International Journal of Occupational Hygiene

Environmental risk management in order to energy efficiency in automaker industries (Case study: pre-paint Part of Iran Khodro Company (IKCO)

2023-11-12T15:47:19+0330

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” was selected as the compromise solution.IKCO should consider torch adjustment based on compliance report actions as its first priority.

Investigating Organizational Safety Climate and Its Impact on Incidence of Unsafe Behaviors among Firefighters

2023-11-12T15:47:20+0330

Introduction: Accidents may occur in all occupations. However, firefighting is considered as one of the most dangerous occupations considering firefighters’ perception of security, work-related injury rate, safety behaviors, attitudes and norms. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the correlation between the organizational safety climate and unsafe behaviors among firefighters.

Methodology: This was a descriptive and survey research. The statistical population included all the managers and employees working in a fire department consisting of 16 fire stations in Tehran. A researcher-made checklist and an organizational safety climate questionnaire were used to assess the prevalence of unsafe behaviors and safety climate. The data were analyzed using SPSS 21.0 software.

Results: The employees’ mean age, body mass index (BMI) and work, rest and exercise duration were 32.5±66.83 years old, 25.69±3.7, 9.2±14.1 h/d, 8.15±1.73 h/d and 5.44±4.46 h/w, respectively. Also, 66% of the employees were overweight and 29% had normal weight. Among the safety climate dimensions, the highest mean was related to management commitment to safety issues (33.7±62.68) and the lowest mean was related to priority over products (6.1±03.63). Unsafe behaviors were mostly associated with lack of using the breathing apparatus in small fires (91.9%) as well as personal protective equipment (PPE) (77.4%) in accidents and not performing operations with inappropriate physical condition (38.7%). The t-test results revealed a significant correlation between the safety climate and prevalence of unsafe behaviors (P≤0.05). Moreover, a significant correlation was observed between the employees’ knowledge, participation, attitudes and environmental safety (P≤0.05). However, no significant correlation was found between emergency preparedness, safety priority and ignoring risks.

Conclusion: Organizational safety climate could affect and predict the employees’ behaviors. Therefore, it is recommended that fire department managers develop a plan to achieve the required safety climate and improve the safety climate level.

Assessment of ergonomic risk factors among hand-made shoes workers in Tabriz, northwestern Iran

2023-11-12T15:47:20+0330

Background: The production of hand-made shoes exposes workers to ergonomic stressors that may result in musculoskeletal disorders of the upper extremities. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of ergonomic risk factors in hand-made shoes workers.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 218 hand-made shoes workers employed in small traditional workshops in Tabriz, northwestern Iran. The Nordic questionnaire was used to record the symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders. Revise strain index (RSI) and the ACGIH hand activity level threshold limit value (HAL-TLV) were applied to assess the risk level using videotaping and direct observation of work cycles. For data analysis, the independent t-test, Spearman correlation, and Kappa statistics were employed.

Results: The most prevalent symptom was observed in the neck of the workers (90.7-98.4%). The mean score of RSI and HAL-TLV exceeded the safe level (RSI>10 and HAL-TLV>0.78) in upper makers and shoemakers but not in the sewing operators. The mean scores of the right hands of upper makers and shoemakers were statistically different and greater than the score of the left hand. The EM and IM were identified as the most contributing multipliers of RSI. The scores of RSI and HAL-TLV were highly correlated and classified workers with good agreement.

Conclusions: According to RSI and HAL-TLV, the biomechanical stress in the hands of upper makers and shoemakers should be reduced. Ergonomic interventions are proposed to decrease the repetitive actions and the intensity of forces during upper making and shoemaking tasks.

