International Journal of Occupational Hygiene
Volume:8 Issue: 3, Sep 2016

Mental fatigue (MF) is considered as a contributor factor in incident, even catastrophic one. Electroencephalography measurement has been the most acceptable method to assess MF by neurologists. However, this method could be hardly feasible in real work setting. Flicker fusion device, by contrast, is more usable at work setting. The purpose of this study was to compare the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency (CFFF) with Electroencephalograph (EEG) alpha band changes (as indicators of mental fatigue). The study took place in Zanjan (2015) and the participants included 35 volunteer students that passed a three-step experiment protocol: 1) Measuring MF via CFFF and EEGα, 2) Involving the participants with MF-induced tasks, and 3) Re-measuring MF via the same methods. The results showed that differences of MF assessment by EEG (P= 0.001), and CFFF (P= 0.004) were significant. However, the correlation between them was weak (-0.069) and not significant (P= 0.688). The findings of this study confirmed that the flicker fusion apparatus could measure MF as a before-after test. However, the results of CFFF were not correspondence with the results EEGα. Therefore, more studies need to get conclusion about how the results of these instruments may related to each other. Considering other regions or waves of the brain might be promising.

Academics of universities have a critical and important role in the development and progress of countries as the main pillars of the higher education system. Job dissatisfaction can lead to their reduced research efficiency and work quality. This study was conducted to evaluate job satisfaction and dissatisfaction among academics of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. It was a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study conducted in 2012 on 206 academics working at that university. Sampling was done systematically and data gathered using a researcher made questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS16 software as well as parametric and nonparametric methods. Job satisfaction of academics was average, with a mean of 58.5 ± 15.7 from 100 (Range: 42.8-74.2). The highest satisfaction was related to the dimensions of job nature and the lowest was in salaries and wages. Male academics were more satisfied than females (P=0.04). In addition, the mean of faculty member's job satisfaction in different faculties was significantly different (P=0.03). Generally, academics had a relatively good satisfaction level. Improving salaries, correcting the process of promotion and optimizing the management system are among factors that need more attention from authorities, in order to increase the academic member's satisfaction level.

Employees’ satisfaction based on their physical environment is an important factor that can improve employees’ performance, job satisfaction, and organizational productivity in office buildings. Occupants’ environmental satisfaction are related to 10 different characteristics, including thermal comfort, air quality, lighting, acoustic quality, office layout, workspace furnishing, cleanliness and maintenance, safety and security, connection with the outdoors, and location and planning of workflow. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the environmental characteristics that influence the occupants’ satisfaction. The aforementioned characteristics were comprehensively evaluated in 10 different municipal office buildings in Shiraz City, Iran, in 2013. Evaluating the results of questionnaire in this field, the study showed the occupants’ levels of satisfaction with physical environmental characteristics, while highlighting the relationship between physical environmental components and occupant's satisfaction. In addition, connection with the outdoors, acoustic quality, location, planning of workflow, safety, and thermal comfort are the factors that impose over half of the influence on occupants’ satisfaction.

Construction is one of the most hazardous workplaces in all around the world. Awareness about workers’ attitude towards safety could be helpful in anticipating the worker's behavior. The aims of this study were to determine both the tunneling worker's safety attitude and the relationship between worker's attitude towards safety and occupational accidents. In this cross-sectional study performed in eight tunneling projects in Iran in 2013-2014, overall 689 workers of the tunneling projects were selected. One-hundred fifty had experienced at least one occupational accident. Requisite variables of workers were collected via both standardized questionnaire and checklist. The participants were selected randomly with the stratified random sampling. The data were statistically analyzed using logistics regression, multivariate logistic regression and Spearman correlation coefficient where applicable (with a preset probability of (P0.05). Accident experience, as well as education level, could affect positively on changing worker's safety attitude.

