Occupational Health Issues Research Articles

An Exploration of Work Related Stressors Experienced by Rural Emergency Nurses

Purpose: Nursing in a rural emergency department is a physically and emotionally demanding job. The challenges of working under these conditions can be very stressful for nurses. Work place stress can result in nurses developing mental health issues with subsequent physical consequences. These mental health issues, when experienced by nurses, can compromise patient care and safety. The consequences of work related mental health challenges are not isolated to the workplace but also have the potential to disrupt and destroy nurses’ careers and family life. This article addresses the following research question: What are the experiences of rural emergency nurses that can contribute to, or leave rural emergency nurses vulnerable to, the development of work related mental health issues.  Sample Participants were emergency department registered nursing staff from one hospital located in a rural community north of Toronto.Method: An exploratory qualitative descriptive study design was chosen, in which rural emergency department nurses were invited to share their stories through face-to-face in-depth interviews.Findings: Rural emergency nurses are challenged by a lack of resources, anxious about working outside their scope of practice, and are concerned about issues related to patient privacy and their own anonymity in the community. Added to this is the emotional impact of caring for young trauma patients, family, and people they know from the community. These experiences also affect their family members and can be expressed by lashing out, impatience, and withdrawing from interactions with them.Conclusion: Workplace challenges faced by rural emergency nurses can contribute to occupational mental health issues such as compassion fatigue and burnout. Managers of rural emergency departments need to acknowledge the unique working conditions of the nurses, improve communication, and tailor support programs to meet the needs of each individual nurse who has experienced an occupational threat to their mental well-being.Keywords: Rural Emergency Nurses, Mental Health, Compassion Fatigue, Stress, Burnout, Occupational HealthDOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14574/ojrnhc.v19i2.550     &nbsp

Risk factors analysis: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among male traffic policemen using high-powered motorcycles

IntroductionThe occupational safety and health issues for police riders and other professional riders are often related to ergonomic hazards and risks. The purpose of this research was to identify the factors that contribute to the health effects in developing work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) among male traffic policemen using high-powered motorcycles. Materials and methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted using 137 police riders. A set of questionnaires including the Standardised Nordic Questionnaire (SNQ) and human vibration meter (Svantek 106) was used in this study. ResultsThe prevalence of WMSDs was 67.9%. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that the duration of riding a motorcycle (OR = 0.175, 95% CI:0.052, 0.581), years of service (OR = 0.152, 95% CI: 0.040, 0.567), and hand-arm vibration, HAV (OR = 3.053, 95% CI: 1.126, 8.280) were significant risk factors for the prevalence of WMSDs. DiscussionThe majority of riders reported symptoms of WMSDs within the past 12 months. Riding duration, years of service, and hand-arm vibration (HAV) were found to be the most important risk factors for WMSDs in this rider group. The results highlight that in the context of ergonomic interaction, high-powered motorcycles and the police riders are not a good fit. Hence, further study is needed to improve the safety and health of the police riders.

Safety climate and health complaints in the Norwegian aquaculture industry

Few studies have explored the potential connection between safety climate and health issues. However, some recent research findings indicate that a poor safety climate can be considered a stressor that may be associated with physical symptoms and musculoskeletal complaints. This link is further explored in the present study on the basis of a questionnaire study of 446 sharp-end workers in the Norwegian aquaculture industry. The analysis revealed that self-reported health complaints (musculoskeletal pain, headaches and fatigue) are negatively related to safety climate, i.e. the more positive the safety climate, the fewer the health complaints. The study finds that the following two safety climate factors are particularly important: work pressure and safety involvement. This means that self-reported health complaints are higher among workers who experience (a) a prioritisation of production and efficiency at the expense of safety, and (b) a lack of involvement in safety decisions. Regarding relevance to the industry, these relationships indicate the existence of a supplementary managerial pathway for the prevention of occupational health issues.

