HOSPITAL DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF URMIA HOSPITALS

 Objective: This study has been conducted with the aim of assessing the risk management category and its status in hospital from the perspective of senior managers in Urmia hospitals considering the existing scientific gap and the importance of the issue for the health system and society.Methods: This cross-sectional research was conducted in all 12 hospitals in Urmia. Participants in the research included 37 senior hospital managers. Data gathering instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire with Likert scale. Content validity and reliability of the tool (Cronbach's alpha coefficient) have been also measured in a similar study. This tool has been designed in two parts: Demographic specifications and items (44 questions). Kolmogorov-Smirnov, ANOVA one-way, independent t-test, and Spearman tests were used in SPSS 20 software for statistical analysis.Results: The average of total score of all risk management components was equal to 3.0445, which is in moderate level. According to ANOVA one-way test, there was no significant relationship between the organizational status of managers and their education level with any of the risk management components. Furthermore, it was specified using independent t-test, there is no statistically significant relationship between gender and risk management components. It was specified using Pearson correlation test; there is a statistically significant relationship between gender and education level as well as individual's organizational status (p-value: 0.001).Conclusion: Studied hospitals have suffered from the lack of risk management. There is not enough knowledge in this regard among senior hospital managers, and therefore, due to the importance of this issue, needed policies and programs should be provided to all hospital managers and needed supporting and education should be provided in regard to the implementation of risk management measures

Evaluation of Health, Safety and Environment status using SWOT matrix to provide continuous improvement strategies: A case study in municipality of Qazvin

AbstractBackground and aims: According to the identification of more than one hundred types of jobs in the municipalities, evaluation of adverse factors that each job face with them isn’t possible without systematic model of identifying hazards. In this study, weaknesses, strengths, opportunities and threats (SWOT) to the health, safety and environment (HSE) management was introduced. Based on the results obtained, the HSE situation in Qazvin municipality (12 units) was evaluated.Materials and methods: Two tables concerning internal and external factors are used in the SWOT analysis. The sum of scores in both tables is in the range of 1 to 4, and the status is appraised as positive when the score is higher than 2.5. All necessary arrangements made well in advance. Ethical issues were also all considered in all stages of research.Results: The scores obtained in the evaluation of internal and external factors were often less than 2.5. The mean scores of internal and external factors evaluation were 2.37 and 2.42, respectively. The highest score in internal factors was 2.95 belonging to Qazvin municipality's parks and green spaces. Also, the highest score of external factors was 3.1 belonging to the organization of transport and traffic administration of Qazvin municipality.Conclusion: The HSE situation in half of Qazvin municipality's units was considered undesirable based on SWOT matrix (district 4); and therefore, they should adopt defensive strategies to improve their HSE status. Other organizations were in the shift (2 units) or diversification (4 units) strategies. The results ofpresent study revealed that SWOT analysis can be used as an effective management tool to determine thestatus and management of HSE as well as continuous improvement strategies.Keywords: HSE, Strategic management, External factors, Internal factors, SWOT matrix, Qazvin municipalityFor downloading the full text please click her

Risks management of Tube Bundle heat exchanger in the petrochemical industries using the Risk-Based Inspection approach

