Do the Occupational Health Factors Affect the Road Accidents: A Survey of Heavy Vehicles’ Drivers in Iran
Abstract
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.
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21. Ansari-Moghaddam A, Ansari H, Mohammadi M, Tabatabaei SM, Pishevare-Mofrad M, Miri-Bonjar M. Prevalence of addiction and smoking and their relationship with blood parameters among drivers in Zahedan. International journal of high risk behaviors & addiction. 2016;5(3).
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23. Abbaszadeh M, Zakerian S, Nasl Seraji J, Nahvi A, Niknejad M, Ashori M. Investigating the effect of auditory-verbal task on drivers' situation awareness and brake reaction time in bus driving simulator. Iran Occupational Health. 2014;11(6).
24. Yarmohammadi H, Niksima SH, Yarmohammadi S, Khammar A, Marioryad H, Poursadeqiyan M. Evaluating the Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders in Drivers Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Journal of Health and Safety at Work. 2019;9(3):221-30.
25. Arghami Sh, Kamali K , M N. A Survey on Musculoskeletal Pain in Suburban Bus Drivers. Journal of Occupational Hygiene Engineering. 2015;2(2):72-81.
26. Feng Z, Zhan J, Wang C, Ma C, Huang Z. The association between musculoskeletal disorders and driver behaviors among professional drivers in China. International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics. 2020;26(3):551-61.
27. Kumar HP, Sakthivel G, Shankar S. Prevalence of work related musculoskeletal disorders among occupational bus drivers of Karnataka, South India. Work. 2020(Preprint):1-12.
28. Yasobant u, Ch M, Reddy EM. Are Bus Drivers at an Increased Risk for Developing Musculoskeletal Disorders?An Ergonomic Risk Assessment Study. Journal of ergonomics. 2015;2015:1-5.
29. McGwin Jr G, Sims RV, Pulley L, Roseman JM. Relations among chronic medical conditions, medications, and automobile crashes in the elderly: a population-based case-control study. American journal of epidemiology. 2000;152(5):424-31.
30. Karimi A, Nasiri S, Kazerooni FK, Oliaei M. Noise induced hearing loss risk assessment in truck drivers. Noise and health. 2010;12(46):49.
31. Nezamoddin Berjis MD, Saeid Soheilipoor MD, Siamak Poorabdian, Shirin Akbari. Evaluating the Relative Frequency or Hearing Loss on Heavy Vehicles Drivers. Journal of Isfahan Medical School. 2011;28(120):1471-76.
32. Pourshafie S, Izadfard Z, Jafarzadeh S. The Effect of Vehicle Noise on Hearing Thresholds in Heavy Vehicle Drivers. Iranian South Medical Journal. 2019;21(6):472-80.
33. Alizadeh A, Etemadinezhad S, Charati JY, Mohamadiyan M. Noise-induced hearing loss in bus and truck drivers in Mazandaran province, 2011. International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics : JOSE. 2016;22(2):193-8.
34. Fallah Karkan M, Behboudi H, Taeefe N, Soltani Moghaddam R, Khoshbakht Pishkhani M. Visual Disorders in Drivers Causing Accidents. Journal of Guilan University of Medical Sciences,. 2012;22(85):48-53.
35. Lamble D, Summala H, Hyvärinen L. Driving performance of drivers with impaired central visual field acuity. Accident Analysis & Prevention. 2002;34(5):711-6.
36. Alizadehnia N, SHIRALIVAND E, KANGARI H. Role of Decreased Visual Acuity, Contrast Sensitivity Disorder, and Visual Field Defect in Traffic Accidents and Recommendations to Improve These Factors. 2018.
37. Higgins KE, Wood J, Tait A. Vision and driving: Selective effect of optical blur on different driving tasks. Human Factors. 1998;40(2):224-32.
38. Higgins KE, Wood JM. Predicting components of closed road driving performance from vision tests. Optometry and vision science. 2005;82(8):647-56.
39. Chan L, Lau W, Zou S, Cao Z, Lai S. Exposure level of carbon monoxide and respirable suspended particulate in public transportation modes while commuting in urban area of Guangzhou, China. Atmospheric Environment. 2002;36(38):5831-40.
40. Żak M, Melaniuk-Wolny E, Widziewicz K. The exposure of pedestrians, drivers and road transport passengers to nitrogen dioxide. Atmospheric Pollution Research. 2017;8(4):781-90.
41. Kermani M, Jonidi Jafari A, Aalamolhoda AA, Jajarmi F, Dana E, Shahsavani A. Source Identification and risk assessment of BTEX compounds in occupational exposure of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) drivers in limited traffic zone of Tehran in 2015-2016. Iran Occupational Health Journal. 2018;15(5):48-58.
42. Jones A, Lam P, Dean E. Respiratory health of bus drivers in Hong Kong. International archives of occupational and environmental health. 2006;79(5):414-8.
43. Siedlecka J, Bortkiewicz A. Driving simulators in risk assessment of traffic accident among drivers with obstructive sleep apnea. Medycyna pracy. 2012;63(2):229-36.
