Years Of Work Research Articles

Multi-layer shielding optimization of a high activity 241Am-Be mixed field irradiation facility.

Neutron and gamma-ray shielding design for a 30Ci (1.11TBq) 241Am-Be irradiation facility is studied using MCNP5 Monte Carlo simulation code. The study focuses on the optimization of the shielding layers of the previously planned neutron irradiation facility. The shielding design aims at reducing the effective dose rate down to 10μSv/h for occupationally exposed workers as recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) (20mSv per year for workers). The dose rate calculations consider not only 241Am-Be produced neutrons but also gamma rays from the 241Am decay, 12C∗ de-excitation, and neutron interaction with source and facility materials. Different materials (paraffin, borated-paraffin, beryllium, copper, tantalum, tungsten, zinc, bismuth, and lead) have been investigated as neutron and gamma shields. The choice of the shielding materials is based on their effectiveness (the total weight of the facility and the cost). Among several configurations, shielding layers consisting of 10cm paraffin wax, 2.5cm lead, and 31.5cm borated-paraffin wax are found sufficient to meet the safety requirements, leading to a cubic facility of 104.2cm overall length. Some irradiation parameters are estimated for the final design; namely neutron and gamma spectra as well as flux and absorbed dose components. In addition, the occupational exposure is assessed considering ICRP exposure conditions to calculate the effective dose rate along with the isodose distribution.

PREVALENCE OF THORACIC OUTLET SYNDROME IN WORKERS AND PLAYERS OF FAISALABAD

Background of the Study: A neurovascular compression that causes pain and tingling sensation in arms either unilateral or bilateral and aggravates with overhead activities is termed as thoracic outlet syndrome. Symptoms includes discomfort, pain, heaviness and thoracic nerve impingement. It is a form of group of disorders that affects bony, muscular and even fibrous structures. If left untreated TOS can result in devastating functional and structural abnormalities. Methodology: It was a cross sectional observational study. A sample of 195 players and workers was taken from public sector organizations of Faisalabad. Inclusion criteria consisted of participants with 20 years of age or older. Gender was specified to be male only. Players who were actively participating in any sports were included. Laboring staff that were involved in overhead activities were included. Convenience sampling technique was used. Subjects with previously diagnosed traumatic injury and surgery were excluded. Adson maneuver and DASH questionnaire was utilized as data collection procedure. Results: Data was analyzed using SPSS version 21. Independent t test was applied to record prevalence of thoracic outlet syndrome. P-value 0.0001 demonstrates statistically significant prevalence in players and workers. An overall of 59% prevalence was recorded in both workers and players. Conclusions: It is concluded that thoracic outlet syndrome is highly prevalent in both workers and players. Comparison between both populations demonstrates slightly high prevalence in players by 51.8%, as those for workers to be 48.2. It is frequent within age groups of 20-30 in players and 30-50 years in workers.

Occupational Health and Safety in the Turkish Fisheries and Aquaculture; a Statistical Evaluation on a Neglected Industry

BackgroundFisheries and aquaculture are statistically acknowledged to be among the most dangerous occupations. Yet, industrial safety and health precautions against occupational accidents within the sector are not sufficiently implemented in many parts of the world. The present study aims to provide a quantified overview of work accident statistics in the Turkish fisheries and aquaculture industry. MethodsThis article presents an overview of reported injuries and fatalities in the Turkish fisheries and aquaculture industries from 2006 to 2020. Incident, permanent incapacity, and fatality rates were calculated, and the difference between fisheries and aquaculture was statistically examined. ResultsThe overall incident, permanent incapacity, and fatality rates were 449.4, 4.7, and 5.7 per 100,000 worker years, respectively, over the 15-year period. With these fatality rates, fisheries and aquaculture are two of the industries with the highest fatality rates among comparable industries in Turkey. Incident rates in fisheries and aquaculture indicated that aquaculture work is more dangerous and risky. The data set includes 25 fatalities and 22 permanent incapacity cases over 15 years and shows an increase in fatality rates and occupational accidents in the last 8 years. Conclusionpresent study showed that the quality of data and reporting in the Turkish fisheries and aquaculture industries including occupational illnesses, must be improved in order to be more preventative and to develop efficient safety management in the sector. Incentives for providing thorough data on occupational incidents must be enhanced to improve occupational safety awareness in Turkish fisheries and aquaculture.

