سلیمان رمضانی فر

This study aimed to assess the risk of health, safety, and environmental (HSE) hazards based on the system's life cycle using Fuzzy Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FFMEA) in an aquaculture industry in Hormozgan province.

Materials and Methods:

Identification of HSE hazards by system life cycle stage, including (1) construction and preparation of pools, (2) construction of feed production and preparation plant, (3) pumping and filling the pools, (4) maintenance and breeding of aquatic animals and (5) catching and transporting the aquatic animals was carried out by five HSE experts using the FMEA worksheet. Then, the risk of identified hazards was assessed by the FFMEA method (with the range of risk priority number [RPN] of 1-634). All the ethical issues were considered in this study.

In the life cycle of the aquaculture industry, a total of 343 HSE hazards were identified, of which 38.8% had high risk, 44.6% had medium risk, and 16.6% had low risk. About 86% of the HSE hazards were in the health and safety field and 14% of them were in the field of environment. The construction of feed production and preparation plant (having 46% of the HSE hazards) was determined to be the most hazardous phase of the life cycle of aquaculture.

The FFMEA risk assessment method based on the life cycle by taking into account the uncertainty in the risk components and identifying and prioritizing the HSE hazards in the entire life stages of a system can be used as an efficient and effective tool for assessing the risk of HSE hazards in different industries.

Human errors cause major accidents in many industries, including railway industries. Several factors also play a role in the occurrence of such errors. The quality of people's sleep may affect their probability of human error. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of sleep quality on the probability of human error in employees of railway traffic control rooms.

Methods and Materials:

 This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2021 with 115 male employees working in railway traffic controls. In this survey, each participant completed the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and the Self-report of Human Error Probability Questionnaire (SHEPQ). Data were analyzed using Spearman and Independent T-Test.

According to the results of the study, the mean age ± (Standard Deviation (SD)) and work experience ± (SD) of the participants were 36.57 ± (5.22) and 10.09 ± (5.66), respectively. 36.5%, 49.6%, 18% and, 21.7% of participants had 23 ≤GHQ≤ 40, PSQI> 5, ESS≥13 and SHEPQ> 50, respectively. Also, there is a significant relationship between PSQIScore and ESSScore, with the probability of human error (P<0.001, Correlation Coefficient (CC) = 0.399, P<0.001, CC = 0.412, respectively). In addition, there was a significant relationship between the mean error scores in the sleep quality subgroups (P<0.001).

According to the findings of this study, poor sleep quality is an important factor in the incidence of human error.

Due to occupational accidents, many costs are annually lost from the countries’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Estimating these costs can be essential for optimal investments and establishing appropriate policies in many countries, such as Iran. The present study aimed to review the studies conducted on the safety economics and the costs of accidents in Iran from 2000 to 2021.

The reliable databases “Web of Science”, “Embase”, “IranDoc”, “SID”, “Magiran”, “Google Scholar”, “PubMed” and “Scopus” were used to conduct this research. Articles in these databases were searched and extracted by searching for keywords such as “accident”, “cost of accidents”, “occupational accidents” and “Iran” in Persian and English from 2000 to 2021.

Among the 66 identified articles, 19 were selected as final articles, of which 11 studies were carried out in the transportation industry and eight in other industries. Among these studies, nine studies only examined and stated the total costs, and six studies separately examined and stated the direct, indirect, and total costs. Four other studies also investigated and expressed the costs caused by accidents in other ways. Most notably, in three studies, the number of direct costs is higher than indirect costs. Similarly, only six studies estimated the damage to the GDP, ranging from 0.03% to 6.46% of the GDP.

The results of the review of studies showed that occupational accidents cause the loss of a significant part of Iran’s GDP. It is recommended to carry out further studies on the relationship between investment in the safety sector and reducing the costs of accidents concerning the grouping of jobs, mainly in the process, service, and production industries, to prevent wasting such heavy costs.

Human error can occur in many work environments, especially in control rooms. Due to the vital role of the central railway traffic control room in guiding and controlling all types of trains along the railway network, any error in this control room can lead to a catastrophic accident. This study aims to identify and assess human error in the central control room of railway traffic using the HEART technique.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in 2021. In this research, tasks and sub-tasks were identified using the hierarchical task analysis (HTA) method. Then, the probability of human error was assessed using the HEART technique.

Based on the results of the HTA method, 67 main tasks, and 149 sub-tasks were identified. The study results on the probability of human error using the HEART technique showed that the three main tasks of the traffic expert (distribution of types of diesel, establishing the freight priority, and planning the movement of trains) had the highest probability of error. In addition, the most critical factors influencing human error were “evidence of illness among employees”, “sleep disorder”, “inexperience”, “unfamiliarity”, and “stress”.

The results of this study indicated that the central railway traffic control room employees are prone to errors, and if these staff make errors, irreparable accidents will occur. To reduce the probability of error of these employees, measures should be considered, such as using regular and appropriate shifts, the use of skilled and competent people, and so on.

During the Covid-19 epidemic, the armed forces and medical personnel, took direct action against the disease and served the people. It is possible that these forces and their mental health were affected by the outbreak of this disease. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of COVID-19 among the armed forces and its impact on their mental health.

This study is a systematic review based on the MOOSE checklist. This study thoroughly reviewed related articles in valid databases from 2019 to 2021. In order to extract the required data, the titles, abstracts, results, and all texts of the articles have been reviewed. In order to evaluate the quality of the reviewed articles, the JBI checklist was used. Finally, 15 articles were reviewed based on the purpose of the study and keyword search.

According to the articles, COVID-19 has been highly prevalent among military personnel, while it was not prevalent among Navy personnel. Factors such as inadequate training and poor nutritional status have led to the spread of COVID-19 among armed forces personnel. Furthermore, the mental health of armed forces personnel has also been affected by the outbreak of COVID-19. Depression and anxiety have increased among this military personnel, especially physicians and military veterans. COVID-19 obsession has increased the fear, anxiety, stress, and depression of the armed forces. The duration of sleep and its quality, type of occupation, and age were among the factors that affected the mental health of military personnel during the COVID-19 epidemic.

The spread of COVID-19 among the armed forces can be prevented by taking appropriate initial control measures, training armed forces personnel, and paying attention to personnel's environment and nutrition status. To some extent by conducting psychometric tests of Armed Forces personnel, the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on personnel's mental health can be prevented.