Working Conditions Research Articles

Health issues and management practices of pesticide exposure in Ethiopia, East Africa

Pesticides are commonly used in agriculture for pest control, but their improper usage and handling can lead to high farmer exposures, negative health effects, and pollution of water bodies. The purpose of this study was to investigate farmer’s perceptions of the effects of pesticide runoff on water bodies, and to describe their self-reported knowledge of appropriate pesticide use, methods of application, sources of information, and related health issues and management strategies in Ethiopia. Data were collected via structured questionnaire, which was administered as an in-person interview to 582 farmers who cultivated vegetables. To assess unsafe pesticide handling practices, researchers observed the storage of pesticides and the condition of personal protective equipment and asked farmers about their pesticide disposal methods. The study found that nearly 87.97% of farmers reported mixing pesticides using a stick or their bare hands. Most respondents (88.83%) mixed pesticides to spray just on their farmland, and some (10.14%) were near water sources. It revealed that farmers have a low level of awareness about the risks and effects associated with pesticides and do not follow safe practices. Out of the farmers who had utilized pesticides, 55.67% reported encountering health issues associated with pesticide exposure. To reduce exposure and health risks, the study suggests implementing comprehensive interventions, such as integrated pest management, safety training, and alternative control methods.

Suicide in mental health patients in the UK between 2005 and 2021: study of methods and clinical characteristics to inform prevention.

Tackling methods of suicide and limiting access to lethal means remain priority areas of suicide prevention strategies. Although mental health services are a key setting for suicide prevention, no recent studies have explored methods used by mental health patients. To investigate associations between main suicide methods and social, behavioural and clinical characteristics in patients with mental illness to inform prevention and improve patient safety. Data were collected as part of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health. We examined the main suicide methods of 26 766 patients in the UK who died within 12 months of contact with mental health services during 2005-2021. Associations between suicide methods and patient characteristics were investigated using chi-square tests and univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Suicide methods were associated with particular patient characteristics: hanging was associated with a short illness history, recent self-harm and depression; self-poisoning with substance misuse, personality disorder and previous self-harm; and both jumping and drowning with ethnic minority groups, schizophrenia and in-patient status. A method-specific focus may contribute to suicide prevention in clinical settings. Hanging deaths outside of wards may be difficult to prevent but our study suggests patients with recent self-harm or in the early stages of their illness may be more at risk. Patients with complex clinical histories at risk of suicide by self-poisoning may benefit from integrated treatment with substance use services. Environmental control initiatives are likely to be most effective for those at risk of jumping or drowning.

Digital agriculture and decent working conditions of smallholder farmers and farmworkers in Ghana

Digitalisation of the agriculture sector has been argued as the solution to the threat of food insecurity in the Global South. However, its adoption brings serious ramifications to the working conditions of farmers in terms of job creation, worker rights, social protection, and social dialogue. Given the role of the state in ensuring that all forms of employment are organised decently it is however uncertain how digitalisation of the agriculture affects the working conditions of farm workers and farmers. The study therefore examined the effects of digital agriculture on the working conditions of smallholder farmers and farmworkers in the Bono East region of Ghana. The study adopted a qualitative approach to enable us to have a deeper understanding of farmers’ experiences of using digital agriculture solutions. The participants who were purposively selected were adopters of digital agricultural technology. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were some of the methods adopted to collect data for the study. The results from the study show that the adoption of digital agriculture has not improved the working conditions in terms of job creation, workers’ rights social protection, and social protection. Digital agriculture was however found to promote the organisation of farmers into groups to undertake activities for their benefit. The study therefore recommends the development of a digital agricultural policy that incorporates decent working conditions for farmers.

Impact of working conditions and other determinants on the risk of substance misuse among healthcare residents: results of a cross-sectional study.

