Regarding significant number of the people affecting by factors, such as gas poisoning, microbial, and heat exhaustion in mineral hot spas, the present study was conducted aimed at providing a model for measuring and managing the risk of using hot mineral spas. In this research, a conceptual model of risk was prepared in four stages. Firstly, 16 qualitative parameters were extracted, their effect weight of which was obtained based on the amount of risk for users was determined by fuzzy analysis method. According to the amount and standard range allowed for each parameter, quantitative and qualitative risk categories were obtained in five ranges for each parameter based on the obtained weights and opinions of the health experts. Then, the final result regarding risk of using each spa was obtained by combining these parameters. For assessing risk of using hot mineral spas in Ardabil province by the method invented in this research, at first, water samples were collected from six spas in different parts of Ardabil province. Then, risk management of six spas was evaluated. According to the results, the Qotursuyi spa had a high level of risk, the spas of Shabil, Gavmishgoli, and Qinarjeh had a moderate level of risk. Under responsible risk management, natural hot springs present a renewable resource for sustainable tourism development on a long-term basis.
Cognitive failures are one of the main reasons for nurses' inattention and reduced patient safety in hospitals. This study aimed to investigate the cognitive failure characteristics in nurses of Al-Zahra Hospital in Isfahan. For this purpose, a cognitive failure questionnaire was provided to nurses working in this treatment unit. After analyzing the data obtained from the questionnaires, the Mann-Whitney test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used. Based on the results of the Kruskal-Wallis test, there is no significant difference in the average of cognitive failure between different age groups (=4.77, p=0.18), different wards (=3.47, p=0.62), different employment statuses (=0.16, p=0.92) and different work experiences (=0.63, p=0.72). According to the results of the U Mann-Whitney test, statistically, between male and female nurses (Z=-0.77, Sig.=0.43), single and double occupational nurses (Z=-0.59, Sig.=0.55), nurses with different education (Z=-0.38, Sig.=0.702), different working hours (Z=-0.65, Sig.=0.51), being under psychiatric treatment and not being under psychiatric treatment (Z=-0.20, Sig.=0.83), the experience of mental illness in the last 6 months and the absence of such experience (Z=-0.53, Sig.=0.59), there is no significant difference between having a chronic disease and not having a chronic disease (Z=-0.93, Sig.=0.35) in terms of the average of cognitive failure. According to the results of this study, the studied parameters do not have a significant effect on the incidence of cognitive failures and therefore do not play a role in the occurrence of disorders in thinking, concentration and attention of nurses. Therefore, the cognitive failures that occurred in Al-Zahra Hospital are related to other parameters.
A driver's health status may have a crucial impact on the prevention of road accidents. This study was conducted to investigate drivers' health status and its effects on road accidents among drivers of heavy vehicles in Iran. A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the health status of 200 heavy vehicle drivers selected via a two-stage cluster sampling approach from occupational medical centers in Tehran Province, Iran. The related data were collected using the standard drivers' safety and ergonomics questionnaire, body map work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) questionnaire, and drivers' medical records at occupational medical centers. Data were statistically analyzed by SPSS v.21 and Microsoft Excel 2016. Body mass index results classified 69% of drivers as overweight, and 19.5% as obese. 88% of drivers were stressed out and 35% were dissatisfied with their jobs. On average, 63% of drivers showed unsafe behavior while driving, and 80% had levels of WMSDs in 9 body regions. For the drivers with and without accidents, the mean and standard deviation values of hearing loss were 18.20±14.84 dB and 35.45±18.65 dB, respectively. In 79.3% and 75.9% of drivers who had accidents, respectively, their right and left visual acuities were smaller than 10:10. In 55% of the drivers, the status of the main pulmonary function variables was abnormal. The study group had high levels of fasting blood sugar (FBS), total cholesterol, and triglyceride, by 22.5%, 29%, and 26%. There was a significant positive relationship between the number of accidents and loss of hearing and drivers' age. There was also a significant negative connection between the number of accidents and visual acuity, respiratory health, exercise hours, safety, and health training. The results of the present study showed that occupational stress, unsafe behaviors, ergonomic factors, loss of hearing, visual acuity, high blood FBS values, weak respiratory system, and lack of safety and occupational health training were among significant contributors to road accidents. Hence, given the importance of heavy vehicle driving, it is suggested to check out drivers' occupational health and safety more often that ever.
