Study of CFSES software compliance with Iranian national standards for fire safety assessment of commercial complexes

Background and Aims: The extent of fire incidents in commercial complexes has increased the importance of assessing their fire safety status. The American National Fire Protection Association has provided CFSES software for assessing the fire safety of integrated complexes. However, the applicability of this software to assess the safety of commercial fireplaces in Iran should be measured in accordance with national regulations and laws.Materials and Methods: In the first phase, the applicability of CFSES software to assess the fire safety in commercial complexes in Iran was carefully examined. In the second phase, the fire safety rules applicable to the commercial complexes of Iran were identified and listed quantitatively and qualitatively. In the third phase, by comparing the software and the content of the rules, software compliance with national standards was assessed. All stages of the study were conducted in accordance with ethical standards.Results: The rules cover all of the 12 evaluated parameters in the CFSES software. The software does not consider the parameters of the manpower population, the type of activity, the safety of electricity and waste, repairs, maintenance, and the availability of non-gazebo fire-fighting equipment, as detailed in the fire prevention and fire prevention regulations in workshops.Conclusion: According to the results, the CFSES software elements provide an appropriate coverage for the assessment of the fire safety of business complexes. For more precise evaluation of commercial and manufacturing complexes, parameters such as manpower and type of activity, status of electrical and waste safety, maintenance and maintenance should be included in the evaluation.

بررسی انطباق نرم‌افزارCFSES با مقررات ملی ایران برای ارزیابی ایمنی حریق مجتمع‌های تجاری

Background and Aims: The extent of fire incidents in commercial complexes has increased the importance of assessing their fire safety status. The American National Fire Protection Association has provided CFSES software for assessing the fire safety of integrated complexes. However, the applicability of this software to assess the safety of commercial fireplaces in Iran should be measured in accordance with national regulations and laws. Materials and Methods: In the first phase, the applicability of CFSES software to assess the fire safety in commercial complexes in Iran was carefully examined. In the second phase, the fire safety rules applicable to the commercial complexes of Iran were identified and listed quantitatively and qualitatively. In the third phase, by comparing the software and the content of the rules, software compliance with national standards was assessed. All stages of the study were conducted in accordance with ethical standards. Results: The rules cover all of the 12 evaluated parameters in the CFSES software. The software does not consider the parameters of the manpower population, the type of activity, the safety of electricity and waste, repairs, maintenance, and the availability of non-gazebo fire-fighting equipment, as detailed in the fire prevention and fire prevention regulations in workshops. Conclusion: According to the results, the CFSES software elements provide an appropriate coverage for the assessment of the fire safety of business complexes. For more precise evaluation of commercial and manufacturing complexes, parameters such as manpower and type of activity, status of electrical and waste safety, maintenance and maintenance should be included in the evaluation.زمینه و اهداف: بروز متعدد حوادث حریق در مجتمع‌های تجاری، اهمیت ارزیابی وضعیت ایمنی حریق آنها را بیش از پیش نموده است. انجمن ملی حفاظت از حریق آمریکا، نرم‌افزار CFSES را جهت ارزیابی ریسک ایمنی حریق مجتمع‌ها ارائه کرده است. لیکن قابلیت کاربرد این نرم‌افزار برای ارزیابی ریسک ایمنی حریق مجتمع‌های تجاری در ایران باید با توجه به مقررات و قوانین ملی سنجش گردد. مواد و روش‌ها: در فاز اول، قابلیت کاربرد نرم‌افزار CFSES جهت ارزیابی ریسک ایمنی حریق مجتمع‌های تجاری در ایران به دقت بررسی گردید. فاز دوم، قوانین ایمنی حریق قابل کاربرد در مجتمع‌های تجاری ایران شناسایی و به لحاظ کمی و کیفی فهرست‌بندی و در فاز سوم با مقایسه نرم‌افزار و محتوای قوانین، انطباق نرم‌افزار با قوانین ملی ارزیابی گردید. تمامی مراحل مطالعه حاضر طبق موازین اخلاقی اجرا گردید. یافته‌ها: قوانین موجود در مجموع تمامی 12‌پارامتر مورد ارزیابی در نرم‌افزارCFSES  را پوشش می‌دهد. نرم‌افزار پارامتر‌های جمعیت نیروی انسانی، نوع فعالیت، وضعیت ایمنی برق و پسماند، تعمیرات، نگهداری و وجود تجهیزات اطفا غیر از آبفشان‎ها را مورد ملاحظه قرار نمی‌دهد که مفصلا تنها در آیین‌نامه پیشگیری و مبارزه با آتش‌سوزی در کارگاه‌ها ذکر شده است. نتیجه‌گیری: طبق نتایج، عناصر اطلاعاتی موجود در نرم‌افزار CFSES برای ارزیابی ریسک ایمنی حریق ساختمان مجتمع‌های تجاری پوشش لازم را ایجاد می­کند. برای ارزیابی دقیق­تر در مجتمع‌های تجاری با ماهیت کارگاهی و تولیدی، بایستی پارامترهایی همچون نیروی انسانی، نوع فعالیت، وضعیت ایمنی برق و پسماند، تعمیرات و نگهداری در ارزیابی گنجانده شود کلید واژه ها: ارزیابی ریسک حریق، ایمنی حریق، مقررات ایمنی، نرمافزارCFSES، استاندارد NFPA10