BIAYA PANEN DAN PASCA PANEN PETANI CENGKEH DI DESA TAMBELANG KECAMATAN MAESAAN KABUPATEN MINAHASA SELATAN (Harvest and Post harvest Costs of Clove Farmers in Tambelang Village, Maesaan Sub-District, Minahasa Selatan District)

This study aims to determine the costs of harvesting and post-harvest clove farmers in Tambelang Village, Maesaan District, South Minahasa Regency. This research was carried out for five months from November 2021 to April 2022. The data collection technique used was the simple random sample technique by selecting 18 cloves. The data used in this study were primary and secondary data. Primary data were obtained through direct interviews through a list of questions that had been prepared. Secondary data was collected from the Maesaan District Office in the form of research village profiles, and from the internet via Google searching in the form of journal articles relevant to this research. The analysis used is the analysis of farm income. The results showed that the average land area was 1.1 ha/year/person with an average total harvest cost of Rp. 39,931,907/year. The biggest costs incurred at harvest are an average of Rp. 15,222,222/year for workers from outside the village and an average of Rp. 16,888,889/year for workers from within the village. While the smallest cost at harvest is found in the cost of rope equipment, which is an average of Rp. 132,222/year. Then the post-harvest costs obtained an average total cost of Rp. 13,027,679 / year with the largest cost found in labor costs for drying, which is an average of Rp. 5,226,235/year and the smallest fee is the tax fee, which is an average of Rp. 57,778/year. Of the two costs, the cost at harvest is the most expensive. The total total cost of harvesting and post-harvesting cloves in Tambelang Village, Maesaan District, South Minahasa Regency, on average, is Rp. 52,904,475/yearth a income is Rp . 33.962.773.

Analysis of Exertion-Related Injuries and Fatalities in Laborers in the United States.

Laborers are particularly vulnerable to exertional injuries and illnesses, as they often engage in heavy physical work for prolonged hours, yet no studies have examined the top causes of catastrophic exertional injuries and fatalities among this population. The purpose of the investigation was to characterize the top causes of exertional injury and fatality within open access, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reportable data. A secondary analysis of OSHA reported injury and fatality data was performed through open access records from OSHA Severe Injury Reports (2015-2022) and OSHA fatality inspection data (2017-2020), respectively. The research team characterized each reported injury and fatality as "exertion-related" or "non-exertion-related. Injury and fatality rates were reported per 100,000 equivalent full-time worker years and included 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Of 58,648 cases in the OSHA Severe Injury Report database from 2015-2020, 1682 cases (2.9%) were characterized as exertional (0.20 injuries per 100,000 full-time worker years, 95% CI: 0.19, 0.22). Heat-related injuries encompassed 91.9% of the exertional injuries (n = 1546). From the 2017-2022 OSHA fatality inspection database, 89 (1.9%) of 4598 fatalities were characterized as exertion-related (fatality rate: 0.0160 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers, 95% CI: 0.009, 0.0134). The exertion-related fatalities primarily consisted of heat-related cases (87.6%). Exertion-related injuries and fatalities were most reported in Southeast states, in the construction and excavation industry, and among nonunionized workers. As heat stress continues to be recognized as an occupational health and safety hazard, this analysis further highlights the need for targeted interventions or further evaluation of the impact of heat stress on construction and excavation workers, nonunionized workers, and workers in Southeastern states.

Risk assessment on noise-induced hearing loss of 488 workers in a petrochemical plant

