Occupational Health Information Research Articles

The role of safety climate in occupational health and safety information seeking: extending risk perception attitude framework

The role of safety climate in occupational health and safety information seeking: extending risk perception attitude framework

Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure Issues in Indonesia

The high number of work accidents in Indonesia indicates that companies have not paid attention to occupational safety and health. The purpose of the study is to impartially analyze the impact of Company Growth, Leverage, and Company Size on Occupational Safety and Health Disclosure. This is important because it directly improves the company's reputation and ensures long-term sustainability. The quantitative research used in this study relies on secondary data taken from the annual reports of mining and infrastructure companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) throughout the period 2019 to 2021. Purposive sampling was used as a sample technique, resulting in a total of 78 samples. Data processing uses descriptive statistics, panel data regression, and independent sample t test. This study uses 10 items of the Occupational Safety and Health Disclosure index obtained from the GRI index. The findings of this study provide factual evidence that company development, leverage, and company size have a positive impact on the dissemination of occupational health and safety information.

Acute occupational inhalation injuries-United States, 2011-2022.

Inhalation injuries due to acute occupational exposures to chemicals are preventable. National surveillance of acute inhalation exposures is limited. This study identified the most common acute inhalation exposure-related incidents by industry sector among US workers. To characterize inhalation-related injuries and their exposures during April 2011-March 2022, state and federal records from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Occupational Safety and Health Information System (OIS) accident database were analyzed. Industry-specific injury, hospitalization, and fatality rates were calculated. The most frequent acute inhalation incidents investigated by OSHA were caused by inorganic gases (52.9%) such as carbon monoxide (CO) or acids, bases, and oxidizing chemical agents (12.9%) such as anhydrous ammonia. The largest number of fatal and nonfatal injuries were reported in the manufacturing (28.6%) and construction (17.2%) sectors. Workers were affected by acute inhalation exposures in most industries. Using this surveillance, employers can recognize frequently-occurring preventable acute inhalation exposures by industry, such as inorganic gases in the manufacturing sector, and implement prevention measures. Training of workers on exposure characteristics and limits, adverse health effects, and use of protective equipment by exposure agent can prevent inhalation injuries.

Modern training methods and technique in the field of occupational safety – a literature review

The growing diversity of the workforce and the changing context of employment in the world present significant challenges for developing and implementing occupational safety and health training. New approaches to content development, format, and implementation need to be developed, as traditional training methods are often not effective with workers or do not account for changes in employment patterns and the way work is organized today. This paper reviews modern training methods from computer games to virtual reality, as found in the specialized literature published in the last 10 years. The article presents the results of a state of art literature review realized with the new version of PRISMA methodology, for systematic reviews, as a part of National Institute for Research and Development for Occupational Safety INCDPM Alexandru Darabont ongoing project "Development of informative content and online training system of occupational safety and health information in the context of intelligent specialization".

Systematizing Information Use to Address Determinants of Health Worker Health in South Africa: A Cross-sectional Mixed Method Study

BackgroundRecognizing that access to safe and healthy working conditions is a human right, the World Health Organization (WHO) calls for specific occupational safety and health (OSH) programs for health workers (HWs). The WHO health systems’ building blocks, and the International Labour Organization (ILO), highlight the importance of information as part of effective systems. This study examined how OSH stakeholders access, use, and value an occupational health information system (OHIS). MethodsA cross-sectional survey of OSH stakeholders was conducted as part of a larger quasi experimental study in four teaching hospitals. The study hospitals and participants were purposefully selected and data collected using a modified questionnaire with both closed and open-ended questions. Quantitative analysis was conducted and themes identified for qualitative analysis. Ethics approval was provided by the University of Pretoria and University of British Columbia. ResultsThere were 71 participants comprised of hospital managers, health and safety representatives, trade unions representatives and OSH professionals. At least 42% reported poor accessibility and poor timeliness of OHIS for decision-making. Only 50% had access to computers and 27% reported poor computer skills. When existing, OHIS was poorly organized and needed upgrades, with 85% reporting the need for significant reforms. Only 45% reported use of OHIS for decision-making in their OSH role. ConclusionGiven the gap in access and utilization of information needed to protect worker’s rights to a safe and healthy workplace, more attention is warranted to OHIS development and use as well as education and training in South Africa and beyond.