Identification of factors affecting safety culture in Iranian thermal power plants

Introduction: safety culture is a term which is used repeatedly in the assessment of safety status of companies. The aim of present study was to investigate the parameters and factors influencing organizational safety culture in the Iranian thermal power plants industry. Method: Triangulation approach was used for data generation in this grounded theory study. Nineteen participants from a variety of work groups at three thermal power plants of Iran (Shazand, Shahid rajaei Ghazvin and ramin Ahwaz) took part in focus group interviews, individual interviews, field observations, and focus group discussions. Thematic analysis was conducted to emerge and identify the contributing factors.  Results: The thematic analysis identified 9 sets of parameters in achieving the safety culture as follows: (1) training, briefing and competency (2) vision, leadership and commitment (3) lows, rules and work procedures (4) safety and crisis management (5) individual agents (6) Management style and organizational communication (7) participation and commitment of personnel, supervisors and middle managements. (8) Non organizational agents (9) to make available of foundations and source managements Conclusion: The results indicated that an improvement in each parameter is necessary to achieve top safety culture. Moreover, proportionate to the conditions of each company in the periods set, should be taken for the betterment actions of safety status and accomplishing pre-determined targets

The role of individual and psychological differences in the occurrence of unsafe behaviors: a cross-sectional study between the employees of a turbine manufacturing company

Introduction: Human beings are inherently different and this fact can affect his/her behavior in work environments. The aim of this study was to examine the individual differences of employees (personality traits, biological and demographic factors) as a predictor of unsafe behaviors in a turbine manufacturing company. Material and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, safety behavior sampling technique, NEO-FFI questionnaire, demographic information questionnaire, BMI and cell type method were used to determine unsafe behaviors, personality traits, demographic variables, body mass index and blood group system, respectively. The statistical sample of the study was 260 employees of a turbine manufacturing industry. The SPSS software version 20 was used to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that 44.5% of employees’ behaviors were unsafe. There was a significant relationship between the occurrence of unsafe behaviors with smoking, BMI, blood type and neuroticism and agreeableness dimensions measured by NEO-FFI (p < 0.05). BMI was the most important predictorof unsafe behaviors in the present study. Conclusion: Due to the role of individual differences in people’s tendency to unsafe behaviors, the results of this study can be considered in job design, screening of personnel according to their individual differences, and perform better interventions to prevent accidents at work

به سوی بهبود مدیریت ریسک: مروری بر الگوهای اولویت بندی راهکارهای کنترل ریسک و ارائه یک چارچوب مفهومی جدید