Objective: To assess the risk of noise-induced hearing loss in workers from a petrochemical plant. Methods: In October 2020, 488 male workers exposed to noise in a petrochemical plant in Guangdong Province were selected by cluster sampling. Acoustics-Estimation of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (ISO 1999: 2013) was used to assess the risk of noise-induced hearing loss of workers, and individual fit testing was used to evaluate the sound attenuation obtained by the workers. The risk assessment results and fitness test results of workers with different hearing levels were compared. Results: The average noise exposure equivalent sound level of the workers in the petrochemical plant was 86.7 dB (A) . The median of PARs (personal attenuation ratings) was 16 (4, 23) dB. There were statistically significant differences in age and service years among workers with different hearing results (P<0.05) , but no statistically significant differences in noise intensity and PARs (P>0.05) . According to risk assessment results of ISO 1999: 2013, the current risk of high-frequency hearing loss in 488 workers were negligible risk and acceptable risk. The risk of noise-induced deafness weredivided into three levels: negligible risk in 452 workers (92.7%) , medium risk in 27 workers (5.5%) and high risk in 9 workers (1.8%) . The risk of high-frequency hearing loss in next 5 to 15 years for workers with noise exposure level of >94 to 97 dB and >97 dB or above would be medium risk or above. The risk of noise-induced deafness in next 5 to 15 years for workers exposed to noise withlevel of 91 to 94 dB would be medium risk or above. Conclusion: The risk of noise-induced hearing loss in workers from the petrochemical plant is high in next 5 to 15 years, and noise prevention and control measures need to be strengthened. ISO1999: 2013 assessment method may underestimate the risk of hearing loss among workers.

Coding and applying injury claims data to implement and sustain effective safe patient handling and mobility solutions

Investigating and accurately categorizing employee injury claims are essential for identifying trends and implementing effective solutions. This process is especially important for injuries associated with patient handling injuries (PHIs) for which data is often lacking. This study summarizes how improved coding of injuries for 15 years of workers’ compensation (WC) data was used to improve system-wide injury prevention efforts, in particular those related to safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM) practices across an 11-hospital region within the system. Accurate coding of caregiver injuries and implementing SPHM solutions based on this data had a significant impact on accurately identifying risk, implementing injury prevention strategies, and decreasing frequency and severity of employee injuries related to outdated manual patient handling practices.

An Innovative Tool to Control Occupational Radon Exposure.

After smoking, indoor radon is the main contributor to lung cancer in many countries. The European Union (EU) Directive 2013/59/Euratom establishes a maximum reference level of 300 Bq/m3 of radon concentration in the workplace, and an effective dose limit of 20 mSv per year for workers. If the radon concentration in a workplace exceeds the reference level, constructive mitigation applies. When constructive mitigation is not feasible, we propose to keep workers’ effective dose below 6 mSv per year (category B of exposed workers) by controlling occupancy time. Setting the maximum annual dose at 6 mSv protects workers’ health and eases the regulatory requirements for employers. If multisite workers are present, each worker has to be monitored individually by tracking the time spent and the radon concentration at each worksite. This paper shows a software tool for employers to perform this complex tracking in an accurate, conservative, and transparent manner, and in compliance with the EU by-laws.

EFEKTIFITAS KOMUNIKASI DOKTER TERHADAP KEPUASAN PASIEN RAWAT JALAN DI RSU IMELDA PEKERJA INDONESIA KOTA MEDAN

Communication between patient and doctor involves deep interaction between the two parties. This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of doctor communication on the satisfaction of outpatients at the General Hospital. Imelda Medan Indonesian Workers. This study is an analytic survey with a cross sectional study design conducted at the General Hospital. Imelda Medan Indonesian Workers Years from May to June 2020. The population in this study is the population in this study were all patients who visited as many as 76 people. Sampling was done in total sampling. Research data were analyzed using the Chi Square formula and logistic regression. Based on the results of the study note that there is an influence of openness (openess) of doctors on the satisfaction of outpatients in public hospitals. Imelda Medan Indonesian Workers, there was the influence of Emphaty (empathy) doctors on the satisfaction of outpatients in the General Hospital. Imelda Medan Indonesian Workers, there is an influence of the attitude (supportiveness) of doctors on the satisfaction of outpatients in the General Hospital. Imelda Medan Indonesian Workers, there is an effect of the equality of doctors on the satisfaction of outpatients in the General Hospital. Imelda Medan Indonesian Workers. This study suggests that doctors can continue to improve their communication skills or abilities so as to make patients open, have a supportive, positive attitude and equality so that doctors can get the information needed and provide appropriate treatment to patients and patients recover.

Automatic Classification of Thyroid Findings Using Static and Contextualized Ensemble Natural Language Processing Systems: Development Study.