44. McGwin G, Sims RV, Pulley L, Roseman JM. Diabetes and automobile crashes in the elderly. A population-based case-control study. Diabetes care. 1999;22(2):220-7.
2. CDC. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID Data Tracker 2021. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker.
3. Karimi A, Honarbakhsh M. Dimensions of occupational fatigue in heavy vehicle drivers. Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. 2016;26(140):156-66.
4. Papadakaki M, Kontogiannis T, Tzamalouka G, Darviri C, Chliaoutakis J. Exploring the effects of lifestyle, sleep factors and driving behaviors on sleep-related road risk: A study of Greek drivers. Accident Analysis & Prevention. 2008;40(6):2029-36.
5. Rahimi-kolur A, Rahimi A. Investigation of the effect of colorblindness in road traffic accidents. Safety promotion and injury prevention (Tehran). 2016;4(3):167-74.
6. Nassiri P, Monazam Esmaeelpour M, Rahimi Foroushani A, Ebrahimi H, Salimi Y. Occupational Noise Exposure Evaluation in Drivers of Bus Transportation of Tehran City. Iranian Journal of Health and Environment. 2009;2(2):124-31.
7. Sadri G-H. Risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders in bus drivers. Archives of Iranian Medicine. 2003;6(3):214-5.
8. Karimi A, Eslamizad S, Mostafaee M, Haghshenas M, Malakoutikhah M. Road accident modeling by fuzzy logic based on physical and mental health of drivers. International Journal of Occupational Hygiene. 2016;8(4):208-16.
9. Statistical Yearbook of the Roads and Transportation Organization, 1392-1386 . file:///C:/Users/fatemeh/AppData/Local/Temp/14646.pdf. 2014.
10. Mooren L, Grzebieta R, Williamson A, Olivier J, Friswell R. Safety management for heavy vehicle transport: A review of the literature. Safety science. 2014;62:79-89.
11. Southerst D, Côté P, Stupar M, Stern P, Mior S. The reliability of body pain diagrams in the quantitative measurement of pain distribution and location in patients with musculoskeletal pain: a systematic review. Journal of manipulative and physiological therapeutics. 2013;36(7):450-9.
12. Karamifar K, Mirmohammadi S. Spirometry: A practical guide to the conduct and interpretation of clinical. 2 ed. Tehran: Andishmand. 2006. [In Persian].
13. Field AE, Coakley EH, Must A, Spadano JL, Laird N, Dietz WH, et al. Impact of overweight on the risk of developing common chronic diseases during a 10-year period. Archives of internal medicine. 2001;161(13):1581-6.
14. Varmazyar S, Mortazavi B, Hajizadeh I, Arghami S. Evaluation of the Status of Severe Occupational Stress and Its Associated Factors among Public Transportation Bus Drivers in Tehran, 2012, Iran. Qom Univ Med Sci J. 2013;7(5):73-82.
15. Jahangiri M, Karimi A, Eslamizad S. Influence of Blood Biochemistry, Auditory and Musculoskeletal Well-being of Professional Drivers on Road Accidents. JOJ Pub Health. 2017;1(4):1-8.
16. Seyedmehdi SM, Dehghan F, Mohammadi S, Attarchi MS. Assessment of ischemic heart diseases and related risk factors in professional drivers. Iran Occupational Health Journal. 2010;7(3):46-52.
17. Z Yazdi Z, Sareshtehdary M, Tayefi M. Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome among Truck Drivers and Its Relation to Shift Work. Qom Univ Med Sci J. 2012;5(4):68-72.
18. Farshidi H, Zarenezhad M, Zare S, Mousavi S, Mozafari S. Coronary Artery Disease Risk Factors in Truck Drivers, BandarAbbas, Iran (2009-2010). Journal of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences. 2013;12(3):195-204.
19. Emkani M, Khanjani N. The quality of sleep and its related factors among truck drivers in Kerman. Health and Development Journal. 2013;2(1):44-53.
20. Ryb GE, Dischinger P, Kufera J, Soderstrom C. Smoking is a marker of risky behaviors independent of substance abuse in injured drivers. Traffic injury prevention. 2007;8(3):248-52.
21. Ansari-Moghaddam A, Ansari H, Mohammadi M, Tabatabaei SM, Pishevare-Mofrad M, Miri-Bonjar M. Prevalence of addiction and smoking and their relationship with blood parameters among drivers in Zahedan. International journal of high risk behaviors & addiction. 2016;5(3).
22. Fasih-Ramandi F, F N, Atif Kh, Boghsani Gh, Nadri H. Do occupational stress and cigarette smoking abet each other: survey of a steel industry in Iran. Russian Open Medical Journal. 2019;8(1).
23. Abbaszadeh M, Zakerian S, Nasl Seraji J, Nahvi A, Niknejad M, Ashori M. Investigating the effect of auditory-verbal task on drivers' situation awareness and brake reaction time in bus driving simulator. Iran Occupational Health. 2014;11(6).