Nowadays, the vital role of risk management process in controlling hazards is evident. One of the main goals of this process is sought to control hazards through risk control measures. It seems, however, that the vital problem of evaluating risk control measures has been less studied. As a result, from a pool of risk control measures some are chosen and implemented just mentally without any evaluation or theoretical background. This problem can be considered as a critical factor in the risk management process due to resource restrictions of an organization. Given the importance of the process of evaluating risk control measures and ignoring it in most risk management processes, we reviewed advantages and disadvantages of the classification and prioritizing patterns of control measures extracted from literature. A conceptual framework was also proposed to develop a practical and comprehensive method in the process of evaluating risk control measures. Ethical considerations were observed in all stages of the study. The results revealed that most of the evaluation methods designed for risk control measures are not able to prioritize them accurately due to the use of inappropriate or limited criteria and methods. Based on the conceptual framework developed, it was suggested to create a practical and comprehensive method with regard to risk factors, quality factors (effectiveness, cost, reliability, duration, usability, and applicability) and Haddon hazard control matrix using multi-criteria decision-making methods in order to evaluate control measures.امروزه نقش حیاتی فرآیند مدیریت ریسک در کنترل خطرات برکسی پوشیده نیست. یکی از اهداف اصلی این فرآیند، کنترل خطرات با استفاده از راهکارهای کنترلی می­باشد. اما به نظر می­رسد بحث مهم ارزیابی راهکارهای کنترلی کمتر مورد بررسی قرار گرفته شده باشد. در نتیجه از میان انبوه راهکارهای کنترلی پیشنهاد شده، تعدادی بدون ارزیابی مدون و دارای پشتوانه تئوریکی و تنها به صورت ذهنی انتخاب و اجرا می­شوند. این موضوع باتوجه به محدودیت‌های منابع سازمان می­تواند به عنوان یک عامل بحرانی در فرآیند مدیریت ریسک به&nbsp; شمار آید. لذا در این مطالعه با توجه به اهمیت بالای فرآیند ارزیابی راهکارهای کنترل ریسک و نادیده انگاشته شدن آن در اکثر فرآیندهای مدیریت ریسک، در قالب یک مطالعه مروری به بررسی مزیت‌ها و معایب الگوهای دسته­بندی و اولویت­بندی راهکارهای کنترلی استخراج شده از متون پرداخته شد. همچنین یک چارچوب مفهومی به منظور توسعه روشی کاربردی و جامع در فرایند ارزیابی راهکارهای کنترل ریسک ارائه گردید. ملاحظات اخلاقی در تمام مراحل اجرای مطالعه رعایت شد. نتایج این مطلعه نشان داد، اغلب الگوها و روش­های ارزیابی راهکارهای کنترل ریسک یا قادر به اولویت­بندی دقیق راهکارهای کنترلی به علت استفاده از معیارها و روش­های نامناسب نیستند و یا اینکه به شدت محدود می­باشند. براساس چارچوب مفهومی بدست آمده پیشنهاد شد، روشی کاربردی و جامع با توجه به عناصر ریسک، عناصر کیفیت (همچون هزینه و مدت زمان اجرای راهکار کنترلی، قابلیت اطمینان، کاربردپذیری و قابلیت اجرای راهکار) و ماتریس کنترل خطرات Haddon با بهره‌گیری از روش­های تصمیم­گیری چند معیاره جهت ارزیابی راهکارهای کنترلی ارائه گردد

Persistent effects of mobile phone conversation while driving after disconnect: Physiological evidence and driving performance

Cognitive workload has been known as a key factor in traffic accidents, which can be highly increased by talking on the phone while driving. A wide range of studies around the world investigated the effects of mobile phone conversations on driving performance and traffic accidents. But less noticed is the durability of cognitive effects of mobile phone conversations. This study aimed to determine the effects of different types of mobile phone conversations on physiological response and driving performance during and after the conversation. Heart rate, heart rate variability (physiological response), Standard deviation of lane position (SDLP), and the relative distance between two cars (driving performance) of 34 samples (male and female) in the driving simulator were recorded. In this study, three types of conversations (neutral, cognitive, and arousal) were used. Neutral conversation did not pursue specific purpose questions. Cognitive conversations were simple mathematical problem-solving questions and arousal conversations aimed at arousing participant emotions. Each conversation was used as a secondary task in a condition. The study had three conditions; in each condition the participant drove for 15 min. Each condition consisted of 5 min of driving (Background), 5 min of driving and conversation (dual tasks) and 5 min of driving after conversation to trace the effects of the conversation. Vehicle speed was 110 km/h in each of the three conditions using car-following scenario. The results showed that neutral conversations had no significant effects on physiological response. Though, arousal conversations had significant effects on physiological responsiveness and driving performance during conversations, where it was even more significant after disconnection. Therefore, the content of the conversation determines the amount of cognitive load imposed on the driver. Considering the persistence of cognitive effects caused by conversation, the risk of traffic accidents is still high even after disconnection

Determination of Key Safety Performance Indicators Using Delphi Method: A Case Study on Electricity Distribution Company in Alborz Province

