Hygiene Experts Research Articles

Characterization of health and safety hazards of deconstruction activities.

Manual deconstruction-an alternative to mechanical demolition-is a crucial technique in the building industry that facilitates a circular economy for the built environment and achieves sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, the current body of literature lacks a thorough grasp of the OHS (occupational health and safety) hazards related to the deconstruction process. The current work closes this scholarly gap by outlining the deconstruction process as phases and sets of activities and highlighting potential health and safety hazards throughout different activities and phases. The study uses numerous case studies and applies a descriptive case study technique to gather and analyze primary data from hundreds of photos and notes from over 40 field visits. The primary data are first used to prepare a comprehensive process map of deconstruction. Six construction safety experts and four industrial hygiene experts were then interviewed to identify and characterize health and safety hazards in images representative of the deconstruction activities. A taxonomy of OHS hazards for deconstruction was developed based on identifying 35 unique safety and 51 unique health hazards. Significant safety hazards in deconstruction activities include "struck-by," "trip, slip, and fall" hazards, and "lack of personal protective equipment." Major health hazards include ergonomic concerns, respiratory diseases, and eye strain. The study highlights the occupational health and safety issues faced by the deconstruction trade with a granularity rarely covered in existing literature. The assessments can be helpful for OHS practitioners to identify potential health and safety improvements across various deconstruction phases.

Development of the Korean construction job exposure matrix (KoConJEM) based on experts' judgment using the 60 consolidated occupations for construction workers.

This study was conducted as an effort to develop a Korean construction job exposure matrix (KoConJEM) based on 60 occupations recently consolidated by the construction workers mutual aid association for use by the construction industry. The probability, intensity, and prevalence of exposure to 26 hazardous agents for 60 consolidated occupations were evaluated as binary (Yes/No) or four categories (1 to 4) by 30 industrial hygiene experts. The score for risk was calculated by multiplying the exposure intensity by the prevalence of exposure. Fleiss' kappa for each hazardous agent and occupation was used to determine agreement among the 30 experts. The JEM was expressed on a heatmap and a web-based dashboard to facilitate comparison of factors affecting exposure according to each occupation and hazardous agent. Awkward posture, heat/cold, heavy lifting, and noise were hazardous agents regarded as exposure is probable by at least one or more experts in all occupations, while exposure to asphalt fumes was considered hazardous in the smallest number of occupations (n = 5). Based on the degree of agreement among experts, more than half of the harmful factors and most occupations showed fair to good results. The highest risk value was 16 for awkward posture for most occupations other than safety officer. The KoConJEM provides information on the probability, intensity, and prevalence of exposure to harmful factors, including most occupations employing construction workers; therefore, it may be useful in the conduct of epidemiological studies on assessment of health risk for construction workers.

Development of a scale to evaluate the rest levels of male workers

Objectives "Rest" has two aspects: "repose," to recover from physical or mental fatigue, and "restore," to re-establish physical, mental, and social health. Many male workers work for prolonged hours, and despite stress, they do not apply coping behaviors, unlike female workers. Consequently, taking sufficient rest is difficult for male workers. The aim of this study was to develop a scale incorporating multiple factors to evaluate the state in which male workers take rest.Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted involving 330 male workers aged 20-59 years who had been engaged in two manufacturing industries. The questionnaire items were created with reference to an interview survey of male workers in the literature. After discussing with industrial hygiene experts and conducting a pretest to obtain surface validity, 70 items were used for analyses. In the exploratory factor analysis, promax rotation was used with the maximum likelihood method. In the confirmatory factor analysis, goodness of fit was confirmed with the covariance structure analysis. Health-related quality of life, job stress, work engagement, sleep, and self-assessment of rest were used to examine concurrent validity.Results With the exploratory factor analysis, we introduced a scale containing 15 items, including three subscales: filling with spirit, enthusiasm for work, and recovery from fatigue. The reliability coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) of the three subscales and the overall scale ranged from 0.79 to 0.88 and 0.89, ensuring internal consistency. The confirmatory factor analysis showed a generally good fit. Their scores were correlated with many items of the health-related quality of life, job stress, work engagement, sleep, and self-assessment of rest.Conclusions A 15-item "Rest Evaluation Scale" was created to evaluate the state in which male workers in the manufacturing industries take rest. Since the validity, reliability, and concurrent validity of this scale were satisfactory, this scale was considered to be an index evaluating the state of rest of male workers.

