Daily Working Hours Research Articles

Association between Long Working Hours and Psychological Distress: The Effect Modification by Request to Stay Home When Sick in the Workplace during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The effect of workplace infection control measures required by the COVID-19 pandemic on the association between long working hours and psychological distress has not yet been fully revealed. This study investigated the effect of requesting to stay home when sick (RSH) on the association between long working hours and psychological distress. We conducted a cross-sectional survey in December 2020 among participants who had previously registered with a Japanese web survey company. A total of 27,036 workers completed a self-administered questionnaire which assessed usual daily overtime work hours. RSH was assessed using an original single-item scale, while psychological distress was measured with the K6 scale. After the interaction effect of overtime work hours and RSH on psychological distress was tested, we conducted stratified analyses using RSH. The statistical analysis demonstrated a significant interaction effect (p for interaction < 0.001). When we conducted stratified analyses, the odds ratios increased with longer working hours, both with and without RSH groups; however, the risk of long working hours causing psychological distress was greater in the latter group (odds ratio = 1.95 [95% confidence interval: 1.62–2.36] than in the former group (odds ratio = 1.73 [95% confidence interval: 1.55–1.93]). We found that working without RSH could strengthen the association between long working hours and psychological distress. Our findings contribute to preventing the deterioration of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prevalence and risk factors for self-reported symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome among hospital office workers: a cross-sectional study

Objectives. We aimed to determine the prevalence of self-reported symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and associated risk factors among hospital office workers. Methods. This cross-sectional study was carried out between May and August 2021 with office workers actively working in a hospital in Izmir, Turkey. The Boston carpal tunnel syndrome questionnaire was used to evaluate the severity of self-reported CTS symptoms and their effect on the functional status of the participants. Results. The study included 151 people, 68.2% of whom were women. CTS symptoms were reported by 74.1% of the participants, the majority of whom (73.2%) were women. These reported symptoms were mild in 43%, moderate in 24.5%, severe in 5.3% and very severe in 1.3%. Significant differences were found between those with and without CTS symptoms regarding age, body mass index, previous diagnosis of CTS, daily work hours, using a wrist-supported mousepad and perceived workload (p < 0.05). Conclusion. CTS symptoms of office workers in the hospital were associated with occupational characteristics as well as individual factors. These risk factors should be taken into account while planning for future preventive and interventional measures in workplaces.

Working Conditions and Fatigue in Japanese Shift Work Nurses: A Cross-sectional Survey

This study aimed to identify the working conditions (working hours, overtime work, number of night shifts, number of holidays, and work intervals) associated with fatigue, based on the shift patterns, and determine their thresholds. From January to February 2020, a web-based questionnaire was sent to 4601 shift work nurses at 47 hospitals in Japan. The multivariate logistic analysis was conducted to predict high- and low-fatigue groups by working conditions, and receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to clarify the high-fatigue thresholds by shift pattern. A total of 386 shift work nurses participated in this study. The threshold (fatigue was 3.0 or higher) of the two-shift rotation was 9hours 50minutes for daily working hours during day shifts (Odds ratio [OR]=1.57, p<.01), 17hours 15minutes for daily working hours during night shifts (OR=1.20, p<.01), and 8.0days for the number of night shifts (OR=1.09, p=.02). The threshold of the three-shift rotation was 9hours 45minutes (OR=1.59, p<.01), 2.9days for the number of midnight shifts (OR=1.53, p<.01), and 2.0 times for the interval between day-shift and night-shifts within 12hours (OR=1.39, p<.01). Working hours and the number of night shifts are important for two-shift rotation, and working hours for the assignment of midnight shift are important for three-shift rotations. Nurse managers should manage shifts according to nurses' shift patterns.

