International Journal of Occupational Safety and Health (nepjol.info)
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Identification of Subjective Fatigue accompanied by Hypertension in Female Workers Making Tiles in Indonesia: A Cross-Sectional Survey
Get PDFIntroduction: 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 servic
Assessment of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) of weaving factory workers in West Bengal, India - a pilot study
Get PDFIntroduction: Excessive noise exposure is one of the majorly considered occupational stress for industrial workers. The operation of steel weaving machinery producing a high level of noise such as weaving machines, crimping machines, and hydraulic press machines for a prolonged period increases the risk of developing noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). The main aim of the study was to assess the auditory health of the workers exposed to a high level of noise in a steel weaving factory and the prevalence of NIHL among workers.
Methods: 26 subjects in the age group of 25-55 years from a steel weaving industry of Chinsurah town, Hooghly district of West Bengal were randomly selected with 5 years of exposure for the study. The control group was selected from the same age group, socioeconomic status and geographical location and having no history of such exposure. The physiological parameters of the workers, noise levels in the workplace and auditory functions and the risk of NIHL were assessed by standardized protocol and statistically analyzed.
Results: The study indicated that steel weaving factory workers had significantly reduced hearing functionality at 4000Hz and 6000Hz in the left ear respectively. It also revealed that the workers were exposed to high noise exposure of 131dB near weaving machine, 113dB at crimping machine, and 84dB at hydraulic press machine respectively.
Conclusion: A high level of noise exposure leads to deterioration in the hearing capabilities of the steel weaving industrial workers. Implementation of ergonomic interventions in the workplace and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) may decrease the prevalence of NIHL and can help to prevent hearing loss in workers
Evaluation of Root Cause Analysis from Occupational Health and Safety Data in a Hospital: A Retrospective Study
Get PDFIntroduction: Occupational accidents are increasing every year around the world. The fact that accidents will be repeated as a result of not learning the lessons is constantly forgotten. Occupational accidents should be examined on the basis of the "Root Cause" approach. Within the scope of the information obtained as a result of the analysis studies on the causes of occupational accidents, it is important for the institutions to make a plan in order to prevent the reoccurrence of the accidents. This study was carried out retrospectively to examine the root cause analysis process of occupational accidents that occurred in a state hospital and to examine how it was applied in the health facility.
Methods: The population of the research consists of occupational accident records that occurred in a state hospital between January 2018 and April 2021. (N=156). In the analysis of the data; Root cause analysis forms and number-percentage distributions were used to identify all factors that could cause a particular problem.
Results: Of those who had occupational accidents, 68.15% were women, 45% were nurses, 25 were cleaning staff and 3% were physicians. Fifty percent of the accidents occurred in inpatient services, 15% in emergency services, and 15% in intensive care units. Causes of accidents; needle-stick injuries (71.8%) are the most common occupational accidents. These injuries are followed by slipping and falling (14.7%).
Conclusion: By establishing a safety culture that monitors occupational accidents at the institutional level, evaluates their consequences and develops precautions, the probability of occupational accidents will decrease. And the costs and compensations that will occur after the accident will decrease, and labor and service/production losses will be prevented
Morbidity profile of migrant workers attending health camps in Bangalore urban during the Covid-19 pandemic
Get PDFIntroduction: Global pandemic of COVID-19 resulted in a nationwide lockdown which affected the migrants in terms of healthcare service accessibility. This led to an increase in the prevalence of various morbidity. The objective of this study was to assess the morbidity profile of camp attendees in Bangalore urban conducted during the lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: During the pandemic lockdown, health camps were conducted in selected urban underprivileged areas of Bangalore city targeting the migrant workers and these records were reviewed and relevant data were analyzed. Variables included age, gender, residential address, occupation, and morbidity.
Results: Among the 484 participants who had attended the medical camp, the youngest patient was 1 year old and the oldest was 75 years with a median age of 27 years (IQR: 20 – 35). The majority of the camp attendees were males (78%) and migrants (77%). Common morbidities noted were hypertension (5%) followed by musculoskeletal pain (4%). The other illnesses were anemia (3%), gastritis (2.5%), pre-diabetes (1.7%) and combined diabetes and hypertension (1.5%). There was no significant relationship between migrant status and the presence of any morbidity.
Conclusion: Hypertension and musculoskeletal pain are the most common morbidity among camp attendees
Hypertension among auto-rickshaw drivers in Belagavi, South India: A cross-sectional study
Get PDFIntroduction: Auto–rickshaws are still the most commonly used mode of transportation in Tier II & III cities where metros or application-based cab aggregators are non-existent / not available. Auto-Rickshaw Drivers (ARDs) are at a higher risk for Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) because of their common lifestyle practices like irregular eating habits, sedentariness, addictions, and work-related stress. Studies have found that hypertension (HTN) is highly prevalent among ARDs in comparison to the general population. We studied the prevalence of HTN among ARDs of Belagavi.
Methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted among 600 regular ARDs operating within Belagavi City between January to December 2016. The sample size was calculated to be 570 and rounded off to 600. Two ARDs who were last in the queue were selected from 300 major auto rickshaw stands. After getting informed consent, we collected the data through personal interviews and recorded the blood pressure of all the study participants. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. The Institutional Ethics Committee of J. N. Medical College approved the study.
Results: Among the 600 participants studied, 54 (09%) were previously known and 228 (38%) were newly diagnosed hypertensive. HTN was significantly associated with age, religion, educational status, length of working hours, years in present occupation, and body mass index.
Conclusion: The prevalence of HTN was high compared to the general adult population and increased with increasing age, length of working hours, years in present occupation, and body mass index
Covid-19 Prevention Practices and Associated Factors among Workers in Yirgalem Agro-Industry Park, Sidama Regional State, Ethiopia: A Cross Sectional Study
Get PDFIntroduction: The COVID-19 outbreak resulted in millions of cases and deaths with an incredible pace of spread. It has been a global public health crisis since December 2019. Though the work behaviors of some organizations can facilitate more ways for the mode of transmission, the potential work areas for the risk of infection are not identified yet. Designing intervention strategies based on the risky assessment findings of a specific population or organization is better. The problem is more significant in developing countries. This study aimed to assess the prevention practices and associated factors of COVID-19 among workers in Yirgalem Agro-Industrial Park, Sidama Regional State; Ethiopia, 2020
Methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted from June 15th to August 15th, 2020. Yirgalem Agro-Industrial Park had 233 workers during the study period and data were collected from all of them. Collected data were entered into Epi Data 3.1 and exported to SPSS 22 for analysis. Factors associated with the practice of prevention were then analyzed.
Results: Among the respondents, 91.8%, 75.1%, and 48.9% had good knowledge, positive attitudes, and good practice toward COVID-19 prevention strategies respectively. Multivariate regression revealed that age, spiritual or sin, training, knowledge, attitude, opposition to wearing, ordinary residents, and hoping leaders can win against COVID-19 were predicted practices of COVID-19 prevention strategies
Conclusion: The practice of COVID-19 prevention strategies was so poor and needed adequate attention. Age, spiritual/sin as a cause, prior training, knowledge, attitude, opposing mask-wearing, and belief in whether to defeat COVID-19 or not were identified as the predictors. It is so important to revamp the current practices and assure the implementation of the standard as expected
The Influence of Demographic and Job-related Characteristics on Nurses’ Compassion Satisfaction and Fatigue
Get PDFIntroduction: 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 of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among dairy farmers in Malur Milk Co-operative society, Kolar District, Karnataka, India
Get PDFIntroduction: 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
Role of the construction project team in health and safety management: a study of construction projects in the Wa Municipality of Ghana
Get PDFntroduction: The building industry is vulnerable to a variety of hazards, many of which pose a significant risk to workers\u27 health and safety. This research aimed to examine the role of the construction project team in health and safety management in the Wa Municipality of Ghana.
Methods: This study used a descriptive survey with a quantitative approach as the research design. The study\u27s population consisted of 52 construction project sites from the municipal. All 52 construction project sites in the area were chosen for the study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to summaries information from respondents.
Results: The study revealed that monitoring construction sites and ensuring the companies comply with state regulations on health and safety in the workplace obtained the highest ranking, ensuring workers comply with safety and health procedures and use personal protective equipment at construction project sites were ranked as the topmost roles of the construction project team, poor culture and attitudes existed amongst construction workers, supervisors, and top management of companies toward health and safety.
Conclusion: It revealed a lack of health and safety management at all levels of the construction chain. First, there is poor culture and attitudes of construction workers, supervisors, and companies toward health and safety. Secondly, ineffective operation of safety regulation, inefficient institutional frameworks responsible for governing construction activities, and a lack of attention to safety management by main contractors/team. Despite the institutional provisions for construction safety in Ghana (the Labor Act, 2003 and the Factories, Offices, and Shops Act, 1970), there is no compliance with these Acts during construction
Postural stress and risk conditions in manual load handling of Chilean industrial workers
Get PDFIntroduction: Although, there is a current regulatory framework for optimal manual handling of loads to preserve health conditions in the industrial sector, technical assessment and the use of certain instruments are still required for the diagnosis of occupational hazards. This study aimed to identify the occupational hazards associated with manual load handling in industry workers and estimate those resulting from postural stress.
Methods: Fifty-two (52) industry workers took part in this cross-sectional study. All participants were evaluated using the Manual Handling Guide and the Reba assessment tool. Subjects were characterized, and risks associated with different tasks were detected.
Results: 59.6% of workers were between 18 and 45 years old. Lifting, lowering, and transporting loads activities had a repetitive task risk of 94%, exceeding the weight limit in 85.7% of cases. Pushing and pulling activities, mostly showed a working postural risk of 82% and a high perception of initial effort (Borg> 8). Reba score warned to intervene immediately in both types of tasks.
Conclusion: Risk from the manual handling of loads found in this study constitutes an alert that suggests reviewing compliance with the current regulation, as well as effective use of working pauses and the improvement of strategies to minimize physical efforts used by workers