Substance misuse significantly impairs psychosocial functioning and correlates with many environmental factors, including working conditions. We investigated the influence of working conditions and other determinants on the risk of substance misuse among healthcare residents of city name withheld for review, France. We conducted an online survey among medicine, dentistry and pharmacy residents of city name withheld for review from May 30, 2022, to July 15, 2022. Participants reported their age, sex, residency specialty, and living conditions and completed the French Job Content Questionnaire, the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test - Consumption, and questions exploring their current tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use. We constructed directed acyclic graphs to model the effect of working conditions on substance misuse and used them to perform multivariable logistic regressions. Among the 1,936 residents of the city name withheld for review subdivision, 904 (46.7%) completed the survey. Among these, 54.0% exhibited alcohol misuse, 23.7% reported tobacco misuse, and 34.5% reported illicit drug misuse. Working more than 48 hours per week was not associated with any substance misuse. Low social support at work predicted the use of illicit drugs (aOR: 1.49, 95% CI [1.04; 2.13]). Compared with general medicine residents, psychiatric residents had greater odds of reporting tobacco misuse (aOR: 2.28, 95% CI [1.14; 4.58]) and illicit drug misuse (aOR: 2.51, 95% CI [1.33; 4.74]). Pediatric and pharmacy residents had lower odds of reporting alcohol misuse (aOR: 0.42, 95% CI [0.21; 0.84] and OR: 0.53, 95% CI [0.28; 0.98], respectively). Social support at work significantly impacts the risk of substance misuse among healthcare residents, as do other factors, such as residents' health specialty. These findings contribute to the development of appropriate institutional policies and support programs to improve the well-being of healthcare residents.

Spatiotemporal migration of dust pollution during the tunnel mucking process and development of dust removal trolley based on computational fluid dynamics technology

ABSTRACT During tunnel construction, the protracted mucking phase poses significant occupational health risks, particularly from dust exposure. This study delves into comprehensive numerical simulations to examine the spatiotemporal dynamics of dust particles during the mucking process. A distinct ‘bimodal pattern’ was characterized by higher concentrations in the mucking area (0-30 m) and the inverted arch area (60-110 m), where concentrations exceed 30 mg/m3 under all conditions. To address this issue, a novel dust removal system has been developed. Integrating six dust collectors and one air curtain device, a dust removal trolley is strategically positioned at z = 70 m to locally purify the air. The extracted wind speed of the dust collectors ( V inlet 1 ) and the air curtain’s wind speed ( V inlet 2 ) are optimized based on ventilation conditions and dust dispersion characteristics. This system effectively reduces dust mass concentrations to below 4.8 mg/m3 at six worker locations.

A quench detection method for closed-loop superconducting coils based on currents redistribution in co-windings

Abstract Closed-loop operation of superconducting magnets can significantly reduce cryogenic heat load and enhance magnetic field stability, which has been widely applied in systems such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electro-dynamic suspension (EDS). Quench detection for close-loop superconducting magnets, especially high-Tc superconducting (HTS) magnets, has long been a challenging issue. In this paper, we derived quench-induced currents redistribution characteristics in parallel co-wound closed-loop superconducting magnets, and proposed a current-redistribution based quench detection method for such magnets. Artificial quench tests on a small scale co-wound closed-loop HTS coil were staged, with AC background magnetic field applied to simulate tough working conditions such as in HTS maglevs and HTS machines. Results show that the method can sensitively and reliably detect a quench even at its inception, long before the coil field change becoming identifiable, and the method is robust against background AC magnetic fields. This work may potentially be useful for reducing the quench damage risk in closed-loop superconducting magnet for various applications.

Marine propulsion shafting-oriented status detection algorithm for uncertainty time-varying

The marine propulsion shafting is the lifeline of navigation. The marine propulsion shafting vibration signals tend to contain rich connotations that suggest the shafting status. In this paper, aiming at the difficulty in the capture of time dependence in uncertainty time-varying signals of marine propulsion shafting, the concept of Degree of Membership (DM) in fuzzy mathematics is introduced into Recurrent Neural Network (RNN), called Degree of Membership Recurrent Neural Network (DM-RNN). A marine propulsion shafting status detection algorithm based on DM-RNN is proposed. Specifically, the mathematical expressions for forward propagation and back propagation of DM-RNN are theoretically derived. The self-propulsion test scheme based on a full-scale boat is designed. Actual vibration signals under multiple working conditions are collected. The progressiveness of the present algorithm under shafting vibration signals of the full-scale boat is verified by the experiment. The results of the two comparison experiments indicate that the present algorithm significantly improved the detection accuracy compared with the classical ANNs, up to 93.25% ± 0.71%. Furthermore, a DM function with a simple form and fewer parameters was more conducive to the high detection accuracy of DM-RNN.