Surge Pricing and Short-Term Wage Elasticity of Labor Supply in Real-Time Ridesharing Markets

The prominence of real-time ridesharing services, such as Uber and Lyft, has dramatically changed the landscape of traditional industries. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the short-term wage elasticity of labor supply in real-time ridesharing markets using data from a major ridesharing platform in China. By exploiting an exogenous shock from uneven driving restrictions as an instrumental variable, we find a negative labor supply elasticity for ridesharing drivers, suggesting that drivers tend to drive less during days with a higher average hourly wage. Specifically, a percent increase in hourly wage will lead to a 0.931 percent decrease in daily working hours. This surprising finding is consistent with the behavioral income-targeting model based on the theory of reference-dependent preferences: Drivers have heuristic daily targets for total earnings and are more motivated to supply labor when they are below their income target than when they are above it. Therefore, they work less on days when earnings per hour are high and quit the market once their income target is reached. In addition, we find that taxi drivers are more rational and have positive labor supply elasticity, which implies that drivers are more rational when they have repeated opportunities for learning. Estimating labor supply elasticity is critical to understanding the economic efficiency of various surge pricing algorithms and driver subsidization programs for ridesharing platforms and policymakers. Our research suggests that a uniform price surging or driver subsidization approach for all ridesharing drivers may not incentivize the labor supply of drivers effectively.

Prevalence of Violence against Health Care Personnel in a Tertiary Care Centre, Hubballi, India

Background: The sudden outburst of events in different parts of country like Dhule, Dharwad, Chennai and Jaipur led to the need of conducting a survey about violence against health care personnel. Health care personnel are at high risk of being victims of verbal and physical violence, its effect on them and their views on causes for sudden increase in such events.&#x0D; Methodology: A semi-structured questionnaire regarding their experience with violence against health care personnel was prepared. Data was collected for two months –May and June 2017. Sample size of 200 was calculated which included doctors, nursing staff and group D workers from KIMS Hubballi and analysed using SPSS version 21.&#x0D; Results: 99.5% were aware of increasing violent events.76% of them have experienced violence of which, Verbal abuse- 92.10% being the highest form, emotional abuse -17.76% and physical violence 6.58%. The common place of violence was the emergency department -62.09% during daily working hours. 92.10% have reported that patient attenders caused violence.&#x0D; Conclusion: Verbal and emotional abuse against health care workers has significantly amplified which is deteriorating physician patient relationship. Violence against health care personnel is a serious issue that needs to be dealt with more safety measures at the hospital.

STRESS AND BURNOUT SYNDROME AMONG MOROCCAN MEDICAL STUDENTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Background:Christina Maslach and colleagues define burnout as a psychological syndrome in response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job which is further characterized by its three dimensions of exhaustion, depersonalization, and a decreased sense of accomplishment. Burnout and stress are symptomatically similar, with burnout attributed specifically to occupational or academic stressors. Both can cause seriousconsequences on studenthealth, professionalism, and patient care. There are few studies evaluating the level of stress and burnoutsyndrome among medical students in Morocco.The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and levels of burnout syndrome to identify associated factors as well as the level of stress among a group of medical students in Morocco. Method: Our study was descriptive andcross-sectional. It focused on 5th grade level medical students and was carried out during the month of November 2014. Data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire based on volunteering. Results:The study was conducted in a total of 178 fifth-year medical students. The response rate was 97.2% (n = 173). The mean age was 22.2 years (SD = 0.87 years) with a female predominance (74%). The average daily working hours were 8.33 hours (SD= 2.74) and the average daily hours of sleep was 7 hours (SD= 1.1). The majority of students (96.5%) were single.The prevalence of burnout, based on Maslach Burnout Inventory, was 49% (n = 87) of students.The prevalence of high emotional exhaustion was 44%, high depersonalization was 33.3% and high burnout score for personal accomplishment accounted for 64 %.We found a positive correlation between the number of working hours and the burnout score (r = 0.341, p &lt;0.001) as well as the stress score (r=0.3, p=0.009). We also found a negative correlation between the number of hours of sleep and the Burnout score (r = -0.215, p = 0.019).Clearly, this study provides an idea for necessity to plan specific interventions to reduce student stress and avoid burnout.

Battling to keep education going: Chilean and Portuguese teacher experiences in COVID-19 Times

ABSTRACT The article presents results of studies in Chile and Portugal during COVID-19 lockdowns and remote teaching conditions. In each of both countries, over two thousand teachers of all school levels and types were surveyed during a two-month period on their professional experiences in the first year of remote teaching. The article discusses teacher accounts of how their work changed, their difficulties, impact on well-being, as well as new professional learning brought about by the challenges involved. Conceptually, the study relied on notions of occupational professionalism, self-efficacy perceptionsand collegial support in challenging circumstances. Results in both countries highlighted an impact on teacher occupational professionalism and self-efficacy perceptions, mainly brought about by intermittent levels of engagement of students during remote teaching sessions, and difficulties in carrying out proper assessments of student learning. Student well-being was of greater concern to teachers than their own problems, despite feeling the stressful effect of much longer daily working hours, more so among Chilean than Portuguese teachers. The study also brought out teachers’ imaginative efforts and the use of unaccustomed pedagogic strategies to reach out to students and insure some level of learning, especially among those without internet connectivity.