Introduction: Many general indicators have been proposed to assess an organization’s safety performance. However, due to their holistic nature, these indicators may not always reflect safety-specific aspects of an organization’s performance. In other words, the nature of an organization’s activities necessitates the use of specific criteria to better reflect safety performance. This study aimed to identify and measure key safety performance indicators using the Delphi method in Alborz Province Electric Power Distribution Company. Material and Methods: This descriptive, survey-based study utilized the Delphi method to collect the opinions of 11 safety experts in the electric power distribution industry. Opinions were gathered in four phases, and key indicators were determined in the last phase of the study. These indicators were subsequently used to evaluate the safety performance of Alborz Electric Power Distribution Company for three months. Results: This study identified and documented 34 safety activities. The expert group proposed 20 indicators in the first phase of the Delphi method. In the second and third phases, four and one indicators were eliminated, respectively, because they did not receive the required score. The content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) were calculated for the remaining 15 indices in the fourth phase. The results revealed that the mean quarterly performance scores of Alborz Province electric power distribution districts and departments in 2016, including Nazarabad, Savojbolagh, Mehrshahr, Fardis, West, East, Taleghan, and Eshtehard, were 78.9, 54.7, 78.8, 75.9, 75.7, 80.8, 61, and 83.5 out of 100 points, respectively. Conclusion: The Delphi method is useful for identifying key safety performance indicators. The indicators discovered using this technique are active indicators (pre-accident) that are crucial in determining Alborz Electric Power Distribution Company’s safety performance. These indicators are suggested for use in evaluating the safety performance of other electric power distribution companies

Investigating the Impact of Establishing Integrated Management Systems on Accidents and Safety Performance Indices: A Case Study

Background: Increasing the establishment of integrated management systems (IMSs) is done with the purpose of leaving traditional management methods and replacing them with modern management methods. Thus, the present study sought to analyze the events and investigate the impact of IMS on health and safety performance indices in an Iranian combined cycle power plants. Methods: This case study was conducted in 2012 in all units of the Yazd Combined Cycle Power Plant on accident victims before and after the implementation of IMS. For data analysis and prediction of indices after the implementation of IMS, descriptive statistics and Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, Chi-square, linear regression, and Cubic tests were conducted using SPSS software. Results: The number of people employed in the power plant in an 8-year period (2004–2011) was 1,189, and 287 cases of work-related accidents were recorded. The highest accident frequency rate and accident severity rate were in 2004 (32.65) and 2008 (209), respectively. Safe T-score reached to below −3 during 2010–2011. In addition, given the regression results, the relation between all predictor variables with outcomes was significant (p < 0.05), except for the variable X1 belonging to the accident severity rate index. Conclusion: The implementation of safety programs especially that of IMS and its annual audits has had a significant impact on reducing accident indices and improving safety within the study period. Accordingly, health and safety management systems are appropriate tools for reducing accident rate, and the use of regression models and accident indices is also a suitable way for monitoring safety performance. Keywords: Integrated management systems, Occupational accident, Power plant, Safety performance indice

تعيين ميزان آلودگي سطح داخلي ماسک هايN95 استفاده شده توسط پرسنل درماني يک واحد مراقبت هاي ويژه در ايران به هنگام شيوع کوويد-91