Nurses and the prevention of antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic resistance is a threat tohuman medicine. Preventing the risk of infection and participating in the proper use ofantibiotics are part of nurses' mission to combat this phenomenon, in partnership with their colleagues who are experts in hygiene and infectiology.

Infection prevention and control between legal requirements and German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology expert assessments: a cross-sectional study in September–November 2022

In contrast to the beginning of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), pandemic, more and more hospital issues are now regulated by policy. To identify differences between expert recommendations and legal requirements regarding infection prevention and control (IPC) strategies. A cross-sectional study was conducted between 29th September 2022 and 3rd November 2022 addressing 1319 members of the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology. The response rate was 12%. This paper reports the expert recommendations on different IPC strategies. The majority (66%) of experts recommended universal mask usage, with 34% recommending it seasonally, even after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Medical microbiology (MM) experts were more likely to recommend continuing to wear the masks indefinitely compared with IPC experts. Concerning the mask type, medical masks were recommended more frequently by IPC experts (47.3%), while FFP2 masks were preferred by MM experts (31.8%). The majority (54.7%) of experts recommended universal screening of employees, mainly in settings with extremely vulnerable patients and if regional incidence rates were high, at a frequency of twice per week. The dominant advice (recommended by at least 50% of experts) for employees exposed to SARS-CoV-2 was daily testing and wearing a mask, regardless of the length of exposure. Expert recommendations deviate from the legal requirements and appear to be more differentiated and proportional. The influence of specific experience and expertise on mask recommendations should be investigated in more detail. For relevant policy decisions, a quick, focused and broad-based consultation of expertise could be of added value.

건강신념모델(HBM)을 적용한 유아교육기관의 구강건강교육 프로그램 개발 연구

Objectives In this study, the purpose of developing oral education programs for early childhood educational institutions applying the health belief model was to lay the foundation for continuous and systematic oral health education in early childhood education institutions.
 Methods Through the literature review stage, the necessity of oral education program development research and research plan are established, and the needs of early childhood teachers, principals, parents, and dental hygiene experts are surveyed, analyzed and reflected to provide continuous oral education in early childhood education institutions. The health belief model (HBM) was applied to the possible oral education objectives, educational goals, educational contents, and teaching and learning methods. The suitability was verified by early childhood education experts and dental hygiene experts, and qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods for teachers and infants were constructed in the evaluation method.
 Results This program consists of 17 sessions, by modifying and supplementing the health belief model appropriately for oral education, to have sensitivity to one's own oral health, to recognize the seriousness of the cause of dental caries, and to recognize the benefits arising from good oral health habits. The program consisted of procedures of recovering oral health obstacles, and acquiring a sense of self-efficacy.
 Conclusions Through this study, children in early childhood education institutions check their oral conditions and based on this, they can expand and change their awareness of healthy oral care to practice and maintain behaviors for healthy oral hygiene. The significance of this study can be found in that it has prepared a sustainable oral education program that allows.