Road to Better Work-Life Balance? Lean Redesigns and Daily Work Time among Primary Care Physicians

PurposeTo assess the impact of Lean primary care redesigns on the amount of time that physicians spent working each day.MethodsThis observational study was based on 92 million time-stamped Epic® EHR access logs captured among 317 primary care physicians in a large ambulatory care delivery system. Seventeen clinic facilities housing 46 primary care departments were included for study. We conducted interrupted time series analysis to monitor changes in physician work patterns over 6 years. Key measures included total daily work time; time spent on “desktop medicine” outside the exam room; time spent with patients during office visits; time still working after clinic, i.e., after seeing the last patient each day; and remote work time.ResultsThe amount of time that physicians spent on desktop EHR activities throughout the day, including after clinic hours, decreased by 10.9% (95% CI: −22.2, −2.03) and 8.3% (95% CI: −13.8, −2.12), respectively, during the first year of Lean implementation. Total daily work hours among physicians, which included both desktop activity and time in office visits, decreased by 20% (95% CI: −29.2, −9.60) by the third year of Lean implementation.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that Lean redesign may be associated with time savings for primary care physicians. However, since this was an observational analysis, further study is warranted (e.g., randomized trial) —to determine the impact of Lean interventions on physician work experiences.

Health status of househelps living in the semi-urban area of Goa

Background: The world’s population is on the rise and so is the need for good housing and job opportunities. This has led to an increase in the number and overcrowding of existing slums which lack reliable sanitation and hygiene. People who work as househelps take on the responsibilities of the households where they work and their own families. The study was undertaken to determine the health status and quality of life of househelps residing in Goa.Methods: A Community based cross sectional study was carried out among househelps living in the semi-urban area of Goa. Participants were selected via snowball sampling. Information was collected through a predetermined questionnaire and via medical examination, after initial briefing. The data was compiled; analyzed and appropriate statistical tests were applied.Results: Marriage before 20 years of age was noted in majority (70.2%). Poor housing standards were noticed in 94%.64% had increased working hours. 80% of the househelps had health complaints of backache, menstrual problems, fever. Statistically significant difference was observed between daily working hours and morbidity, and between age of marriage and number of children. Number of children and morbidity also showed significant statistical relationship.Conclusions: The study highlights the problems faced by the domestic helps which can be tackled by implementing laws which recognize them as a part of the organized sector, holding health camps in rural areas, increasing awareness about the diseases spread in an unhygienic environment.

Characterizing styles of clinical note production and relationship to clinical work hours among first-year residents.

To characterize variation in clinical documentation production patterns, how this variation relates to individual resident behavior preferences, and how these choices relate to work hours. We used unsupervised machine learning with clinical note metadata for 1265 progress notes written for 279 patient encounters by 50 first-year residents on the Hospital Medicine service in 2018 to uncover distinct note-level and user-level production patterns. We examined average and 95% confidence intervals of median user daily work hours measured from audit log data for each user-level production pattern. Our analysis revealed 10 distinct note-level and 5 distinct user-level production patterns (user styles). Note production patterns varied in when writing occurred and in how dispersed writing was through the day. User styles varied in which note production pattern(s) dominated. We observed suggestive trends in work hours for different user styles: residents who preferred producing notes in dispersed sessions had higher median daily hours worked while residents who preferred producing notes in the morning or in a single uninterrupted session had lower median daily hours worked. These relationships suggest that note writing behaviors should be further investigated to understand what practices could be targeted to reduce documentation burden and derivative outcomes such as resident work hour violations. Clinical note documentation is a time-consuming activity for physicians; we identify substantial variation in how first-year residents choose to do this work and suggestive trends between user preferences and work hours.