Background and Objectives: Healthcare workers in the hospitals are in front line of contact with SARS-CoV-2. Then protection of healthcare workers is a critical point for maintenance of public health. Since correct use of mask and leakage of virus from the sides into the mask play an important role for mask efficiency, in this study inner surface of N95 mask with SARS-COV-2 was evaluated. Materials and Methods: The inner surface of N95 (JSP 822ML model) masks in the health workers of an intensive care unit from Tehran for SARS-COV-2 contamination was determined. Ethics was emphasized by research license receiving, health and safety caring.SARS-COV-2 test was presented negative in studied subjects based on the heath records. All of samples was evaluated after a shift work use of mask by a sterile swab. The RNA of SARS-CoV-2 in samples was surveyed based on the real time reverse transcription-PCR. Results: Studied intensive care unit was contaminated by eleven confirmed COVID-19. All of health workers performed health hygiene protocols and used N95 mask in a shift (12 hours) continuously. Health workers monitor patients in the distance lower than o.5 m. However, all of swab samples from inner surface of used N95 face mask were presented negative results for SARS-CoV-2 detection. Conclusion: Due to the negative SARS-COV-2 test in subjects and results of virus detection in inner surface of masks, there are not considerable leakages into the masks. Personal protective equipment is the last suggestion in the occupational safety, continuous and correct use of N95 mask has been recommended as the most important part of health protocol for respiratory protecting against SARS-COV-2. Moreover, training of health care workers for correct use of protective mask has been recommended. &nbsp; How to cite this article: Pouyakian M, Zendehdel R, Moradpour Z, Bokharaei-Salim F, Helmi-kohnehshahri M, Taherianfar Z. Inter-Surface Contamination of Utilized N95 Masks in Healthcare Workers of an Intensive Care Unit of in Iran during Covid-19 Outbreak. Irtiqa Imini Pishgiri Masdumiyat. 2021;9(3):177-82. &nbsp; &nbsp;سابقه و هدف: پرسنل بهداشت و درمان در خط اول تماس با بیماران کووید-19 می‌باشند. لذا حمایت های مناسب و پیشگیرانه از پرسنل درمانی در حفظ سلامت عمومی از اهمیت بالایی برخورداراست. از آنجایی‌که پوشیدن صحیح ماسک حفاظتی و نشت از حاشیه‌های ماسک به داخل نقش مهمی در کارآیی ماسک دارد، به همین دلیل در این مطالعه میزان آلودگی سطح داخلی ماسک N 95 &nbsp;استفاده شده توسط پرسنل درمانی به سارس-کووید 2 ارزیابی شد. روش بررسی: سطح داخلی ماسک N 95 (شرکت JSP و مدل 882 ML) استفاده شده در پرسنل درمانی و مراقبتی یک بخش مراقبت‌های ویژه از بیماران بستری کووید 19 در یکی از بیمارستان‌های تهران برای تعیین سارس-کووید 2 ارزیابی شد. در این مطالعه ملاحظات اخلاقی همچون کسب مجوز انجام تحقیق، رعایت اصول بهداشتی و ایمنی رعایت گردید. بررسی پرونده بهداشتی پرسنل نشان داد، تست ابتلا به سارس-کووید-2 در پرسنل مطالعه شده منفی گزارش شده است. همه‌ی نمونه‌ها بعد از استفاده‌ی ماسک در انتهای یک شیفت کاری با کمک سوآپ استریل تهیه گردید. شناسایی ویروس سارس-کووید-2 با استفاده از روش RT-PCR برای شناسایی RNA ویروس در نمونه‌ها انجام شد. یافته‌ها: در زمان نمونه برداری 11 بیمار قطعی مبتلا به کووید 19 در بخش مراقبت‌های ویژه بستری بودند. تمامی پرسنل مراقبتی و درمانی پروتکل‌های بهداشتی را به دقت رعایت نموده و ماسک‌ها را در یک شیفت کاری 12 ساعته به طور مداوم استفاده کردند. کارکنان مراقبتی و درمانی در فواصل کمتر از 0/5 متر رسیدگی‌های معمول در خصوص بیماران را انجام می‌دادند. بررسی‌های انجام یافته نشان داد سطح داخلی هیچ‌کدام از نمونه‌های تهیه شده آلوده نبود و نتایج شناسایی ویروس منفی گزارش شد. نتیجه‌گیری: با توجه به منفی بودن تست ابتلا به سارس-کووید-2 در پرسنل مطالعه شده و عدم شناسایی ویروس در سطح داخلی ماسک‌ها می توان گفت در این مطالعه احتمال نشت از حاشیه‌ی ماسک به سطح داخلی آن قابل‌توجه نمی‌باشد. وسایل حفاظت فردی به عنوان آخرین اقدام حفاظتی در مشاغل مطرح است ولی استفاده مداوم و صحیح از ماسک N 95 &nbsp;به عنوان مهمترین راهکار در پروتکل‌های بهداشتی برای حفاظت از مسیر تنفسی در برابر سارس–کووید-2 پیشنهاد می‌گردد. همچنین توصیه می‌شود استفاده‌ی صحیح از ماسک‌های حفاظتی به کارکنان مراقبت‌های بهداشتی آموزش داده شود. &nbsp; How to cite this article: Pouyakian M, Zendehdel R, Moradpour Z, Bokharaei-Salim F, Helmi-kohnehshahri M, Taherianfar Z. Inter-Surface Contamination of Utilized N95 Masks in Healthcare Workers of an Intensive Care Unit of in Iran during Covid-19 Outbreak. Irtiqa Imini Pishgiri Masdumiyat. 2021;9(3):177-82. &nbsp