Occupational Risks of Health Professionals

Health service is an important work area which can lead to important risks related to occupational health and safety (OHS) of employees. This book chapter is prepared to evaluate the effects of occupational risks on health and decrease the exposure to occupational risks of health professionals by searching national and international literatüre. Thus, awareness can be raised to define occupational risks and help planning services for health professionals. American National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has reported 29 kinds of physical, 25 kinds of chemical, biological 24 varieties, 10 and six kinds of ergonomic and psycho‐social hazards and risks. According to ILO, it has been reported that there is 1.25 trillion dollars loss each year due to the OHS problems. In Turkey, the loss of only social security systems has been reported as approximately 4 million Turkish Liras per year. Health professionals have work stress, and they suffer from the inconvenient design and the hazards within the workplace. The health of the health professionals affects the health of the community. Thus, it is important to decrease the exposure to occupational risks of health professionals and diligently work on this issue

Impacts of the Indoor Air Quality on the Health of the Employee and Protection against These Impacts

Workplace indoor factors are among the factor which affect the health of workers most in all sectors. Another important one of these factors is the air quality of the workplace. There are three main groups of workplace indoor pollutants: biological ones, chemical ones and particles (non-biological). They were grouped as asbestos, biological pollutants, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), formaldehyde/pressed wooden products, lead (Pb), nitrogen dioxide, (NO2), Radon (Rn), indoor particle substances, environmental tobacco smoke, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), humidity, odor and wood smoke. The workplace indoor air pollutants are among the primary indoor air pollutants with serious effects on health and the potential to deteriorate the workers’ health. Healthy indoor air quality is defined as the indoor air which does not contain hazardous substances and does not create sense of discomfort in at least 80% of the workers in the workplace. Poor indoor may result in a variety of health problems, from headache, dizziness and nausea, to asthma, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and death

AN OVERVIEW OF THE OUTCOMES OF THE SOCIAL COOPERATION PROJECT IMPLEMENTED FOR THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR IN ADANA PROVINCE OF TURKEY

WOS: 000272691800013Objective: It was found out by ILO that the worst form of child labor in Turkey is seen in the seasonal agricultural activities, small scale industry and the children working on die street The Project was implemented for the purpose of ensuring the withdrawal of children from work or preventing them from starting to work by providing the 360 children working tit these 3 sectors and 75 parents with training, in addition to health and social support This paper offers the outcomes of the project along with out opinions. Material and Method: The children who were registered at the Project Center were subject to a health check, trained and provided with social supports for their educational needs All tasks conducted under this descriptive and qualitative study were recorded and the outcomes were evaluated via SPSS program. Results: The mean age of the children were 10.8 +/- 2.3 (min 7, max.15) 267 (91.1%) of the children reported that. they worked to contribute to the household economy it was found that 208 (57.8%) had a disease Consequently, 220 children stopped working, 125 children decided not to work and 15 children continued to work. Conclusion: The macro-economic and social measures which can eliminate adult unemployment and low incomes of the households, which constitute the primary reasons of the children find themselves obliged to work in Turkey, should be concluded If each party acts with such sensitivity for the child labor in their own area, our children, owners of tomorrow, Will certainly have a longer and healthier life spar

A RISK INTENSIVE SECTOR: ANALYSIS OF THE OCCUPATIONAL ACCIDENTS IN AN AUTOMATIVE FACTORY

WOS: 000269311600009Objective: Automotive sector in Turkey is a risk-intensive sector classified under the IV Risk Group. Our study was planned in order to analyze the records of the occupational accidents in 2007 and share out-findings. 9 Material and Method: All records of the occupational accidents that occurred in a privately-owned automotive factory in Adana between 2004 and 2007 were obtained. Interviews were made with people who experienced occupational accident and the processes performed following the accident and their consequences were analyzed and reported. Our study is a cross-sectional, retrospective and descriptive-qualitative one. Results: There were 2025 workers; including 1334 (64.9%) blue collars and 712 white collars (35.1%) the factory. Following the efforts to improve the work health and safety under the scope of this system, a decrease by 61.1% in the number of occupational accidents was achieved in 2007 in comparison to that of 2004, in addition to a decrease by 63.9% in the loss of labor day. It was found that most of the accidents occurred between 10.00-11.00 am (14.5%): in september and on the mechanical line (19.096). The most frequently seen accident type was cutting and excoriating, by 43.0%. Conclusion: It is utmost necessary that occupational accidents occurred are analyzed and relevant measures are taken in order to prevent the accidents in all enterprises, primarily the intensive-risk enterprises. Development and implementation of such practices will have significant contribution to the enterprises and the country, but primarily for the individuals in terms of human resources and economic benefits

Musculoskeletal Disorders in an Automotive Manufacturing Plant and the Outcomes of Ergonomics and Exercise Training in Workers Who Used Sick Leave

WOS: 000324665000008Objective: To evaluate the frequency of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) in workers in an automotive manufacturing plant and the effectiveness of exercise and ergonomics training in those who used sick leave due to MSD. Materials and Methods: The workers were screened with a detailed questionnaire including the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. Those. who used sick leave in the previous 12 months were taken into a training program. Training on low back, neck and upper extremity pain, and office ergonomics were given in small groups by an interactive method using exercise materials and practice sessions. A self-assessment pain scale was applied before and after 6 months of training. Results: Six hundred eighty workers were screened. 44% reported that MSD affected their tasks and 3% declared that their jobs were changed. While low back pain was more frequent in blue-collars, neck pain was prevalent in white-collars. 70 workers (10.3%) had used sick leave. Following training, there were significant reduction in pain scores in both blue (p<0.001) and white collars (p=0.008). However, there were no statistical difference between the groups (p=0.99). Conclusion: MSD are frequent even in a factory engaged in the process of establishing occupational health and safety culture. Each enterprise should take the necessary measures to ensure protection

