International Journal of Occupational Safety and Health

Evaluating the correlation of blood pressure and pulse rates of firefighters with their sociodemographic characteristics during a fire and rescue training

2023-02-09T13:08:36+00:00

Introduction: Cardiac strain has become a prevalent cause of firefighters’ death. Standards and regulations set forth a framework to monitor the cardiovascular fitness of firefighters, encourage fitness and create a pathway to diagnosis or detection of disorders. The effectiveness of these standards relies on continuous evaluation of firefighters’ health and updating the protocols.

Methods: This study intended to assess the physiological response of 172 firefighters in the middle east for the first time and considered the effect of body mass index, age, gender, and seasonal ambient temperature on their responses before and after a fire and rescue training. The end results should compile the behavioral patterns of firefighters from the region and help authorities to update current health monitoring standards for firefighters accordingly. Blood pressure, heart and respiratory rates were sampled for participants after one minute after when training finished. Non-Parametric statistical analysis was conducted using Nonparametric Spearman rank correlation coefficients and Kruskal-Wallis H- test to evaluate the correlation of age, gender, BMI, and seasonal temperature with participant’s physiological response.

Results: This study found obesity in 20% of the sampled population with more cases among male participants. Also, in this study, the hypertension prevalence ratio found as 19.8% at baseline and 26.7% in post-training measurements.

Conclusion: This study could confirm that body mass index and seasonal ambient temperature affect blood pressure, heart and ventilation rates. Heart rate significantly changes with ambient temperature. Also, the results found the gender of participants affects all physiological responses, especially heart rate.

Effect of Long Extended Working Hours on the Occupational Health and Safety of Oil and Gas Workers in the Sultanate of Oman

2023-04-07T01:00:50+00:00

Introduction: Oil and Gas workers are exposed to numerous hazards which impede their productivity; one such hazard these workers are exposed to is long or extended working hours. Hence, this paper examined the impacts of extended working hours on workers' occupational health and safety at a selected oil and gas company in Oman. Consequently, the workers’ opinions on the impacts of extended working hours at the company were critically analyzed to draw potential inferences and proffer solutions to the problem in Oman. The study aimed to critically identify, assess, and highlight the occupational safety problems associated with extended working hours among workers at a selected oil and gas company in Oman.

Methods: A total of 128 respondents were randomly selected from the 140 employees and company managers through administered questionnaires. Data collection was done between January 25 and February 30, 2022. The questionnaire consisted of five items statements based on the four-agreement or Likert scale of measurement.

Results: A response rate of 91% was derived from the questionnaire administered for the study. Results from data analysis indicated that 73% of the respondents were male while 27% were female. Furthermore, the results indicated that extended working hours have substantial impacts on family life (s=54%), performance (s=68%), productivity, and health of the workers. Extended working hours potentially expose workers to various dangers which bring about numerous adverse effects (stress, fatigue, depression, and loss of concentration) on their occupational health and safety.

Conclusion: It is recommended that oil and gas companies establish occupational health and safety guidelines to limit the work times and duration (i.e., time spent at work) through shorter shifts, longer breaks, or extended leaves. Long working hours should be prohibited except on special occasions or unavoidable circumstances to safeguard the health and well-being of staff, which could ultimately enhance the productivity and output of the company.

Health Risk Assessment and Covid-19 Infection Rate by Using Bacterial Aerosol in Healthcare Workers in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Thailand During SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

2023-06-02T11:20:15+00:00

Introduction: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a worldwide transmission and healthcare worker is the risk group. Therefore, the infection rate and health risk assessment from exposure to airborne transmission for healthcare workers were performed.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 106 healthcare workers at four selected service areas in Songklanagarind Hospital, Thailand, from February to September 2021. The N6 impactor was used with simultaneous measurement of temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed. The general characteristics of subjects and hospitals were collected by questionnaire and presented by descriptive statistics.