BackgroundIn the case of Korean institutions and enterprises that collect nonstandardized and nonunified formats of electronic medical examination results from multiple medical institutions, a group of experienced nurses who can understand the results and related contexts initially classified the reports manually. The classification guidelines were established by years of workers’ clinical experiences and there were attempts to automate the classification work. However, there have been problems in which rule-based algorithms or human labor–intensive efforts can be time-consuming or limited owing to high potential errors. We investigated natural language processing (NLP) architectures and proposed ensemble models to create automated classifiers.ObjectiveThis study aimed to develop practical deep learning models with electronic medical records from 284 health care institutions and open-source corpus data sets for automatically classifying 3 thyroid conditions: healthy, caution required, and critical. The primary goal is to increase the overall accuracy of the classification, yet there are practical and industrial needs to correctly predict healthy (negative) thyroid condition data, which are mostly medical examination results, and minimize false-negative rates under the prediction of healthy thyroid conditions.MethodsThe data sets included thyroid and comprehensive medical examination reports. The textual data are not only documented in fully complete sentences but also written in lists of words or phrases. Therefore, we propose static and contextualized ensemble NLP network (SCENT) systems to successfully reflect static and contextual information and handle incomplete sentences. We prepared each convolution neural network (CNN)-, long short-term memory (LSTM)-, and efficiently learning an encoder that classifies token replacements accurately (ELECTRA)-based ensemble model by training or fine-tuning them multiple times. Through comprehensive experiments, we propose 2 versions of ensemble models, SCENT-v1 and SCENT-v2, with the single-architecture–based CNN, LSTM, and ELECTRA ensemble models for the best classification performance and practical use, respectively. SCENT-v1 is an ensemble of CNN and ELECTRA ensemble models, and SCENT-v2 is a hierarchical ensemble of CNN, LSTM, and ELECTRA ensemble models. SCENT-v2 first classifies the 3 labels using an ELECTRA ensemble model and then reclassifies them using an ensemble model of CNN and LSTM if the ELECTRA ensemble model predicted them as “healthy” labels.ResultsSCENT-v1 outperformed all the suggested models, with the highest F1 score (92.56%). SCENT-v2 had the second-highest recall value (94.44%) and the fewest misclassifications for caution-required thyroid condition while maintaining 0 classification error for the critical thyroid condition under the prediction of the healthy thyroid condition.ConclusionsThe proposed SCENT demonstrates good classification performance despite the unique characteristics of the Korean language and problems of data lack and imbalance, especially for the extremely low amount of critical condition data. The result of SCENT-v1 indicates that different perspectives of static and contextual input token representations can enhance classification performance. SCENT-v2 has a strong impact on the prediction of healthy thyroid conditions.

Epigenetic aging biomarkers and occupational exposure to benzene, trichloroethylene and formaldehyde

Epigenetic aging biomarkers are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. We evaluated if occupational exposure to three established chemical carcinogens is associated with acceleration of epigenetic aging. We studied workers in China occupationally exposed to benzene, trichloroethylene (TCE) or formaldehyde by measuring personal air exposures prior to blood collection. Unexposed controls matched by age and sex were selected from nearby factories. We measured leukocyte DNA methylation (DNAm) in peripheral white blood cells using the Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip to calculate five epigenetic aging clocks and DNAmTL, a biomarker associated with leukocyte telomere length and cell replication. We tested associations between exposure intensity and epigenetic age acceleration (EAA), defined as the residuals of regressing the DNAm aging biomarker on chronological age, matching factors and potential confounders. Median differences in EAA between exposure groups were tested using a permutation test with exact p-values. Epigenetic clocks were strongly correlated with age (Spearman r > 0.8) in all three occupational studies. There was a positive exposure-response relationship between benzene and the Skin-Blood Clock EAA biomarker: median EAA was −0.91 years in controls (n = 44), 0.78 years in workers exposed to <10 ppm (n = 41; mean benzene = 1.35 ppm; p = 0.034 vs. controls), and 2.10 years in workers exposed to ≥10 ppm (n = 9; mean benzene = 27.3 ppm; p = 0.019 vs. controls; ptrend = 0.0021). In the TCE study, control workers had a median Skin-Blood Clock EAA of −0.54 years (n = 71) compared to 1.63 years among workers exposed to <10 ppm of TCE (n = 27; mean TCE = 4.22 ppm; p = 0.035). We observed no evidence of EAA associations with formaldehyde exposure (39 controls, 31 exposed). Occupational benzene and TCE exposure were associated with increased epigenetic age acceleration measured by the Skin-Blood Clock. For TCE, there was some evidence of epigenetic age acceleration for lower exposures compared to controls. Our results suggest that some chemical carcinogens may accelerate epigenetic aging.

