Investigating the effects of noise exposure on intensification of diabetes mellitus, serum glucose, cortisol level and body weight of the male mice

Noise is considered as one of the harmful factors at industrial environments. It affects human health in different aspects including harmful influences on auditory, vision, neurological and psychiatric systems, hormones, physiological and mental systems. Paying attention to the importance of hormonal effects on human body seems to possess crucial importance. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of noise exposure on variation of serum levels of glucose and cortisol at Syrian adult male mouse. 36 Syrian male adult mice were randomly categorized into two experiment and control groups. Garlic powder was added to the mice pelleted food meal (equal to 1% of their daily diet) to study its effect on the cortisol and glucose serum levels. The mice pelleted food contains starch, glucose, isolated soya protein, etc., which are the rich resources of A, C, B1, B2 and B6 vitamins. Streptozotocin (60mg/kg) was injected to the mice at experiment group which were under noise exposure with intensity of 90dB in frequency range of 700-5700Hz. Noise were generated using CoolEdit software and distributed to the fabricated box for 30 days (8h/d).  Fasting cortisol and glucose serum levels were measured for mice of both groups 24h after finishing the exposure period. Results indicated that the glucose serum level in non-diabetic and diabetic subjects under noise exposure had significant difference (p<0.002) with the subjects at control group. Also, cortisol level in non-diabetic and diabetic subjects under noise exposure indicated significant difference (p<0.002) with the subjects at control group. Exposure to noise with intensity of 90dB at frequency range of 700-5700Hz increases the glucose and cortisol serum levels

Thoracic Kyphosis Angle in Relation to Low Back Pain among Dentists in Iran

BACKGROUND: Non-specific low back pain (LBP) has a direct impact on the quality of life, active days at work and health care costs. AIM: This study was conducted to determine the relationship between LBP and thoracic kyphosis angle among dentists. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study carried out in the form of census among 84 dentists employed in a specialised clinic in Iran. Dentists LBP prevalence and intensity and thoracic kyphosis angle were evaluated respectively with the self-administered body map questionnaire, visual analogue scale and flexicurve ruler. Statistical data analysis was done using SPSS software, version 22. RESULTS: The data showed that the prevalence of LBP in dentists was 44.9% and intensity of LBP was reported about 71.9 ± 19.34. Pearson correlation coefficient between thoracic kyphosis angle and dentist’s characteristics was not significant except for work experience. The single linear regression model showed that 1.3% of thoracic kyphosis angle changes was positively dependent on LBP. Also, the present study proved that thoracic kyphosis angle changes were positively dependent to 2.6%, 10.8% and 5.7 percent of age, work experience and Body Mass Index (BMI), respectively. CONCLUSION: Despite the lack of significant statistical relation between LBP and thoracic kyphosis angle, there is a high prevalence and intensity of LBP among Dentists. To reduce the risk of work-related LBP among dentists, managing factors such as BMI, work postures and exercises during work should be taken into consideration

Investigation of Relationship between Level of Awareness around Health, Safety and Environment Management System and Its Effects on Safety Climate and Risk Perception by Employees in an Iran Oil Refinery, 2015

Special attention of and oil, gas and petrochemical large corporation in the world to the HSE management system is due to its importance in the designing and development of products, services and processes by considering its health, safety and environment requirements. Staff's perception of the existing job risks has a significant impact on their safe behavior at work. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between safety climate and staff's perception of risk with an awareness level among employees of the HSE management system in an oil refinery in Kermanshah. The study population was employees in one of the oil refineries in Iran. After designing and questionnaire psychometric assessment of staff knowledge of HSE management system (Cronbach's alpha was 0.9 and its validity was assessed by certified professionals), Loughborough safety climate questionnaire and Flin risk perception questionnaire were used. Data analysis was performed using SPSS V22 software. Results showed that the relationship between safety climate and awareness level of the HSE management system; also the relationship between safety climate and perception of risk was also getting significant. However, the relationship between perception of risk and awareness level of the HSE management system was not significant. The results of this study showed a moderate awareness of HSE Management System in refinery workers. In this regard, appropriate and proper management policy should be committed to improving the situation. The results of this study is a profile the situation of safety climate in the refinery, which can be used as an indicator for the development of preventive policies and evaluate the performance of the organization's safety and the results of the safety improvement organization

Prioritizacija i procjena ključa sigurnosti pokazatelja uspjeha u automobilskoj industriji