Association of working hour characteristics and on-call work with risk of short sickness absence among hospital physicians: A longitudinal cohort study

ABSTRACT Physicians often work long hours and on-call shifts, which may expose them to circadian misalignment and negative health outcomes. However, few studies have examined whether these working hour characteristics, ascertained using objective working hour records, are associated with the physicians’ risk of sickness absence. We investigated the associations of 14 characteristics of payroll-based working hours and on-call work with the risk of short sickness absence among hospital physicians. In this cohort study, 2845 physicians from six Finnish hospital districts were linked to electronic payroll-based records of daily working hours, on-call duty and short (1–3 days) sickness absence between 2005 and 2019. A case-crossover design was applied using conditional logistic regression with the 28 day case and control windows to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for short sickness absence. After controlling for weekly working hours and the number of normal (≤12 h) shifts, a higher number of long (>12 h) shifts (ORs for ≥5 versus none: 2.54, 95% CI 1.68–3.84), very long (>24 h) shifts (ORs for ≥5 versus none: 2.62, 95%CI 1.61–4.27), and on-call shifts (OR for ≥5 versus none: 2.15, 95% CI 1.44–3.21) and a higher number of short (<11 h) shift intervals (OR for ≥5 versus none: 12.61, 95% CI 8.88–17.90) were all associated with the increased risk of short sickness absence. These associations did not differ between male and female physicians or between age groups. To conclude, the findings from objective working hour records show that long work shifts, on-call shifts and short shift intervals are related to the risk of short (1–3 days) sickness absence among hospital physicians.

Impact of Nile levels decline on irrigation pump stations in Delta region; technical and economical

This paper divided into two items; the first is to assess the technical state of pump stations on the two branches of the Nile Delta for irrigation by solar energy to compensate the shortage of Nile water especially in such intensively cultivated region such as Delta. The second is studying the economics of these pumps when use the solar energy instead of Diesel. Reduction in Nile water resources in Egypt is inevitable due to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam (GERD). Where the major of the expected impact is a reduction in irrigation canals levels, the surface water could be pumped to irrigate these agriculture lands. HEC-RAS model is used to estimate the decline in the Nile level (in the two branches; Damietta and Rosetta). Two cases are of proposed of power system sources for the operation of pump station on Damietta and Rosetta Branches. The time period of the tested system was 25 years. The results showed that; around 28 pump stations will be hurt in the new conditions of the Nile level decline while 6 only can be operate in safe. the capital cost of the solar system was high when compared with the diesel cost, but the net present cost was highly economic in the solar system. The net present cost of the solar system to irrigates 23100 km2 (5.5 Million feddan) which are the cultivated areas in delta, in first and second cases as; about 33.1 (million LE during 25 years), and about 6.76 (milliard LE during 25 years) respectively. The total greenhouse gas emission by diesel system was about 32,469 (kg/year/4200 m2) with considering the daily working hours of pumps is 8 hours. Finally, either solar energy or diesel usages will increase the economic burden of Egypt but using the solar pump is less impact.