Results: Most of the participants were female and they worked more than 8 hours per day. The bacteria concentration was highest in the Pediatric Outpatient Department (1837.46±177.52 cfu/m³). The lowest chronic daily intake and hazard quotient with no threshold (4.86±3.81, 95%CI: 3.59, 6.13) were at Covid-19 Intensive Care Unit - due to negative pressure ventilation in this room was effective in reducing the airborne concentration of the pathogens. Overall, the hospital’s hazard index with no threshold (30.87±35.25, 95%CI: 23.91, 37.83) was higher than 1.0, indicating that bacterial bioaerosol may affect healthcare workers’ health. The highest confirmed Covid-19 case was at Acute Respiratory Infection Clinic (19.29±10.67 cases/week). The probability of infection by SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare workers was high at Acute Respiratory Infection Clinic (1.0) and Covid-19 Intensive Care Unit (0.998±0.002, 95%CI: 0.998, 0.999).

Conclusion: Therefore, inhalation reference concentration for hospitals should be as low as possible and appropriate ventilation systems should be implemented with adherence to standards to protect healthcare workers.

Knowledge, attitude, and practice of pesticide use among agricultural workers of Lamatar Village Development Committee, Lalitpur District: A cross-sectional study

2023-04-28T16:12:01+00:00

Introduction: In this fast-developing world, food production has also been changing, making people suffer from various health issues because of pesticide poisoning. Unsafe methods in handling pesticides, especially in middle and low-income countries like Nepal are still practiced, although the deleterious health effects either go unnoticed or are missed or are diagnosed late. Few of the older less costly pesticides remain for years in soil and water although few of them have been banned they are still available in many developing countries. The study aimed to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding pesticide use among agricultural workers and farmers' awareness of pesticide labels on pesticide bottles or packets.

Methods: A cross-sectional study among 74 conveniently selected agricultural workers, who used or ever-used pesticides within the last six months was conducted in Lamatar Village Development Committee, Lalitpur District from January 2022 to February 2022. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee of Kathmandu Medical College. The questionnaire was adapted from literature about personal protective equipment with some modifications according to the local context. Data was collected through a face-to-face interview.

Results: Among the total 74 respondents 49 (66.2%) were females and only 25 (33.8%) were males. Most of them had no formal education but could read and write. However, less than half 32 (43.2%) had adequate knowledge while the majority 49 (66.2%) had a negative attitude towards the use of pesticides. However, only 32 (43.2%) had good practice handling pesticides and its effect.

Conclusion: This study showed low knowledge regarding pesticides, their health effects, and poor practice however, a negative attitude towards the use of pesticides. But pesticide is still widely used because of the demand for more earnings. So, we would recommend that there is a need for time-to-time regular community-based training regarding how to safely handle pesticides and the availability of less harmful fertilizers products at retailers or consultancies.

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Personal Protective Equipment among Health Care Providers in Tamil Nadu, South India

2023-06-13T08:58:24+00:00

Introduction: Personal protective equipment provides considerable protection from hospital-acquired infections. Ample knowledge with a positive attitude and best practices of personal protective equipment by healthcare workers is indispensable to get protection themselves and to serve humanity. The study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) regarding personal protective equipment (PPE) among healthcare workers along with possible determinant factors.

Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted from August - September 2022 among 386 healthcare workers in Tamil Nadu, South India. The structured self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The study comprised questions evaluating a socio-demographic profile, knowledge, attitude, and practice of personal protective equipment. Descriptive statistics (percentage, frequency, mean) and inferential statistics (Chi-square test) were used for the data analysis.

Results: The overall knowledge of the participants was satisfactory (73.3%). Physicians had a good knowledge level against non-physicians (p<0.05). It was observed that the 30 and more years of experience group has less knowledge (p<0.05). A positive attitude toward PPE was noted in 58.3% of the participants. Statistical significance in the attitude of participants with education, occupation, and experience was not observed (p>0.05). Good practice of PPE was followed by 66.8% of participants. Nurses(91.7%) showed good practice of PPE than physicians and laboratory technicians and was found to be statistically significant (p<0.05).