Role of Motivation and Training in Managing Stress in the Technological Era

Human resources are the main pillar of success for any organization. Employees are the milestone of the organization. Healthy individuals can contribute more to the growth and productivity. In the present technological era the smart moves of the organizations to handle the challenges and cope up with the advanced technology, employees feels lots of pressure and they are in the stress trap. Research shows that workplace stress is in the rising state. Employees are facing work-life balance issues and their life is affected. They are facing many health issues such as diabetics, high blood pressure, indigestion, asthma, neurological problems, insomnia, heart disease etc. Psychological and emotional issues are also rising due to stress. Not only employees but also organizations are suffering high job attrition, absenteeism, job dissatisfaction among employees, low productivity and growth. Stress is being treated as an occupational health issue. It is a concern for both the organization and employees to manage the stress for mutual benefit. The purpose of this article is to define the nature, types and structure of stress, explore the different stressors which create workplace stress, the impact of workplace stress on both employees as well organizations and role of motivation and training for stress management. The measures to be adopted by both employer and employees are highlighted in the paper. The paper was conceptualized on the base of interaction with employees of different organizations and secondary data source.

Narratives of Working Mothers Experiencing Workplace Bullying: Trauma Transferred to Young Children

ObjectiveTo examine how workplace bullying experienced by South Korean working mothers is connected to the displacement of the mothers' anger and anxiety onto their young children.BackgroundWorkplace bullying has become a nationally and internationally recognized occupational health and safety issue in recent years. Despite an increasing number of working mothers, there is no research on the relationship between workplace bullying and working mothers' perception and experience in relation to their children and parenting.MethodBoth purposive and snowball sampling were used to recruit study participants, who were 11 South Korean working mothers with children 6 years of age or younger. Data collected from in‐depth interviews were analyzed thematically.ResultsFirst, the working mothers' experiences of workplace bullying involved relational bullying and its costs, such as depression and psychological burnout. Second, the working mothers' views of their children and parenting were intensely negative; the mothers considered parenting to be “just more work.” Their children were at greater risk of being socially and emotionally deprived due to problematic parenting.ConclusionWorkplace bullying adversely affects victim mothers' children via the spillover effect between work and home.ImplicationsWorking mothers who raise young children should be protected from workplace bullying. Training programs for employers and managers and context‐specific interventions are essential to ensure a healthy organizational culture.

Issues of occupational health in scientific works of Aleksey N. Sysin (to the 85th anniversary of the "A.N. Sysin Research Institute of Human Ecology and Environmental Health")

Research priorities of Alexei Nikolaevich Sysin (1879-1956) were faced to the study of issues of sanitary and epidemiological welfare of Russia. World- renowned hygienist scientist was the one of the pioneers in the field of general and communal hygiene, epidemiology and disinfection. Not little attention A.N. Sysin paid also to issues of occupational health, together with other scientists he laid the foundation of modern Occupational Health. The victory of the Great October Revolution has set before organizers and medical science scholars, among who was A.N. Sysin, new challenges in dealing with the many complex issues, including occupational health issues. Already in the first months of the new Republic he prepared dozens of directives, regulations and instructions, wrote a large number of draft laws for health services, developed the first regulations on the sanitary supervision of the country enterprises. The leading role in the emergence of many printed newspapers and magazines, books and bulletins on general issues in health, preventive medicine, hygiene, epidemiology, occupational health is belonged to A.N. Sysin. He published more than 250 scientific papers on various aspects of sanitary science: from the problems of epidemics of dangerous infections to the working and living conditions of different enterprises. A. N. Sysin paid a lot of attention to industrial injuries, problems of increscent occupational toxicology, the introduction of newest forms of general and personal protective equipment at the plant, modernization of the industrial equipment, issues of the shortened workday, labor of women and children - all kinds of sanitary measures and improvement of labor and living workers' conditions.

Industrial Health and Safety of the Workers in Textiles

The success of firm depends on the manpower skill, attitude and satisfaction towards the job. As a part of Corporate Social Responsibility, the organizations must look to provide a secured and healthy environment for the workers. This also helps to achieve a sustainable growth of the organization. Now a day’s many of the business organization have started focusing on the occupational safety and health issues of the workers. But the picture is somewhat different in the decentralized sector of textiles i.e. powerloom and handloom. The safety parameters are not much concerned in these industries and thus the percentage of the accidents and the health issues is considerable in these units. The current work tries to identify the parameters that are affecting the health and safety of the work force.