Caveat emptor: On the Need for Baseline Quality Standards in Computer Vision Wood Identification

Computer vision wood identification (CVWID) has focused on laboratory studies reporting consistently high model accuracies with greatly varying input data quality, data hygiene, and wood identification expertise. Employing examples from published literature, we demonstrate that the highly optimistic model performance in prior works may be attributed to evaluating the wrong functionality—wood specimen identification rather than the desired wood species or genus identification—using limited datasets with data hygiene practices that violate the requirement of clear separation between training and evaluation data. Given the lack of a rigorous framework for a valid methodology and its objective evaluation, we present a set of minimal baseline quality standards for performing and reporting CVWID research and development that can enable valid, objective, and fair evaluation of current and future developments in this rapidly developing field. To elucidate the quality standards, we present a critical revisitation of a prior CVWID study of North American ring-porous woods and an exemplar study incorporating best practices on a new dataset covering the same set of woods. The proposed baseline quality standards can help translate models with high in silico performance to field-operational CVWID systems and allow stakeholders in research, industry, and government to make informed, evidence-based modality-agnostic decisions.

ONJ (MRONJ) Update 2021—Osteonecrosis of Jaw Related to Bisphosphonates and Other Drugs—Prevention, Diagnosis, Pharmacovigilance, Treatment: A 2021 Web Event

On the 8th and 9th of May 2021, an online conference was organized to connect Italian physicians, dentists and oral care specialists, students, nurses, psychologists, dental hygiene experts, and other professionals to discuss controversial issues about Medication-Related Osteonecrosis of Jaw (MRONJ). The first section evaluated differences between Italian recommendations, released on 2020 by Italian Societies of Oral Pathology and Medicine (SIPMO) and Maxillofacial Surgery (SICMF), and other international practice guidelines or documents. A first round table gathered expert opinions about MRONJ definitions and staging systems. Another round table was dedicated to opinion of drug prescribers (oncologists, hematologists, rheumatologists, and other physicians treating osteoporosis). Educational sessions illustrated the main differences between previous (2013) and more recent (2020) Italian recommendations. A large space was dedicated to the presentation of scientific contributions from centers in Italy, divided in specific sessions (epidemiology; case series; special case reports; prevention experiences; MRONJ treatment). Conclusions: in an innovative web conference, talks and scientific reports underlined importance of adequate imaging study of bone in definition and staging of MRONJ cases, the role of surgery in treatment of the disease, and the value of oral hygiene in the prevention.

How an election can be safely planned and conducted during a pandemic: Decision support based on a discrete event model.

In 2020, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused major limitations for any aspect of social life and in specific for all events that require a gathering of people. While most events of this kind can be postponed or cancelled, democratic elections are key elements of any democratic regime and should be upheld if at all possible. Consequently, proper planning is required to establish the highest possible level of safety to both voters and scrutineers. In this paper, we present the novel and innovative way how the municipal council and district council elections in Vienna were planned and conducted using an discrete event simulation model. Key target of this process was to avoid queues in front of polling stations to reduce the risk of related infection clusters. In cooperation with a hygiene expert, we defined necessary precautions that should be met during the election in order to avoid the spread of COVID-19. In a next step, a simulation model was established and parametrized and validated using data from previous elections. Furthermore, the planned conditions were simulated to see whether excessive queues in front of any polling stations could form, as these could on the one hand act as an infection herd, and on the other hand, turn voters away. Our simulation identified some polling stations where long queues could emerge. However, splitting up these electoral branches resulted in a smooth election across all of Vienna. Looking back, the election did not lead to a significant increase of COVID-19 incidences. Therefore, it can be concluded that careful planning led to a safe election, despite the pandemic.

Effective redesign strategies for tourism management in a crisis context: A theory-in-use approach

Fundamental crises transform the tourism environment. To achieve business continuity, hotels have redesigned their operations with innovative strategies, introducing new protocols, and launching branded programs promising enhanced quality of the travel experience, by collaborating with well-known health and hygiene experts. Using a grounded theory approach, we identify three hotel redesign strategies used in practice (compliance, extensive and partnership redesign). Based on these insights, we further empirically investigate how redesign strategies affect customer perceptions. Through a quasi-experimental design, we find that service redesign influences hotel image and time frame travel. The results differ by the redesign type and the crisis dimension most relevant to tourists (social versus health), such that extensive and partnership redesign, as versus compliance redesign have a significant impact only for health-oriented individuals. Additionally, our findings highlight that redesign efforts to respond the current crisis can be perceived differently by an individual's risk perception and gender.