The performance of any management system needs to be monitored with adequate and proper indicators. This study aimed to identify, set priorities and assess key indicators for implementing an effective performance evaluation system. This descriptive-analytical study was carried out in three phase. In first phase, a semi-structured interview as well as a review of the company\u27s documentation and studies carried out, then a set of key indicators were collected and selected. The validity of the indicators were determined by experts (N = 11) and indicators were prioritized using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) according to SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time- bound) criteria. Following the study framework, a primary set of 60 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were collected. The results of the validity assessment showed 23 indicators had acceptable validity. The results of examining the relationships between the indicators showed that the percentage of corrected non- compliance and the number of risk assessments had a significant relationships with the total number of work-related lost time injuries as a lagging indicator. According to the results, the four the most important key performance indicators to assess the safety performance in the automotive industry were as follows: the number of risk assessments conducted, the percentage of corrected non- compliance, the percentage of safety educational programs implemented for workers, and Frequency Severity Index (FSI) index.Učinkovitost bilo kojeg sustava upravljanja treba pratiti odgovarajućim i ispravnim pokazateljima. Cilj ove studije bio je identificirati, odrediti prioritete i procijeniti ključne pokazatelje za primjenu učinkovitog sustava vrednovanja učinka. Ovo opisno-analitičko istraživanje provedeno je u tri faze. U prvoj fazi, polustrukturirani intervju, kao i pregled provedene dokumentacije i studija tvrtke, zatim je prikupljen i odabran skup ključnih pokazatelja. Valjanost pokazatelja odredili su stručnjaci (N = 11), a pokazatelji su odredili prioritete pomoću Analitičkog postupka hijerarhije (AHP) prema SMART (Specifični, mjerljivi, dostižni, relevantni i vremenski ograničeni) kriteriji. Slijedom okvira studije, prikupljen je primarni skup od 60 KPI. Rezultati procjene valjanosti pokazali su da 23 pokazatelja imaju prihvatljivu valjanost. Rezultati ispitivanja odnosa između pokazatelja pokazali su da je postotak ispravljene neusaglašenosti i broj procjena rizika u značajnoj vezi s ukupnim brojem ozljeda izgubljenog na radu kao pokazatelj zaostajanja. Prema rezultatima, četiri najvažnija ključna pokazatelja uspješnosti za procjenu sigurnosnih performansi u automobilskoj industriji bila su sljedeća: broj provedenih procjena rizika, postotak ispravljenih nesukladnosti, postotak provedenih obrazovnih programa o sigurnosti za radnike i indeks FSI

Musculoskeletal Disorders� Risk Factors Assessment by RULA and LUBA and Comparing Results in a Printing and Publication Company

Background & Objectives: Printing industry with a high level of financial turnover is known as a main industry all around the world. Different hazardous factors, such as ergonomics, can be found in this industry. On the other hand, there are a variety of methods to assess ergonomic issues at the workplaces. Present study is aimed to analysis operational workers� postures and to compare the results and concurrent validity of LUBA based on RULA results, in a printing and publication company in Qom, 2014. Materials & Methods: This study considered all operational workers in a printing industry (n=80) in ten various jobs. Rapid upper limb assessment and postural loading on the upper body assessmenthave been applied to assess conditions. Gathered data was analyzed by Spearman and Kappa (P0.05). Conclusion: Results illustrated acceptable correlation between different parts and reasonable agreement between wrists, elbow and shoulder�s postures, but neck�s posture and action categories agreements were not good. In addition, analyses illustrated that concurrent validity of LUBA is not acceptable in this industry. However, more researches are recommended

Effect of Co-Driver on Job Content and Depression of Truck Drivers

Background: Since the presence of a co-driver can be considered as a companion, partner, or friend for a driver through eliminating driver's loneliness, it plays a significant role in health and safety of drivers. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of co-drivers on depression and occupational stress on male truck drivers. Methods: This study was an interventional case-control study. Seventy truck drivers were selected and divided into two groups: case (33 truck drivers with co-drivers) and control (37 truck drivers without co-drivers). Two Goldberg depression inventories (for evaluating driver's depression) and the Karasek job content questionnaire (for evaluating driver's job stress) were used to collect data which were completed by interview. Results: The results showed that job content values for the case group were higher in all dimensions except job nature. The comparison of the percentages showed significant difference between two groups. Depression rate in drivers with co-driver is truly less than depression rate in drivers without co-driver. There was significant positive relationship between dimensions of job content and depression rate. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it can be claimed that a co-driver decreases stress and loneliness of drivers, as well as increases work performance and job satisfaction, and, in turn, leads to a decrease in job-related depression. Keywords: Co-driver, Depression, Job content, Job stress, Truck drive

Investigation of Relationship between Level of Awareness around Health, Safety and Environment Management System and Its Effects on Safety Climate and Risk Perception by Employees in an Iran Oil Refinery, 2015

Special attention of and oil, gas and petrochemical large corporation in the world to the HSE management system is due to its importance in the designing and development of products, services and processes by considering its health, safety and environment requirements. Staff's perception of the existing job risks has a significant impact on their safe behavior at work. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between safety climate and staff's perception of risk with an awareness level among employees of the HSE management system in an oil refinery in Kermanshah. The study population was employees in one of the oil refineries in Iran. After designing and questionnaire psychometric assessment of staff knowledge of HSE management system (Cronbach's alpha was 0.9 and its validity was assessed by certified professionals), Loughborough safety climate questionnaire and Flin risk perception questionnaire were used. Data analysis was performed using SPSS V22 software. Results showed that the relationship between safety climate and awareness level of the HSE management system; also the relationship between safety climate and perception of risk was also getting significant. However, the relationship between perception of risk and awareness level of the HSE management system was not significant. The results of this study showed a moderate awareness of HSE Management System in refinery workers. In this regard, appropriate and proper management policy should be committed to improving the situation. The results of this study is a profile the situation of safety climate in the refinery, which can be used as an indicator for the development of preventive policies and evaluate the performance of the organization's safety and the results of the safety improvement organization