Integrating “One Health” Concepts in the Design of Sustainable Systems for Environmental Use

Ensuring for the national defense requires the use of substances such as energetics, propellants, pyrotechnics, and other materials in environmental applications. Systems that use these materials do so in testing and training environments and must be used in an environmentally sustained manner to ensure success during actual kinetic defensive operations. Environmental and occupational health assessments require a weighted evaluation of toxicity, bioaccumulation, persistence, and environmental fate and transport considerations for each substance in the formulation to include potential combustion products. Data that support these criteria need to be collected in a phased and matrixed approach and considered iteratively as technology advances. Further, these criteria are often considered as disparate and separate; hence, comparing favorable aspects of one may or may not offset detrimental data from another. Here, we describe an approach to the phased collection of environmental, safety, and occupational health (ESOH) information for new systems and substances and provide recommendations for evaluating such data streams in making decisions for use and for evaluating alternatives.

Characteristics of pneumoconiosis in Zhejiang Province, China from 2006 to 2020: a descriptive study

BackgroundPneumoconiosis is the most prevalent occupational disease and displays different patterns in each province of China. Clarifying specific incidence patterns and temporal trends in Zhejiang Province can help provide valuable information on the prevention of pneumoconiosis.MethodsAnnual reports of pneumoconiosis for Zhejiang Province from 2006 to 2020 were extracted from the National Occupational Disease and Occupational Health Information Monitoring System. The information of cases included regions, diagnosis ages, genders, exposure durations, pneumoconiosis categories and stages, the first year of exposure, enterprise industries, scales and ownerships.ResultsTotally 6037 new cases of pneumoconiosis were reported between 2006 and 2020, which increased at first and then gradually declined since 2013. Among all pneumoconiosis cases, silicosis accounted for the majority (72.17%). Most of the cases occurred in small-scale and domestic-funded enterprises, which accounted for 71.75% and 96.97%, respectively. When analyzing the industry distribution, the cases were mainly concentrated in mining (37.12%), manufacturing (31.11%) and ‘public administration and social organization’ (23.94%) industry. The average diagnosis age among the pneumoconiosis cases was 55.44 years, and the median exposure duration was 11.00 years. Significantly older diagnosis age and longer exposure duration were found in females, coal workers’ pneumoconiosis cases, cases with higher stages, cases with the first year of dust exposure earlier and cases from large-scale companies. In regional distribution, the top three cities reporting the most pneumoconiosis cases in Zhejiang Province were Taizhou, Quzhou and Hangzhou.ConclusionThe current situation of pneumoconiosis in Zhejiang Province was still serious, and government should further strengthen the surveillance of occupational diseases and supervision of enterprises. Moreover, publicity and education regarding pneumoconiosis should be carried out to raise awareness of dust exposure risk and associated health consequences.

Countermeasures for the construction of occupational health information standard system

As an important part of health information standard system, occupational health information standard system is the foundation and guarantee of promoting the construction of occupational health information. This article is based on the literature research about current situation of domestic and foreign health information standards and occupational health information standard system, thus take "the National Health Information Standardization System" and "the National Public Health Information Construction Standards and Norms" into account, focus on the requirements of occupational health information construction and related work. Thus, put forward suggestions on the construction of occupational health information standard system, to accelerate the occupational health information construction, data collection, transmission and application.

The Capability Gap in Occupational Health Information Management.

The lack of an integrated approach to data capture, information management, and analysis limits the contribution of occupational and environmental medicine to protecting 2.3 million uniformed and civilian DoD workers. Despite an abundance of military information systems that include the terms "Safety" and "Occupational Health" in their names, none of these systems provide capabilities needed to aggregate and analyze the results of occupational medicine exams, use medical surveillance to mitigate exposure incidents, provide enterprise-level management of occupational medicine services, or comply with privacy and recordkeeping law and regulation. Instead, they provide a patchwork of data that meets most regulatory compliance requirements but fails to achieve the true objectives of occupational health programs. Bridging these capability gaps will improve the occupational health care of the DoD workforce, improve the quality of occupational medicine services, increase public trust in the DoD management of exposure incidents, and potentially generate hundreds of millions of dollars through cost-avoidance on workers' compensation claims and through identification and elimination of non-value-added medical certification exams. The ongoing Military Health System transformation represents a unique opportunity to bridge these long-recognized but persistent capability gaps.

