مجله ارگونومی
سال دوم شماره 2 (تابستان 1393)

Patient Manual handling is one of the major risk factors in musculoskeletal disorders among healthcare workers (HCWs). Therefore، the purpose of this study was to estimate the mechanical force on the low back of the staff responsible for patient manual handling and to exam in the effect of patient manual handling by two people on the level forces exerted on HCWs low back. the participants of this study were 10 health care workersdoing patient manual handling individually and by two people. To determine the posture of these people، we filmed them both from front and side and force plate was used to determine the weight of the patient handling by HCWs. 3DSSPP was used to estimate theforces exerted on the their low back during patient manual handling. Results showed that among the four studied tasks، the maximum compression forces exerted on discs L4/L5 and L5/S1 were 3591 ± 863 and 3342 ± 827 respectively when the patient was seated on wheelchair. The Maximum shear force exerted on the disc L4/L5 and L5/S1 were 252 ± 122 432 ± 36 N respectively when patient was seated on the bed. No significant difference was seen in the average forces exerted on low back except seating patient on wheelchair. (P> 0. 05) The comparison of exerted force on disks with recommended limits revealed that only the task of placing patient on wheelchair exerted force on low back exceed NIOSH recommended weight limit. patient manual handling by two people most tasks of this study does not created significant difference. Therefore to reduce exert force on low back need ergonomic intervention including bed design، beds appropriate stabilization، training.

Musculoskeletal disorders are the most common occupational diseases and injuries. The importance of control and reduction the discomfort to the extent that in many countries، Prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among workers has been considered as one of the national priorities. the cross-sectional study was carried out as an intervention in a chicken slaughterhouse. In order to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders، Cornell questionnaire was used. By identifying the tasks that are very high in musculoskeletal disorders posture evaluate was conducted and then the proportional to risk level tasks، engineering and management measures was performed. Given that most tasks are the kind of manual handling and carrying، were used the KIM methods for evaluating posture before and after of intervention. The results of the Cornell questionnaire showed that the highest risk level Belongs to the neck، shoulders، back، arms and waist. Also evaluate by the KIM method the highest level of risk was estimated، the task of throwing the box and pick up the ice with the risk level 4 score، that after the intervention، decreased to the 2 score. Improvement obtained for all interventions on the average about 46. 37 percent. The McNemar test was also significant difference between the results obtained before and after intervention. ergonomic problems have undesirable effects on employee health and productivity. This study، engineering and management interventions could significantly reduce the amount of corrective measures to improve working conditions in different parts of the company.

The extensive development of written interactions in the current world of technology in one hand، and on the other hand noticeable dominance of English language in this milieu، has led to inadequate utilization of Farsi in such settings، even amongst native speakers. Lack of experimental data regarding legibility and readability of the printed and electronic texts related to this language has been the main theory behind the current research، which was designed to evaluate correlations between typography and reading performance. Eighty four Farsi speaking university students، having no specific visual impairments، took part in the study. Frequently used Farsi fonts، edited in equal pixel areas and sizes، and were evaluated through legibility and readability tests. Word detection and word search techniques were considered for each test respectively. All trails were designed within similar visual interaction conditions to avoid any background biases. Statistical analyses revealed correlations between typography and readying performance in Farsi (compared to English). Amongst the six frequently used fonts studied، legibility was significantly higher in Yekan، t (83) = -2. 649، p=0. 012. Likewise readability was found to be significantly smoother in Zar font، t (83) = - 2. 194، p=0. 037. On the whole، the current approach towards classification of Persian fonts confirms the outcomes of the present study. In other words، fonts frequently used for development of body of the texts usually have higher legibility، and types being utilized for presentation purposes mainly possess higher readability.

The purpose of present study was to evaluate the effects of six- week aerobic step training on cardiovascular fitness، body composition، flexibility، leg anaerobic power and quality of life of isfahan university female students in academic year 2012-2011. 31 female students of Isfahan university were randomly assigned in experimental group (N=16، mean Age 27±2، Weight 58. 34 ±6. 27، Height 1. 61±4) and control group (N=15، mean Age25 ±1، Weight 54. 7±7. 32، Height 1. 61±6). pre test and post test measurements included cardiovascular fitness، body composition، flexibility، leg anaerobic power and quality of life questionnaire (WHOQOL(. analysis of covariance(ANCOVA) was used to test to effects of aerobic training as intervention (P<0. 05). There was a significant increase in cardiovascular fitness (p=0. 001) and there was a significant decrease in body composition (p=0. 046). There was no significant increase in flexibility (p=0. 109) and leg anaerobic power (p=0. 180). there was a significant increase in total score of quality of life (p=0. 00). a six- week aerobic step training improves quality of life and cardiovascular fitness and body composition of training group