Nessacities of Studying HSE Management Position and Role in Iran Oil Industry

Today, diseases and accidents on one of the social concerns of workers and those involved in occupational safety and health issues has become. In addition to the general culture of health and safety factors related to non-compliance with relevant laws and regulations and lack of education can be a lack of planning and attention to occupational health and safety of workers in most industries, including the reasons for the high rate of accidents and work-related disease outlined. Due to the importance of the health of workers in all countries need to manage to achieve a coherent approach to improve working conditions, more than ever appears. Safety position in the heart of the organization's current management and its elements such as organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities specified in the methods of work according to the resources available to maintain the policy of health, Safety and the environment is working. Maybe HSE management concept is abet complex in first glance. But this is simple concept and it has close relationship with us and we understand simple city. Maybe hygienic, security and environment concepts and not simple for you. HSE management increase hygienic awareness, security and environment level and decrease dangerous factors and event occurrence and it is possible with workspace security. HSE position is in the organization current heart and elements like organizational structures, activities planning, determine responsibility in methods for doing and try for hygienic way maintain, security and environment. In this paper discussed HSE significance in Iran oil industry.

The Health of Nepali Migrants in India: A Qualitative Study of Lifestyles and Risks.

Background: Most health research on Nepali migrant workers in India is on sexual health, whilst work, lifestyle and health care access issues are under-researched. Methods: The qualitative study was carried out in two cities of Maharashtra State in 2017. Twelve focus group discussions (FGDs) and five in-depth interviews were conducted with Nepali male and female migrant workers. Similarly, eight interviews were conducted with stakeholders, mostly representatives of organisations working for Nepali migrants in India using social capital as a theoretical foundation. Results: Five main themes emerged from the analysis: (i) accommodation; (ii) lifestyle, networking and risk-taking behaviours; (iii) work environment; (iv) support from local organisations; and (v) health service utilisation. Lack of basic amenities in accommodation, work-related hazards such as lack of safety measures at work or safety training, reluctance of employers to organise treatment for work-related accidents, occupational health issues such as long working hours, high workload, no/limited free time, discrimination by co-workers were identified as key problems. Nepali migrants have limited access to health care facilities due to their inability to prove their identity. Health system of India also discriminates as some treatment is restricted to Indian nationals. The strength of this study is the depth it offers, its limitations includes a lack of generalizability, the latter is a generic issue in such qualitative research. Conclusion: This study suggests risks to Nepali migrant workers’ health in India range from accommodation to workplace and from their own precarious lifestyle habit to limited access to health care facilities. We must conduct a quantitative study on a larger population to establish the prevalence of the above mentioned issues and risks. Furthermore, the effectiveness of Nepali migrant support organisations in mitigating these risks needs to be researched.

Legal and Organization Issues of Transport Occupational Health and Medical Assistance to Passengers in Russian Federation

The article discusses some issues of transport occupational health in the Russian Federation with attention particularly paid to the legal regulations of health checks of various categories of transport employees, as well as of their medical examination and health assessment. The review of national regulatory legal acts governing the health services provision to the transport employees in the Russian Federation is carried out as well.The issues of providing first medical assistance to passengers, service users are also considered; problems related to the medical aspects of preventing and eliminating the consequences of transport emergencies are addressed.The study of the current situation results in conclusion on the need to improve legislation in the field of health services provision in transport industry, to eliminate its fragmentation and bring it in line with international law.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Its Impact on Occupational Health and Safety, Worker's Compensation and Labor Conditions.

The “fourth industrial revolution” (FIR) is an age of advanced technology based on information and communication. FIR has a more powerful impact on the economy than in the past. However, the prospects for the labor environment are uncertain. The purpose of this study is to anticipate and prepare for occupational health and safety (OHS) issues.In FIR, nonstandard employment will be common. As a result, it is difficult to receive OHS services and compensation. Excessive trust in new technologies can lead to large-scale or new forms of accidents. Global business networks will cause destruction of workers' biorhythms, some cancers, overwork, and task complexity. The social disconnection because of an independent work will be a risk for worker's mental health. The union bonds will weaken, and it will be difficult to apply standardized OHS regulations to multinational enterprises.To cope with the new OHS issues, we need to establish new concepts of "decent work” and standardize regulations, which apply to enterprises in each country, develop public health as an OHS service, monitor emerging OHS events and networks among independent workers, and nurture experts who are responsible for new OHS issues.