Highly Educated Immigrant Workers' Perspectives of Occupational Health and Safety and Work Conditions That Challenge Work Safety.

This study explored the perspectives of new immigrant workers regarding occupational health and safety and workplace conditions that increase workers’ vulnerability to sustaining injury or illness. Using an interpretive research approach and semi-structured qualitative interviews, 42 new immigrant workers from a range of industries operating in two cities in a province in Canada were interviewed. Seventy-nine percent of the workers were highly qualified. A constant comparative approach was used to identify key themes across the workers’ experiences. The findings revealed that new immigrant workers have an incomplete understanding of occupational health and safety. In many workplaces, poor job training, little worker support, lack of power in the workplace, and a poor workplace safety culture make it difficult for workers to acquire occupational health and safety information and to implement safe work practices. This study proposes workplace policies and practices that will improve worker occupational health and safety awareness and make workplaces safer for new immigrant workers.

COVID-19 cases among medical laboratory services staff in South Africa, 2020-2021: A cohort study.

Medical laboratory workers may have an increased risk of COVID-19 due to their interaction with biological samples received for testing and contamination of documents. Records of COVID-19 laboratory-confirmed positive cases within the medical laboratory service were routinely collected in the company's Occupational Health and Safety Information System (OHASIS). Surveillance data from the OHASIS system were extracted from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. An epidemic curve was plotted and compared to that for the country, along with prevalence proportions and incidence rates. The odds of COVID-19 infection were categorised by job and compared to the US Occupational Risk Scores. A logistic regression model assessed the risk of COVID-19 infection per occupational group. A total of 2091 (26% of staff) COVID-19 positive cases were reported. The number of COVID-19 cases was higher in the first wave at 46% (967/2091) of cases, than in the second wave 40% (846/2091) of cases. There was no significant difference in COVID-19 prevalence between male and female employees. The job categories with the most increased risk were laboratory managers [AOR 3.2 (95%CI 1.9-5.1)] and laboratory support clerks [AOR 3.2 (95%CI 1.9-5.2)]. Our study confirms that some categories of medical laboratory staff are at increased risk for COVID-19; this is a complex interaction between workplace risk factors, community interaction, socioeconomic status, personal habits, and behaviour. Targeted interventions are recommended for high-risk groups. OHASIS has the potential to generate data for surveillance of health care workers and contribute towards a South African risk profile.

Perceptions and emotions of infection control team member during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany

Background: We conducted an anonymous survey in compliance with German data protections regulations among participants of the annual infectious disease and control meeting in Freiburg, Germany, in October 2021. Methods: In total, 391 surveys were returned: 188 from nurse infection control practitioners (ICPs) and 66 from specially infection control trained physicians (STPs). We report the results of these 2 subgroups regarding their perceptions and emotions during the pandemic. Descriptive statistics and χ2 test with P < .05 were used when applicable. Results: Shortages of medical masks or FFP2 masks during the first pandemic wave in 2020 were reported by 48.5% STPs and 57.4% ICPs. STPs and ICPs relied equally on information provided by the Robert Koch Institute, the WHO, the ECDC and the CDC. Occupational health information was sought significantly more often by ICPs; only 17% of ICPs never used this source versus 51.5% of STPs (P < .001). Most ICPs (58%) and STPs (51%) described their relationship to local authorities as good as well as communication with institutional leaders (69.7%). Fewer ICPs (36.1%) felt frequently appreciated during the pandemic compared to 45.5% of STPs and more ICPs (25%) reported frustration than STPs (18.2%). However, the differences were not statistically significant. Rarely, ICPs (2.1%) or STPs (1.5%) felt unsafe at work and only 1.6% of ICPs and no STPs reported loss of motivation. In addition, 13.8% of ICPs and 12.1% of STPs often felt overwhelmed, but only 3.2% of ICPs and no STPs felt hopeless. Their self-reported competency was rated as high by 75% of ICPs and 69.7% of STPs. The 5 most frequent free-text comments regarding “lessons learned” pertained to better crisis communication, better supply chain management, precise regulations, “less talking more doing,” and mandatory vaccination. The most frequent free-text general comments pertained to maintain basic hygiene measures in private and public life because of the pandemic. Conclusions: Our survey results indicate a high level of resilience among members of infections control teams in German medical institutions despite obvious shortcomings in supplies during the first wave of the pandemic. There were no significant differences between physician and nurse members of infection control teams regarding their perceptions and emotions, indicating a homogenous situation within the teams. The high level of self-perceived competency has likely helped deal with the pandemic and prevented the feeling of loss of control implied in the question items “feeling overwhelmed” and “hopeless.”Funding: NoneDisclosures: None