1st Attempt Success Rate of Ultrasound-Guided Peripheral IV Access of Emergency Medical Services Health Care Providers on the Pre-Hospital Simulation Model

Background: Ultrasound guided peripheral intravenous access (USGPIV) has derived benefits for the Emergency and Pre-hospital Management. However, no studies have yet been conducted that have focused upon Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel in Thailand. Objective: To introduce USGPIV cannulation to the health care providers of Emergency Medical Services and to examine the success rates of the first attempts at PIV cannulation. Materials and Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted with 49 EMS providers in August 2020. All respondents had been participants in a USGPIV workshop. Afterwards, the participants’ skills were evaluated in a Pre-hospital simulation model, which was conducted in a moving ambulance. The data, which was recorded, noted the number of attempts required to successfully obtain USGPIV access, as well as the participants’ opinions about using ultrasound in this procedure. Results: Among the 49 participants, the first attempt success rate was found to be at 57.14%. The participants’ genders, their years of work experience, their experience of performing PIV with real patients, and the categories of the Emergency Medical Services health care providers were determined not to be factors that had contributed to the success rate of the first attempts at USGPIV. Our study demonstrated a “High” level of satisfaction with regard to performing USGPIV with this ultrasound device (4 out of 5). However, the participants noted that some elements of the environment in the ambulance may have affected the success rate of performing this procedure. Conclusion: In this study, the success rate of the first attempts was found to be lower than in other studies. However, in regard to this simulation, implementing this procedure represents the first step towards assisting Thai EMS personnel to perform ultrasound procedures. Keywords: Ultrasound, Peripheral IV cannulation, Emergency medicine, Emergency medical services, Emergency medical personnel

PEREMPUAN DAN KARIER: PERBANDINGAN KESENJANGAN UPAH GENDER DI INDONESIA DENGAN NEGARA-NEGARA DI EROPA (STUDI KASUS: FINLANDIA, INGGRIS, PRANCIS, DAN JERMAN)

In some countries, women's wages lag behind men. The most recent study shows that most of the payments made by gender in wage growth are issued during the first ten years of workers in the labor market. Some part of the contribution of growth can be explained by investment in human capital and work mobility between men and women. In Europe, gender payments occur in several countries. This research will discuss the factors of gender payment in the UK, Finland, Germany, and France - which incidentally relates to gender payments by comparing other countries - with qualitative research methods.

Analysing repeat blood donation behavior via big data

PurposeAlthough blood banks have recently started to recruit blood donors through social media platforms, including WeChat, to increase recruitment effectiveness, few researchers have studied their effects on blood donation behavior. The aim of this study is to examine the influence of using official WeChat accounts on repeat blood donation behavior.Design/methodology/approachThis paper used the backstage operation data of official WeChat accounts and blood supply chain management system data from the blood bank for the study to analyze the changes in repeat blood donation behavior. First, to analyze the changes in the average frequency of blood donation per year, average volume of single blood donation and blood eligible rate of repeat blood donors before and after following the official WeChat accounts by difference-in-differences model combined with propensity score matching (PSM-DID). Second, we examined the impact of official WeChat accounts on the proportion of repeat blood donors through survival analysis.FindingsThe results show that following WeChat accounts increases the average frequency of blood donation and blood eligible rate of repeat blood donors by 14.36% and 1.19%, respectively, and have no significant effect on the average volume of single blood donation. Further, WeChat accounts have a more significant impact on the average frequency of blood donations per year for workers, farmers, medical staff and groups with education levels of junior high school. In addition, official WeChat accounts can effectively increase the proportion of repeat donors.Originality/valueThe results provide a quantitative basis for the influence of official WeChat accounts on repeat blood donation behaviors. On the one hand, it is of great significance to guide the publicity and recruitment of unpaid blood banks. On the other hand, it provides an evidence for the promotion of official WeChat accounts.

