South Workers Research Articles

Prevalence and Pattern of Tobacco Use among Thermal Power Station Workers in South India: An Observational Study.

Introduction:Health of individuals and community. Occupation, being a significant determinant of health, plays a vital role in the outcome of health. Mining being an occupation has it's own characteristics and occupational hazards. One such factor, being tobacco consumption has been sparsely reported among thermal power station workers.Aims and Objectives:To assess the prevalence of tobacco consumption among thermal power station workers in south India.Materials and Methods:Simple random sampling was used to collect data from the study in the subjects working in thermal power station. Pretested questionnaire was used to collect demographic and prevalence data pertaining to tobacco consumption. Descriptive statistical analysis was done for the data to express the same in frequencies.Results:Among the 401 study subjects, 121 of them consumed tobacco. Among them 59%(n=72) of them used smoking form of tobacco and about 23%(n=28) of them used smokeless form of tobacco. Vast majority73%(n=52) of the smokers used cigarette and 14%(n=19) used bidi.Conclusion:A significant number of workers in thermal power station were found to use tobacco. Further studies are required to be conducted on a larger scale followed by analytical studies to establish the strength of association between the occupation related variables and tobacco consumption.

Keep On Moving: Rural University Graduates as Sales Workers in South and Central China

Between 1978 and 2018 the percentage of the Chinese workforce in the service sector rose from 12.2 to 46.3. A large share of this workforce is in sales, selling products ranging from household goods, insurance, advertising space, and education, to various other services. The proliferation of salespeople in China is facilitated by the dramatic increase in the number of university graduates. Personnel in sales jobs, which are particularly popular among graduates from rural backgrounds with degrees from universities with indifferent reputations, experience an extraordinarily high level of mobility. They typically change jobs every few months, either because they are fired or they pursue better opportunities. Based on one year of fieldwork undertaken between 2015 and 2017, this article shows how the rapid expansion of China's higher education subjects students from rural backgrounds to new inequalities, which, in turn, reconfigure the rural-urban divide into multiple intersecting hierarchies. Building on the concept of complexed development, this article analyzes how salespeople experience contradictory mobilities in a web of intersecting hierarchies. It shows how they achieve upward status mobility by breaking away from agricultural and manual labour and becoming university graduates and white-collar workers; but also, how they sometimes experience downward mobility in terms of income in comparison to previous generations of migrants and their less-educated peers.

Medical waste management among healthcare workers: the use of educational diagnosis phase in the precede planning model among healthcare workers in south of Iran

Management of medical wastes is considered as an important issue. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the management behaviour and disposal of medical wastes and its relationship with the factors affecting this event. This analytical cross-sectional study was performed on 200 workers in all healthcare centres and hospitals in south of Iran, Shushtar City. The data gathering tool was a five-point researcher-made. Data were analyzed using the SPSS22. The correlation between the behaviour and the model constructs showed that the performance is influenced by the enabling and reinforcing factors (p-value < 0.001). Regression analysis showed that independent variables predict 30% of the variance of biomedical waste management behaviour. It seems that by planning to facilitate the barriers and allocate facilities and enhance the skills of personnel, but further research is needed.

Medical waste management among healthcare workers: the use of educational diagnosis phase in the precede planning model among healthcare workers in south of Iran

Management of medical wastes is considered as an important issue. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the management behaviour and disposal of medical wastes and its relationship with the factors affecting this event. This analytical cross-sectional study was performed on 200 workers in all healthcare centres and hospitals in south of Iran, Shushtar City. The data gathering tool was a five-point researcher-made. Data were analyzed using the SPSS22. The correlation between the behaviour and the model constructs showed that the performance is influenced by the enabling and reinforcing factors (p-value < 0.001). Regression analysis showed that independent variables predict 30% of the variance of biomedical waste management behaviour. It seems that by planning to facilitate the barriers and allocate facilities and enhance the skills of personnel, but further research is needed.