Conclusion: The findings demonstrated that most healthcare workers had an overall good knowledge, positive attitude, and good practice regarding PPE however they need periodical training and auditing.

Depression as a predictor of sleep quality in health workers who faced the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico

2023-07-25T17:50:16+00:00

Introduction: There is a relationship between depression and sleep quality; however, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this association is unknown, especially for those health workers who faced the pandemic. Therefore, we aimed to identify the association between depression and sleep quality in health workers who faced the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A survey was performed on 150 health workers with at least 2 years of working tenure in a public maternal perinatal hospital in Mexico, between September and December 2021. Sociodemographic data, levels of sleep quality, depression, anxiety, and gastrointestinal function were obtained through a self-administered questionnaire. Cardiovascular risk was obtained according to age, lifestyle habits, blood pressure, anthropometry, body composition and biochemical measurements.

Results: Those with depression were 10.3 times more likely to have poor sleep quality compared to those without depression, adjusted for gastrointestinal function (95% CI 2.92 – 36.54, p<0.001). Those with depression were 7.23 times more likely to have poor sleep quality compared to those without depression, adjusted for gastrointestinal function, anxiety, and cardiovascular risk (95% CI 1.85-28.14, p<0.001).

Conclusion: Health workers’ depression should be considered a predictor of poor sleep quality, especially in those who faced the COVID-19 pandemic.

Effect of Load on Upper Extremity Muscles of Agricultural Workers of West Bengal

2023-06-07T05:58:29+00:00

Introduction: Agricultural fields like weed management and horticultural operations are the most common and labor-intensive. Most of these tasks are completed with the help of push-pull-type agricultural machinery. The push-pull tasks are mainly done using agricultural machinery (push-pull weeders, manually operated rice transplanters or seeders, long-handled agricultural tools, etc.) by farm workers. Since these are manually operated machinery, long working hours in awkward positions are expected, which causes physical stress and musculoskeletal disorders in the operators. An electromyography study for agricultural workers during push and pull operations was conducted in this study.

Methods: To evaluate muscle activity, a laboratory test setup was developed based on the ergonomic criteria of the uniform force application. Four loads (50, 100, 150, and 200 N) and the four most used upper body muscles (middle deltoid MD, triceps brachii TR, brachioradialis BR, and biceps brachii BI) during push-pull operations were selected for an electromyographic study on twelve medically fit agricultural workers as subjects. This study attempted to minimize muscle activity, thereby reducing overexertion injuries.

Results: The most activated muscles during the pushing and pulling operations were TR and BR, respectively. The muscle activity of the TR during the pushing task was found to be 109 µV, 135 µV, 178 µV and 195 µV at loads of 50 N, 100 N, 150 N, and 200 N, respectively. During the pulling task, the muscle activity of the BR was 51 µV, 66 µV, 80 µV, and 126 µV at loads of 50 N, 100 N, 150 N, and 200 N, respectively.

Conclusion: For all subjects, a load of 200 N was found difficult to operate compared to other selected loads during push and pull operations. Muscle activation was found to increase with increasing load for each of the selected muscles.

Identification of Subjective Fatigue accompanied by Hypertension in Female Workers Making Tiles in Indonesia: A Cross-Sectional Survey

2023-08-03T16:26:08+00:00

Introduction: The home industry has production process activities that are carried out manually. The release of the hormone adrenaline increases blood pressure through an increase in heart rate and arterial contractions, thereby accelerating the feeling of tiredness. As a result, female workers risk getting tired faster than men. Fatigue can lead to a decrease in productivity, poor quality of work, negatively affect the safety of workers, and increase the risk of work accidents. It aims to analyze the risk factors for subjective fatigue in female workers who have hypertension.

Methods: This type of quantitative research with a cross-sectional design. Respondents were 278 female hypertension workers at the Karangasem Village Tile Making Home Industry Center, Wirosari District, Grobogan, Indonesia. Data analysis using Chi-square with the SPSS 21.