Enhanced Occupational Safety in Agricultural Machinery Factories: Artificial Intelligence-Driven Helmet Detection Using Transfer Learning and Majority Voting

The objective of this study was to develop an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven model for the detection of helmet usage among workers in tractor and agricultural machinery factories with the aim of enhancing occupational safety. A transfer learning approach was employed, utilizing nine pre-trained neural networks for the extraction of deep features. The following neural networks were employed: MobileNetV2, ResNet50, DarkNet53, AlexNet, ShuffleNet, DenseNet201, InceptionV3, Inception-ResNetV2, and GoogLeNet. Subsequently, the extracted features were subjected to iterative neighborhood component analysis (INCA) for feature selection, after which they were classified using the k-nearest neighbor (kNN) algorithm. The classification outputs of all networks were combined through iterative majority voting (IMV) to achieve optimal results. To evaluate the model, an image dataset comprising 662 images of individuals wearing helmets and 722 images of individuals without helmets sourced from the internet was constructed. The proposed model achieved an accuracy of 90.39%, with DenseNet201 producing the most accurate results. This AI-driven helmet detection model demonstrates significant potential in improving occupational safety by assisting safety officers, especially in confined environments, reducing human error, and enhancing efficiency.

Assessing Social Sustainability Efficiency in European Countries: Focusing on Health and Well‐Being

ABSTRACTThis study investigates the challenges of achieving social sustainability efficiency in European countries, especially in health and well‐being, under sustainable development goal 3 amid demographic aging pressures. Using an innovative modified circular dynamic three‐stage systematic network data envelopment analysis model, this research evaluates the influence of social protection investments on healthcare and well‐being systems. The findings reveal that Denmark, Estonia, France, and Germany demonstrate optimal efficiency, while Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Slovenia require strategic improvements, particularly in healthcare efficiency. Policy recommendations underscore the need for enhanced healthcare technology, occupational safety, and adaptive strategies to support social sustainability across 24 countries from 2016 to 2020. This approach offers a comprehensive efficiency framework and actionable insights to guide future policy development to address European healthcare efficiency gaps.

When weather wounds workers: The impact of temperature on workplace accidents

We study the effects of temperature on occupational health using administrative data on Swiss occupational accidents from 1996 to 2019. Our results imply that on hot days (Tmax≥ 30 °C) the number of occupational accidents increases by 7.4% and on ice days (Tmax< 0 °C) by 6.3%, relative to mild days. We find that extreme temperatures cause an average of 2600 workplace accidents each year, costing CHF 91 million annually. We provide suggestive evidence for insufficient sleep on hot days as a mechanism. While extreme temperatures worsen occupational health, we observe limited labor supply adaption for most workers.

Identifying and Prioritizing Hazardous Chemicals in Construction Metal Structure Coating Systems: A Roadmap for Data-Driven Disease Prevention.

Occupational exposure as a painter was classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)as a Group 1 carcinogen (carcinogenic to humans) in 1989. Chemical agents responsible for cancers and other illnesses among industrial painters are not well-documented. The goal of this systematic review and synthesis was to document the chemistries of metal structure coating systems, summarize data gaps on occupational exposures and health effects among painters, and identify and prioritize hazardous chemicals to guide future exposure and occupational health studies, and ultimately disease prevention efforts. We reviewed coating products approved by the Northeast Protective Coating Committee (NEPCOAT) for use in steel bridges in New England, with a special focus on Part B of these reactive chemical systems, and related literature on exposures and health effects. From the review of safety datasheets (SDS), we identified 61 unique CAS numbers belonging to different Part B chemical groups of isocyanate- and epoxy-based formulations, including amine hardeners, solvents, nanomaterials, and other additives. The list of identified ingredients contained 14 potent sensitizers, two IARC Group 1 known carcinogens, and 7 IARC Group 2B possible carcinogens. Cancers of the lungs, urinary bladder, liver, kidneys, and gastrointestinal system, allergic contact dermatitis, lung fibrosis, and asthma were some possible disease endpoints. Existing occupational exposure studies focused on solvent exposures, while exposure and biomonitoring studies of amine hardeners and other ingredients of concern in these formulations are lacking. The list of chemicals of concern identified here, including sensitizers and carcinogens, can serve as a basis for analytical method development and field exposure assessment studies. A national multi-pronged strategy to reduce chemical exposures and health risks among construction painters is warranted, including research on exposure monitoring and reduction efforts, longitudinal epidemiological studies, and product reformulation.

