A Bayesian network based study on determining the relationship between job stress and safety climate factors in occurrence of accidents.

YesJob stress and safety climate have been recognized as two crucial factors that can increase the risk of occupational accidents. This study was performed to determine the relationship between job stress and safety climate factors in the occurrence of accidents using the Bayesian network model. This cross-sectional study was performed on 1530 male workers of Asaluyeh petrochemical company in Iran. The participants were asked to complete the questionnaires, including demographical information and accident history questionnaire, NIOSH generic job stress questionnaire, and Nordic safety climate questionnaire. Also, work experience and the accident history data were inquired from the petrochemical health unit. Finally, the relationships between the variables were investigated using the Bayesian network model. A high job stress condition could decrease the high safety climate from 53 to 37% and increase the accident occurrence from 72 to 94%. Moreover, a low safety climate condition could increase the accident occurrence from 72 to 93%. Also, the concurrent high job stress and low safety climate could raise the accident occurrence from 72 to 93%. Among the associations between the job stress factor and safety climate dimensions, the job stress and worker's safety priority and risk non-acceptance (0.19) had the highest mean influence value. The adverse effect of high job stress conditions on accident occurrence is twofold. It can directly increase the accident occurrence probability and in another way, it can indirectly increase the accident occurrence probability by causing the safety climate to go to a lower level

A survey of neurobehavioral symptoms among operational workers exposed to mixture of an organic solvent (BTEX): A case study in an oil refinery

Background: Benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene (BTEX) are categorized as the hazardous airborne pollutants that widely consumed in various industries. Therefore, the aim of this study was the survey of the neurobehavioral symptoms among operational workers exposed to the mixture of an organic solvent (BTEX) in an oil refinery. Methods: The present study was conducted on the personnel of a refinery located in the south of Iran in 2018. In total, 78 operational workers were selected as exposure group and 85 administrative staff as control group. BTEX compounds were sampled based on the methodology 1501 presented by NIOSH. In addition to, the demographical information of two groups were gathered by a questionnaire and Swedish Q16 questionnaire for long term solvent-exposed workers was applied to collect data on the neurobehavioral symptoms. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 22 software. Results: Based on the results of the chi square test, the frequency of the positive neuropsychiatric behavior symptoms in the exposure group was significantly higher than that in the control group. The results of spearman test demonstrated that there are the positively significant correlations between the frequency of the positive neuropsychiatric behavior symptoms and the measured values of benzene (r = 0.402, P value < 0.001) and toluene (r = 0.577, P value < 0.001) compounds. Conclusion: The occupational exposure to BTEX compounds, particularly benzene and toluene, can cause the neurobehavioral symptoms in the exposed workers of the refinery

The relations of job stress dimensions to safety climate and accidents occurrence among the workers

YesBased on a literature review, likely, there is a relationship between job stress and safety climate, and in this way, the accident occurrence is affected. Therefore, the present study was aimed to investigate the relations of job stress dimensions to safety climate and accidents occurrence among the workers using regression models. This cross-sectional study was carried out on 1530 male employees in 2019. People were randomly selected from various departments. The participants filled out the questionnaires, including demographical information and accident history questionnaire, the NIOSH generic job stress questionnaire, and the Nordic safety climate questionnaire. In addition, information on occupational experience and accident history was obtained from the health unit of the petrochemical company. In the end, data were analyzed using statistical tests of bivariate correlation, multivariate correlation, and logistic regression. Based on the bivariate analysis, the variables of job satisfaction (0.998), problem at work (0.900), depression (-0.836), and physical environment (-0.796) among the job stress dimensions had the highest correlation coefficients with the total score of the safety climate, respectively. The results of the logistic regression analysis with the adjustment of the effect of the safety climate indicated that the relationships between the dimensions of the job satisfaction (Wald = 6.50, OR = 4.96, and p-value<0.05) and social supports (Wald = 5.88, OR = 3.20, and p-value<0.05) with the accident occurrence were significant. To increase the positive safety climate and decrease the accident occurrence, industries must try to reduce job stress in the workplaces through controlling the important factors, such as low job satisfaction and poor social supports.This work was supported by Tehran University of Medical Sciences (97-03-61-38355)