Risk Factors Associated with Occupational Injuries Among Motor Vehicle Repair Workers: A Case Study of Kigandaini Juakali Sector Thika, Kenya

Aim: The study aimed to determine the associated factors for occupational injuries at Kigandaini Juakali sector, Thika town, Kenya
 Method: An occupational injury refers to a physical injury that a worker encounters while working, they include body cuts, burns, body punctures, and body abrasions. An analytical cross-sectional study design was applied. A stratified random sampling method was applied to recruit 260 respondents. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques of data collection were applied, whereby a semi-structured questionnaire, KII, and FGDs were used to collect data. To enhance data quality, Cronbach’s alpha was applied for quantitative data while word cloud was used for qualitative data. Chi-square and logistic regression were applied to determine the degree of association between occupational injuries and associated risk factors.
 Results: The annual prevalence rate of work-related injuries was (43.5%) and (39.8%) for the past two weeks. Body cuts at 78.8% were the most reported injuries. PPEs in suitable working condition (OR=39, 95%CI=12.73-119.66), whether PPEs were worn properly (OR=59, 95%CI=16.94-209.84), provision of occupational health and safety information (OR=2.5, 95%CI=1.23-5.28), Use of PPEs (OR=8.1, 95%CI=0.037-0.42), presence of safety information boards(OR=3, 95%CI=1.08-8.08) reduced the odds of work-related injuries while poor working condition (OR=2.5, 95%CI=0.19-0.85) increased the odds of having a work-related injury.
 Conclusion: The study reported a high prevalence of occupational injuries among motor vehicle repair workers. Poor working conditions increased the odds of having an occupational injury while the provision of occupational safety information, presence of safety boards, proper wearing of protective gears, use of full protective gears, use of protective gears in good working condition, and good perception on mandatory use PPEs reduced the odds of having an occupational injury. There is need to safeguard the necessary safety measure which will result to a safer working environment.

Occupational Risk Factors and Mental Health Among Frontline Health Care Workers in a Large US Metropolitan Area During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: To assess depression, anxiety, and burnout among health care workers using well-established validated scales and to examine associations of these mental health outcomes with personal protective equipment (PPE) and high-risk patient contact.Methods: This prospective survey was conducted between August and October 2020 among 970 essential health care workers from 2 health systems in central Texas. The survey captured basic demographic, occupational, and baseline health information including history of mental health disorders. Depression, anxiety, and burnout were assessed with the 8-item Patient Health Questionnaire, 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, and 23-item Burnout Assessment Tool. Questions about clinical contact with patients with suspected or known COVID-19 were also incorporated.Results: Approximately 24% of respondents had moderate or severe anxiety, 14% had moderate or severe depression, and 7% were at high risk for burnout. Statistically significant associations were found between perceived PPE adequacy and the 3 mental health outcomes, while accounting for age, gender, and education. Hours of contact with COVID-19 patients during aerosolizing procedures was positively correlated with measures of anxiety, burnout, and depression after adjustment for age, gender, and occupational role. Perception of PPE adequacy was inversely correlated with measures of depression, anxiety, and burnout among essential members of 2 health care systems, whose roles precluded working remotely during the pandemic.Conclusion: This study highlights the correlations of perceptions of PPE adequacy and contact hours with COVID-19 patients undergoing aerosolizing procedures and employee mental well-being. Future work confirming the findings can help identify ways that systems can support their employees through similarly stressful and demanding events.

