Occupational safety health and environment management tools adoption among small medium entreprises

Occupational Safety Health (OSH) involves identifying and assessing workplace hazards, providing personal protective equipment, training employees on safety procedures, and monitoring and evaluating safety programs. OSH reduces workers' compensation costs and improves employee morale and productivity, while preventing injuries and illnesses. It also has wider societal benefits, by reducing the burden on healthcare resources. The COVID19 pandemic also impacted SMEs' ability or willingness to implement OSH. Occupational injuries are more common in SMEs manufacturing than in large corporations and Department of Safety and Health (DOSH) does not publicly disclose official SME accident case statistics. The management process of OSH is not adhered to in the small and medium manufacturing sector. The process on OSH for a cleaner environment has not been amended, and management's lack of technology adoption is due to a lack of budget and awareness towards a clean environment at work. Employers' lack of sufficient enforcement on OSH and environmental issues in the manufacturing sector is due to the lack of competent staff that has the related OSH certificate that qualifies them to carry out appropriate OSH enforcement. The objective of this research is to identify and address issues related to OSH compliance and create a clean work environment in the SMEs manufacturing sector. A clear vision and goals are important in achieving this objective, and accurate information on OSH is necessary for investigating and rectifying any compliance issues. Qualitative methods and descriptive research design with case study analysis focus in animal feeds manufacturing and exercises were used as a method of data accumulation; it involved an open-ended questionnaires (Respondents administrative questionnaire-RAQ) with 22 participants from the Melaka SMEs manufacturing sector. Hazard Identify Risk Assessment Risk Control (HIRARC) observation is from five participant companies. The semi-structured interview with 10 participants and the document study were conducted from secondary data sources for this research. The study emphasizes the importance of using HIRARC observation in OSH management to identify and control workplace hazards, and the crucial role of TEMIF in implementing new OSH technologies. The study found that SMEs in the manufacturing sector lacked awareness of OSH regulations and guidelines and did not have tools for implementing OSH clean environmental practices. Researcher proposes the Occupational Safety and Health Environment Management Tools (OSHEMT) for guided SMEs manufacturing sectors in OSH and environmental practices. SMEs manufacturing in Melaka should consider adopting OSHEMT technology, along with 5s and MUDA TORI techniques, to improve OSH management and create a safer work environment. Overall, this can enhance productivity and reduce costs linked to workplace accidents and injuries

BEST PRACTICES OF OSH COMPLIANCE IN THE SME MELAKA MANUFACTURING SECTORS

Implementation OSH is important in any workplace. This study is focusing on SME Melaka manufacturing sector and in this paper we would like to include the compliance practice as a new parameter in order to improve the number of percentage of an accident in the workplace. There are four components such as understanding; commitment, practice and behavior influence on the improvement of reducing accident case in the workplace towards regulatory compliance. Primary data from 20 S & M manufacturing sector in Melaka was taken to analyse the compliance practices through phone call interview survey. From the analysis, we found that good compliance will reduce accident cases at the workplace. This research highpoints the problems in the Melaka manufacturing sector such the high occupational accidents which are due to the lack of non-compliance of the requirements of Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994, Guided Self Regulation Environmental Mainstream Tools (EMT). This study is to promote the practice of OSH at Small and Medium Melaka manufacturing sector through several management practices such as training and safety management, understanding of self-regulation, enforcement and auditing towards compliance practices

MANAGING OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH (OSH) CULTURE PRACTICES AT SMALL AND MEDIUM (S&M) MALAYSIA MANUFACTURING SECTOR

OSH is important in Malaysia workplace. In this paper we would like to include the culture practices as a new parameter in order to improve the number of percentage of the accidents in the workplace. Four components namely self-regulation, top management commitment, enforcement & promotion and safety culture influence the improvement of reducing of accident case in the workplace will be studied. A ten-month accident data at a manufacturing sector was taken to be analyzed on the cultural practice. From the analysis, it was found that with good understanding, commitment, practices, and behavior will reduce the accident case at the workplace. This research highlight the problems of accident case in the Malaysian workplace at manufacturing sector which are probably due to lack of safety culture and non-compliance of the requirements of Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994. This study promotes OSH at Small and Medium Malaysia manufacturing sector through several management practices such training and safety management, understanding on self-regulation, enforcement, and promotion. The documentary analysis was used as a method for data collection from DOSH.  Keyword: OSH understanding, commitment, practices, behavior, workplace safety cultur

