%) allowed smoking, 14 facilities (36%) allowed indoor smoking, and 13 facilities (33%) provided a designated smoking area. Three of these 13 nursing homes with similar levels of care agreed to participate in study that was more comprehensive. The levels of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide (CO2), respirable suspended particulate matter, nicotine, and solanesol were monitored at three locations within three nursing homes: a designated smoking room with an independent ventilation system, the adjacent hallway and outside the building. The concentrations of air contaminants, except CO2, inside the designated smoking rooms were significantly higher than those in the hallways or outside. The concentration of CO2 was similar in the smoking rooms and the hallways but significantly higher than the concentration outside. The levels of ambient air temperature or relative humidity within the three locations were not generally different. The results indicated that the designation of a smoking room with an independent ventilation system was effective in controlling the environmental tobacco smoke in these nursing homes. پ

Cognitive-based human errors have major contribution to performance and safety in working environment. This study designed to develop a measurement tool in order to evaluate this type of errors in the occupational settings. An Occupational Cognitive Failure Questionnaire (OCFQ) was developed. Content validity of the OCFQ was performed using a quantitative approach. Reliability of questionnaire was assessed by internal consistency and test-retest methods. A preliminary list of 35-items was prepared as a starting point. After evaluation of validity, five items were rejected. The new measurement instrument with 30-items was finally developed. The content validity index (CVI) for the final OCFQ was found acceptable (CVI=0.7). Results show that final OCFQ was internally consistent (α=96) and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) was 0.99. Measurement of cognitive failure in the workplace requires a valid and reliable tool. In respect to probable outcomes of cognitive failures occurrence at work, the present study suggested that OCFQ would be a useful instrument for measurement of cognitive failure in the working environment.

A new method for analysis of benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) using High Performance Liquid Chromatography-UV detection (HPLC-UV) is described and compared to the gas chromatography (GC) method. A charcoal adsorption tube connected to a small pump was used to obtain samples from an atmosphere chamber standard. Samples were extracted with methanol and analyzed by HPLC-UV. Chromatography was isocratic in a mobile phase consisting of water-methanol (30-70). The flow rate was set at 1 ml/min. The analyses were completely separated and were quantified using both methods. The results demonstrated no statistically significant differences between BTX concentrations between the two analytical methods with a correlation coefficient of 0.98-0.99. The GC method provided higher sensitivity than HPLC, but the HPLC determination of BTX were applicable to real samples because its sensivity was lower than the thershold limit recommended by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienist (ACGIH) for an 8-hour workday.

The analysis of incidents is one way of increasing safety in workplaces. In this approach, the process of preparing exact and scientific report is a critical step. The aim of this paper was to describe an intervention supporting the improvement of supervisor's participation to report all occurred incidents. In this study, Future Workshop method was used with 44 supervisors in TAB Steel Company, Tabriz, Iran. In each subject, 11 supervisors were participated in four small groups, which they normally worked. In the Critique phase, the 4 teams reported 126 problems in the incident report process. During the fantasy phase, the teams produced 727 suggestions to solve the problems. Then, the supervisors made decisions on 35 commitments to change their incident reporting behaviors. Finally, in the implementation phase the number of reported incidents increased by 79.4% during the 1-year follow-up period. The discussion method used in Japan, Finland, and Sweden was also successfully implemented in Iran, and the process raised a great number of problems and suggestions related to supervisor's incident reporting process. Creating and maintaining the proper communicational canals among supervisors and the managers of safety and health unit are the suggestions, which have been presented to increase the amount of partnership.