Analysis on the diagnosis of suspected occupational diseases in Guangzhou from 2014 to 2019

Objective: To understand the diagnosis of suspected occupational diseases reported in Guangzhou from 2014 to 2019, so as to provide theoretical basis and technical support for the supervision of suspected occupational disease reports. Methods: By cluster sampling, the suspected occupational disease report card, occupational disease report card and pneumoconiosis report card reported by Guangzhou from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2019 in the occupational disease and occupational health information monitoring system were collected for matching analysis to understand the diagnosis of suspected occupational disease patients. Results: From 2014 to 2019, a total of 1426 suspected occupational cases in 7 categories and 32 species were reported in Guangzhou. The average number of reported cases per year was about 240. The main diseases of suspected occupational diseases were suspected occupational noise deafness (68.44%, 976/1426) , suspected occupational chronic benzene poisoning (16.48%, 235/1426) , suspected occupational other pneumoconiosis (4.84%, 69/1426) , suspected occupational silicosis (3.23%, 46/1426) and suspected occupational welder pneumoconiosis (1.82%, 26/1426) . The diagnostic rate required to enter the occupational disease diagnostic program is 36.61% (522/1426) , and the diagnostic rate is 59.20% (309/522) . In 2019, the diagnosis rate of suspected occupational diseases was the lowest (23.92%, 61/255) , Huadu District was the lowest (8.33%, 9/108) , suspected occupational pneumoconiosis was the lowest (28.03%, 44/157) , the diagnosis rate of suspected occupational diseases reported by the Centers for Disease control and prevention was the lowest (17.43%, 19/109) , and the diagnosis rate of suspected occupational diseases reported by outpatient treatment was the lowest (22.22%, 2/9) . The suspected occupational diseases reported by institutions outside Guangzhou did not enter the occupational disease diagnosis procedure. Suspected occupational skin diseases, suspected occupational diseases caused by physical factors and suspected occupational tumors were diagnosed, and the diagnosis rate of occupational disease prevention and control institutions was the highest (94.87%, 37/39) . Conclusion: The main types of suspected occupational diseases reported during these six years are noise deafness, chronic benzene poisoning and pneumoconiosis. The overall diagnosis rate and diagnosis rate of suspected occupational diseases are not high. It is suggested to improve the network direct reporting system of suspected occupational diseases and strengthen the follow-up management and supervision of suspected occupational diseases.

Primary care first contact practitioner’s (FCP) challenges and learning and development needs in providing fitness for work and sickness absence certification: consensus development

BackgroundAs yet, the benefit of the Fit Note has not been convincingly demonstrated, although a limited body of research suggests that provision of fitness for work advice and sickness absence certification may be improved with training and case-specific direction. The role of certifying sickness absence in the UK has traditionally been conducted by General Practitioners, but this role has now been extended to First Contact Practitioner (FCP) Physiotherapists in primary care. Therefore, FCPs may offer an ideal solution to the current challenges faced within primary care for those with a musculoskeletal (MSK) condition at risk of sickness absence from their work environment. ObjectivesThe main aim of this study was to identify the challenges and key learning and development needs of FCPs in response to providing Occupational Health (OH) information in the form of fitness for work advice and sickness certification for patients with MSK conditions within primary care. DesignConsensus was generated using an online modified version of the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) method. A priori consensus threshold of 60% was used in the voting stage. ParticipantsNGT participants included clinicians with experience in managing MSK conditions in primary care within the FCP model of care. All participants generated, voted, and ranked the items using an online platform. ConclusionsThis research adds new evidence regarding the challenges and learning and development needs identified by a group of FCPs working within primary care in consideration of sickness absence certification and fitness for work advice. The items highlighted provide evidence to complement Health Education England’s FCP A Roadmap to Practice educational pathway and informs on professional development needs in this area.