Potential Role of Oxidative Stress-Induced Apoptosis in Mediating Chromosomal Rearrangements in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Abstract Background Genetic aberrations have been identified in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), however, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. There are increasing evidences that the apoptotic nuclease caspase-activated deoxyribonuclease (CAD) is one of the players leading to translocation in leukemia. Oxidative stress, which has been strongly implicated in carcinogenesis, is a potent apoptotic inducer. Most of the NPC etiological factors are known to induce oxidative stress. Although apoptosis is a cell death process, cells possess the potential to survive apoptosis upon DNA repair. Eventually, the surviving cells may carry rearranged chromosomes. We hypothesized that oxidative stress-induced apoptosis may cause chromosomal breaks mediated by CAD. Upon erroneous DNA repair, cells that survive apoptosis may harbor chromosomal rearrangements contributing to NPC pathogenesis. This study focused on the AF9 gene at 9p22, a common deletion region in NPC. We aimed to propose a possible model for molecular mechanism underlying the chromosomal rearrangements in NPC. Results In the present study, we showed that hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) induced apoptosis in NPC (HK1) and normal nasopharyngeal epithelial (NP69) cells, as evaluated by flow cytometric analyses. Activity of caspases 3/7 was detected in H2O2-treated cells. This activity was inhibited by caspase inhibitor (CI). By nested Inverse Polymerase Chain Reaction (IPCR), we demonstrated that oxidative stress-induced apoptosis in HK1 and NP69 cells resulted in cleavages within the breakpoint cluster region (BCR) of the AF9 gene. The gene cleavage frequency detected in the H2O2-treated cells was found to be significantly higher than untreated control. We further found that treatment with CI, which indirectly inhibits CAD, significantly reduced the chromosomal breaks in H2O2-cotreated cells. Intriguingly, a few breakpoints were mapped within the AF9 region that was previously reported to translocate with the mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) gene in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patient. Conclusions In conclusion, our findings suggested that oxidative stress-induced apoptosis could be one of the mechanisms underlying the chromosomal rearrangements in NPC. CAD may play an important role in chromosomal cleavages mediated by oxidative stress-induced apoptosis. A potential model for oxidative stress-induced apoptosis mediating chromosomal rearrangements in NPC is proposed

Acalypha wilkesiana extracts induce apoptosis by causing single strand and double strand DNA breaks

Ethnopharmacological relevance: The seeds of Acalypha wilkesiana have been used empirically by traditional healers in Southwest Nigeria together with other plants as a powder mixture to treat patients with breast tumours and inflammation. Aim of the study: There is an increasing interest among researchers in searching for new anticancer drugs from natural resources, particularly plants. This study aimed to investigate the anticancer properties of Acalypha wilkesiana extracts and the characteristics of DNA damage against brain and lung cancer cells. Materials and methods: The antiproliferative activity of Acalypha wilkesiana extracts (ethyl acetate, hexane, and ethanol) was examined on human glioma (U87MG), human lung carcinoma (A549), and human lung fibroblast (MRC5) cells. Results: Cell viability MTT assay revealed that ethyl acetate extract of the plant possessed significant antiproliferative effects against both U87MG (GI50 = 28.03 ± 6.44 μg/ml) and A549 (GI50 = 89.63 ± 2.12 μg/ml) cells (p value 300 μg/ml). The ethanol extract showed no antiproliferative effects on any cell line examined. Haematoxylin & Eosin (H & E) staining and single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) comet assay confirmed that plant extract-treated cells underwent apoptosis and not necrosis. SCGE comet assays confirmed that plant extracts caused both single strand (SSB) and double strand (DSB) DNA breaks that led to the execution of apoptosis. Conclusion: The extracts (especially ethyl acetate and hexane) of Acalypha wilkesiana possess valuable cytotoxic effects that trigger apoptosis in U87MG and A549 cancer cells through induction of DNA SSBs and DSBs

Louis C. Wyman to John D. Feerick

Letter from Representative Louis C. Wyman to Dean John D. Feerick, regarding his scholarly article on presidential inability.https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/twentyfifth_amendment_correspondence/1017/thumbnail.jp

Crude Ethanol Extract of Pithecellobium ellipticum

If left untreated, hypercholesterolaemia can lead to atherosclerosis, given time. Plants from the Fabaceae family have shown the ability to significantly suppress atherosclerosis progression. We selected four extracts from Pithecellobium ellipticum, from the Fabaceae family, to be screened in a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase) assay. The ethanol extract, at a concentration of 500 μg/mL, exhibited superior inhibition properties over the other extracts by demonstrating 80.9% inhibition, while 0.223 μg/mL of pravastatin (control) showed 78.1% inhibition towards enzymatic activity. These findings led to the fractionation of the ethanol extract using ethyl acetate : methanol (95 : 5), gradually increasing polarity and produced seven fractions (1A to 7A). Fraction 7A at 150 μg/mL emerged as being the most promising bioactive fraction with 78.7% inhibition. FRAP, beta carotene, and DPPH assays supported the findings from the ethanol extract as it exhibited good overall antioxidant activity. The antioxidant properties have been said to reduce free radicals that are able to oxidize lipoproteins which are the cause of atherosclerosis. Phytochemical screenings revealed the presence of terpenoid, steroid, flavonoid, and phenolic compounds as the responsible group of compound(s), working individually or synergistically, within the extract to prevent binding of HMG-CoA to HMG-CoA reductase