Hypochondria as a form factor: The role of colonial anxieties as shapers of buildings and urban spaces in British Africa

ABSTRACT The paper explores the role played by hypochondria, defined as the preoccupation with fears of having, or the idea that one has, a serious disease based on the person's misinterpretation of bodily symptoms, in the definition of buildings and urban spaces throughout the history of British presence in the tropics, with a special regard to the African continent. From the medical and hygiene experts to the army engineers and the establishment of Tropical Architecture the relationship with the climatic and health conditions of the tropical belt has triggered fears and anxieties that have often prevented the definition of solutions. This paper shows how the scientific attitude that has characterized the exploration and settlement of tropical areas has not been a steady process but rather a complex mix of fears, false truths, wrong beliefs and slow improvements.

Wild mushrooms poisoning: a public health challenge

Abstract Issue Mushrooms are considered as ingredient of gourmet cuisine across the globe and mushroom poisonings can occur because of misidentification of a poisonous species as edible. Of the vast number of mushroom species, approximately 100 are toxic(**). Description of the Problem Mushroom poisoning is a public health problem. People should be educated about this poison as often there are no guidelines about the treatment of mushroom toxicity. Despite treatment, the prognosis can be mortal. In the Department of Hygiene and Health Prevention (ATS Val Padana, Italy) expert mycologists offer their consultation free of charge to people who pick mushrooms and register, for each consultation, quantity and toxicity of collected mushrooms. Results In 2018-19, 279 consultations were offered: 124(44.44%) in 2018, 155 (55.56%) in 2019. 58.42% of mushrooms were considered not dangerous for human health, without any difference among the two considered years (p = 0.167). 233.7 kg mushrooms were considered edible (mean 2.71, SD 16.44), 92.95 kg were considered dangerous and destroyed (mean 1.39, SD 6.99). The most identified species were: Agrocybe aegerita (11.47%), Armillaria Mellea (29.75%), Boletus edulis (6.45%), Macrolepiota venenata** (1.43%, N = 4), Xerocomus badius (2.51%), Lyophillum loricatum (1.79%), Agaricus Xanthodermus** (3.23%, N = 9). Intoxications occurred among people who did not refer to our mycology unit. Conclusions Mushroom poisoning represents a major health risk and as it's often consequence of misidentification, a free of charge consultation offered by experts is fundamental to avoid intoxications or deaths. Key messages Mushroom poisoning presents a major health risk. A free of charge consultation offered by experts is fundamental to avoid intoxications or deaths.

Cross-cultural strategies analysis of hygienic expertise in education

The article presents an overview of the problem of strategies for hygienic expertise in education. The purpose of the article is to identify special formats of strategies for hygienic expertise in education from the perspective of modern practices of cross-cultural analysis based on a review of a sample of sources in the WoS and Scopus databases of domestic and foreign science. The research is based on the methodology of cross-cultural approach; the research used methods of analytical review of publications (WoS, Scopus, RSCI databases), interpretation, contextual analysis, statistical methods, which made it possible to study special formats of strategies for hygienic expertise in education and identify the specifics of the interpretation of hygienic expertise in modern domestic and foreign studies. Based on a scientific review of a sample of sources, the main approaches to the interpretation and definition of hygienic expertise are defined. The content and subject of research is established, taking into account cross-cultural characteristics, geographical distribution of publications. Based on the existing knowledge, the main types of strategies for hygienic expertise are identified: medical-physiological, psychological-biological, socio-pedagogical, cultural-humanitarian, which are the methodological basis for preparing and making decisions in education. In conclusion, the article summarizes the features of research on hygiene expertise strategies in education from the perspective of modern practices of cross-cultural analysis in domestic and foreign science.