Validity Evaluation of the Assessment Method for Postural Loading on the Upper Body in Printing Industry

Background and Objectives: Musculoskeletal disorders and injuries are known as a global occupational challenge. These injuries are more are concentrated in the upper limb. There are several methods to assess this kind of disorders, each of which have different efficiencies for various jobs based on their strengths and weaknesses. This study aimed to assess the validity of LUBA method in order to evaluate risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders in a printing industry in Qom province, 2014. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, all operational workers (n=94) were investigated in 2014. Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) was used to collect data on musculoskeletal disorders. We also used LUBA method to analyze postures in four different parts of the body (neck, shoulder, elbow, and wrist). The obtained data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney, Kruskal Wallis, and Kappa agreement tests. Results: Lumbar region of back with 35.1% prevalence had the most problems. The results of LUBA method showed that most postures were located at the second corrective action level, and need further studies. Agreement between assessment of shoulder posture and its disorders was significant (p0.05).  Conclusion: According to the results of this study on reliability and predictive validity of the LUBA method in printing industry, it can be concluded that this method is not a reliable method for posture assessment; however, further and more comprehensive studies are recommended. &nbsp

Ergonomic Assessment of Posture Risk Factors Among Iranian Workers: An Alternative to Conventional Methods

Objectives: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are a global problem which evolves at different workplaces such as industries, administrative, and agriculture sectors. In various studies, such disorders were assessed through multiple methods. It is necessary to evaluate different tools to use them in diverse communities. The aim of this study was to assess the validity of the new ergonomic evaluating method of Novel Ergonomic Postural Assessment (NERPA) method in Iran.&nbsp; Methods: The employees (n=455) of operational units of four companies (drug producers, printing and publishing houses, dairy, and drinks producers) were assessed in 2014. It was a cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study. One of the researchers developed a questionnaire that was applied to collect demographic data. The NERPA, Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) methods were utilized to analyze posture risk factors. Spearman correlation and Kappa agreement were used to analyze the collected data through SPSS V22.&nbsp; Results: Findings indicated that printing company had the best and pharmaceutical industries had the worst state regarding RULA&rsquo;s results. The risk levels between NERPA and REBA were not statistically significant (P>0.05), however, that was significant with RULA&rsquo;s outcome. Also, the results of NERPA and other two methods were correlated significantly (P<0.05). Pain in the lumbar area was implied to be the most prevalent problem (35.1%). Discussion: Data of the present study suggest that NERPA method was a valid tool compared to RULA. The NERPA method could be used to evaluate standing tasks among industrial workers. However, the concurrent validity of NERPA method compared with results of REBA, as a widely used method, were not verified

A comparative investigation of machine learning algorithms for predicting safety signs comprehension based on socio-demographic factors and cognitive sign features

Abstract This study examines whether the socio-demographic factors and cognitive sign features can be used for envisaging safety signs comprehensibility using predictive machine learning (ML) techniques. This study will determine the role of different machine learning components such as feature selection and classification to determine suitable factors for safety construction signs comprehensibility. A total of 2310 participants were requested to guess the meaning of 20 construction safety signs (four items for each of the mandatory, prohibition, emergency, warning, and firefighting signs) using the open-ended method. Moreover, the participants were asked to rate the cognitive design features of each sign in terms of familiarity, concreteness, simplicity, meaningfulness, and semantic closeness on a 0–100 rating scale. Subsequently, all eight features (age, experience, education level, familiarity, concreteness, meaningfulness, semantic closeness, and simplicity) were used for classification. Furthermore, the 14 most popular supervised classifiers were implemented and evaluated for safety sign comprehensibility prediction using these eight features. Also, filter and wrapper methods were used as feature selection techniques. Results of feature selection techniques indicate that among the eight features considered in this study, familiarity, simplicity, and meaningfulness are found to be the most relevant and effective components in predicting the comprehensibility of selected safety signs. Further, when these three features are used for classification, the K-NN classifier achieves the highest classification accuracy of 94.369% followed by medium Gaussian SVM which achieves a classification accuracy of 76.075% under hold-out data division protocol. The machine learning (ML) technique was adopted as a promising approach to addressing the issue of comprehensibility, especially in terms of determining factors affecting the safety signs' comprehension. The cognitive sign features of familiarity, simplicity, and meaningfulness can provide useful information in terms of designing user-friendly safety signs