USE OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH INJURIES AMONG VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

WOS: 000416078300004Objective: In this study, the aim was to investigate the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the factors associated with injuries among vocational and industrial high schools in Adana and Mersin. Material and Method: This cross-sectional study included 1742 students who attended high schools in the Adana and Mersin provinces between April and May 2013. The questionnaire was filled out by the students. The study data were evaluated by descriptive statistics, the chi-square test, Student's t-test, the Mann-Whitney U test and binary logistic regression. Results: The study included 1742 students. Among the students, 1530 (87.8%) were male. While 1510 (86.7%) students used at least one PPE, 232 (13.3%) used none at all. In the binary logistic regression model, 10th graders (OR 3.80), 11th graders (OR 3.21), monthly income of 434 USD or less (OR 2.69), training for the use of tools/devices (OR 1.96) and the number of risks defined specifically for the department (OR 1.11) were associated with the student's PPE use. Among the participating students, 430 (24.7%) were injured within the past year. In the binary logistic regression model, 10th graders (OR 1.85), 11th graders (OR 2.26), the weekly practical training hours (OR 0.96) and household population (OR 1.10) were associated with the students' injuries. Conclusion: In vocational and technical high schools, training on the use of devices and tools, defining the risks and structured trainings on the use of PPE must be considered to protect the students

Organochlorine Pesticide Level in Breast Milk

WOS: 000276284400015Objective: Mother's milk is the primary nutrition source for healthy development and growth of infants. Nutrients are transmitted to the infant through the breast milk along with other substances. The objective of this study was to determine the level of certain organochlorine pesticides (OCP's) in the milk of the mothers who have recently given birth and residing in Adana. Material and Methods: Between July and September 2006, milk was taken from 59 mothers who are within 1 to 30 postpartum clays. These samples were analyzed with gas chromatography mass spectrometry (El) and gas chromatography (ECD) in the Toxicology Laboratory of the Department of Forensic Medicine. The collected data were evaluated by the SPSS 10 statistical program. Results: Out of these 59 women included in the study, mean age was 26.8 +/- 5.9. In 62.7% (37 samples) of the milk samples, OCP's were determined. There was no statistically significant relation between OCP positivity and residential place, profession, education level, agricultural activity and age groups. In the milk of 59 mothers, 13 types of OCP's were found. The most frequently observed types were alpha hexachlorocyclohexane (alpha-HCH) with 14 women, dichlorophenyl dichloroethylene (DDE) in 9 women, alpha-Chlordane in 8 women, gamma hexachlorocyclohexane (gamma-HCH) in 7 women, beta hexachlorocyclohexane (beta-HCH) in 6 women. Conclusion: The finding that OCP was found in breast milk in 62.7% of the women included in the study, is very important from the perspective of public health. Our result that the OPC existence does not differ with age, profession and place of residency, shows that the whole population is under the risk. More comprehensive studies should be undertaken in this subject

Effect of Heterologous Vaccination Strategy on Humoral Response against COVID-19 with CoronaVac plus BNT162b2: A Prospective Cohort Study

This study aimed to evaluate the mixed and homogeneous application of the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine CoronaVac (CV) and the mRNA vaccine BNT162b2 (BNT). This prospective cohort study included 235 health care workers who had received two prime shots with CoronaVac. They were divided into three cohorts after the third month: Cohort-I (CV/CV); Cohort-II (CV/CV/CV); and Cohort-III (CV/CV/BNT). Anti-S-RBD-IgG and total anti-spike/anti-nucleocapsid-IgG antibody concentrations were examined in vaccinated health workers at the 1st, 3rd, and 6th months following the second dose of the vaccination. The mean age of 235 health care workers who participated in the project was 39.51 &plusmn; 10.39 (min-max: 22&ndash;64). At the end of the 6th month, no antibodies were detected in 16.7% of Cohort-I participants, and anti-S-RDB IgG levels showed a decrease of 60% compared to the levels of the 3rd month. The antibody concentrations of the 6th month were found to have increased by an average of 5.13 times compared to the 3rd-month levels in Cohort-II and 20.4 times in Cohort-III. The heterologous vaccination strategy &ldquo;CoronaVac and BNT162b2 regimen&rdquo; is able to induce a stronger humoral immune response and it will help remove inequalities in the developing world where CoronaVac was the initial prime

Protectivity of COVID-19 Vaccines and Its Relationship with Humoral Immune Response and Vaccination Strategy: A One-Year Cohort Study

This prospective cohort study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine schemes, homologous versus heterologous vaccine strategies, and vaccine-induced anti-S-RBD-IgG antibody response in preventing COVID-19 among 942 healthcare workers 1 year after vaccination with the inactivated and/or mRNA vaccines. All participants received the first two primary doses of vaccines, 13.6% of them lacked dose 3, 50.5% dose 4, and 90.3% dose 5. Antibody levels increased with the increase in number of vaccine doses and also in heterologous vaccine regimens. In both inactive, mRNA vaccines and mixed vaccination, infection rates were significantly higher in two-dose-receivers, but lower in four- or five-dose receivers and increasing the total number of vaccine doses resulted in more protection against infection: the three-dose regimen yielded 3.67 times more protection, the four-dose 8 times, and five-dose 27.77 times more protection from COVID-19 infection, compared to any two-dose vaccination regimens. Antibody levels at the end of the first year of four- or five-dose-receivers were significantly higher than two- or three-dose receivers. To conclude, an increased number of total vaccine doses and anti-S-RBD antibody levels increased the protection from COVID-19 infection. Therefore, four or more doses are recommended in 1 year for effective protection, especially in risk groups