زمینه و اهداف: در حوزه نفت، گاز و پتروشیمی یکی از مهم‌ترین دغدغه‌ها، شناسایی مخاطرات و اتخاذ تدابیر سازنده در جهت مدیریت آن‌ها است. تیوب باندل یکی از زیر تجهیزهای مهم در مبدل‌های حرارتی می‌باشد که هرگونه آسیبی در آن منجر به اختلال در عملکرد مبدل حرارتی و درنهایت توقف فرآیند می‌گردد. این پژوهش با هدف شناسایی و مدیریت ریسک‌های خرابی زیر تجهیز تیوب باندل با استفاده از روش بازرسی بر مبنای ریسک (Risk-Based Inspection: RBI) به انجام رسید. مواد و روش‌ها: در این پژوهش از روش آنالیز نیمه کمی بازرسی بر مبنای ریسک، در جهت مدیریت ریسک‌های خرابی و بهینه‌سازی برنامه‌های بازرسی تیوب باندل (TB) مبدل حرارتی EA-1101 استفاده شد. اطلاعات ‌پایه زیرتجهیز برای انجام RBI جمع‌آوری و پس از انجام عملیات نرم‌افزاری، خروجی‌ها تفسیر و درنهایت برنامه بازرسی ارائه گردید. تمام مراحل مطالعه حاضر طبق موازین اخلاقی اجرا گردید. یافته‌ها: نتایج آنالیز RBI نشان داد که حالت خرابی تیوب باندل، کاهش ضخامت موضعی یا یکنواخت و مکانیزم خرابی آن کاهش ضخامت عمومی (یکنواخت) و خوردگی آب‌خنک کننده می‌باشد. سطح ریسک آن متوسط (3C) و اثربخشی روش‌های بازرسی تعیین‌شده مطابق با طبقه‌بندی استاندارد API-581 در طبقه بسیار اثربخش (A) و معمولاً اثربخش (B) قرار دارد. نتیجه‌گیری: نتایج حاکی از آن است این روش می‌تواند مکانیزم های خرابی را با قابلیت اطمینان بالایی شناسایی نموده و برنامه‌های بازرسی اثربخش با برنامه‌های عملیاتی صحیح در راستای مدیریت ریسک این گونه تجهیزات ارایه دهد. کلید واژه ها: بازرسی بر مبنای ریسک (RBI)، آنالیز نیمه کمی، تیوب باندل (TB)، اثربخشیBackground and Aims: Identification of hazards and taking constructive measures for their management are a cause for concern in the fields of oil, gas and petrochemical industries. Tube bundle is one of the most important sub-equipments in heat exchangers, where any damage to it could lead to a disturbance in the performance of the heat exchanger stopping the process. The purpose of this study is to identify and manage the failure risks of tubular bundle EA-1101 by using Risk-Based Inspection (RBI). Materials and Methods: Semi- quantitative analysis of risk - based inspection method was used to manage the risk of failure and optimize the inspection of tube bundle (TB) of heat exchange. Necessary information of EA-1101 was collected to carry out the RBI and finally the inspection program was determined using RBI software. All stages of this research were conducted ethically. Results: The results of the RBI analysis showed that the tube bundle failure was occurred in the form of local thickness or uniform reduction. Also, general thinning (uniform) and cooling water corrosion were considered as failure mechanism. The risk level of this sub-equipment was medium (3C) and the effectiveness of inspection method was classified as Highly Effective (A) and Usually Effective (B), according to the API-581 standard. Conclusion: The results showed that suggested method can identify failure mechanisms of these types of equipment with high reliability and high effectiveness inspection program with corrective action plans to manage the risks

Preparedness components of health systems in the Eastern Mediterranean Region for effective responses to dust and sand storms: a systematic review [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]

Background: Dust and Sand Storm (DSS), according to estimates by global reports, will increase dramatically in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). Numerous health problems caused by DSS will be severely affected regions and vulnerable groups. This study aimed to identify the components of the preparedness of health systems for the DSS phenomenon in EMR. Methods: In this systematic review, the peer-reviewed papers in four electronic databases, including Medline through PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science and the Cochrane library, as well as available grey literature, were searched and selected. The research process was carried out by including papers whose results were related to the potential health effects caused by desert dusts in EMR. Was used the combination of three groups of keywords: the exposure factor, health effects as outcomes, and the countries located in EMR. The focus was on the PRISMA checklist, with no time limitations until December 2017. Finally, through 520 related citations, 30 articles were included. Descriptive and thematic content analyses were evaluated. Results: The preparedness components were divided into three and ten main categories and subcategories, respectively. The three categories covered the areas of DSS hazard identification, planning and policy-making, and risk assessment. Conclusions: Recognition of the health system preparedness factors for DSS in EMR will help policy-makers and managers perform appropriate measures when dealing with this hazard. More studies should be conducted to understand these factors in other parts of the world. Registration: PROSPERO registration number CRD42018093325