Results: Of a total of 278 female workers, most were married (85.3%), did not smoke (98.9%), did not consume alcohol (96%), worked longer than 8 hours (93.5%), worked more than five years (80.9%), heavy workload (80.6%). Subjective fatigue factors related such as alcohol consumption habits (0.019), exercise habits (0.000), body mass index (0.000), working period (0.000), and workload (0.000). Meanwhile, other risk factors were not related, age (0.315), marital status (0.744), education level (0.811), smoking habits (0.236), disease history (0.762), length of work (0.530), type of work (0.393) and work stress (0.451).

Conclusion: Risk factors that have a relationship with subjective fatigue are workload, BMI, alcohol consumption habits, exercise habits, and length of service

Nurses’ Workload and Quality of Life in General Hospitals: The Mediating Role of Resilience

2023-07-10T01:22:39+00:00

Introduction: An increased nurse's workload might break the balance between work and life, reducing nurses' quality of life. This condition can lead to physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. Nurses with low resilience may develop psychological issues or mental illness. This study aims to determine the relationship between workload, resilience, and quality of life of nurses.

Methods: A cross-sectional study with proportionate stratified random sampling was implemented in nurses working at type B hospitals in West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. A total of 265 nurses were enrolled in this study during September-October 2022. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), The Russel & Russel questionnaire, and the WHOQOL-Brief quality of life were used on this research instrument. The Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) was used to investigate the effect of mediating resilience on the link between workload and quality of life in nurses.

Results: The study's findings indicate that workload (X) and resilience (M) affect quality of life (Y) (53.1%). Nurses’ workload affects the quality of life via resilience (Path coefficient = -0.049, p = 0.041). It can be interpreted that nurses’ workload has a negative and substantial link with the quality of life due to resilience.

Conclusion: This study concludes that resilience mediates the relationship between nurses’ workload and quality of life.

Prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among dairy farmers in Malur Milk Co-operative society, Kolar District, Karnataka, India

2023-05-04T09:07:38+00:00

Introduction: The burden of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) is high among dairy farmers, as they are involved in unacceptable working postures and movements. This study aims to assess the prevalence of WRMSDs and their associated factors among dairy farmers in Malur Milk Co-operative Society, Kolar District, Karnataka, India.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was done from February 2022 to April 2022, among 150 dairy farmers aged 18 years and above. We collected socio-demographic, occupation, ergonomics and co-morbidities related details by administering a questionnaire. Assessment of musculoskeletal disorders was by Standardized Nordic Questionnaire and Mental health was assessed by Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).

Results: The mean age was 40.96 13.49 years, and 66% of our study participants were males. The secondary occupation was agriculture(63%). Working hours per day was more than 8 hours in 19.3%. History of lifting heavy weights(78%), standing for long hours (56%) and sitting in squatting positions for long hours(66%) was present in this occupational group. The prevalence of WRMSDs was found to be 64.7%. The site of musculoskeletal disorders was found to be highest in the lower back (48.7%) and knees(45.3%). On multivariate analysis, belonging to the male gender [aOR = 0.33 (95%CI: 0.12-0.85)] and prolonged standing [aOR = 3.39 (95%CI: 1.46-7.89)] were the risk factors for WRMSDs.

Conclusion: The prevalence of WRMSD is significantly high among dairy farmers in rural areas, affecting the lower back and knees predominantly. Education on ergonomics, routine physical activity, and accessibility to social security schemes will improve the health status of this community.

Self-reported low back pain intensity and interferences among three-wheel drivers in Southwest of Ethiopia: A Community-Based Cross-sectional Study

2023-03-12T16:44:22+00:00

Introduction: Low back pain is one of the most reported conditions among vehicle drivers. However, there is a paucity of information about low back pain experiences among three-wheel drivers in Ethiopia. This study aimed to determine the low back pain experience among three-wheel drivers in Ethiopia Jimma City, Southwest Ethiopia.