One of the most important elements of successful implementation and management an ergonomics program in an organization is to have suitable goals. In any industry, the goals of ergonomic interventions should be known and understood to determine their benefits. This study aimed to identify and determine the most important goals of ergonomic interventions from the perspective of experts of Iran in the industries using fuzzy Delphi method. In this qualitative study, which is carried out in 2016, the viewpoints of ergonomics experts of Iran were collected during the three-phase fuzzy Delphi through a series of questionnaires. The data was analyzed using content analysis and fuzzy logic. The ergonomics experts have identified eight criteria as the goals of ergonomic interventions which include increasing employee productivity, reducing staff fatigue, promoting physical health, increasing safety, enhancing job satisfaction, improving the quality of products or services, reducing compensation costs and increasing immaterial value and reputation of organizations. The first five criteria with an average of more than 70% agreement have been reached a consensus by the experts. "Increasing productivity", "reducing fatigue" and "improving physical health" are the most important goals of ergonomic interventions considered as ergonomic criteria to evaluate an ergonomics program. The viewpoints of the Iranian ergonomics experts had a lot in common and were really close to the global approach based on International Ergonomics Association definition of ergonomics and human factors.

Change in the form of doing the task in some occupations such as farming has led to overweight and obesity as a threatening factor for farmer's health. This study aimed to compare the anthropometric indices of obesity and fatness as the predictors of cardiometabolic disorders among rural farmers in the northern part of Iran. This cross-sectional study was carried out in 2012 on subjects whose first or second jobs were farming, aged over 18 yrs and lived in Babol City, northern Iran. The anthropometric indices in this study included Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist Circumference (WC), Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR) and Conicity Index (CI). Among 300 studies farmers, 66.7% suffered from overweight and obesity, in which female farmers were more frequent than male farmers (P

Extended exposure to noise can cause permanent hearing damage. This study aimed to determine the incidence time of hearing loss and its effective factors in workers exposed to noise. This retrospective cohort study, was conducted on a total of 273 workers in various sectors of Kerman Copper by-industries Co. Their hearing status and the incidence of hearing loss (hearing threshold higher than 25 dB) were measured at regular intervals through audiographs. Survival analysis was done using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox Regression analysis through STATA 12. The time range (from the onset of the risk to the incidence of hearing loss) was between 8 to 14 years. Systolic blood pressure alone and in interaction with years of employment was significantly related to the incidence of hearing loss at all frequencies. Initial hearing threshold and age at employment also had a significant impact on the onset time of hearing loss. The interaction between age at employment×initial hearing threshold; and years of employment×age at employment; in both low and high frequencies had a significant impact on the incidence time of hearing loss. Despite the availability of protective equipment in this industry, hearing loss occurred in at least half of the workers after about 10 years. High systolic blood pressure, age at employment, and initial hearing thresholds probably play a role in the incidence time of hearing loss.

Thermal stress is a well-recognized health hazard in the workplace. In addition to the health deficits, working in the heat can affect significantly on the productivity of some industries located in rough environments. The current indices used to evaluate the environment are either flawed or difficult to implement. The focus of this review is upon heat stress indices used in Iran to evaluate occupational thermal stress. In this systematic review, the research team searched both bibliographic, citation databases for related heat stress articles in Iran over the past 50 yr. Different search engines were used, and the search strategy was the same in the all searched databases. Twenty papers reviewed through bibliographic database and 30 papers reviewed through citation database. Then the total identified was 50 papers and thesis. Fifteen duplicate papers were removed and finally, 35 were included. In particular, there is a review about the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) index, and an overview of other heat stress indices may be undertaken. These principles and methods are combined to illustrate how one may evaluate the risk of heat illness. Three general areas of research are briefly reviewed: climate change, clothing effects, and physiological parameters. These topics are compared with the published researches from other countries. Over the years in Iran, too much emphasis has been placed on the academic accuracy of an index at the expense of practicability. In addition, the studies in Iran showed few detailed researches with a target of preventive measures and intervention to mitigate adverse effects and there is no strong focus on sustainable development.