Due to the human errors in control rooms with a high socio-economic, we aimed in the present study to investigate the probability of human error in some of the Iranian industrial control rooms. In the current study, the related articles based on keywords were reviewed using Google Scholar, Scopus, Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, Magiran, SID, and IranDoc databases from the years 2010 to 2021. The used search terms were "human error", "human failure", "control room", "industry", "human error assessment", "safety management", "Error analysis" and "human error probability". A comprehensive article review process was conducted to get the required data. To evaluate the quality of the reviewed articles, the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) checklist was used. Out of 22 articles that were qualitative for analysis, 14 articles (63.6%) were related to process industries, and 8 articles (36.4%) were related to other industries. The Cognitive Reliability and Error Analysis Method (CREAM) and the Systematic Human Error Reduction and Prediction Approach (SHERPA) techniques were mostly used compared to the other 10 techniques used in the articles. In order to identify errors in the process industries’ control rooms, CREAM method, execution failure (31.72%-55%), interpretation failure (18.57%-29.20%), SHERPA method, action errors (48.62%-67.64%), and checking errors (11.61%-31.97%) were the main types of errors identification methods. Although, in other industries, using the SHERPA method, action errors (38.08%-58.80%), checking errors (29.40%-39.04%), Human HAZOP method, delete errors, and performance errors were the main types of errors identification methods in the control rooms. The results of studies in control rooms showed that human error had a significant share in the occurrence of accidents. However, we were witnessing less attention among Iranian industries such as rail and nuclear.
Most construction workers, including operators and engineers, suffer respiratory injuries due to exposure to hazardous materials and particulate matter (PM). This review article presents a brief overview of previous research on respiratory diseases in construction sites and links it to the COVID-19 epidemic, trying to explain other possible routes of coronavirus spread. The purpose of this review study is to find other methods of coronavirus transmission in construction sites. To achieve this goal, on the one hand, the literature on the spread of COVID-19 disease was reviewed. On the other hand, by reviewing the literature related to the health of construction department workers, we find that people who work in this occupational class suffer from respiratory diseases after a while. Therefore, they are at high risk for coronavirus. The next step is to review the literature on the effects of COVID-19 on the bodies of people with a history of respiratory disease. It is found that these people are at risk of death. It seems that transmission is not limited to known methods such as sneezing and coughing. In addition, the virus can be spread by dust and airborne particles. Due to the special conditions at the construction site, there is a higher probability that the coronavirus will be transmitted between individuals and employees. Obviously, the infection of individuals can cause irreparable harm and economically affect the construction industry.
Response time management is one of the most critical issues for firefighting organizations in the process industries. Thus, in emergency response success, it is of particular importance to apply an appropriate method to identify, prioritize, and manage factors influencing response time. The current study aimed to determine factors affecting firefighters' response time in Iranian process industries. Therefore, firstly a Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) was performed for firefighting emergency response-related activities. Then, time influencing factors for each task were determined. Finally, we chose the importance of each influencing factor and its priority based on the Fuzzy Chang approach. The results showed that factors, including the proper location of the firefighting truck, wearing and adjusting the breathing apparatus (BA) strap, and crowded at the scene had a significant impact on the response time to fire alarms. The related weights were equal to 0.049, 0.0485, and 0.0481, respectively. On the contrary, the wrong size of protective ensembles, BA weight, and height of car chassis factors were not significant in the response time. Their weight was equal to 0.0003, 0.002, and 0.0073, respectively. The results showed that the Fuzzy Hierarchical Task Analysis Approach (FHTA) could be used to identify and prioritize the factors influencing firefighting response time.
Anyone who owns a vehicle has certainly dealt with a dead battery at least several times in his/her life, however he/she might not know the hidden hazard of explosion of a battery. Therefore it is very important to know proper handling of battery to prevent a battery from exploding. This study is intended to inform people on proper battery handling, causes of an explosion, and how accident investigations can be conducted. To do this, this work will present information that informs people on causes, investigation, and corrective measures in battery use. The main methods used in this work are research, published literatures, and analysis that will aim to create awareness that is easy to understand. This paper will cover causes of battery explosions, techniques used in investigations, and preventative measures. The expected results of this paper are to find multiple reasons why a battery may explode, various techniques used in investigations and find ways that prevent a battery from exploding.