Methods: A Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 1-25, 2020 among 396 samples. Computer generated simple random sampling method was employed to get the required sample. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data was checked for completeness, coded, cleaned and entered into Epi-data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. Data was analyzed using mean and standard deviations for continuous and proportions for categorical variables. Binary and multivariable logistic regression was used to see an association between dependent and independent variables. P-value <0.05 at 95% CI was declared statistically significant.

Results: Of 396 study participants, 26.26% of them had low back pain at any time among which, 73.1% reported pain in the last 24 hours. Regarding pain intensity in 24 hours, the mean ± standard deviation of worst pain was 5.3 ± 2.5. The independent variables significantly associated with low back pain along with their adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) were: age 3.45 (1.98, 6.03), educational status: 1.96 (1.07, 3.59), physical exercise: 0.52 (0.31, 0.86) drinking alcohol: 2.32 (1.22, 4.39) and working hours: 0.32 (0.13, 0.83).

Conclusion: The three-wheel drivers experienced moderate to severe low back pain and moderate to severe functional and emotional interferences. More than half of the participants reported the worst pain experience within 24 hours. Age, educational status, physical exercise, drinking alcohol and working hours were significantly associated with low back pain.

The Identification of Motorcyclist Safety Risk among University Students in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

2023-07-18T10:50:41+00:00

Introduction: Traffic accidents are cases of concern both nationally and internationally. Their impact ranges from injuries to death. In Indonesia, traffic accidents are dominated by students who use motorcycles. With this in mind, this study is focused on identifying the driving attitudes that are responsible for traffic accidents among university students.

Methods: The cross-sectional survey study was conducted from January 2023 to February 2023, located in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Data was gathered using simple random sampling on 97 students based on experiences while driving such as safety attitude, frequencies on motorcycle inspections, and driving attitude. The next step is a comparison between results based on student experiences and risk assessment by experts. The expert assessment used two personnel of Police Resort from Yogyakarta and Purworejo, Indonesia.

Results: Participants were divided into 81.4% men (N=79) and 18.6% women (N=18), with a mean age ± standard deviation of 21 ± 1.8 years. Awareness of safety attributes is demonstrated by the use of helmets by 92.78% of participants, and motorcycle inspections on rearview mirrors (85.57%), rims & tires (79.38%), and brakes (71.13%). In terms of road driving attitudes, students drive with fatigue (82.47%) and sick (61.86%), drive in bad weather (78.35%), and exceed the standard of speed (53.61%). The results of the risk assessment show that 7 variables have a high risk, namely helmet, inspection on the brake, driving in fatigued physical condition, driving in sick physical condition, using gadgets when driving, traffic sign violation, and overspeeding.

Conclusion: Based on these results, it show that students' driving readiness is quite good with the attributes of vehicle safety and feasibility. This is shown by the use of helmets and break checks by students with the highest risk on the road. However, the need to be concerned is that the bad riding attitude includes physical health conditions, driving according to traffic safety standards, and paying attention to weather conditions. Improvements are needed especially by drivers to create safe and secure driving conditions.

The Influence of Demographic and Job-related Characteristics on Nurses’ Compassion Satisfaction and Fatigue

2023-06-02T08:38:28+00:00

Introduction: Growing stress and declining job satisfaction are the major challenges in nursing. Demographic and work-related factors may influence nurses’ compassion satisfaction and fatigue levels. Therefore, the study examined the impact of demographic and occupational factors on nurses’ professional quality of life.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 172 nurses working in two tertiary care hospitals in Pokhara using proportionate stratified random sampling. Data was gathered using the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) scale version 5 in September 2019. SPSS was used for bivariate and multivariate analysis to determine a significant relationship between socio-demographic and work-related variables and three professional quality-of-life subscales. The ethical approval was taken from the Institutional Review Committee (IRC) of Pokhara University (Reference Number: 83-075-76).

