Factors of job satisfaction among workers exposed to occupational noise

Introduction: Noise was evident to reduce job satisfaction among workers which will negative impacts to workers including increase job turnover, decrease motivation and increased number of accidents. This study aims to explore job satisfaction and its risk factors among workers working in a noisy workplace. Method: The study design was cross-sectional study which involved 167 workers in a cable manufacturing factory selected by simple random sampling. MSQ was used to assess employee’s satisfaction with their job on seven facets and sound level meter was used to measure workplace noise level. Results: All respondents were exposed to noise above permissible exposure limit. Most workers (49%) were moderately satisfied with their work. Factors that were rated as lowest level of satisfaction were work itself (the ability to work alone) (40%) and the way company system policies are implemented (40%). Factors with the highest level of satisfaction were their freedom to implement their judgement (responsibility) (51%) and the supervision quality of their superiors (51%). The most dominant facet predicting total satisfaction level was recognition followed by advancement and company policy and administration. All variables in socio-demographical and job characteristics were not significantly associated with their level of job satisfaction except noise. Noise was significant in predicting one facet of job satisfaction which was physical work condition. Conclusion: Overall, the average level of job satisfaction among respondents were moderate and they were exposed to occupational noise which was the only significant study variable correlated with their job satisfaction

New methods to assess fecal contamination in beach water quality

The emerging paradigm in assessment of recreational water quality needs a basic information on microbial contamination. Recreational water is susceptible to fecal contamination which may increase in health risk associated with swimming in polluted water. Recreational water quality is monitored for fecal indicator bacteria to help prevent swimming-associated illnesses. This study aims to determine the concentrations of total coliforms and Escherichia coli (E. coli ) in recreational water, Teluk Kemang beach, Port Dickson (Malaysia). This study was also aimed to determine relationship between total coliforms, E. coli and physico-chemical parameters of marine recreational water. Exposure behaviors and perceived health symptoms among beach visitors were also assessed in this study. A total of eight water sampling points were selected randomly taken at 100 m from the wash zone and 20 cm below the water surface along Teluk Kemang beach. Total coliforms and E. coli concentrations were analyzed using membrane filtration technique. Total coliforms concentrations were found between 20 and 1,940 cfu/100 ml. E. coli concentrations were between 0 and 90 cfu/100 ml. Total coliforms and E. coli were the highest at sampling point A and exceeded USEPA (Report of Task Force on guide standard and protocol for testing microbiological water purifiers. USEPA, Washington, DC, pp 1–29, 1986) guideline as it located near sewage out-fall. Significant correlations were found between total coliforms and E. coli with pH, temperature and oxidation reduction potential. Microbiological water quality in Teluk Kemang public beach was generally safe for recreational activities among the public except sampling location near with sewage outfall. Output of this study will act as a crucial model for protection of marine ecosystem health. Moreover, output of this study can be used as a monitoring design tool for other public beaches in Malaysia, as such studies are lacking and have not been reported so far

The relationship between noise with stress and sleep disturbances among manufacturing workers

Objective: Noise can pose various detrimental effects that may put workers at high risk for occupational injuries and detrimental organisational consequences. This study aims to determine the effects of occupational noise exposure levels to psychological stress and sleep disturbance among manufacturing workers in Selangor. Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out involving 80 manufacturing workers who were exposed to noise levels of above 85dB. The response rate was 80%. Sound level meter (SLM) was used to measure workplace ambient noise level. O’Donnell Personal Stress Inventory was used to measure stress level and Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) was used to measure psychosocial factors of stress. While the level of sleep disturbances was measured via Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Result: Thirty respondents (38%) were classified to be stressful and 57 respondents (71.3%) were having poor sleep.Noise was found to be insignificant in predicting stress level and sleep disturbances. Gender and interpersonal relationship significantly associated with stress levels. Work demand, marital status and income were significant in predicting sleep disturbances. Conclusion: Findings indicated that workers were protected from noise exposure by wearing ear plugs. However, the prevalence of sleep disturbance was high. Therefore intervention strategies to improve sleep quality should focus on those identified significant psychosocial work factors