Research on ride control strategy of electromagnetic suspension based on sliding mode algorithm

This study proposes a main inner loop control technique to address the dynamic response of the electromagnetic suspension during vehicle driving. The genetic algorithm is employed to optimize the control parameters of the linear quadratic adjustment controller in the control main loop, with the aim of achieving the desired control force. In the control inner loop, a closed-loop sliding mode controller is designed based on the exponential approximation law to regulate the current. The Lyapunov function was utilized to assess the stability of the controller in terms of its theoretical feasibility. The simulation results of Matlab/Simulink show that under the given working conditions, compared with the passive suspension, sliding mode control and fuzzy sliding mode control for references, the root mean square value and peak value of the vertical acceleration of the body and the dynamic load of the tire with the improved sliding mode control are significantly reduced, the root mean square value of the dynamic deflection of the suspension was not improved. However, on the whole, the ride comfort of the vehicle has been improved.

Dynamic response analysis of ancient pagodas under rockfall impact

In order to protect the precious cultural heritage of the pagoda in the mountainous area from the damage caused by falling rocks, we provide targeted and effective research support and protection strategy basis. ABAQUS finite element analysis software is used to accurately simulate and analyze the response of the pagoda under the impact load of falling rocks. Firstly, the geometric modeling of the tower structure is carried out in a meticulous manner to ensure that the model accurately reflects the real shape and structural characteristics of the tower, and the material properties are assigned to it rigorously and accurately, so as to construct a finite element model that is highly adapted to the actual situation. Subsequently, the impacts of falling rocks on the pagoda under different working conditions, such as different velocities, radii, impact angles and impact heights, are comprehensively and systematically simulated to assess the structural safety and stability of the pagoda from all angles. This paper clearly reveals that the velocity, radius, impact angle and impact height of falling stones are the core key position in the structural safety assessment of the pagoda, and they are the decisive factors affecting the structural safety of the pagoda. These findings not only deepen the scientific knowledge of the response mechanism of the pagoda under the impact of falling rocks, but also provide a solid theoretical foundation and a clear direction for the subsequent development of accurate and efficient protection measures against falling rocks.

Examining the Burnout of Audiologists in Türkiye: Relationships With Quality of Work Life and Psychological Well-Being.

Although burnout among audiologists has been studied in various countries, there is no research yet that examines this issue in Türkiye, where working conditions and sociodemographic factors may differ from those in other countries. Considering the unique working conditions and sociodemographic factors, this study aimed to investigate the burnout levels of Turkish audiologists. Additionally, this study will explore the impact of various sociodemographic variables on burnout, work-related quality of life, and depression to gain a deeper understanding of the specific challenges faced by audiologists in Türkiye. A total of 193 audiologists, with a median age of 27 (interquartile range: 25-29) years, working in different working areas, such as clinical practice, academic institutions, rehabilitation centers, and amplification services in Türkiye, were included. Audiologists were invited to participate in this study via several online forums and hospital notice boards. All participants completed the sociodemographic data form and then the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Work-Related Quality of Life Scale (WRQoL), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Differences between MBI, WRQoL, and BDI scores were analyzed according to gender, level of education, area of work, and title of audiologist. There are significant differences in the subscale scores of the MBI and WRQoL scales and in the BDI scores between groups according to gender, education, and area of work. There are also significant differences in BDI scores according to title. There is a significant correlation between the MBI, WRQoL, and BDI scores of audiologists. This study represents the initial exploration of burnout, quality of work life, and depression levels among audiologists employed in Türkiye. A low quality of work life can increase the risk of burnout and depression. Enhancements in the work environment can lessen burnout and depression while also improving employees' general quality of life.