Identification, Selection and Prioritization of Key Performance Indicators for the Improvement of Occupational Health (Case Study: An Automotive Company).

Regarding the important role of occupational health in the continuous improvement of organizations, the aim of this study was to identify, select and prioritize key indicators for improvement of occupational health in an automotive company. This cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in three stages. First, a semi-structured interview as well as an inspection and a review of the company's documentation and studies were carried out, and a set of key indicators were identified and selected. Then, the validity of the indicators were determined by experts (N = 11). Following that, the indicators were prioritized based on SMART criteria. Following the study framework, we collected a set of indicators that included 45 health indicators and 17 educational ones. The results of examining their content validity showed that among the 45 primary health indicators and 17 educational ones, 12 and 9 indicators had acceptable validity, respectively, and a total of 21 indicators were suggested for the purpose of the study by the expert team. The results of prioritizing showed that the leading indicator such as the percentage of corrective and preventive health actions done with the weight of 0.146 was the first priority. A set of key indicators was proposed according to the results, based on the objective of the study, which can help managers and industrial hygiene experts to assess performance in the automotive industry.

Andrija Štampar - utemeljivač Jugoslovenske službe javnog zdravlja i zdravstveni ambasador jugoslovenske države u SZO

Andrija Štampar was born in 1888 in the village of Brodski Drenovac in Slavonia, and died in 1958 in Zagreb. He was a Yugoslav and Croatian doctor and scientist most deserving of founding public health and social medicine in the Balkans in the first half of the 20th century. He graduated from the Medical Faculty in Vienna in 1911 with a doctorate in general medicine. Even as a medical student, he wrote articles and pamphlets with the goal of educating and enlightening people about prevention and maintaining health. He began his professional career working as a municipal doctor in Nova Gradiška, and from 1919 to 1930 he worked as the head of the hygiene department of the Ministry of Public Health in Belgrade, and in that period he worked on founding a health service in the former Yugoslavia. He organized more than 250 public institutions important for health work. With his dedicated and tireless work, he tried to establish a doctor as a public and social worker and a national teacher and educator, who is economically independent and equally accessible to all strata of society. He emphasized the importance of preventive medical work. From 1930, his more significant engagement at the international level began. He works as a hygiene expert at the League of Nations in many European countries, in the USA and in China, where he is credited with the reform of the health service. He spent the years of World War II as a detainee in a prison in Graz. After his release, he continued to work in the field of public health and science, as the director of the School of Public Health, dean of the Faculty of Medicine, rector of the University of Zagreb, member and president of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts JANU (1947-1958). Along with a rich professional career in the country, he achieves notable successes in the organization of the public health service and in the world. He has been working on the founding of the World Health Organization since 1946, and after writing its constitution in the summer of 1948, he chaired the first Assembly of this highest health body in the world in Geneva.

Root-cause analysis of bacteraemia increase and surveillance data in hemodialysis