Safety signs are considered as visual intermediates for message transmission and play a crucial role in reducing accidents particularly in petrochemical industries. These signs are effective as long as they are designed in compliance with ergonomic principles، human factors، and cognitive features. Therefore، the present study aimed to investigate the psychological effects of safety signs in transmitting message given their designing features in the petrochemical industry. This descriptive-cross-sectional study was carried out on 100 employees in Mahshahr Petrochemical Complex. A 2 partite questionnaire was used to collect data; the first part for demographic information and the second part included designing features of signs (familiarity، objectivity، simplicity، meaningfulness، semantic proximity). The Pearson correlation test was used to identify the correlation coefficients between signs features and scores given by the participants. Mean and standard deviation of the scores of the signs’ message perception were 60. 73 and 4. 36، respectively. Cognitive features of the signs included familiarity and semantic proximity with a mean of 49. 15 and 66. 78، respectively. The factors of work experience، age، and academic level had no significant effect on guessing the meaning of signs (p>0. 05). The results of this study showed that no significant relationship existed between cognitive features of the signs and transmission of the message and message transmission of safety signs is affected by other features than their design. Therefore، in order to improve individuals’ awareness about familiarity of employees with particular meaning of signs، ergonomic design of safety signs and proper training for perceiving their meaning are proposed.

One of the relatively common accidents in work place environments is Slips، Trips and Falls (STF) that can cause back injuries، sprains & strains، bruises، contusions، fractures، tears and even death. Aim of this study was slip risk assessment in different sections of a hospital in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. This cross-sectional study was done using Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Slip Assessment Tool (SAT). Prevalence of slip accidents were investigated using a questionnaire among 178 of hospital staffs. Data analysis was done using SPSS-20 software. Roughness coefficient was measured using Roughness Meter TQC-SP1560. Slip risk level in 5 sections including outside stairs، surgery، ICU and emergency admission was significant. The maximum and minimum slip risk was related to stairs and physiotherapy section respectively. The prevalence of slips incidents were reported 47. 2 percent by healthcare workers. The results of this study showed that the surface contaminant as well as method and frequency of surface cleaning are the most important effective factors on slip risk in the studied hospital.

Heat exposure is one of the harmful agents at work environments. Workers in high temperature environments are susceptible to heat strain. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of Iranian cooling vests containing phase change material in hot and humid conditions in the Persian Gulf. This interventional study carried out on 6 subjects of oil tanker ship''s engine room staff in summer in 2013. The Heat Strain Score Index (HSSI)، oral temperature and blood pressure measured with and without the cooling vest wearing for two hours، and data were analyzed by paired t test. The mean oral temperature were 36. 98± 0. 22 °C (without cooling vest) and were 36. 68± 0. 68°C (cooling vest) at 30th minutes in heat exposure. The mean oral temperature were 37. 06± 0. 25 °C (without cooling vest) and were 36. 78± 0. 16°C (cooling vest) at 60th minutes in heat exposure. (p <0. 042) and also HSSI was 12. 72 ±3. 03 (without cooling vest) and 8. 65 ±2. 9 (with cooling vest) (p <0. 039) but the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure were not significant statistically with and without the use of cooling vests (p>0. 05). Our findings showed that cooling vests with phase change material packs reducing heat strain (oral temperature and perceptual heat) in hot and humid climates in Persian Gulf

Nurses’ Burnout can lead to increasing absenteeism and also decreasing energy and quality of service that provided by them. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of occupational burnout and its related factors among nurses of a hospital in Kermanshah city in 2013. In this cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study 189 nurses were selected randomly. Data were collected by demographic questionnaire and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The gathered data were analyzed by Pearson، Independent T-test and ANOVA in statistical level of p≤0. 05. Mean score of occupational burnout was 61. 89. 39. 2% nurses reported high emotional exhaustion، 37. 6% high depersonalization and 73. 5% of them had low personal accomplishment. There were statistical relationship between emotional exhaustion with employment status (p=0. 015) and educational degree (p=0. 041)، between depersonalization with employment status (p=0. 022) and working shift (p=0. 023)، and also between personal accomplishment with age (p=0. 010)، working experience (p=0. 002) and shift working (p=0. 045). The level of nurses’ occupational burnout was average to high. The causes may be high workload، unsafe and boring work environment and high stress. It can be increased the commitment، positive sense to work and personal accomplishment can be reinforced by correct management of human resources including the determination of duties and strategies according to nurses’ ability، new approaches for encouragement and motivation as well as running stress management workshops.