Routine dipstick urinalysis in daily practice of Belgian occupational physicians

BACKGROUND: Little work has been done to assess the quality of health care and the use of evidence-based methods by occupational physicians in Belgium. Therefore, the main objective is to describe one aspect of occupational health assessments, namely the common use of dipstick urinalysis, and to compare the current practice with international guidelines. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was mailed to 211 members of the Scientific Association of Occupational Medicine in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium. RESULTS: A total of 120 occupational physicians responded, giving a response rate of 57%. Dipstick urinalysis was a routine investigation for the vast majority of physicians (69%). All test strips screened for protein and in 90% also for blood. Occupational health services offered clinical tests to satisfy customer wants as international guidelines do not recommend screening for haematuria and proteinuria in asymptomatic adults. A lack of knowledge concerning positive testing and referral criteria was demonstrated in almost half of the study participants. CONCLUSIONS: Belgian occupational physicians still routinely perform dipstick testing although there is no evidence to support this screening in healthy workers. To practice evidence-based medicine, occupational physicians need more instruction and training. Development and implementation of more guidelines is not only of use for the individual practitioner, it may also enhance professionalization and efficiency of occupational health care

Psychosocial predictors of actual turnover among Belgian health care workers

Background: Turnover of nursing staff is a major challenge for healthcare settings and for healthcare in general, urging the need to improve retention. Aim: The aim was to explore the prospective relations between personal and psychosocial work-related factors and actual turnover among Belgian healthcare workers. Methods: Predictors of actual turnover were assessed using the longitudinal Belgian data from the Nurses Early Exit Study (NEXT). Two self-administered questionnaires with a time lag of one year were distributed, covering physical and psychosocial work-related factors, private life, turnover intentions and future perspectives. During follow-up, 90 employees who left the organization voluntary (leavers) and who had a complete data set were identified. These subjects were each matched with two stayers based on gender, age and organization type. Multiple logistic analyses were performed. Results: The first model adjusting for education level showed that quantitative job demands, job satisfaction, burnout, work-home interference, commitment to the institution, pay satisfaction, effort-reward imbalance and intent to leave the organization were significantly associated with actual turnover. When additionally adjusting for intent to leave the organization, job satisfaction (OR 0.29; 95% CI 0.13-0.62) and work-home interference (OR 1.35; 95% CI 1.00-1.81) were found to be the most important independent predictors of turnover. Conclusion: To tackle turnover, special attention should be given to turnover intention, work-home interference and job satisfaction because these risk factors were found to be the strongest predictors of actual turnover among nurses and nursing aids

The relationship between non-standard work arrangements and injuries in Europe

Abstract Background: Non-standard work arrangements are becoming an increasingly important determinant of health and safety among workers. The main objective of this study is to examine the relationship between indicators of non-standard work arrangements including precarious contract, long working hours, multiple jobs, shift work, and occupational injuries, using a representative European sample and taking into account several sociodemographic and work characteristics. Methods: The study was based on the data of the fifth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS). For the purpose of this analysis, the sample was restricted to 26839 respondents from the 27 countries of the European Union, who were all employed workers. Associations between non-standard work arrangements and occupational injuries were studied with multilevel modeling techniques while adjusting for several confounders. Results: About 8.44% of the workers suffered from an occupational injury. Multivariate regression model showed an increased injury risk for those working long hours (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.15 - 1.44), having multiple jobs (OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.03 - 1.47) and shift work (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.18 - 1.54). The relationship between contract type and occupational injuries was not significant (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.78 - 1.07). No significant gender difference was observed. Conclusion: This study confirms that indicators of non-standard work arrangements, except for precarious contract type, were significantly associated with occupational injuries. To reduce the burden of occupational injuries, not only risk reduction strategies and interventions are needed but also policy efforts at European level should be undertaken to limit non-standard work arrangements

Shift work and occupational accident absence in Belgium : findings from the sixth European Working Condition Survey

(1) Background: Irregular and non-standard work arrangements have become a serious determinant to the health and safety of workers. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between shift work and occupational accident absence. A representative Belgian sample considering several sociodemographic and work characteristics is used. (2) Methods: This study is based on the data of the sixth European Working Condition Survey (EWCS). The sample is restricted to 2169 respondents from Belgium. By using multivariate logistic regression modeling techniques and adjusting several confounders, the associations between shift work and occupational accident absence are studied. (3) Results: It is found that about 11.1% of the workers undergo an occupational accident absence. A multivariate regression model demonstrates an increased occupational accident absence risk for workers who have shift work (odds ratio, or OR, 1.92, 95% CI 1.06-3.46). Also, gender and biomechanical exposure were significantly associated with occupational accident absence ((OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.16-3.69) and (OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.14-3.63), respectively). No significant interaction effects are found with gender and age variables. (4) Conclusion: This study confirms that doing shift work is significantly associated with occupational accidents. In order to reduce the significance of occupational accidents, shift work should be limited through national-level policies

Occupational injuries: a comparison between temporary and permanent workers. Findings from the fifth European working condition survey

Objective: although the effect of occupation or employment status on health and safety is notable, there are few studies on the effect of precarious employment on occupational injuries. We compared work injuries and harm in precarious workers and their non-precarious counterparts using a representative European sample. Method: a total of 28853 workers (5863 temporary and 22990 permanent; average age 35 and 41 for temporary and permanent workers respectively) were surveyed by means of the fifth European working condition survey. Employment types consisted of permanent employment and four forms of non-standard work employment: fixed-term contract, temporary employment agency contract, an apprenticeship or other training scheme and no contract. Occupational injury was measured by asking whether the participant had an injury on the job in the past 12 months and causing physical injury to others was measured by asking whether the participants’ mistake on the job will cause physical injury to other workers? To investigate the relationships between employment types, and occupational injury, causing physical injury to other workers, multilevel logistic regression tests were conducted. Results: employees with precarious work were more likely to suffer from occupational injuries (OR 1.13, 95% confidence interval 1.01 – 1.26), and causing less harm to a coworker (OR 0.91, 95% confidence interval 0.85 – 0.97) than employees with non-precarious work. After controlling for age, gender (Model 2) and working conditions (Model 3), compared with unadjusted model, men, those working long hours, those who experience multiple jobs and those working at high speed were found to be risk factors of occupational injuries and causing harm to a coworker. Conclusion: The current study indicated that temporary workers had a higher risk of occupational injuries than permanent employees. Indeed, this study is the first to examine the relations between types of employment and occupational injuries for all 27 member states of the European Union. Our study highlights the need to protect and improve the occupational safety of non-standard workers in EU27

Psychosocial work and home stressors predict sickness absence from work

info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublishe

Presence and use of automated external defibrillators in occupational setting, Belgium

Objectives: Few studies focus on out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the occupational setting. Therefore, this study describes the presence and use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) at Belgian workplaces during the period 2012-2014. Material and Methods: A self-constructed questionnaire was developed and sent to internal prevention counselors. Results: In total, 767 companies filled out the questionnaire. An AED was available in 48.8% of the companies. Presence mainly depended on the number of persons present in the company (both workers and non-workers (e.g., visitors, clients)) and on some occupational cardiovascular risks but was often not based on a well-conducted risk analysis. Training of workers and AED maintenance were provided appropriately. An AED was used for shocking 23 times of which 10 persons survived. Conclusions: Acquiring an AED in the occupational setting is seldom based on a well-conducted risk analysis. Therefore, instructions and criteria are needed to come to a rational decision. Furthermore, a registry on AED utilization in the workplace (e.g., with data on long-term survival) should be set up