ObjectiveTo investigate the bacteraemia increase in haemodialysis sector based on data from specific dialysis nosocomial infections national network surveillance (DIALIN) and through an Association of Litigation and Risk Management protocol (ALARM).IntroductionIn 2017, the dialysis centre of East Reunion Hospital Group (ERHG) based in Saint-Benoit highlighted an increase in bacteraemia’s rates. It was a significant rising compared to previous years. Indeed, ERHG is participating since 2013 to the France haemodialysis infections network surveillance (DIALIN)[1], created in 2005 and that is allowing assessing bacteraemia. DIALIN is a multicentre prospective permanent survey that has followed six voluntary centres in 2005 and forty-two in 2016. Objectives of this network are firstly to produce data about acquired infections in haemodialysis sector such as infection incidence rate and standardized ratios allowing centres to compare themselves and, secondly, to improve the quality of care .The current study describe how a root cause analysis has been conducted through the ALARM risk assessment methodology to set up action plans and to reduce the phenomenon[2][3]MethodsFive years (2013-2017) of ERHG haemodialysis data were obtained from the haemodialysis infections national network surveillance (DIALIN).To investigate and to analyse clinical incidents, the French National Authority for Health (HAS)[2] recommends the use of an Association of Litigation And Risk Management (ALARM) protocol. It is a powerful method for the investigation and analysis of serious incidents by risks managers [4]. Well established in industries sectors, the ALARM method of investigation is well introduced in French healthcare system since the last ten years. It was used to provide root cause analysis of this phenomenon.Individual’s risk factors of each patients (endogenous factors) have been analysed but these risks were identical every year. Thus, we focused on elements different in 2017 from previous years (exogenous factors). We practised audits about hand hygiene, standard precautions, catheter connection and disconnection practices.Our investigations covered several domains of risks or contributary factors such as patient, professional workers, teams, clinical practices protocols, technical and organisational context, care management and Hospital regional health policy.ResultsData from DIALIN pointed out that the ERHG bacteraemia’s rate was similar or lower to the national network until 2016 (n= 0 in 2016 or 1 in 2015 bacteraemia per year only in catheter's access vascular). No infections nor bacteraemia on fistula were noted as showned on figure 1 and figure 2.In 2016, there were 68 haemodialysis chronic patients, 8996 dialysis sessions and incidence of all infections was 0.11 over 1000 sessions.In 2017, there were 84 haemodialysis chronic patients,10377 dialysis sessions and incidence of all infections is 0.77 over 1000 sessions. Bacteraemia’s rate was higher than national network and ERHG previous years.The analysis of potential causes by ALARM method gave us different explanations. First of all, an increase of dialysis sessions and patients number could explain the increase. Then, this method allowed us to highlight a lower hand hygiene indicator for the service and an equipment issue. A batch of extra-corporal-circuit line was defective and a national withdrawal of any batch was initiated thanks to the ERHG. Secondary, the human factors like recruitment of new members with non-compliance of internal processes, management and human resources issues, under stress work conditions, bad working atmosphere, communication issues between haemodialysis professional workers, contributed to the bacteraemia increase. The investigations had also highlighted a misuse of antiseptic serving to catheter 's connection and disconnection process. Some nurses did not respect the activity time of antiseptic and others nurses splashed the antiseptic instead of cleaned with a sterile wipe.Responses have been taken to stop this issue including the cooperation of healthcare team with the support of hygiene expert team. Nevertheless, because of the multiplicity of risk factors and identified roots causes, the phenomenon has not been stop promptly. Despite a slowdown, the phenomenon persists in 2018. Actions have been decided to standardize practices, to work in pairs, and to improve hand hygiene. News equipments and an other antiseptic following national guidelines ( alcoholic chlorhexidin 2%) were chosen by a multidisciplinary team.ConclusionsBacteraemia for dialysis patients might evolve towards serious complications as endocarditis or death in worth cases. During this period, no deaths nor endocarditis linked to bacteraemia have been revealed. The use of a risk management protocol derived from the industry allowed finding roots causes and set up actions plans to solve the phenomenon. ERHG participation to the DIALIN surveillance is continuing.

Interventions to increase hand hygiene compliance in a tertiary university hospital over a period of 5years: An iterative process of information, training and feedback.