Environmental risk factors for acute kidney injury in female agricultural workers in Spain

Background: A high burden of kidney diseases, including acute kidney injury (AKI), has been reported among agricultural workers, mainly male workers in tropical areas. Dehydration caused by strenuous work at high temperatures and other related working conditions have been associated with AKI. The aim on this study was to estimate the incidence of AKI and study related risk factors among female agricultural workers in south of Spain working in crops under plastic, where temperatures can be similar to those observed in tropical latitudes.Methods: A hundred female agricultural workers were enrolled in south Spain (Huelva) during the summer months. For each participant we estimated (i) cross-shift incidence of AKI based on serum creatinine values according to the KDIGO definition; and (ii) presence of heat stress during work shift based on external temperature, activities conducted and clothing, according to international standard ISO 7933:2005. We also collected information on other occupational risk factors, clinical history, life-style factors and anthropometric measurements. We used logistic regression models to assess if heat stress is a risk factors for AKI among this population and explore other potential risk factors.Results and conclusions: Seven per cent of participants presented cross-shift AKI. Heat stress was not associated with AKI incidence [OR (95%CI) =0.37 (0.04,3.19)]. The only risk factor associated with AKI was lower mean estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) prior to work-shift [(104.7 (16.3) versus 102.2 (20.2)], suggesting that previous kidney conditions were the main risk factor for AKI. These results are being validated with additional measurements of kidney function and injury such as cystatin C and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) urine levels (results will be available before the conference). Results suggest that previous kidney conditions were the main risk factor for AKI in this population of female agricultural workers.

Biological monitoring of occupational exposure to dust among aluminium foundry workers

Aim - The purpose of the study was to evaluate the biological monitoring of occupational exposure to aluminium (AL) dust in foundry workers in south of Tehran. Material and Methods - This cross-sectional study was carried out on 63 workers in A and B foundries and 50 unexposed individuals as the control group. AL dust were sampled using Higgins-Dewell cyclone (HD) and cellulose ester membrane filter (MEC) with a flow of 2.2 l/min in the breathing zone of workers for 4 hours. Urinary samples were taken at the end of work shifts per week and were analyzed using graphite furnace atomic absorption. Data were analyzed using SPSS v.21 and statistical methods including t-test, one-way ANOVA and linear regression. Results - Airborne concentration of AL aerosols differed statistically significant in occupational groups (P 0.05). However, there was a significant difference between urinary concentrations of the exposed group and the control group (P 0.05). Conclusion - Determination of AL concentration in urine is not enough to serve as a biomarker. Estimation of AL nanoparticles in the air and biomarkers that determine the actual absorption rate seems to be an adequate method for occupational exposure monitoring of AL.

Presence of Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamases Genes in E. coli Isolated from Farm Workers in the South of London

Sixty - four isolates of E. coli were isolated from urine, stool, and skin samples of farm workers in south of London. Antibiotic susceptibilities were tested by using the agar dilution protocol by using amikacin, ampicillin, aztreonam, meropenem, cefotaxime, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, gentamycin, imipenem, ofloxacin, and cefpodoxime. Determination of ESBL of E. coli isolates was performed according to CLSI by using two discs method. PCR was used to detect of CTX-M, TEM, and SHV genes and genotyped E. coli isolates which were reported as ESBL producers in both two disks and E-test methods. The results illustrated that thirty-eight isolates (n=64, 59 %) had multi drug resistance, and the resistance results recorded as the follows; imipenem (0%), meropenem (0%), ofloxacin (7%), ciprofloxacin (10%), ampicillin (89%), cefpodoxime (86%), aztreonam (82%), gentamycin (70%), ceftriaxone (31%), ceftazidime (37%), cefotaxime (62%), and amikacin (65%). Twelve of E. coli isolates (n=64, 18.7%) were phenotypically ESBL producers. eleven isolated of ESBL phenotype-positive E. coli carried bla genes (n=12, 91.7 %), blaCTX-M was found in eleven isolates (91.6 %), blaTEM in eight isolates (66.6 %), and blaSHV in one isolate (8.3 %).

The Exploitation of Child Workers in South and South East Asia

The Exploitation of Child Workers in South and South East Asia