A Hybrid Approach for Analyzing Human Reliability (Case:An Industrial Sector in Tehran)

2023-11-12T15:47:20+0330

According to the recent reports, human errors may cause major systemic disasters at different levels of an organization. Therefore, the human reliability assessment is an essential and systematic approach to the analysis and reduction of human errors in the industries. The aim of this study is to propose a new approach for analyzing human reliability in order to minimize the defects and shortcomings of conventional methods in this field. The relevant hypotheses of our twelve-step approach indicate that all evaluations are performed at a continuous time and in a varying environment and all variables are independent of each other.in the proposed approach a combination of techniques (such‍‍ as‍:‍HTA,‍SHERPA,‍Markove‍‍‍&‍‍etc) used for identifying the human errors and to measure the human reliability. To measure the function of this new approach, a case study between 4 milling machine operators in workshops of Saipa Automobile Company for 6 month was considered.. Finally, the results show the ease of use and enough clarity of the proposed approach for the use of analysts.

Effectiveness of Internet-Based Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Compared with Online Counseling Guidelines of the Ministry of Health on Reducing Negative Emotions during the SARS-COV-2 Pandemic : A Quasi-Experimental Study

2023-11-12T15:47:20+0330

Objectives: In late 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The SARS-COV-2 pandemic is causing psychological impacts such as stress, anxiety, and depression. Concerning this situation, improvement in internet-based mental health services is necessary. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the effectiveness of Internet-based Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (IMBSR) with the Online Counseling Guidelines of the Ministry of Health (OCGMH) in the reduction of depression, anxiety, and stress during the SARS-COV-2 pandemic.

Methods: A quasi-experimental study with a two-group randomized controlled, pretest-posttest questioner was designed. Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 84 participants were enrolled in the study that had contact with Ferdowsi University of Mashhad's Psychology and Counseling Clinic through online networks to complain about anxiety and distress caused by the coronavirus. Data analysis was performed using Independent sample t-test. both internet-based interventions (i.e., IMBSR and OCGMH) were executed by clinical psychologists.

Results: The mean scores for stress, anxiety, and depression were significantly improved after both internet interventions (i.e., IMBSR and OCGMH). Further analysis showed that stress and anxiety significantly decreased in the IMBSR group compared to the OCGMH group (P<0.05). however, participants in the OCGMH group had a lower score of the depression index than that of the IMBSR group (P<0.05).

Conclusion: To summarize, IMBSR intervention improved the stress and anxiety during the quarantine of SARS-COV-2. Together these results provide important insights into internet-based interventions during pandemic situations. As a suggestion, advances in internet-based mental health services are necessary during the quarantine of diseases.

Assessing Passenger Comfort in Compartments of Long Distance Conventional Trains: A Case Study

2023-11-12T15:47:20+0330

In developing countries that still use conventional trains, passengers spend lengthy hours on board while they can have the option of choosing air travel with much shorter duration. Hence environmental factors play an important role in overall comfort of passengers and modal share of railways. In this cross-sectioned research, a questionnaire is developed that quantifies evaluations of passengers from factors such as light, temperature, noise and vibrations. An 11-hour journey between Tehran, the capital of Iran, and the second major city and two trains (five-star and four-star) are selected. Passengers responded to paper questionnaires and 382 fully filled ones were collected and analyzed. Satisfaction from light was highest and thermal comfort was lowest. There was statistically significant difference between comfort of passengers at two trains. The results also showed that some personal or health conditions affect feelings of passengers. For instance, those who suffer from low blood pressure feel cold or those that wear glasses for reading are not satisfied with illumination. Moreover, the elderly are more sensitive to vibrations but those who travel with their families are less sensitive to it. The results of this research can help in better allocation of compartments to passengers and increasing overall passenger satisfaction.

Gas pipelines importance, accidents and hazards: A literature review study

2023-11-12T15:47:19+0330

Natural gas is an important infrastructure for companies, governments, and societies. Pipelines are common, safe and effective way of transferring natural gas. Gas pipelines for some reason have high potential for creating an accident. Accidents in this field could impose great costs for companies, governments, and environment. Accidents in this field have many reasons. Fire, explosion, poisoning, and rupture are four common types of accidents result. Investigating accidents is important for preventing future accidents. So, the methods for doing this are important for finding right reasons.

This study tries to review pieces of literature for viewpoint of used methods for investigating gas pipeline accidents and risk assessment of their hazards. Also, study aimed to find out common hazards type, countries that published articles, publishing journals and publishing years.