التحديات التي تواجه المتحررين من الأمية في مدينة الرياض

هدفت الدراسة الحالية إلى التعرف على التحديات التي تواجه المتحررين من الأمية في مدينة الرياض، وقد رکزت على أهم التحديات التي تواجه المتحررين من وجهة نظر الفئات المعنية وهي: التحديات الوظيفية، والتحديات الاجتماعية، والتحديات الاقتصادية، وأبرز التوصيات والمقترحات لتخطي تلک التحديات. وشملت العينة (12) فردا من المتحررين من الأمية في مدينة الرياض وقد تم اختيارهم بطريقة العينة القصدية، واستخدمت المقابلة کأداة للدراسة وکان منهج الدراسة هو المنهج الوصفي. وأشارت نتائج الدراسة إلى أن هناک مجموعة من التحديات التي تواجه المتحررين من الأمية وهي: تحديات وظيفية ومنها: ضيق الوقت وطول ساعات العمل اليومية، وعدم وجود مهارات وبرامج تساعد المتحررين من الأمية من تطوير وضعهم في مجال وظيفتهم، وعدم وجود حوافز تشجعهم على مواصلة الدراسة وتطوير أنفسهم. وتحديات اجتماعية منها: کثرة المسئوليات الاجتماعية على کاهل المتحررين من الامية، وتأثير الظروف الاجتماعية المحيطة بالمتحررين وانعکاسها على رغبتهم في اکمال دراستهم، وضعف الدعم والتحفيز في مواصلة التعليم من قبل الآخرين. وتحديات اقتصادية منها: قلة البرامج المهارية المتنوعة المقدمة للمتحررين من الأمية والتي تتغير وفق تسارع المعرفة، ووجود أنظمة لا تسمح للمتحررين من العمل الإضافي، ووجود أنظمة تمنع المتحررين الجمع بين الوظيفية والمشاريع التجارية. The current study aimed to identify the challenges facing the emancipated from illiteracy in the city of Riyadh, and focused on the most important challenges facing the emancipated from the viewpoint of the concerned groups, namely: job challenges, social challenges, economic challenges, and the most prominent recommendations and proposals to overcome those challenges. The sample included (12) individuals who were emancipated from illiteracy in the city of Riyadh. They were chosen by the intentional sampling method. The interview was used as a tool for the study, and the study method was the descriptive one. The results of the study indicated that there are a set of challenges facing the literate, which are: Job challenges, including: lack of time and long daily working hours, the lack of skills and programs that help the literate to develop their position in their field of employment, and the lack of incentives to continue studying and develop themselves. And social challenges, including: the large number of social responsibilities on the shoulders of the literate, the impact of the social conditions surrounding the liberated and their reflection on their desire to complete their studies, and the lack of support and motivation to continue education by others. And economic challenges, including: the lack of various skill programs offered to the literate, which change according to the acceleration of knowledge, the existence of systems that do not allow the liberated to work overtime, and the existence of systems that prevent the liberated from combining employment and commercial projects.

Joint optimization of production and condition-based maintenance scheduling for make-to-order manufacturing systems

In make-to-order manufacturing systems, the production plan is made according to randomly fluctuating customer orders, therefore, the workload distributed to production machines fluctuates with customer orders. The workload that a production machine undertakes influences its deterioration process and maintenance. Besides, different types of dependencies among production machines also influence the production and maintenance scheduling of manufacturing systems. Existing studies have not paid enough attention to the joint optimization of production and maintenance for make-to-order manufacturing systems considering different types of dependencies. In this paper, first, customer orders are predicted using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) or Seasonal ARIMA (SARIMA) according to their characteristics. Second, the model of daily working hours is proposed to represent the influence of customer orders on the deterioration process of production machines. Third, the reliability and imperfect maintenance models of production machines considering three types of dependencies are proposed, and the optimal maintenance time window (MTW) for opportunistic maintenance is obtained in order to minimize the maintenance cost. Fourth, the mathematical model of the entire cost of a new production line construction, covering maintenance cost, operators’ salary, and construction cost, is proposed, and the optimal construction time is obtained in order to minimize the entire cost. Finally, a real use case of the manufacturing system for the shell of air-conditioning compressor is given to illustrate the feasibility and applicability of the proposed model and method. The originality of this work lies in the consideration of the influence of customer orders on the deterioration process of production machines and the modelling of different types of dependencies among production machines in a single model.

Investigation of noise annoyance among the exposed anesthesiologists in a hospital

Objective: To investigation noise annoyance among the exposed anesthesiologists, and to analyze the influencing factors of noise annoyance. Methods: From January to May 2017, cluster sampling was used to select 62 anesthesiologists from Peking University Third Hospital as the survey subjects. The Likert Scale (five-level) and the Visual Analog Scale (0-10 points) were used to conduct noise annoyance and noise sensitivity survey. Linear regression was used for multi-factor analysis to explore the influencing factors of noise annoyance. Results: The age of the research subjects was (32.3±6.1) years old, the working experience was 4.9 (2.0, 8.9) years, and the daily working hours were (9.8±2.8) h. The noise level in the operating room on the measurement day was (64.4±1.7) dB (A) . In the Likert Scale and the Visual Analog Scale, 88.7% (55/62) and 95.2% (59/62) anesthesiologists believed that operating room noise had adverse reactions, 6.5% (4/62) and 14.5% (9/62) anesthesiologists measured a high degree of annoyance. The results of linear regression analysis showed that noise sensitivity was an independent factor influencing the anesthesiologists' noise annoyance in the Likert Scale and the Visual Analog Scale (r=0.524, 0.700, P<0.05) . Conclusion: Noise in the operating room can cause anesthesiologists to feel annoyed and is a hidden danger to the quality of medical services, which should be paid attention to by the academic and management departments.