Since nurses spend most of their working time indoors, the quality of the hospital environment has a great impact on their performance and comfort. The aim of this study was to investigate the combined effects of physical factors in the workplace and shift work on physiological parameters and blood factors in nurse staff of a specialty and sub-specialty hospital in Tehran. The present study was a cross-sectional study conducted on 300 nurses in a specialty and sub-specialty hospital in Tehran. In order to collect the data, a demographic questionnaire was used. The physical factors of the workplace were measured using the sound level meter, lux meter and WBGT meter. A digital blood pressure monitor and heart rate monitor were used to measure physiological parameters and Blood factors were collected from the results of medical records (blood CBC). Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS-20 software. The results showed that the level of sound in the workplace, as the most important physical factor, can increase the level of physiological factors, and the sound was the most effective factor in the investigation of combined effects. The results also showed that shift work has a great impact on physiological parameters. Blood factors and physiological parameters showed a significant difference between subjects with shift work and day work (P-value <0.05). Due to the importance of nurses' health as the main foundation of the health system, it is necessary to carry out intervention programs and more detailed studies and research on the combined effects of physical factors in the workplace by controlling lifestyle and genetics.
It is necessary for managers in all types of organizations to take an appropriate training approach in order to maintain and promote health, achieve safety, and prevent environmental damages. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Health Safety and Environment training workshops from the students’ point of view to inform the relevant officials about the participants’ opinions and make efficient decisions in order to improve the quality of training courses in the field of health, safety, and environment. A qualitative study was conducted using face-to-face or telephone interviews with a purposeful number of 37 students studying at the faculty of the health of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences. To analyze data, thematic analysis using a framework approach was applied. Findings related to the students’ viewpoint about the effectiveness of the HSE workshop were presented in six main themes including satisfaction with the educational content, awareness about HSE concepts before the workshop, the importance of HSE subject in the participants’ field of study, important topics presented in the workshop, experience from HSE workshop, major workshop problems, and solutions. Based on the study results, one of the key objectives of all medical universities should be training their students about health and safety matters to potentially prepare them for future job positions with maximum safe behaviors in workplaces. In fact, medical universities play a key role in developing the health and safety knowledge of students helping them in protecting themselves while working in hazardous working conditions.
Ports as one the most important parts of the maritime transport system play a paramount role in world trade. The set of designed and implemented processes in ports can significantly impact the surrounding environment. Therefore, the environmental consequences associated with a variety of activities and processes in ports can threaten sustainable global development. Thus, this study was designed and conducted with the aim of developing a tool for environmental performance evaluation in ports. Twenty-five experts in the field of environment and marine sciences participated in the present study. The study was conducted in three rounds based on the Delphi technique in the years 2019-2020. The index of coefficient variation (CV) and acceptance criteria for each of the parameters in this study were considered <20% and 4≤, respectively. The validity of this tool was evaluated using the content validity index (CVI) and content validity ratio (CVR). In addition, its reliability was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. CV index in the third round of this Delphi was 0.08. Therefore, the green ports performance evaluation questionnaire was developed with six factors and 32 parameters after three Delphi rounds. These six factors of environmental performance included reactive performance (5 parameters), proactive performance (5 parameters), sustainability (5 parameters), socio-cultural (6 parameters), economic (5 parameters), and governance (6 parameters). The results of the validity evaluation showed that the CVR and CVI of this developed questionnaire were 0.875 and 0.906, respectively. In addition, based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient, the reliability of this tool was estimated to be α=0.92. The findings indicated that the developed tool for evaluating the environmental performance in ports had good validity and reliability. Therefore, this tool can be used as an acceptable estimator of the ports’ environmental performance in the maritime transport system.
Today, the use of mobile phones has become an integral part of human life. With the increase of mobile phone subscribers, the number of BTS antennas in cities and villages has increased day by day, and as a result, the exposure to microwave waves from these antennas has become a concern. The study of the horizontal pattern of microwave radiation from BTS antennas with respect to the type of antennas and surrounding buildings is examined in the city of Maragheh in East Azerbaijan Province. The required information was determined through the city telecommunications organization and field monitoring. Then the measurements were performed with SPECTRAN 4060 according to IEEE STD C95.1 standard method. Data analysis was performed with SPSS software and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests and Mann-Whitney test. In this study, the type of operator has an effect on the results and according to the type of operator, different results were obtained on the effect of the type of buildings around the antennas and the type of installation on the amount of wave propagation. Antenna installation in a crowded area due to more microwave radiation need more attention. All measurements were much lower than the ICNIRP allowable limits.