An Examination of the Development of the Construction and Demolition Waste-Related Regulations in Turkey

In order to manage construction and demolition (C&D) waste, which is harmful to the natural environment and human health, legislation has been introduced throughout the world. In Turkey, the most comprehensive regulation that deals only with C&D waste management (WM), entered into force in 2004. However, changes in the construction sector from 2004 until the present has led to inadequacies in some areas of this regulation. Therefore, a new draft regulation was prepared in 2017. This study is conducted to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the C&D WM regulations, identify the problems, and give recommendations. A three-stage methodology is adopted that includes a literature review, classifying the findings and analysing the relevant literature under the five main topics (the objective and the extent of the regulations, occupational health and safety issues, planning the demolition, collecting and transporting the produced waste, and establishing and operating the recovery plants). The findings show that the draft regulation contains arrangements for Turkey’s current conditions. The terms of the draft regulation have brought more importance to environmental and human health, and occupational health and safety issues. However, only asbestos has been highlighted in the draft regulation as a hazardous waste. The draft regulation includes a limited arrangement regarding the waste produced in the case of refurbishment projects. It is assumed that eliminating the deficiencies in the draft regulation and the enactment of it will be an important step. Thus, environmental and economic benefits for Turkey will follow.

Hazard analysis and risk assessment in metal cutting process

Abstract The paper deals with the issue of occupational health and safety in a metalworking manufacturing organization. Hazard and threat have been defined when cutting metal materials with a band saw. We assessed the risk by an extended point method, where we determined the risk rate values. In most cases of sawmill work, we found a “moderate” or “negligible” risk. The highest, ‘serious’ risk we found in a possible electric shock. In this case, we have also taken the necessary actions. As a precaution, we have also proposed safety measures for other threats.

Evaluation of thermal comfort and heat stress indices in different countries and regions – A Review

Energy efficiency, sustainability, productivity, thermal comfort, occupational health issues are emanating from rising global temperature associated with climate change. The prime purpose of this review is to focus on the present models to evaluate thermal comfort and heat stress level in various parts of the world in order to, identify the significant limitations in the development appropriate model. To assessed thermal comfort and heat stress a considerable number of models are already existing where about 40 models exist for only to determine heat stress itself. Existing comfort models are criticized for less metabolic rate, cloth insulation, not suitable for the outdoor diverse climate or for over or underestimation of the thermal concessions. On the other hand, to assessed heat stress WBGT-index is most widely used because of its simplicity. Several studies raised its limitations, whereas the PHS model is more appropriate but hard to understand for general people. For Thai people, HSI (Heat Stress Index) is best rather than others claimed by the authors. Thermal Work Limit (TWL) is suitable for both indoor and outdoor environments. Authors adopt the approaches to determine the region-based comfort and stress level through exploiting different models. For better evaluation models were improved through including or excluding new variables since the first development of thermal comfort indices. However, no unique model has developed afterward. Perfection and utilities of models depend on regional climatic behavior, which is apart from other relevant aspects. Therefore, further study should be necessary to establish a unique model or if not reasonable then focus on to obtain the accurate model for each climatic region.

Scoping Global Aquaculture Occupational Safety and Health

ABSTRACTObjectives: In 2017 the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Committee on Fisheries committed to prioritize occupational safety and health issues in aquaculture (AOSH). An international team was established to synthesize OSH knowledge concerning more than 19 million, often vulnerable, aquaculture workers found globally.Methods: The study was conducted as a desktop scoping exercise using both peer-reviewed and gray literature and the knowledge and expertize of an international panel. Collated information used a standard proforma. Panel members developed draft national and regional AOSH profiles outlining occupational hazards contributing to occupational injuries, diseases, and known solutions. These were work-shopped and refined after gathering additional information and used to compile the first global scoping review report on AOSH.Results: Synthesized results revealed multiple hazards, significant global knowledge gaps and some successful and unsuccessful global, national and industry-specific AOSH policies, practices and standards along the primary supply chain, in marine and freshwater contexts. Some constructive initiatives by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and FAO, industry, labor and civil society groups in a range of employment and geographical settings and across diverse populations of workers were identified.Conclusion: Global commitment to AOSH should be given the same focus as product quality, biosecurity, food safety and environmental sustainability in the sector. This needs development and implementation of integrated AOSH actions appropriate for diverse settings especially in low and middle-income countries encompassing greater uptake of international codes, better risk assessment and OSH management, adoption of technological innovations, effective OSH regulation and enforcement, adequate resources, training and information.