Dynamic alterations of amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations in patients with chronic neck pain.

The pathogenesis of neck pain in the brain, which is the fourth most common cause of disability, remains unclear. Furthermore, little is known about the characteristics of dynamic local functional brain activity in cervical pain. The present study aimed to investigate the changes of local brain activity caused by chronic neck pain and the factors leading to neck pain. Using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) method combined with sliding window approach, we compared local brain activity that was measured by the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of 107 patients with chronic neck pain (CNP) with that of 57 healthy control participants. Five pathogenic factors were selected for correlation analysis. The group comparison results of dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (dALFF) variability showed that patients with CNP exhibited decreased dALFF variability in the left inferior temporal gyrus, the middle temporal gyrus, the angular gyrus, the inferior parietal marginal angular gyrus, and the middle occipital gyrus. The abnormal dALFF variability of the left inferior temporal gyrus was negatively correlated with the average daily working hours of patients with neck pain. The findings indicated that the brain regions of patients with CNP responsible for audition, vision, memory, and emotion were subjected to temporal variability of abnormal regional brain activity. Moreover, the dALFF variability in the left inferior temporal gyrus might be a risk factor for neck pain.This study revealed the brain dysfunction of patients with CNP from the perspective of dynamic local brain activity, and highlighted the important role of dALFF variability in understanding the neural mechanism of CNP.

Serum estimate of benzene, naphthalene and pyrene as measure of occupational exposure to vehicular air pollution

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Exacerbation in respiration tract infections (RTI) and asthma is associated with exposure to vehicular emission in urban environment. Urban occupational exposure to dust and particulate matter has been shown to increase infections inside airway of human epithelial cells and evidence about rising asthma among occupations working on roadsides were reported. METHODS: Hence, we studied 89 workers directly exposed to vehicular emission such as fuel-station attendants, construction workers, traffic police wardens and bus-drivers with an aim to assess RTI and asthma prevalence resulting from inhalation of air containing dust and vehicular pollutants. Unexposed office workers (n=44) were recruited as control cohort. Exposure was characterized as daily work hours and years associated with current profession. RESULTS:Serum benzene, naphthalene and pyrene median concentrations were 4.5, 12.6, and 2.04 μg/L in exposed group and 0.54, 0.77, and 0.14 μg/L in unexposed cohort, respectively. Compared to self-reported dermal contact, the estimated concentrations were higher in fuel-station attendants related to spills of gasoline (p0.05). After adjusting long work hours, 39% of exposures estimates exceeded the benzene threshold limit value for an 8-h time-weighted average of 1.6 mg/m3. Smokers appeared highly vulnerable to naphthalene (r=0.49, p0.01) and pyrene (r=0.38, p0.05) body burden among traffic police wardens and bus-drivers. Results of regression analysis showed asthma highly prevalent in construction workers (R2=0.53) followed by bus-drivers (R2=0.41). Compared to unexposed control group, RTI was found in 67% of the fuel-station attendants. CONCLUSIONS:We conclude that except construction workers, inhalation and frequent skin exposure to naphthalene and pyrene is unavoidable in all occupational groups. Reducing working hours and job rotation coupled with use of protective equipment are suggested as intervention measures to reduce exposure for vehicular air pollution. KEYWORDS: Air pollution; pyrene, benzene, road-side workers; biomonitoring

Impact of chronic exposure to naphthalene on physical disorders and neurasthenic symptoms among petrol station workers