Construction safety performance is traditionally assessed based on workplace conditions and analyzing accident statistics, there is no provision to consider the safety management systems which affect site safety. One of the systems use to measure safety performance is occupational safety and health audit which identify failures within a system and the information gathered assist to determine the best course of corrective action. Therefore, this study was designed and conducted to develop a method for evaluating the safety performance of five highway project sites in India using the Analytic Hierarchy Process and Taguchi loss functions. In the first stage of the study, the Analytic Hierarchy Process was applied by obtaining the judgments of the expert team to determine the weights of the safety audit elements. In the second stage, the five project sites were analyzed and ranked by determining the total loss score using the Taguchi loss functions. Based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process analysis, the weights of the safety management (0.1949), hazard identification and risk assessment (0.1460), and safety education and training (0.1268) had the highest impact on the safety performance of the five project sites. The results of the Taguchi loss functions of the five project sites showed that the total loss score was the lowest and highest for project site 3 (77.89) and site 5 (81.54), respectively. In the current study, an integrated method was developed for evaluating the safety performance of five highway project sites. The weights of the nine safety audit elements were vital in determining the total loss score by using the Taguchi loss functions for ranking the five projects sites based on safety performance. Therefore, using this method can be an effective step in identifying the project site with better safety performance as a benchmarking unit for the other sites.
Shift work is a social phenomenon with adverse effects on the lives and health of people in various aspects. This adverse effect decreases shift workers’ ability over a time period. The aim of the present study was to survey disturbances due to shift work and some disorders associated with work ability index among nurses in educational hospitals, Ahvaz, Iran. This cross-sectional survey was conducted among 33 nurses at the Golestan Hospital, Ahvaz, Iran. The survey of shift workers questionnaire (SOS) and the Work Ability Index (WAI) questionnaire was used as data collection tools. The related data was analyzed based on the descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation test, and Spearman correlation test using IBM SPSS software version 19. The results showed that 97% of problems related to the effects of shift work on the individuals’ lives, families, and musculoskeletal disorders, 87.9% related to insomnia and social problems, and 75.8% related to mental disorders. Although it showed a significant relationship between the workability index with the variable of experience and mental disorders, it showed no significant relationship between the prevalence of insomnia and musculoskeletal disorders variables. The results of this study showed that shift working disrupts mental, social, and physical health that ultimately adversely affect the ability of shift workers. Therefore, it was recommended to adjust working hours and allocate the appropriate shifts to improve the workability of individuals.
The psychometrics of instruments in safety performance evaluation is essential for the accreditation of an organization’s safety evaluation and has been emphasized in many studies. Psychometrics pertains to the validity and reliability of an evaluation instrument and describes its precision and consistency. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychometrics of safety level and safety culture questionnaires to provide a reliable and valid instrument for safety performance evaluation in industries. This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted with the intention of psychometric instruments used to evaluate the safety level and the safety climate at the Mapna Pars power plant generator manufacturing and engineering company. The face validity of the questionnaires was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. In the quantitative method, the importance of the influence score was applied and the content validity was calculated using the Lawshe method. Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and Content Validity Index (CVI) were also used. For this purpose, elicitation was obtained from experts within the professional health and safety community. The reliability of the instruments was determined via the Cronbach's alpha test and the Interclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) test. Finally, the standardized questionnaires were used to evaluate the safety level and safety climate of the industry as a case study. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS software solution v20. Based on the quantitative face validity results obtained at the Mapna Pars Company, one question was removed from each of the final instruments. The content reliability analysis revealed that the safety level questionnaire had a CRI of 0.99, CVR of 0.91, and was accepted. The safety climate questionnaire had an acceptable CVI of 0.95 and an acceptable CVR of 0.82. Regarding the reliability analysis, a Cronbach's alpha of 0.72 and 0.89 was obtained for the safety level questionnaire and the safety climate questionnaire, respectively. It can be concluded that both questionnaires had an acceptable level of internal consistency. The re-application of the questionnaires after two weeks revealed a relatively consistent safety level (ICC=0.90) and safety climate (ICC=0.74). Analyzing the data obtained in the present study showed that the safety level questionnaire with 66 questions and the safety climate questionnaire with 93 questions had acceptable validity and reliability. Thus, it may provide a useful approach for safety evaluations in similar industries.
