Investigating and prioritizing of the barriers of performing periodic occupational examinations in industries of Kashan city in 2019

Abstract

Aim and Scope: Health monitoring is important component of the employee health maintenance program, which is performed by periodic examinations in accordance with Article 92 of the Labor Law. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the barriers of performing periodic examinations in the industries of Kashan in 2019. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on 200 people (employer, health inspector, and medicine physician and industry health experts). A researcher-made questionnaire used to collect the data. Barriers were prioritized based on the scores of each group. Then, a weighting technique was used to accumulate the opinions and final prioritization. To analyze the data, SPSS 16 software was used. Results: Out of 200 subjects the number (percentage) of employers, inspectors, occupational medicine physicians and industry experts were 103 (51.5%), 31 (15.5%), 5 (2.5%) and 61 (31.5%) respectively. Using AHP (hierarchical analysis) and Expert Choice software. Final weight for the perspective of occupational health inspectors, employer, occupational medicine physician, and industry expert was obtained at 0.38, 0.257, 0.195, and 0.168, respectively. After applying the weight from the perspective of the four groups, the final priorities were obtained as the high cost of examinations, lack of awareness of workers about the importance of examinations, and lack of a comprehensive plan to reduce occupational diseases in industry, respectively. Conclusion: It is recommended that examinations be performed in clinics covered by the University of Medical Sciences at a lower cost. And train employers about the benefits and importance of occupational examinations.