The Impacts of Ergonomic Aspects on the Quality

In recent times, the relationship between quality and ergonomics discipline is a challenging topic. Although there are similarities and differences between these two areas, it is not so easy to describe the connection between these two issues. In this study by surveying several articles, different areas of ergonomics are divided into five categories including hardware ergonomics, environmental ergonomics, software ergonomics, work design ergonomics and macro ergonomics, then the impact on the quality of each of these areas will be discussed. Finally, the article concludes that, to reach an acceptable quality considering the ergonomic principles is an integral component of the organization policy

Reproductive health in the recent disasters of Iran: a management perspective

Abstract Background Natural disasters represent critical threats to the health, safety, and well-being of a community—including reproductive health, which has been neglected in disaster-stricken regions. The current study was undertaken to explore administrative issues related to post-disaster reproductive health systems in Iran. Methods A qualitative approach using in-depth unstructured interviews was applied to explore the administrative issues of reproductive health systems in the affected regions. A total of 22 participants were interviewed using the purposeful sampling method. Data were collected in three provinces: East Azerbaijan, Bushehr, and Mazandaran. Transcribed interviews were analyzed using the conventional content analysis. Results Six categories of management issues of reproductive health in disasters were extracted from data. These categories were: ignoring cultural factors, lack of planning, lack of training, insufficient data collection, ignoring male reproductive health, and lack of monitoring systems. Conclusion Different challenges to reproductive health management that emerged from the research should be considered and included in reproductive health plans and policies in disaster-affected regions in Iran. Involving community in all processes of providing reproductive health services, from planning to monitoring, is highly suggested

The Role of Age and Work Experience on Fatigue, Health, and Social Well-being of Employees; a Case Study of Iran Railway Transportation Employees

Introduction: This research investigated the relationship of fatigue, health, and social well-being with demographic variables among Iran railroad operators. Methods: In this regard, 500 locomotive engineers and conductors were randomly selected out of 2400. Then, 413 of the selected participants answered job-organizational factors of locomotive engineers and conductor's questionnaire as well as the personal data sheet, completely. Cronbach&rsquo;s alpha of the questionnaire was 0.891. Its validity was confirmed through pilot study on 50 participants and specialist (CVI = 0.95). Results: For analyzing demographic data, correlation, t-test, and one-way ANOVA tests were conducted through the SPSS 20 software. Results showed that there are statistically significant relationships between employee&rsquo;s age and their fatigue, social well-being and salary, health and work system and fatigue, health and social well-being with job position and work experience (p < 0/001). Conclusion: Furthermore, it was observed that these variables are not significantly related with participants' marital status, having children, kind of passed training, and education

Effective factors on outbreaks of food and water borne diseases in Iran: a trend analysis