Manual load handling is a work activity related to low back disorders and can impose a high mechanical load on the lower back. The present study aimed to investigate forces exerted on the lower back during manual handling in young workers in selected block maker workshops. This Descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out on 40 young workers with an average age of 31 years in several block maker industries in 2020. 3DSSPP Software was used for biomechanical analysis of the forces exerted on the lower back. Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders was assessed using the Standard Cornell Questionnaires. To analyze the data from SPSS19 software and Spearman, Friedman and ANOVA correlation tests were used to determine the relationship between demographic variables and the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and the relationship between the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and the amount of compressive and shear forces on workers' backs. The results showed that the mean compressive and shear forces exerted to the lumbosacral joint (L5 / S1) were 3194.8±1064.4 and 473.2± 89.5 N, respectively, and for the intervertebral disc (L4 / L5) were 3924.8±434.9 and 383.2 ±154.5, respectively The findings also indicated that the highest prevalence of pain was related to the lower back and right knee with 45% and 30%, respectively. The direct relationship exists between the mean score of musculoskeletal disorders obtained from the Cornell questionnaire with age, work experience and weight and body mass (0.001> P). The shear forces exerted to the lower back were higher than the permissible levels in about 30 to 37% of people and the compressive forces were on average in 42.5% of people, which can cause a lot of injuries to the back in the long term. The results obtained according to the study population show that manual load handling for these ages is dangerous and in the future and at older ages, people may suffer serious injuries and disorders, especially in the lower back.
Despite abundant resources, the automotive industry is reported to adversely impact the environment owing to the use of heavy machinery, diverse and governmental management policies for car production per hour, remarkable employed labor force, production cycle timing, etc. For this purpose, many studies involving environmental risk management have been conducted. To this aim, the present study has been carried out in pre-paint part No. 2 of IKCO (preparation process). In this regard, using FUZZY FMEA and VIKOR methods, the identified risks were assessed and reformative measures and solutions were classified, respectively. A total of 15 individuals considered HSE experts of IKCO were selected as a statistical sample size according to the Morgan table. Consequently, the high level risks were identified and appropriate solutions were suggested to reduce the environmental effects, and according to achieved scores, “torch adjustments based on compliance report” with the objective of reducing air pollution was selected as the compromise solution. IKCO should consider torch adjustment based on compliance report actions as its first priority.
The prevalence of fire in laboratories is high due to the potential sources of the fire hazards, including the use of various equipment and chemicals, as well as the possibility of human error. Accordingly, this study was designed and conducted with the aim of developing a tool to identify hazards and assess laboratory fire risk. In the present study, we used the Delphi technique in three rounds in 2020 with the participation of 17 experts in the fields of safety engineering, occupational health engineering, chemistry, and chemical engineering. The scattering index of coefficient of variation (CV) was higher than 20% and the acceptance criterion for each item was considered with an average of ≥4. In addition, the validity and reliability of this tool were evaluated using content validity ratio (CVR), content validity index (CVI), and Cronbach's alpha reliability index. After three rounds of Delphi study, the hazard identification and risk assessment questionnaire for laboratory fire were developed with 45 items, including chemical materials and compounds, electricity, and fire response. The coefficient of variation (CV) in this Delphi study was equal to 0.05. The results of the validity and reliability evaluation of this tool showed that the content validity index (CVI) and Cronbach's alpha coefficient were equal to 0.902 and 0.88. The questionnaire of the present study indicated an acceptable validity and reliability for identifying hazards and assessing laboratory fire risk. Therefore, this tool provided a quick, easy, and practical way to identify hazards and assess the risk of laboratory fires.
The Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) is still widely applied as a preliminary tool for evaluating heat stress. This index faces some limitations not considered yet. This systematic review was conducted aiming at highlighting some limitations for the development of the WBGT index. The present study was organized using more extensive databases, including PubMed, Google Scholar, Scientific Information Databases (SID), Elsevier, Web of Science, Scopus, Irandoc, Magiran, and Iran Medex. The used search terms were WBGT index, Heat stress, Thermal Stress, Heat strain, Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, Hot Condition, Occupational Health, and Occupational Exposure indices. In this study, 69 articles from the years 1950 to December 2021 were assessed. The WBGT index, despite having some advantages, suffers limitations that should be considered for a more accurate estimate of thermal stress. This study was pointed to the new limitations, including the value of WBGT is not clear for persons whose working in a seated posture. The additional problem with the use of this index was that it was used for adapted people who have consumed enough water and salt, while neither water nor salt is always readily available in most hot working environments. Therefore, using this index will cause an error. Also, in heterogeneous environments, if the heat source is near the head or legs, a coefficient will not be applied to these regions. The results of the study demonstrated that, because of the limitations of the WBGT index, it is recommended that this index be used along with other indicators and physiological parameters to assess heat stress until more extensive studies would be conducted in an attempt to improve and remove its limitations.