To explore whether an iterative process of information and training paired with a feedback system to observed healthcare professionals and the respective management improves hand hygiene (HH) compliance. Healthcare-associated infections are a major risk for patient safety, and adherence to the "My five moments" (M5M) for HH varies significantly within organisations as well as within healthcare professional groups. Identified barriers in a baseline survey revealed the need of more information, training, repetitive compliance measurements and feedback to all healthcare professionals. A quality improvement project using the method of direct observation of healthcare professionals in nonsurgical and surgical wards. Between 2013 and 2017, 6,009 healthcare professionals were informed and trained, and HH compliance measurements were performed by hygiene experts. Compliance measurement results were documented in an online tool to give an immediate feedback to observed healthcare professionals. Additionally, a report was forwarded to the management of the respective department to raise awareness. Compliance rates per year were descriptively summarised. The research and reporting methodology followed SQUIRE 2.0. In total, 84 compliance measurements with 19,295 "M5M for HH" were observed in 49 wards. Overall, mean HH compliance increased from 81.9±5.2% in 2013 to 94.0±3.6% in 2017. Physicians' HH compliance rate improved from 69.0±16.6% to 89.3±6.6%, that of nurses from 86.0±6.9% to 96.4±3.1%, and that of others from 60.5±27.9% to 83.8±20.2%. All M5M for HH (#1-#5) increased over the study period (#1: +16.9%; #2: +20.5%; #3: +7.6%; #4: +5.9%; #5: +12.7%). Results demonstrated that an iterative process of information, training, observation and feedback over a period of 5years can be successful in increasing HH compliance. Positive trends were observed for HH compliance rates across all healthcare professional groups as well as for all M5M for HH.

Risk Assessment of Welders Exposure to the Released Contaminated Gases in Different Types of Welding Processes in a Steel Industry

Background: Exposure to the evaporated gases during the welding process has short- or long-term effects on welders’ health. Assessment of the risk by identifying and determining the chemical risk rating might be a useful tool for the experts in industrial hygiene. Objectives: The present study aimed at evaluating the exposure of welders to welding gases in seven welding types in the Steel Industry. Methods: The present study was conducted in one of the factories of the steel industry in 2017. Seven types of welding were studied including SMAW-E7018, SMAW-E730, MIG, MAG, PAW, SAW, and GTAW. Sampling from the NO, NO2, CO, CO2, and O3 was done via direct-reading instruments. To assess the health risk of exposure, the used approach was the one proposed by the division of occupational safety and health of the labor department of Singapore. Results: Findings of the present study revealed that the average range of welders’ exposure to NO, NO2, CO, CO2, and O3 gases in various welding processes was 30 - 50, 2456 - 5000, 2 - 12, 3.5 - 6, and 0.16 - 0.5 parts per million (ppm). Maximum and minimum concentrations of exposure to each of the gases were observed in MIG and PAW welding processes, respectively. The results of risk assessment showed that ozone and nitrogen dioxide had a very high-risk rating and nitrogen monoxide had a rank of “negligible” in all types of welding. Among the different types of welding, the most and the least risks of welding types were in MIG and PAW welding, respectively. Conclusions: MIG welders have a high occupational exposure to various types of welding gases. Use of control measures such as installing a local ventilation system, workplace air monitoring, implementing appropriate respiratory protection, and training the workers are recommended for safety of the welders.

Development of a bar code-based exposure assessment method to evaluate occupational exposure to disinfectants and cleaning products: a pilot study

ObjectiveHealthcare workers are highly exposed to various types of disinfectants and cleaning products. Assessment of exposure to these products remains a challenge. We aimed to investigate the feasibility of a...

Consumer Responsibility for Food Safety

<p><em>Nowadays, food safety and quality have a key role in maintaining the health of consumer, as the ultimate link in the food chain. Foodborne diseases can be a problem for every individual, but are particularly important to children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. Although food hygiene experts widely accept many cases of foodborne disease occur as a result of improper food handling and preparation by consumers, the consumers themselves are still not aware of this fact. Correct personal hygiene measures are a well known step facilitating reductions in the risk of these diseases. However, actual implementation of personal hygiene and sanitation behaviors at home remains insufficient. The aim of many studies is to assess consumers’ knowledge of food security and to determine whether that knowledge is applied in practice. Such information can be of great help to professionals who deal with education of consumers about food safety, should help promote the principle among consumers that they themselves have a critical role in reducing the risk of foodborne disease.</em></p>