24. Yarmohammadi H, Niksima SH, Yarmohammadi S, Khammar A, Marioryad H, Poursadeqiyan M. Evaluating the Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders in Drivers Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Journal of Health and Safety at Work. 2019;9(3):221-30.
25. Arghami Sh, Kamali K , M N. A Survey on Musculoskeletal Pain in Suburban Bus Drivers. Journal of Occupational Hygiene Engineering. 2015;2(2):72-81.
26. Feng Z, Zhan J, Wang C, Ma C, Huang Z. The association between musculoskeletal disorders and driver behaviors among professional drivers in China. International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics. 2020;26(3):551-61.
27. Kumar HP, Sakthivel G, Shankar S. Prevalence of work related musculoskeletal disorders among occupational bus drivers of Karnataka, South India. Work. 2020(Preprint):1-12.
28. Yasobant u, Ch M, Reddy EM. Are Bus Drivers at an Increased Risk for Developing Musculoskeletal Disorders?An Ergonomic Risk Assessment Study. Journal of ergonomics. 2015;2015:1-5.
29. McGwin Jr G, Sims RV, Pulley L, Roseman JM. Relations among chronic medical conditions, medications, and automobile crashes in the elderly: a population-based case-control study. American journal of epidemiology. 2000;152(5):424-31.
30. Karimi A, Nasiri S, Kazerooni FK, Oliaei M. Noise induced hearing loss risk assessment in truck drivers. Noise and health. 2010;12(46):49.
31. Nezamoddin Berjis MD, Saeid Soheilipoor MD, Siamak Poorabdian, Shirin Akbari. Evaluating the Relative Frequency or Hearing Loss on Heavy Vehicles Drivers. Journal of Isfahan Medical School. 2011;28(120):1471-76.
32. Pourshafie S, Izadfard Z, Jafarzadeh S. The Effect of Vehicle Noise on Hearing Thresholds in Heavy Vehicle Drivers. Iranian South Medical Journal. 2019;21(6):472-80.
33. Alizadeh A, Etemadinezhad S, Charati JY, Mohamadiyan M. Noise-induced hearing loss in bus and truck drivers in Mazandaran province, 2011. International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics : JOSE. 2016;22(2):193-8.
34. Fallah Karkan M, Behboudi H, Taeefe N, Soltani Moghaddam R, Khoshbakht Pishkhani M. Visual Disorders in Drivers Causing Accidents. Journal of Guilan University of Medical Sciences,. 2012;22(85):48-53.
35. Lamble D, Summala H, Hyvärinen L. Driving performance of drivers with impaired central visual field acuity. Accident Analysis & Prevention. 2002;34(5):711-6.
36. Alizadehnia N, SHIRALIVAND E, KANGARI H. Role of Decreased Visual Acuity, Contrast Sensitivity Disorder, and Visual Field Defect in Traffic Accidents and Recommendations to Improve These Factors. 2018.
37. Higgins KE, Wood J, Tait A. Vision and driving: Selective effect of optical blur on different driving tasks. Human Factors. 1998;40(2):224-32.
38. Higgins KE, Wood JM. Predicting components of closed road driving performance from vision tests. Optometry and vision science. 2005;82(8):647-56.
39. Chan L, Lau W, Zou S, Cao Z, Lai S. Exposure level of carbon monoxide and respirable suspended particulate in public transportation modes while commuting in urban area of Guangzhou, China. Atmospheric Environment. 2002;36(38):5831-40.
40. Żak M, Melaniuk-Wolny E, Widziewicz K. The exposure of pedestrians, drivers and road transport passengers to nitrogen dioxide. Atmospheric Pollution Research. 2017;8(4):781-90.
41. Kermani M, Jonidi Jafari A, Aalamolhoda AA, Jajarmi F, Dana E, Shahsavani A. Source Identification and risk assessment of BTEX compounds in occupational exposure of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) drivers in limited traffic zone of Tehran in 2015-2016. Iran Occupational Health Journal. 2018;15(5):48-58.
42. Jones A, Lam P, Dean E. Respiratory health of bus drivers in Hong Kong. International archives of occupational and environmental health. 2006;79(5):414-8.
43. Siedlecka J, Bortkiewicz A. Driving simulators in risk assessment of traffic accident among drivers with obstructive sleep apnea. Medycyna pracy. 2012;63(2):229-36.
44. McGwin G, Sims RV, Pulley L, Roseman JM. Diabetes and automobile crashes in the elderly. A population-based case-control study. Diabetes care. 1999;22(2):220-7.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 14 No 1 (2022) | |
| Section | Original Article(s) | |
| Published | 2022-03-30 | |
| Keywords | ||
| Accidents Drivers Heavy Vehicles Occupational Health | ||
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How to Cite
1.
Fasih-Ramandi F, Andishe S, Mehri F, Karimi A. Do the Occupational Health Factors Affect the Road Accidents: A Survey of Heavy Vehicles’ Drivers in Iran. Int J Occup Hyg. 2022;14(1):18-35.