Application of effective microorganism (EM) in food waste composting: a review

Objective: This paper provides a review on the application of effective microbe (EM) in food waste composting. It emphasized on the application EM in composting method, the EM properties and the quality of compost with EM in terms of nutrient content and heavy metals concentration. Method: This paper reviewed all related articles on EM from 2000 to 2014. All of the articles were searched through Sco-pus and Google Scholar search engines using specific keywords related to the topic. Result: EM has a great potential to be applied on food waste composting as it can accelerate the composting process and reduce odor during the decomposition of organic material. Conclusion: EM has a great potential to be used in accelerating the composting process and increased nutrient in compost. EM controls the temperature and reduces pathogens in the compost to produce good quality of compost. However, detail assessment is needed to assess the effect of EM application on compost quality and the safety for human health

Commitment, attitude and behavioural changes of the community towards a waste segregation program: a case study of Malaysia

The rate of waste segregation is poor in Malaysia where only 5% of waste is segregated and recycled. This cross-sectional study was conducted at Taman Sri Andalas, Serdang Jaya Selangor to determine factors that are associated with the participation of the public in a waste segregation program and to determine the reduction of waste from the waste segregation activity implemented in this study. A total of 69 households were arbitrarily selected across streets to participate in this study. Two types of bins (i.e. recycled and food waste) were provided to each participating household and the weights of the waste were measured at two different time intervals. The behavioural changes of respondents were assessed based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The volume of waste segregated has increased significantly, from 9.4% to 10.6% while 13.3% of the community waste is food waste that could be used as compost. In total, the volume of waste designated for the landfill has decreased from 100% to 76.2% in the span of three weeks. Nine behavioural factors show significant positive changes between the start and the end of the program. The waste segregation program that was conducted has resulted in behavioural changes of households towards waste segregation activity

A case study of Pasir Gudang chemical toxic pollution: a review on health symptoms, psychological manifestation and biomarker assessment

Introduction: This paper provides an overview of chemical toxic pollution in Pasir Gudang industrial area Johor Malaysia. It discussed the health symptoms, argument of the psychology manifestation among children and the application of biomarkers and monitoring systems in chemical detection. Methods: The systematic search was conducted for four digital scientific journal databases: Science Direct, SCOPUS, PubMed and Google Scholar with a specified keyword. Results: Seven (7) chemicals were related to this incident namely; Methane, Hydrogen chloride, Acrylonitrile, Acrolein, Benzene, Xylene, and Methyl mercaptan. These chemicals are mainly generated from industrial activity and easily breakdown through interaction with other chemicals and sunlight. Inhalation is the major route of exposure and the major symptoms of these chemicals are headache, nausea, vomiting, breathing difficulties, eye irritation, chest tightness, and wheezing. There is no clear evidence to indicate that the victims in this incident are having a psychological manifestation since all chemicals involved are proven to cause the reported symptoms. Conclusion: Industrial chemicals are potential to produce toxic gas in the air through reaction with other substances or rays and causes acute health symptoms. Diagnose all post-emergency illnesses including mental and physical health is needed. Biomarker testing should consider a specified period after exposure occurs as the reactivity of some types of chemical and its short half-life, rendered limited for use as markers of exposure in the body

Dermal exposure to pesticides among sprayers in different agriculture subsectors in Malaysia: observational method using DREAM

Introduction: An assessment of dermal exposure to pesticide mixtures among sprayers was made as a function of crop type, in four agricultural subsectors in Malaysia. Methods: The potential and actual dermal exposures for 160 pesticide sprayers performing pesticide spraying task were estimated by using Dermal Exposure Assessment Method (DREAM). Results: Results showed that there was significant difference between nationality (p<0.001), highest education (p<0.001), monthly income (p=0.002), body mass index (p<0.001) and smoking habit (p<0.001) distributions of sprayers in different agriculture subsectors. Various types of pesticides were used by respondents, where class II (moderately hazardous) and class III (slightly hazardous) pesticides were the most frequently used pesticides. There was a significant difference in both tPDE (χ2 = 118.093, p<0.001) and tADE (χ2 = 84.980, p<0.001) between different agricultural sectors, where the prominent high tPDE was observed among paddy pesticide sprayers (151.39 ± 22.64 DU) while lowest exposure was recorded among oil palm plantation sprayers (47.67 ± 18.47 DU). Conclusion: Based on DREAM exposure categories, majority of the pesticide sprayers (68.9%) working in paddy farming were exposed in low dermal exposure while 26.7% of respondents were exposed to moderate exposure. Pesticide sprayers in other agriculture sectors were exposed to very low to low exposure level. Dermal exposure distributions on body parts were varied between sectors, influenced by several factors such as crop type, height, and spraying methods

