Investigation of heat stress and heat strain in outdoor workers: a case study in Iran

Heat stress is an important and serious threat at work and is a particular concern in outdoor occupational environments. This study aims at comparing heat stress and heat strain at different outdoor groups, examining the protective and adaptive actions which were done by workers and also provi services to them by government or employer to reduce heat load. This cross–sectional study was conducted in the hottest days of the summer 2015 in Shabestar, Iran and 53 healthy men in nine occupational groups including concrete makers, porters, construction, waste site and road making workers, stonemasons, farmers, traffic officers, and street vendors participated. A set of physiological parameters, like heart rate, blood pressure, skin temperature and etc., WBGT index details and some of the adaptive and protective parameters were measured and monitored simultaneously at different times of the day. The study finds that heat exposure in outdoor workplace is prevalent and WBGT TWA/TLVave is less than 1 in some groups like stonemasons, waste site workers, traffic officers and street vendors whereas in other studied occupations, it is more than 1.This matter is compounded by the fact that the provision of health services by employers or local government was limited, and almost all of the participants had poor or insufficient access levels to public health and welfare services. This study confirms the necessity of interventions by a range of factors, such as government plans, improvement of services in the prevention of heat stress, and planning training courses for outdoor workers to build their knowledge of heat stress

The relationship between fatigue, stress and job performance with some demographic variables in dental prosthesis technicians

Background and Aims: Making dental prostheses is sensitive and accurate work and requires powerful and skilled hands. Because of this, the dental prosthesis technicians may suffer harmful effects such as stress and fatigue during the course. The aim of this study was to investigate fatigue, stress and job performance and their relationship with some demographic variables in this community. Materials and Methods: The present study was cross-sectional and done in 2016. The study population was a group of dental prosthesis technicians that had participated in a national congress in Tehran. Sampling was done by census Two standardized questionnaires on the subjects of fatigue and stress which were distributed among 100 female and male participants and sampling was done by census. Then, the obtained data was analyzed using SPSS16 software and applying descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation test, and ANOVA, T-test. Results: From the 100 samples, there were 16 females and 84 males with mean age 34.71&plusmn;7.90 and average work experience of 10.82&plusmn; 9.01 years. 82 percent of the subjects were married and 42 percent of them were smokers. The results showed that 100 percent of dental prostheses technicians were facing with moderate to severe stresses. The stress and fatigue scores in married ones were higher than the single ones. The results showed a significant relationship between smoking, stress, and fatigue scores (P<0.05). Conclusion: According to the high level of job stress in the dental prostheses technicians, this problem must be considered, minimized, and more attention should be paid to their psychological and emotional problems

Use of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis in Improving Safety: A case Study in An Oil Company

Introduction: The Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), first of all, identifies dangerous modes in a process and, then, provides proper control measures that are required to reduce the level of risk. This study aims to investigate the risk level before and after the implementation of control measures in an edible oil factory. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in an edible oil factory in Tehran, Iran. The FMEA technique was used to identify failure modes related to equipment that existed in five units of this factory. After that, in all units, Risk Priority Numbers of all the processes were assessed on the basis of the FMEA method. With regard to the Risk Priority Number (RPN), some control measures were taken to reduce the risk of events. After nine months, risk assessment was repeated, and primary and secondary RPNs were compared with each other to investigate the effects of interventions. Results: The results showed that the highest probability of danger was related to the installation unit. The probability of danger in this unit before and after interventional actions was 4.5 and 3.25 respectively and the highest degree of severity was related to tool production. The marginal homogeneity test showed the positive effect of control measures on the risk level in the factory. There was a significant inference between before- and after-data in RPN in the unit tool production, neutralization unit, and installation unit. The Tests of Repeated Measure showed that there was a statistically significant inference between before- and after-data in the total average of RPN criterion (pvalue < 0.001). Conclusion: It can be concluded that the high risk level in the factory units was reduced after the application of interventional corrective measures. These actions have been useful. It can be mentioned that the FMEA has been successfully able to identify and control the level of risk in this factory.&nbsp