Addressing Postpandemic Clinician Mental Health : A Narrative Review and Conceptual Framework.

Previous pandemics have seen high psychiatric morbidity among health care workers. Protecting clinician mental health in the aftermath of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) requires an evidence-based approach to developing and deploying comprehensive clinician mental health support. In a narrative review of 96 articles addressing clinician mental health in COVID-19 and prior pandemics, 7 themes emerged: 1) the need for resilience and stress reduction training; 2) providing for clinicians' basic needs (food, drink, adequate rest, quarantine-appropriate housing, transportation, child care, personal protective equipment); 3) the importance of specialized training for pandemic-induced changes in job roles; 4) recognition and clear communication from leadership; 5) acknowledgment of and strategies for addressing moral injury; 6) the need for peer and social support interventions; and 7) normalization and provision of mental health support programs. In addition to the literature review, in collaboration with the Collaborative for Healing and Renewal in Medicine (CHARM) network, the authors gathered practice guidelines and resources from health care organizations and professional societies worldwide to synthesize a list of resources deemed high-yield by well-being leaders. Studies of previous pandemics demonstrate heightened distress in health care workers years after the event. The COVID-19 pandemic presents unique challenges that surpass those of previous pandemics, suggesting a significant mental health toll on clinicians. Long-term, proactive individual, organizational, and societal infrastructures for clinician mental health support are needed to mitigate the psychological costs of providing care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prevalence of Lumbar Spine Dysfunction in Sugar Industry Workers of Karad Taluka

Background: From past few years, in most of the industrialized world there has been increase in number of individuals having problem in musculoskeletal system. The term spinal dysfunction refers to an abnormal increase or decrease in spinal movement (mobility). Sugar industry workers are directly involved in the production process that’s why some existing studies shows that the sugar industry work is characterized by repetitive movement, heavy load movement, wrong or awkward posture, forceful activity which causes cumulative trauma to the spine due to increase variability in weights. Repetitive bending movement causes backache, prolonged working hours causes feeling of fatigue, long hour movement of hand causes numbness of fingers and strenuous activities all these activities put workers at risk for work related musculoskeletal disorders. There was hardly any literature available on the prevalence of spinal dysfunction in sugar industry workers in rural Maharashtra. Hence this observational study is to find out prevalence of spinal dysfunction in sugar industry workers in karad taluka. Methods: This is an observational study which included 100 subjects. Then they were screened and distributed according to their age, gender, BMI and were asked to fill the modified oswestry low back pain disability Questionnaire. Later the subjects were assessede using modified oswestry low back pain disability Questionnaire. Result: In this study 100 sugar industry workers (68 males and 32 females) were taken for study. It was found that 59 sugar industry workers had a lumbar spine dysfunction. The age is from 30-above 50 years of workers were taken in this study, which was found to be more prevalent in male(63%) than in female(50%), although this difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: This study has provided the evidence to support the increase in lumbar spine dysfunction in sugar industry workers of karad taluka.

Radiological Quality and Dangerousness of Ferrous and Non-ferrous Metals Waste in Cotonou (Benin)

The peoples in Cotonou give themselves to sorting and recycling activities of scrap metal for lack of financial means. The uncontrolled use of this scrap metal has effects on the health of users (waste pickers, sorters, recyclers …). It was to assess the radiological quality and the degrees of dangerousness of this scrap metal waste that we conducted a study on the urban scrap storage site in Cotonou. Thus, this study is a contribution to improving the health of scrap metal collectors, sorters and recyclers in Cotonou.&#x0D; To achieve this objective, measurements of the dose rates of ionizing radiation from scrap metal were measured using a radiation survey meter. Measurements are made on contact and from a distance. In addition, analyzes of the waste of the powder samples by gamma spectrometry were also carried out.&#x0D; It emerges from this study that the quantities of ionizing radiation doses vary ranging from 7.14 msv for simple copper to 7.17 msv for iron per year. Thus the quantities of ionizing radiation doses increase with burnt copper 22 msv per year and stainless steel 53 msv per year. These doses are significantly higher than the standard of the dose threshold accepted by the IAEA, which is 100 msv over 5 years for workers or on average 20 msv on contact. Ionizing radiation emitted by scrap metal, engine batteries and battery cells cannot be detected by our survey meter beyond 95 cm. In the case of powder waste, it appears that the powder waste contains radionuclides such as K40, Pb 214 and Ra 226, which give off variable energies and exhibit various activities.&#x0D; These effective doses being clearly above the thresholds accepted by the IAEA confirms the fact that scrap metal is dangerous to the health of workers.