Assessment of the Efficiency of Respiratory and Skin Protection Equipment Toward Controlling Nanoparticles in the Workplace with a Scoping Review Approach

Introduction: In recent years, exposure to nanomaterials has been known as a challenge among occupational health experts. In this line, personal protective equipment has been considered as a solution to reduce the worker’s exposure. Since respiratory and skin tracts represent the most common workplace exposure routes, knowledge of the efficiency of respiratory and skin protection equipment is particularly important. So, the aim of this study is the assessment of the efficiency of respiratory and skin protection equipment toward controlling nanoparticles in the workplace with a scoping review approach. Material and Methods: This study was conducted in 2022 with a scoping review approach. Arksey and O’Malley’s five-step framework was chosen as the research method. The search strategy was followed in the databases necessary to access the research data, including PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Web of Science, and Scopus. Also, EndNote X9® and Microsoft Excel software were used to collect and analyze studies, respectively. Results: In the first step, 1014 articles were identified. Finally, 38 articles were included in the study to examine quantitative and qualitative information about the efficiency of respiratory and skin protective equipment. Twenty-five articles were related to breathing masks, and six studies were about protective gloves, and seven other articles were devoted to protective clothing. According to the studies of breathing masks, the mean total penetration of nanoparticles was estimated at 2.27%. Also, based on the studies of protective clothing, the maximum penetration of nanoparticles was 30nm for protective clothing made of polypropylene and polyethylene with different layers. Conclusion: Although the efficiency of existing personal protective equipment showed a good result for controlling nanoparticles, the size of nanoparticles is one of the essential parameters in determining the efficiency of the equipment, which should be considered the workplaces. So, it is recommended that more studies be considered to improve their efficiency, and standard tests should be developed to evaluate them.

Data imbalanced fault diagnosis of gearbox transmission system under various speeds based on dynamic dual-scale normalized fusion network

Abstract Gearboxes play a pivotal role in industrial production, and their reliability and safety are essential for production safety and efficiency. However, gearboxes frequently encounter challenges such as variable rotational speeds and unknown operating conditions. Unfortunately, most existing traditional fault diagnosis methods face the following issues: (1) They heavily rely on expert experience and pre-existing knowledge bases, making them unable to tackle fault diagnosis in unknown working conditions. (2) While addressing various speed issues, they seldom consider the problem of data imbalance in real-world industrial environments. (3) Many transfer learning methods primarily focus on global distribution alignment and knowledge transfer between source and target domains, neglecting the importance of fine-grained distribution alignment between subdomains. To address these issues, a dynamic dual-scale normalization fusion network (DSNFNet) is proposed for cross-domain fault diagnosis under variable speed and data imbalance. Firstly, the two parallel graph convolution frameworks constructed are used to extract multi-scale fault features. Subsequently, a dual-scale normalization fusion module is adopted to integrate the global and local fault feature information within the subdomains of both the source and target domains, thereby aligning their fine-grained distributions to obtain domain-invariant features. Finally, a dynamic soft threshold feedback strategy is introduced, which assigns pseudo labels to the target domain data, enabling the model to give equal attention to each class of data samples, even under data imbalance conditions, thereby improving the recognition accuracy of minority fault classes. Validating the proposed method on two real cases, our method achieved the highest accuracy compared to other advanced approaches.

Assessment of Public Health Indicators Among Professional Drivers in Shahroud City: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Introduction: Driving has various harmful factors due to its nature, which affect drivers’ health directly and indirectly. Therefore, it is necessary to know the situation and prevalence of these factors in drivers to implement preventive measures. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study is a part of a cohort study conducted (2016 to 2018) among the professional drivers of Shahroud, Iran. Data related to background information, blood pressure, height, weight, waist circumference, body mass index, blood factors, hearing loss (dB), respiratory performance indicators, sleep disorders, and accidents were collected from the participants with standard tools and methods. Results: This study examined 1461 male professional drivers with an average age of 37.30±6.96 years. A total of 426 participants had metabolic syndrome. 797 and 942 people had different degrees of hearing loss, respectively, in the right and left ear. About 129 people had obstructive sleep apnea, and 1330 people had insomnia. Investigations showed that 351 drivers had at least one accident. Conclusion: This study showed the prevalence of health risk factors in professional drivers at the examined time point. Considering the vital role of drivers in transportation and the country’s economy, it seems necessary to pay more attention to the health of this occupational group. Regular health screening, healthy lifestyle training, improvement of working conditions, and stress management are some interventions that can effectively improve drivers’ health.