Occupational health information systems for health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa

Occupational health information systems for health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa

Analysis on the incidence of occupational diseases in Bao'an District of Shenzhen city from 2006 to 2019

Objective: To analyze the characteristics of occupational diseases in Bao'an District of Shenzhen from 2006 to 2019, so as to provide scientific basis for formulating occupational disease prevention policies and measures. Methods: In September 2020, the information of new occupational disease cases in Bao'an District of Shenzhen from 2006 to 2019 was collected through the national occupational disease and occupational health information monitoring system, and the classification, disease type distribution, population distribution and industry and enterprise scale distribution of new occupational disease cases were analyzed. Results: From 2006 to 2019, a total of 762 new occupational diseases were reported in Bao'an District of Shenzhen, of which the top three were occupational ear, nose, throat and oral diseases (233 cases, accounting for 30.58%) , occupational chemical poisoning diseases (219 cases, accounting for 28.74%) , occupational pneumoconiosis and other respiratory diseases (127 cases, accounting for 16.67%) . The classification composition of occupational diseases was different in different years, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05) . New occupational diseases are mainly distributed in the manufacturing industry (394 Eaterprises, caccouling 93.59%) , concentrated in (346 cases, accounting for 47.66%) and medium-sized enterprises (199 cases, accounting for 27.4%) small enterprises. Conclusion: New occupational diseases in Bao'an District of Shenzhen should focus on small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises, carry out risk assessment of occupational hazards, implement classified and hierarchical supervision of occupational health, and implement occupational health protection.

Towards a unifying domain model of construction safety, health and well-being: SafeConDM

Specific occupational construction safety, health, and well-being related knowledge and information are scattered and fragmented. Despite technological advancements of information and knowledge management, a link between safety management and information models is still missing. In this paper we present first steps towards a unifying formal (logic-based) domain model of construction safety, called SafeConDM, that consists of: (1) a semantically rich ontology of hazard, safety concepts, and concept relationships that builds on, and integrates with, existing construction safety ontologies and building information models; (2) a set of first-order if-then rules linking construction site states with the potential for specific hazards to occur that we define in a novel way using spatial artefacts. We present a prototype software tool, based on our ASP4BIM tool that implements SafeConDM for construction hazard analysis and safe construction planning decision support, and empirically evaluate our tool on three real-world construction building models.

Comparison of network report and actual detection of suspected occupational diseases among lead exposed workers in Jiangsu Province from 2016 to 2018

Objective: To analyze and compare the detection level and actual detection of suspected occupational diseases of lead exposed workers in the network report of occupational disease and occupational health information monitoring system, so as to provide a basis for formulating and improving relevant laws and regulations on occupational disease monitoring in the future. Methods: From January 2016 to December 2018, the network report occupational health examination data of lead exposed workers in Jiangsu Province were selected, the network report detection rate of suspected occupational diseases of lead exposed workers was counted and compared with the actual detection rate judged in the early stage, and the distribution characteristics of the network report detection rate of different years, regions and occupational health examination institutions and the reasons for the difference with the actual detection rate were analyzed. Results: Network report detection rate of suspected occupational disease in Jiangsu Province from 2016 to 2018 (0.042%, 30/71810) was significantly lower than the actual detection rate of 1.12% (805/71810) , and the difference was statistically significant (χ(2)=723.518, P<0.01) . The network report detection rates of suspected occupational chronic lead poisoning showed an increasing trend year by year, and the difference were statistically significant (χ(2)(trend)=7.627, P<0.01) . All the 30 network report cases were male, and 28 cases (93.33%) were from small and medium-sized enterprises. Among the 805 cases of suspected occupational chronic lead poisoning, 689 cases (85.59%) came from small and medium-sized enterprises. The three cities with more cases were Huai'an 222 cases (27.58%) , Suzhou 208 cases (25.84%) and Changzhou 138 cases (17.14%) . Compared with the actual detection, the number of network reports in Yangzhou accounted for 85.29% (29/34) of the actual detection from 2016 to 2018, that in Suqian accounted for 10.00% (1/10) , and that in other prefecture level cities was 0. From 2016 to 2018, 46.22% (33191/71810) of the occupational health examinations of lead exposed workers were undertaken by Centers for Disease Control and prevention at all levels (referred to as "CDC") . The 30 suspected cases of occupational chronic lead poisoning reported network came from CDC, accounting for 4.89% (30/614) of the actual detection, and the rest were 0. Conclusion: There are great differences between the network report and the actual detection rate of suspected occupational chronic lead poisoning among lead exposed workers, mainly due to the differences in the judgment level of suspected occupational diseases in different regions, the nature of institutions and the level of professional technicians.