Low Back Pain (LBP) is likely the most common medical disorder among work population. In this survey, prevalence of LBP and pain severity and the association of them with occupational and non-occupational risk factors were specified among office workers in Baqiyatallah University Of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran in 2006 In this way the point prevalence of LBP and pain severity among office workers, role of some personal and occupational factors, and self-reported pain severity were assessed. The instruments used included direct interview, a body discomfort assessment tool that consisted of a 10-centimeter color Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and a questionnaire. Face to face, interview was done for measuring of weight and height of subjects. Of 1580 volunteers, 1436 persons were participated. About 80% (79.8%) of respondents were male. Mean age of responders was 35.08 years. More than 60% had at least one episode of LBP during their working life and 45.0% of pain sufferer's first attack was during their employment. Lifetime prevalence of LBP was 92.1% and this result for last 12 months was 37.3%. Increased age up to 40 years, increased weight, sitting work style more than 4 hours, computer use more than 5 hours a day also past history of LBP had a positive association with increased like hood of occurrence of LBP. LBP had a high prevalence in office workers. This study might help to estimate low back problems in office workers and emphasize healthy lifestyle, ergonomic measurement and control, good posture and holding educational programs.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore the association of crystalline silica aerosols exposure with malondialdehyde in blood serum and urinary neopterin and explore their potential as biomarkers of their external exposure. Nonsmoking and healthy male glass sandblasters and control population were randomly selected for this study. All groups were monitored for their personal exposure to crystalline silica according to NOISH method No. 7601. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used to for analysis of malondialdehyde of blood serum and urinary neopterin, and creatinine in all study participants. The mean of personal exposure to crystalline silica aerosols in glass sanbalsters was 164 µg/m3 (SD: 112) compared with less than 0.006 mg/m3 for control group that was even below detection limit. The mean of blood serum malondialdehyde of sandblasters (49.08±19.05µmole/l) was significantly higher than that of control population 1.92±0.33 µmole/l (p<0.001). Urinary neopterin of sandblasters was 10.85±3.61 mmole/mole creatinine which was also significantly higher than control group 4.71±1.88 mmole/mole creatinine (p<0.001). Correlation between occupational exposures of glass sandblasters to crystalline silica with blood serum malondialdehyde was significant (r2=0.279, p<0.01). Malondialdehyde of blood serum and urinary neopterin could be regarded as biomarkers of exposure to crystalline silica aerosols.

The harmful effects of the long-term ocular exposure to cumulative levels of infrared radiation (IR) in glassblowing and foundries have been recognized since the late 19th century. These effects include cataracts, keratitis, and chronic dry eye problems. Therefore, infrared radiation measurements are critical and need to be assessed regularly in the industries and workplaces where there are high temperature furnaces, such as in the glass industries and foundries. However, IR measurement is not very simple, especially when the range of interest is one in which radiometers are not available, as for the IR-B and IR-C ranges, and commonly available radiometers have a limited sensitivity range. The present article deduce a calculation method for evaluating of IR irradiance based on Planck's radiation law for black body radiation and using an IR detector sensitive in the spectral range 750-1150 nm. Based on this method, workers exposure was assessed to all harmful wavelength ranges of IR radiation in three foundries (two aluminums and one cast-iron). The results suggested that IR-A and IR-B radiation (wavelength from 770 nm to 3000 nm) in the mentioned foundries were more than TLVs (threshold limit values) given by ACGIH. There were significant risks of health hazards due to IR radiation exposure. Personal protective equipment should be used in order to prevent serious damage to eyes and skin, and selection of appropriate equipment should be on an individual basis due to different radiation exposure.

Shiftwork that affects diverse aspects of human life is arranged in various schedules. The main purpose of this study was to compare psycho-social problems among employees working in different 12-hour shift schedules of Iranian petrochemical industries. This cross-sectional study was carried out at eight petrochemical companies in Asalooyeh area. The study population consisted of 549 shift workers. Data on personal details, shift schedule, and adverse effects of shift work were collected by anonymous questionnaire. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS, version 11.5. Among 549 studied shift employees, 39.6% worked in 4N-7D-3N-7R (4 nights- 7 days- 3 nights- 7 rests), 29.1% in 7N-7 D-7R, and 31.3% in 7D-7N-7R schedules. Psychosocial problems among 7D-7N-7R schedule shift workers were significantly more prevalent than other schedules (p<0.05). Prevalence rates of psychosocial problems among all schedules were high, but odds ratios of problems among 7D-7N-7R schedule shift workers were significantly more than those of the two other ones were. This schedule should be changed therefore to decrease such problems.