Implementation of eye-lens dosimetry in Poland

It has been seven years from the ICRP Statement on tissue reactions containing the recommendations for an equivalent dose limit for the lens of the eye of 20 mSv per year for workers (ICRP, 2012), and has been 7 years since Laboratory of Individual and Environmental Dosimetry (LADIS) introduced in practice eye lens doses measurement. The reduction of the limit for occupational exposure for the lens of the eye needs adequate approaches for eye protection and eye dose monitoring.The most accurate method for monitoring the equivalent dose to the lens of the eye is to measure the personal dose equivalent Hp(3) with a dedicated dosimeter worn as close as practicable to the eye. To measure eye lens doses in terms of this quantity a dosemeter and an appropriate method has been introduced in the largest dosimetry service in Poland.This paper presents historically the introduction of eye lens dosimetry in routine measurements and an analysis of the exposure results of the eye lens dose sl. Results of measurements of Hp(3) from eye lens dosemeters (almost 5000 quarterly readouts), issued in the years 2012–2018 were reported. In measurements EYE-DTM dosemeter developed within ORAMED EU project (Vanhavere et al., 2011) and high-sensitivity MCP-N (LiF:Mg, Cu, P) thermoluminescence detectors were used.The frequency distribution of eye lens dose measurements performed using specially dedicated dosemeters, via their Hp(3) operational values, over 3-month periods, after subtraction of natural background in 74% cases are below 0.1 mSv. In the case of the new operational quantity, Hp(3) the number of workers, which exceed the new limit during 7 years monitoring period was 48 (1%).The study showed considerable uncertainties associated with the assessment of eye lens dose from the commonly used whole body dosemeters on the chest in terms of Hp(10) and ring dosemeters on the finger which measures skin doses in terms of Hp(0.07). Therefore, only monitoring of the eyes with specific dosemeters for yearly follow-up can provide accurate annual doses.

Trends of Blood Cadmium Concentration Among Workers and Non-Workers in the United States (NHANES 2003 to 2012).

We aimed to explore the trends of blood cadmium (bCd) concentrations among workers and non-workers in the United States. We used serial cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (2003 to 2012), including 23,243 subjects aged 20 and above. We used linear regression to analyze the trends of bCd levels adjusting for demographic variables and smoking status, stratified by occupations. The geometric mean of bCd levels was 0.362 μg/L. Only 0.21% had elevated bCd concentrations (≥5 μg/L). Women, older age, ethnic minorities, people of lower socio economic status (SES), current smokers, blue-collars, and non-workers tended to have higher bCd levels. The bCd concentrations were stable through years in workers (n = 12,787), but had a decline from 0.532 to 0.476 μg/L (P-trend = 0.006) in non-workers (n = 10,456). Cd exposure in the United States has been controlled to a safe level. Special protective measures should be taken for the lower SES group and blue-collars.

Yet another paradigm change? Narratives and competing policy paradigms in Brazilian labour market policies

ABSTRACTWhen policy paradigms compete for sovereignty, a well thought-out narrative story is essential to arguing why one paradigm is superior to another. Narrative stories can be applied to underline the imperative for paradigmatic policy change. Combining Hall’s work on policy paradigms with Stone’s conceptualisation of narrative stories, this article explores how narrative stories are applied to support or oppose competing policy paradigms and proposes that the systematic analysis of narrative stories fosters a better understanding of policy paradigms. The case of labour market policy in Brazil is used to exemplify the argument: 13 years of Workers’ Party rule induced far-reaching changes in Brazilian social and labour market policy based on demand-orientation. Following the impeachment of President Rousseff, interim-President Temer initiated major labour reforms, reviving liberal narratives. This article explores how these policy changes are representative of the competition between policy paradigms, which are reflected in party-political competition, and how recent paradigm change is supported by the construction of narrative stories.