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Petrol station workers (PSW) are highly exposed occupational group in Pakistan but rarely investigated for health risk assessment. To better quantify toxic effects of petroleum hydrocarbon exposure (naphthalene) among petrol station workers (PSW), a study was conducted with an aim to estimate naphthalene body burden as proxy exposure measure. METHODS: The exposure symptoms of 65 PSW were evaluated by the help of questionnaire. Self-reported health status of each worker was noted. We categorized health disorders into physical (e.g. skin lesions, eye redness, dryness of tongue/lips, appetite loss, and acidity after meals at workplace) and neurasthenic symptoms (e.g. energy loss, fatigue, fainting, twitching, sleeplessness, irritability, and body aches). Blood samples were also collected for analysis of naphthalene concentration by HPLC. RESULTS:The results showed that mean concentration of blood naphthalene was 122 μg L–1 among petrol station workers. There was fairly high significant effect of daily work-hours and employment duration on blood naphthalene levels. Workers exposed to 6 hour per day or more had significantly high prevalence of physical disorders (OR=3.18, 95% CI=1.05–8.08). Neurasthenic symptoms were found in 63% of the subjects and were associated with years of involvement in job. Ten years or more occupational work at petrol stations attributed substantial development of neurasthenic effects (OR=3.45, 95% CI=1.12–8.92). CONCLUSIONS:We conclude that subjects associating disturbances in physical and neurological behavior with petrol related occupation rated their overall health and functional capacity significantly poorer than that of urban area general population. Hence our study may prove helpful in the implementation of human biomonitoring as an instrument for health risk assessment for those who have occupational exposure to naphthalene KEYWORDS: Biomonitoring, PAH, Occupational Exposure, Petroleum hydrocarbons, Epidemiology, Health Risk Analysis

Effect of Unmeasured Time Hours on Occupational Noise Exposure Assessment in the Shipbuilding Process in Korea.

Occupational noise is known to be one of the most hazardous risk factors, frequently exceeding the exposure limit thus causing hearing loss and other health outcomes among many field workers in various industries and workplaces. This study aims to characterize the levels of occupational noise exposure during the daily working hours and break periods (sampling preparation and lunch break), identify work-related characteristics affecting the noise exposure levels when including or excluding the break periods and finally determine the most effective approach for occupational noise exposure assessment by using the Korean and U.S. OSHA’s guidelines. A total of 1575 workers employed by a large shipbuilding company participated in this study, and the historical exposure datasets of noise dosimeters, collected from 2016 to 2018, were classified by characteristics. A threshold level (TL) for the noise dosimeter was set as a value of 80 dBA during the break periods, including the preparation time for sampling instruments and one hour for the lunch break. The shipbuilding workers were exposed to high levels of occupational noise during the break periods, especially for those working in heating, grinding, and power processes in the painting-related departments. Out of 1575 samples, most cases were related to the preparation time (N = 1432, 90.9%) and lunch break (N = 1359, 86.9%). During the break time, the levels of noise exposure were measured depending on task-specific characteristics. When including the break time, the noise levels increased by approximately 1 dBA during the break, combining 0.8 dBA in the lunch hours and 0.2 dBA for the preparation of the sampling instrument. When excluding the break time, the levels of noise exposure collected using a Korean Occupational Safety and Health Administration (KOSHA) guide tended to be underestimated compared to those using the U.S. OSHA method. When including the break times, the proportion of noise exposure levels exceeding the compliance exposure limit declined from 37.9% to 34.5%, indicating that the break times might affect the decrease in the noise exposure levels. Taken together, shipbuilding workers could possibly be exposed to much greater amounts of noise exposure during break times in the shipbuilding processes, and the noise exposure levels in the department of painting were high. Therefore, it is recommended that industrial hygienists collect exposure monitoring data of occupational noise one hour after their job tasks begin and then consecutively monitor the noise exposure levels for at least 6 h including the break periods for each day.

Combined vehicle to building (V2B) and vehicle to home (V2H) strategy to increase electric vehicle market share

Buildings are one of the most important energy consumers in modern economy countries. The massive use of electrical vehicles could help decarbonizing the economy by using electricity produced using renewable energy. Combined use of Vehicle to Grid (V2G), Vehicle to Home (V2H) and Vehicle to Building (V2B) is one of the strategies to increase the number of electrical vehicles, ensure a better coupling between energy generation and consumption, reducing peak demand and increasing global energy efficiency. This research presents a novel approach of combined use of V2H and V2B that can be applied in different scenarios such as when the building workers own EVs, company shared car fleets or leasing, among others. Recharged energy at workers homes during night hours is delivered in the building during daily working hours lowering peak demand, reducing carbon intensity and energy cost savings. The results show that the methodology is feasible and can be extended to other cases and greatly contribute to better energy efficiency, reduces peak demand in buildings and increase electric vehicles penetration in transport to workplaces.