Results: Most of the participants showed an average level of compassion satisfaction (79.1%, n=136), burnout (77.9%, n=134), and secondary traumatic stress (85.5%, n=147). The study revealed a significant mean difference between demographic characteristics (marital status and having children at home) and three professional quality of life subscales. Similarly, the study did not yield significant mean differences between the work-related variables and three professional quality-of-life subscales.

Conclusion: Nurses in tertiary care hospitals exhibited moderate to high levels of compassion satisfaction while experiencing moderate to low levels of burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Despite moderate to low levels of burnout and secondary traumatic stress, it is imperative to address these issues as they have the potential to lead to medical errors and compromise patient care standards.

Prevalence and impact of falls as domestic injury among rural housewives of Raipur District, Chhattisgarh, India

2023-08-01T16:17:30+00:00

Introduction: The most common domestic injury among housewives is falling from stairs and ramps or on the floor. The present study aimed to find and associate the prevalence of falls with various agents, risk factors causing falls and the impact of falls among rural housewives.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 500 randomly selected housewives from rural areas of Raipur district, Chhattisgarh in the month of March to June 2019. Demographic data and information regarding the occurrence of falls, various agents & factors associated with falls were collected by questionnaires, lux meter, anemometer and sound level meter through interviews, and observation techniques. The Nordic questionnaire was used to assess the impact of falls. Collected data were analyzed by using SPSS 20 statistical package.

Results: 295 out of 500 housewives had domestic injuries which included 12.8 % of fall injuries. Fall had a significant association with various physical agents like illumination in the living room (χ2=11.004, df=1), relative humidity of the kitchen (χ2=18.03, df=2) and presence of adequate natural light (χ2=11.232, df=1). Even various personal risk factors were significant causes of falls like wearing slippers on a wet floor (χ2=11.845, df=1), presence of open electric wires (χ2=4.84, df=1), self-cleaning of toilet & floor (χ2=11.371, df=1) and self-cooking (χ2=10.959, df=1). Heavy works like carrying water in a big container (χ2=6.025, df=1), working under direct sunlight (χ2=4.195, df=1), prolonged standing while cooking or on an agricultural field (χ2=32.073, df=1) and using of hand pump per day to draw water (χ2=42.329, df=1) were highly significant causes of domestic fall.

Conclusion: Findings of the study concluded that fall was very much prevalent among housewives, and being at home still housewives are exposed to various agents and personal risk factors causing fall.

Glenohumeral Translations in Overhead Workers with Sub-Acromial Impingement Syndrome: A Review

2023-06-20T09:20:03+00:00

Introduction: The third most common musculoskeletal condition is shoulder pain with a prevalence of up to 70%. The second most frequent shoulder condition is subacromial impingement syndrome. Impingement can be classified as either anterosuperior or posterosuperior. Faulty posture, altered scapular or glenohumeral kinematics, posterior capsular tightness, and acromial or coracoacromial arch pathology are all potential extrinsic mechanics that can lead to Subacromial impingement syndrome. The purpose of this review is to find the different variation in translation that takes place in the glenohumeral joint in Subacromial impingement syndrome in overhead workers.

Methods: We performed a review of the various translations observed in the glenohumeral joint in subacromial impingement syndrome and discussed the evidence-based studies. For the review, an electronic search for relevant articles using PUBMED, Pedro, Research Gate, and Google Scholar databases up to Dec 2022 was done wherein MeSH search terms and free words were used. Articles underwent the selection process and were selected on the basis of inclusion criteria. Articles were selected based on the author's expertise, self-knowledge and reflective practice.

Results: The current study included 11 articles that fulfilled the inclusion criteria suggesting that various humeral translations in overhead workers. The above-reviewed studies provided evidence that based on occupational demands abnormal variations occur.

Conclusion: This review has provided an overview of the previous and recent literature on humeral head translation seen in sub-acromial impingement. This study concludes that superior translation is more common as compared to anterior-superior translation and posterior-superior translation.