Investigation of heat stress and heat strain in outdoor workers: a case study in Iran

Heat stress is an important and serious threat at work and is a particular concern in outdoor occupational environments. This study aims at comparing heat stress and heat strain at different outdoor groups, examining the protective and adaptive actions which were done by workers and also provi services to them by government or employer to reduce heat load. This cross–sectional study was conducted in the hottest days of the summer 2015 in Shabestar, Iran and 53 healthy men in nine occupational groups including concrete makers, porters, construction, waste site and road making workers, stonemasons, farmers, traffic officers, and street vendors participated. A set of physiological parameters, like heart rate, blood pressure, skin temperature and etc., WBGT index details and some of the adaptive and protective parameters were measured and monitored simultaneously at different times of the day. The study finds that heat exposure in outdoor workplace is prevalent and WBGT TWA/TLVave is less than 1 in some groups like stonemasons, waste site workers, traffic officers and street vendors whereas in other studied occupations, it is more than 1.This matter is compounded by the fact that the provision of health services by employers or local government was limited, and almost all of the participants had poor or insufficient access levels to public health and welfare services. This study confirms the necessity of interventions by a range of factors, such as government plans, improvement of services in the prevention of heat stress, and planning training courses for outdoor workers to build their knowledge of heat stress

Risk Assessment of Musculoskeletal Disorders in Patient Handling Tasks Using MAPO and 3DSSPP Methods

Background and Objective: Staff responsible for transporting patients to the hospital are at risk for musculoskeletal disorders. Therefore, this study was performed using the MAPO method and 3DSSPP software to estimate the mechanical load on the waist of staff carrying the patient. Materials and Methods: In the first stage, the hospital wards and the number of personnel who transferred patients manually were identified and evaluated with the MAPO index. 3DSSPP software was used to identify and evaluate the risk factors causing back injuries in personnel. The results were analyzed using SPSS (version 26) and descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and correlation tests. Results: Participants consisted of 24 people, including 21 men and 3 women, with a mean age of 35.6 years. According to the results of 3DSSPP software, in 37.5% of people, the estimated ligament damage was more than the allowable limit. The compressive force on the L4/L5 and L5/S1 vertebral discs was higher than the allowable limit in 58.3% and 62.5% of subjects, respectively. Based on Pearson's statistical test, there was a significant correlation between the results of MAPO and 3DSSPP methods. Conclusion: To reduce and minimize the incidence of musculoskeletal disorders, it is necessary to eliminate the factors affecting the patient's mobility, such as assistive devices and equipment, environmental factors, improved education, and the factors affecting the disorders. The MAPO method was an effective way to plan preventive measures to reduce the risk of disorders, and 3DSSPP software was also a good tool for examining the forces acting on the waist

Development and Evaluation of a New Questionnaire for Rating of Cognitive Failures at Work

Cognitive-based human errors have major contribution to performance and safety in working environment. This study designed to develop a measurement tool in order to evaluate this type of errors in the occupational settings. An Occupational Cognitive Failure Questionnaire (OCFQ) was developed. Content validity of the OCFQ was performed using a quantitative approach. Reliability of questionnaire was assessed by internal consistency and test-retest methods. A preliminary list of 35-items was prepared as a starting point. After evaluation of validity, five items were rejected. The new measurement instrument with 30-items was finally developed. The content validity index (CVI) for the final OCFQ was found acceptable (CVI=0.7). Results show that final OCFQ was internally consistent (α=96) and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) was 0.99. Measurement of cognitive failure in the workplace requires a valid and reliable tool. In respect to probable outcomes of cognitive failures occurrence at work, the present study suggested that OCFQ would be a useful instrument for measurement of cognitive failure in the working environment

Anti-fatigue mats, low back pain, and electromyography: An interventional study

Objectives: Increasing bilateral gluteus medius co-activation has been identified as one of the most important factors in developing low back pain due to prolonged standing in healthy people. This study aims to investigate the impact of an anti-fatigue mat on the bilateral gluteus medius co-activation pattern and to report the low back pain subjectively in 2 different standing positions on the normal rigid surface and on the anti-fatigue mat. Material and Methods: While carrying out an easy simulated profession, 16 participants who had no low back pain background were requested to stand for 2 h in each position, with and without using the anti-fatigue floor mat, respectively. At the beginning of standing process and at every 15 min until the time of 120 min lapses, electric activities for the bilateral gluteus medius co-activation and subjective pain level in low back area were collected by the surface electromyogeraphy (EMG) and the visual analogue scale (VAS), respectively in each position. Results: The obtained findings revealed that the anti-fatigue mat significantly decreased subjective pain level in low back area among 15 participants (p 0.05). The findings obtained under this study related to the impact of the anti-fatigue mat upon the low back pain based on the increase of > 10 mm on the VAS threshold, which showed that this intervention had no significant impact upon decreasing the number of patients suffering from the low back pain and also minimizing the bilateral gluteus medius co-activation in both pain developer groups (p > 0.05). However, 73% of the participants preferred to apply it. Conclusions: It seems that the anti-fatigue mat may be useful in reducing the low back pain although it objectively didn’t significantly change the gluteus medius co-activation pattern related to the low back pain

Comparison of the effect of typical firefighting activities, live fire drills and rescue operations at height on firefighters’ physiological responses and cognitive function

This study examined the impact of various types of firefighting activities on firefighters’ physiological responses and cognitive function. Each firefighter was engaged in three conditions: (1) Live-fire activities (LFA), (2) Typical firefighting activities (TFA), and (3) Rescue operations at height (ROH). The effects of various types of firefighting activities on the physiological responses and cognitive function were evaluated by heart rate (HR), temporal artery temperature (TT), and the correct response (CR) on a cognitive test. The results indicated that, compared to the baseline, physiological response increased, while information processing performance decreased after the activity. Furthermore, HR and TT were significantly lower at the end of the firefighting activity in the LFA (149.33 bpm; 38.08 °C) compared with the TFA (152.22 bpm; 38.17 °C) and ROH (159.28 bpm; 38.24 °C) conditions. Also, CR was significantly higher at the end of the activity in the LFA and TFA compared with the ROH condition. The results showed that rescue at height was more intensive than the other firefighting tasks in decreasing physiological and cognitive function capacity after the experiment. Practitioner Summary: We assumed that various types of firefighting activities would have different effects on physiological and cognitive functions during firefighting activities. The Findings suggest that rescue at height operations, performed without the use of special protective equipment, was more influential than other firefighting duties in changing firefighters’ physiological and cognitive capacity. Abbreviations: CR: correct response; LFA: live-fire activities; TFA: typical firefighting activities; ROH: rescue operations at height; HR: heart rate; TT: temporal artery tempearture; PASAT: pased auditory serila addition teat; FPC: firefighting protective clothin