Working Carers in Europe and How Their Caring Responsibilities Impact Work–Family Life Conflict: Analysis of the European Quality of Life Survey

Background/Objectives: Ageing of the population is a pertinent characteristic in developed societies that raises questions of who provides care and how care is provided to frail and dependent old people. The majority of care is provided by family members, friends, and neighbours, many of whom are of working age and active in the labour market. The aim of this study is to research how work and care are intertwined and how they cause conflict for individuals in Europe. Methods: A hierarchical regression analysis of European Quality of Life Survey data was performed to evaluate the amount of explained variance of work–life conflict according to caring situation, working conditions, and demographic characteristics of an adult European population. A stratified, clustered multistage sample design was used to select 15,656 adult respondents working as employees. Results: The results show that the three blocks explain about 18% of work–life conflict, with working conditions being the most influential block, followed by demographic characteristics and caring situation. Conclusions: The frequency of caring, use of formal care, and quality of formal services significantly mitigate work–life conflict, together with the number of working hours, commuting, fear of losing one’s job, fear of having insufficient income in old age, and the ease of making ends meet. Care regimes also have a considerable effect on work–life conflict. Countries have the power and responsibility to support working carers in their multiple and often conflicting roles by allowing flexible work arrangements, the right to reduce the number of working hours safely, employment protection during care, emergency leave, and short- and long-term leave, as well as by investing in community-based long-term care models and services.

The Influence of Safety Performance For Hauling Operators At PT. XYZ

Occupational safety is a crucial issue in the mining industry, given the high risk of accidents that can occur in the field. The mining industry plays an important role in the economy of many countries, especially those rich in natural resources. The purpose of the research is to analyze the effect of safety culture and work environment on safety performance. This research uses quantitative analysis with survey methods. The sample in the study was 154 hauling operators and the analysis tool used SEM-PLS. the research results state that there is a positive and significant influence on safety culture and the work environment on safety performance. This suggests that the results of the study can provide a strong basis for companies to develop and strengthen safety culture programs that focus on increasing awareness and compliance with safety procedures among hauling operators. In addition, improvements in the design and condition of the work environment can create a safer and more comfortable working environment, which in turn will improve safety performance and operator productivity. The implications of the research show that a good safety culture and work environment significantly improve the safety performance of hauling operators at PT XYZ. To improve safety, the company should intensify safety training and rewards, improve working conditions, and adopt the latest safety technologies and procedures. With these measures, PT XYZ can reduce work incidents, increase productivity and strengthen its safety reputation.

The Impact of Migration Considerations on Healthcare Professionals in Albania: A Statistical Analysis

Objective: This study investigates the relationships between various demographic factors and the migration intentions of healthcare professionals in Albania. Theoretical Framework: The healthcare sector is essential for the well-being of a population, as it has a direct impact on health outcomes, quality of life, and societal productivity. In Albania, the healthcare system has faced considerable challenges in recent years, particularly in maintaining a stable and effective workforce Method: This is a cross-sectional study, and 1037 healthcare professionals in Albania were included, with equal gender representation (50% male, 50% female). All the participants were given self-administered questionnaires that addressed demographic characteristics, migration intentions, perceptions of working conditions, and factors influencing migration. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistical and chi-square tests or logistic regression. Results and Discussion: The majority of respondents were aged from 31 to 40 years old (28.9%), highlighting a productive workforce. 62.7% of healthcare professionals expressed intentions to migrate abroad, primarily due to higher salaries (38.6%) and better career opportunities (28.8%). Concerns about local working conditions were prevalent, with 72.3% of respondents considering transfer possibilities as very important or important. Participants rated the overall job situation in healthcare as average or poor (63.0%). Economic stability was deemed very important by 48.3% of respondents. Research Implications: This study provides importante data about migration intentions and perceptions of healthcare professionals in Albania, an area that has not been extensively explored in existing literature. Originality/Value: The findings offer practical recommendations for policymakers and healthcare leaders to improve the retention of healthcare professionals.