Waterborne and foodborne diseasesare a major global publichealth concern. This study wasconducted to identify affecting factors on waterborneand food borne outbreaks and analyzing its trend in Iran.A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out usingwaterborne and foodborne disease national surveillancesystem data from 2015-2016, which have been reportedby all provincial health centers to the Center for CommunicableDisease Control of the ministry of health. Collecteddata were analyzed using SPSS version 16 software. Atotal of 5, 500 water and food borne outbreaks reportedin Iran. Analyzed data showed that the outbreak rate was4.14/100000 in 2015 to 2.7/100000 population in 2016in Iran. According to laboratory results, the most frequentmicrobial pathogens which were sources of outbreaks includedEscherichia Coli, Shigella, Entamoeba Histolytica,Salmonella, Hepatitis A virus and Vibrio NAG (Non AgglutinatingGroups). The highest frequency of outbreak occurredin rural areas (56.1%). The most commonly reportedsymptoms were abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea.Qazvin, Zanjan and Kermanshah were three provincesthat reported more outbreaks than nationally outbreakincidence rate during 2015 -2016. Trend analysis of reportedWaterborne and foodborne diseases in Iran showeda seasonal pattern, particularly increased in autumn. Occurrenceof this outbreaks in many provinces with higherincidence need to root cause analysis and interventionssubsequently. These interventions should be carried outboth at the level of health policy-makers to set appropriate,evidence-based priorities in the area of water and foodsafety and at the community level. Using syndromic surveillancedata for outbreak detection, active case-finding,timely diagnosis, accurate treatment, patients monitoringalong with public health education are highly recommended.Rational use and prescription of drugs inhibits antibioticresistance and can reduce the cost of therapeutic ofthese diseases

Effective factors on outbreaks of food and water borne diseases in Iran: a trend analysis

Waterborne and foodborne diseasesare a major global publichealth concern. This study wasconducted to identify affecting factors on waterborneand food borne outbreaks and analyzing its trend in Iran.A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out usingwaterborne and foodborne disease national surveillancesystem data from 2015-2016, which have been reportedby all provincial health centers to the Center for CommunicableDisease Control of the ministry of health. Collecteddata were analyzed using SPSS version 16 software. Atotal of 5, 500 water and food borne outbreaks reportedin Iran. Analyzed data showed that the outbreak rate was4.14/100000 in 2015 to 2.7/100000 population in 2016in Iran. According to laboratory results, the most frequentmicrobial pathogens which were sources of outbreaks includedEscherichia Coli, Shigella, Entamoeba Histolytica,Salmonella, Hepatitis A virus and Vibrio NAG (Non AgglutinatingGroups). The highest frequency of outbreak occurredin rural areas (56.1%). The most commonly reportedsymptoms were abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea.Qazvin, Zanjan and Kermanshah were three provincesthat reported more outbreaks than nationally outbreakincidence rate during 2015 -2016. Trend analysis of reportedWaterborne and foodborne diseases in Iran showeda seasonal pattern, particularly increased in autumn. Occurrenceof this outbreaks in many provinces with higherincidence need to root cause analysis and interventionssubsequently. These interventions should be carried outboth at the level of health policy-makers to set appropriate,evidence-based priorities in the area of water and foodsafety and at the community level. Using syndromic surveillancedata for outbreak detection, active case-finding,timely diagnosis, accurate treatment, patients monitoringalong with public health education are highly recommended.Rational use and prescription of drugs inhibits antibioticresistance and can reduce the cost of therapeutic ofthese diseases

Study The role of latent variables in lost working days by Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Background: Based on estimations, each year about 250 million work-related injuries and many temporary or permanent disabilities occur which most are preventable. Oil and Gas industries are among industries with high incidence of injuries in the world. The aim of this study has investigated &nbsp;the role and effect of different risk management variables on lost working days (LWD) in the seismic projects. Methods:&nbsp;This study was a retrospective, cross-sectional and systematic analysis, which was carried out on occupational accidents between 2008-2015(an 8 years period) in different seismic projects for oilfield exploration at Dana Energy (Iranian Seismic Company). The preliminary sample size of the study were 487accidents. A systems analysis approach were applied by using root case analysis (RCA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). Tools for the data analysis were included, SPSS23 and AMOS23&nbsp; software. Results: The mean of lost working days (LWD), was calculated 49.57, the final model of structural equation modeling showed that latent variables of, safety and health training factor(-0.33), risk assessment factor(-0.55) and risk control factor (-0.61) as direct causes significantly affected of lost working days (LWD) in the seismic industries (p< 0.05). Conclusion: The finding of present study revealed that combination of variables affected in lost working days (LWD). Therefore,the role of these variables in accidents should be investigated and suitable programs should be considered for them