The effect of hot days on occupational heat stress in the manufacturing industry: implications for workers' well-being and productivity

Climate change is expected to exacerbate heat stress at the workplace in temperate regions, such as Slovenia. It is therefore of paramount importance to study present and future summer heat conditions and analyze the impact of heat on workers. A set of climate indices based on summer mean (Tmean) and maximum (Tmax) air temperatures, such as the number of hot days (HD: Tmax above 30 °C), and Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) were used to account for heat conditions in Slovenia at six locations in the period 1981–2010. Observed trends (1961–2011) of Tmean and Tmax in July were positive, being larger in the eastern part of the country. Climate change projections showed an increase up to 4.5 °C for mean temperature and 35 days for HD by the end of the twenty-first century under the high emission scenario. The increase in WBGT was smaller, although sufficiently high to increase the frequency of days with a high risk of heat stress up to an average of a third of the summer days. A case study performed at a Slovenian automobile parts manufacturing plant revealed non-optimal working conditions during summer 2016 (WBGT mainly between 20 and 25 °C). A survey conducted on 400 workers revealed that 96% perceived the temperature conditions as unsuitable, and 56% experienced headaches and fatigue. Given these conditions and climate change projections, the escalating problem of heat is worrisome. The European Commission initiated a program of research within the Horizon 2020 program to develop a heat warning system for European workers and employers, which will incorporate case-specific solutions to mitigate heat stress.The work was supported by the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Action (Project number 668786: HEATSHIELD)

Brief psychosocial education, not core stabilization, reduced incidence of low back pain: results from the Prevention of Low Back Pain in the Military (POLM) cluster randomized trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Effective strategies for the primary prevention of low back pain (LBP) remain elusive with few large-scale clinical trials investigating exercise and education approaches. The purpose of this trial was to determine whether core stabilization alone or in combination with psychosocial education prevented incidence of low back pain in comparison to traditional lumbar exercise.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The Prevention of Low Back Pain in the Military study was a cluster randomized clinical study with four intervention arms and a two-year follow-up. Participants were recruited from a military training setting from 2007 to 2008. Soldiers in 20 consecutive companies were considered for eligibility (n = 7,616). Of those, 1,741 were ineligible and 1,550 were eligible but refused participation. For the 4,325 Soldiers enrolled with no previous history of LBP average age was 22.0 years (SD = 4.2) and there were 3,082 males (71.3%). Companies were randomly assigned to receive traditional lumbar exercise, traditional lumbar exercise with psychosocial education, core stabilization exercise, or core stabilization with psychosocial education, The psychosocial education session occurred during one session and the exercise programs were done daily for 5 minutes over 12 weeks. The primary outcome for this trial was incidence of low back pain resulting in the seeking of health care.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were no adverse events reported. Evaluable patient analysis (4,147/4,325 provided data) indicated no differences in low back incidence resulting in the seeking of health care between those receiving the traditional exercise and core stabilization exercise programs. However, brief psychosocial education prevented low back pain episodes regardless of the assigned exercise approach, resulting in a 3.3% (95% CI: 1.1 to 5.5%) decrease over two years (numbers needed to treat (NNT) = 30.3, 95% CI = 18.2 to 90.9).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Core stabilization has been advocated as preventative, but offered no such benefit when compared to traditional lumbar exercise in this trial. Instead, a brief psychosocial education program that reduced fear and threat of low back pain decreased incidence of low back pain resulting in the seeking of health care. Since this trial was conducted in a military setting, future studies are necessary to determine if these findings can be translated into civilian populations.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p><a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00373009">NCT00373009</a> at ClinicalTrials.gov - <url>http://clinicaltrials.gov/</url></p

Classifications of atmospheric circulation patterns: Recent Advances and Applications

We review recent advances in classifications of circulation patterns as a specific research area within synoptic climatology. The review starts with a general description of goals of classification and the historical development in the field. We put circulation classifications into a broader context within climatology and systematize the varied methodologies and approaches. We characterize three basic groups of classifications, subjective (also called manual), mixed (hybrid), and objective (computer-assisted, automated). The roles of cluster analysis and principal component analysis in the classification process are clarified. Several recent methodological developments in circulation classifications are identified and briefly described: the introduction of nonlinear methods, objectivization of subjective catalogues, efforts to optimize classifications, the need for intercomparisons of classifications, and the progress towards an optimum, if possible unified, classification method. Among the recent tendencies in the applications of circulation classifications, we mention a more extensive use in climate studies, both of past, present, and future climates, innovative applications in the ensemble forecasting, increasing variety of synoptic-climatological investigations, and steps above from the troposphere. After introducing the international activity within the field of circulation classifications, the COST733 Action, we briefly describe outputs of the inventory of classifications in Europe, which was carried out within it. Approaches to the evaluation of classifications and their mutual comparisons are also reviewed. A considerable part of the review is devoted to three examples of applications of circulation classifications: in historical climatology, in analyses of recent climate variations, and analyses of outputs from global climate models.status: publishe

The Role of GIS, Mobile App and Satellite Technologies to Enhance Data Collection Process: A Case of Environmental Factors and Epidemics Linkages

A research article was submitted to Smart Cities/Smart Regions – Technische, wirtschaftliche und gesellschaftliche Innovationen, 2019Enhancement of health data collection and presentation to support epidemic analysis can benefit many aspects of healthcare in terms of diseases control, decision making and action to be taken. The epidemic analysis is the science that studies the patterns, causes, and effects of health and diseases conditions in defined populations. In most hospitals, there is increasing demand to improve quality of data, the efficiency of collection and presentation. In this study, we aim at integrating new module in the existing Health Information System (HIS) in order to improve data collection and presentation. The module takes advantage of the emerging technologies of mobile application, satellite technology and Geographical Information System (GIS) to capture environmental data. As part of the module we have developed, the mobile app which is integrated with GIS and satellite technology for remote data collection and hence the module can play a vital role in enhancing epidemic analysis