A case control study on factors associated with leptospirosis infection among residents in flood-prone area, Kuantan: a geographical information system-based approach

Background: Leptospirosis, nicknamed "The Great Mimicker", is a zoonotic disease of public health importance, particularly in temperate climate such as Malaysia where seasonal floods occur. This study aims to determine factors associated with leptospirosis transmission such as sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude and environmental risk factors such as temperature, rainfall, humidity, flood-risk area, distance from waste accumulation sites, land elevation and soil type, as well as predictors of leptospirosis transmission among residents in Kuantan, Pahang by using a Geographical Information System (GIS)-based approach. Materials and Methods: A population-based case-control study will be implemented in Kuantan, Pahang which utilizes 260 samples, where 130 confirmed cases of leptospirosis and 130 controls who will be randomly selected from neighbours living within 500 metre radius of the cases. A validated interviewer-guided questionnaire will be used to assess respondent's sociodemographic characteristics, leptospirosis status, knowledge, attitude and practice towards leptospirosis. Secondary data will be obtained from the respective departments. Data Analysis: Descriptive and inferential statistics will be used for data analysis. Knowledge, attitude, practice, and environmental risk factors such temperature, rainfall, humidity mean values, flood risk areas, distance from waste accumulation sites, soil type and land elevation will be mapped by using GIS. Finally, the predictors of leptospirosis will be determined by logistic regression. Expected Outcome: Due to the transmissibility of leptospirosis increases as the result of flooding, it is expected that the cumulative incidence of cases will come from the flood-prone areas in Kuantan. The majority of the cases could come from areas that have high risk of exposure to environmental factors such as high rainfall density, moderate temperature, high humidity, living in flood-risk areas, low land elevation, nearer to the waste accumulation sites, and moist soil type. It is also expected that even though the community might have heard of leptospirosis, the level of KAP might be low due to the increasing national incidence of the infection

Indicators of microbial beach water quality: preliminary findings from Teluk Kemang beach, Port Dickson (Malaysia)

This study aims to determine the concentrations of total coliforms and Escherichia coli (E. coli) in beach water, Teluk Kemang beach. This study was also aimed to determine relationship between total coliforms, E. coli and physicochemical parameters. As perceived health symptoms among beach visitors are rarely incorporated in beach water studies, this element was also assessed in this study. A total of eight water sampling points were selected randomly along Teluk Kemang beach. Total coliforms concentrations were found between 20 and 1940 cfu/100ml. E. coli concentrations were between 0 and 90 cfu/100ml. Significant correlations were found between total coliforms and E. coli with pH, temperature and oxidation reduction potential. Skin and eyes symptoms were the highest reported though in small numbers. Microbiological water quality in Teluk Kemang public beach was generally safe for recreational activities except sampling location near with sewage outfall

Hazardous ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products and health concern: a review

Increasing demand of cosmetics all over the world from teen to adult has increased awareness related to safety issue. The objective of this paper is to indicate the ingredients that possess health effect that can be found in cosmetics and personal care products. The ingredient was segmented to three parts which are preservatives, fragrances and heavy metal impurities. The related paper was reviewed in terms of the chemicals that commonly identified in the cosmetic and personal care product. This paper also highlighted the health risk possesses by such ingredients in the products. From the papers reviews, many chemicals remained arguable in term of safety and its presence in the products. The chemicals are either added for it intentional purposes or appears unintentionally due to the nature of chemical itself or due to the manufacturing processes. It is suggested that consumers aware over the ingredients used in their cosmetic and personal care products and the side effects it possesses