Correlates of Work-Study Conflict among International Students in Australia: A Multivariate Analysis.

International students represent an increasingly large segment of the Australian workforce. Most international students are working while studying, but there is a scarcity of quantitative data regarding potential work–study conflicts. Data from an online survey were analyzed with multivariate statistical methods to clarify the risk factors associated with perceived work–study conflicts in an Australian university. More than 66% of students felt that working demands interfered with their study. Negative impacts included tiredness and timetable clashes. Statistically significant correlates of work–study conflict were a perception of unfair wages and a lack of confidence in discussing occupational health and safety issues with employers. Underpayment may signify other vulnerabilities, such as unsafe working conditions. As many universities seek to increase their international student enrolments, these are important factors to consider for student retention. To mitigate this potential negative influence on study, universities should provide education and training related to international students’ rights and responsibilities in the workplace.

Re: Non-radiation occupational hazards and health issues faced by radiologists - A cross-sectional study of indian radiologists' by Kawthalkar AS et al.

Re: Non-radiation occupational hazards and health issues faced by radiologists - A cross-sectional study of indian radiologists' by Kawthalkar AS et al.

Linking the non-visual effects of light exposure with occupational health.

In May 2018, the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA, Germany) hosted ‘Light and Health at Work’, a workshop concerning occupational health issues relating to non-visual effects of light of both indoor and shift workers. The agenda reflected a common interest in translational research linking laboratory findings with occupational and public health outcomes, and resulted in the founding of the European scientific network NoVEL (standing for Non-Visual Effects of Light). This article sets out the network participants’ shared goals to improve the scientific evidence about light’s non-visual effects, circadian disruption and wellbeing, using light exposure interventions with high quality assessment of light.

Toward Open-Source Hardware and Software for the Mining Industry: a Case Study of Low-Cost Environmental Monitoring System for Non-Metallic Underground Mines

Open-source technology for supporting the Industry 4.0 has become the target of academic research in many sectors. This study reviewed the trends of open-source technology, its forms, and some industrial applications. As a case study using open-source hardware and software for the mining industry, this study proposed a low-cost environmental monitoring system for non-metallic underground mines to support mine safety and occupational health issues. The system was developed using open-source hardware, Arduino and 3D printer, to design the monitoring device. An open-source software, MIT App Inventor, was used for developing an Android application for smartphones to enable remote communication with the system. Field experiments were conducted at an underground tunnel and a non-metallic underground mining site to assess the performance of the system in both mobile and static modes, respectively. Although a few limitations related to the precision of the low-cost dust and gas sensors still exist, the findings of the experiments show that the mining industry can benefit from open-source technology deployment when considering cost factors.

Chinese Public Response to Occupational Safety and Health Problems—A Study Based on Psychological Distance

Background: The effective governance of occupational safety and health problems is inseparable from public participation and response. Methods: Based on the perspective of psychological distance, this paper adopted a quadratic response surface regression analysis method to investigate cognitive, emotional, expected and behavioral distances to occupational safety and health topics and their corresponding responses. Results: As demonstrated by the data statistics and response surface regression analysis results for 2386 valid samples, the relatively close psychological distance dimensions of the public with regard to occupational safety and health problems indicated the high endogenous tendency of the public to pay attention to occupational safety and health problems. The consistency between public cognitive and emotional distance with regard to occupational safety and health presented a “progressive decrease” in response towards behavioral distance, whereas the consistency between cognitive and expected distance reflected “convex” changes towards behavioral distance. Finally, the consistency between emotional and expected distance generally presented a “progressive increase” response towards behavioral distance. Conclusions: This research provides information regarding the public awareness of and response to occupational safety and health issues and how to promote occupational safety and health issues in order to improve them.