فهرست مطالب

International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Volume:10 Issue: 4, Oct 2019

  • تاریخ انتشار: 1398/07/28
  • تعداد عناوین: 9
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  • Page 1
  • Farrokh Habibzadeh Pages 157-158
  • Nuruly Myzabella, Lin Fritschi, Nick Merdith, Sonia El Zaemey, HuiJun Chih, Alison Reid* Pages 159-173
    Background

    The palm oil industry is the largest contributor to global production of oils and fats. Indonesia and Malaysia are the largest producers of palm oil. More than a million workers are employed in this industry, yet there is a lack of information on their occupational health and safety.

    Objective

    To identify and summarize occupational hazards among oil palm plantation workers.

    Methods

    A search was carried out in June 2018 in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Ovid. Relevant publications were identified by a systematic search of four databases and relevant journals. Publications were included if they examined occupational hazards in oil palm plantation workers.

    Results

    941 publications were identified; of these, 25 studies were found eligible to be included in the final review. Of the 25 studies examined, 19 were conducted in Malaysia, 2 in Costa Rica, and one each in Ghana, Indonesia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, and Cameroon. Oil palm plantation workers were found to be at risk of musculoskeletal conditions, injuries, psychosocial disorders, and infectious diseases such as malaria and leptospirosis. In addition, they have potential exposure to paraquat and other pesticides.

    Conclusion

    In light of the potential of palm oil for use as a biofuel, this is an industry with strong growth potential. The workers are exposed to various occupational hazards. Further research and interventions are necessary to improve the working conditions of this already vast and growing workforce.

    Keywords: Palm oil, Occupation, Risk, Occupational injuries, Leptospirosis, Malaria, Pesticides
  • Hamed Jalilian, Zahra Zamanian, Omid Gorjizadeh, Shahrzad Riaei, Mohammad Reza Monazzam, Mohammad Abdoli Pages 174-184
    Background

    Whole-body vibration (WBV) and mental workload (MWL) are common stressors among drivers who attempt to control numerous variables while driving a car, bus, or train.

    Objective

    To examine the individual and combined effects of the WBV and MWL on the autonomic nervous system.

    Methods

    ECG of 24 healthy male students was recorded using NeXus-4 while performing two difficulty levels of a computerized dual task and when they were exposing to WBV (intensity 0.5 m/s2; frequency 3–20 Hz). Each condition was examined for 5 min individually and combined. Inter-beat intervals were extracted from ECG records. The time-domain and frequency-domain heart rate variability parameters were then extracted from the inter-beat intervals data.

    Results

    A significant (p=0.008) increase was observed in the mean RR interval while the participants were exposed to WBV; there was a significant (p=0.02) reduction in the mean RR interval while the participants were performing the MWL. WBV (p=0.02) and MWL significantly (p<0.001) increased the standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals with a moderate-to-large effect size. All active periods increased the low-frequency component and low-frequency/high-frequency ratio. However, only the WBV significantly increased the highfrequency component. A significant (p=0.01) interaction was observed between the WBV and MWL on low-frequency component and low-frequency/high-frequency ratio.

    Conclusion

    Exposure to WBV and MWL can dysregulate the autonomic nervous system. WBV stimulates both sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system; MWL largely affects sympathetic nervous system. Both variables imbalance the sympatho-vagal control as well.

    Keywords: Autonomic nervous system, Vibration, Mental processes, Workload, Heart rate
  • Amin Abdul Aziz, Noorarpah Suhaili, Ahmad Zahid Daud, Lin Naing, Muhamad Adib Ibrahim, Hanif Abdul Rahman* Pages 185-193
    Background

    World Health Organization's Healthy Workplace Framework and Model has emphasized addressing psychosocial work stressors as one of the important avenues toward creating a conducive workplace. Management and interventions of these adverse stressors have been unremarkable; impairing work productivity.

    Objective

    To explore the effect of psychosocial work stressors on health service productivity.

    Methods

    Using Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II and Healthcare Productivity Survey, a cross-sectional study was conducted on 225 health and allied health professionals in the largest referral hospital in Brunei. Multiple linear regression was used to explore the relationship of each domain of work productivity to indicators of psychosocial work stressors.

    Results

    Psychosocial work stressors explained more than 50% of the variance for health care productivity. Influence at work, role clarity, rewards and job satisfaction were among the factors with the highest contributions to this relationship.

    Conclusion

    Crucial factors were identified and discussed, however, due to complexity of this relationship, international collaborations and efforts are required to ameliorate adverse effects of psychosocial stressors and improve health service productivity.

    Keywords: Occupational Stress, Efficiency, Quality of health care, Reward, Job satisfaction
  • Saeid Moradi, Kambiz Ahmadi Angali, Gholamabbas Shirali, Davood Afshari* Pages 194-202
    Background

    Heat stress is common among workers in hot-dry areas. To take preventive strategies for the protection of workers against heat stress, it is important to choose a suitable index that can accurately explain environmental parameters relative to physiological responses.

    Objective

    To evaluate heat stress and maximum acceptable work time (MAWT) based on physiological and environmental response in hot-dry climate among traditional bakers.

    Methods

    The current study was carried out on 30 traditional bakers of 3 different bread baking systems in Ahvaz, Iran. Environmental and physiological parameters were measured simultaneously for a work shift. The work-rest time was also determined based on the relative heart rate (RHR) and the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) index.

    Results

    The average WBGT index was estimated to be higher than the standard limit for all baking stations. Despite the higher-than-the-recommended-limit WBGT index, there was no significant relationship between the WBGT index and physiological parameters. The results indicated a significant (p<0.05) difference between the percentages of work-rest time estimated using the WBGT and RHR index.

    Conclusion

    Based on the results of environmental and physiological monitoring of this study as well as the limitations of the use of the WBGT index, it seems that using WBGT as a standard index would not suit heat stress management in hot-dry climates. A revision of this standard to adapt to hot climatic conditions should be in order

    Keywords: Heart rate, Temperature, Workplace, Occupational stress, Work, Rest, Heat stress disorders
  • Surajudeen Abdulrahman, Wai Chan, Chye Tan, Kooi Yau Chean* Pages 203-215
    Background

    Despite its excellent psychometric properties, St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) has not been previously used in measuring respiratory quality of life (RQoL) among traffic police and firefighters who are at risk of poor respiratory health by virtue of their occupations.

    Objective

    To assess and compare the RQoL of the occupationally exposed (firefighters and traffic police) and the occupationally unexposed populations in Penang, Malaysia.

    Methods

    We recruited male traffic police and firefighters from 5 districts of Penang by convenient sampling during June to September 2018. Participants completed the SGRQ. Scores (symptoms, activity, impacts, total) were derived using a scoring calculator. Higher scores indicate poorer RQoL. Univariate and multivariate linear regression models were fitted to explore the relationship of the independent predictive factors with participants' RQoL.

    Results

    We recruited 706 participants—211 firefighters, 198 traffic police, and 297 from general population. Smokers had significantly higher scores than non-smokers in all SGRQ domains. Regardless of smoking status, the “occupationally exposed group” had higher symptoms score than the “occupationally unexposed group,” who had higher activity and impact scores. Smoking status, comorbidity status and monthly income were significant independent predictors of SGRQ total score.

    Conclusion

    In comparison with the general population, firefighters and traffic police reported poorer RQoL; smoking further deteriorated their respiratory health. There is a need to strengthen preventive health measures against occupational disease and smoking cessation among firefighters and traffic police.

    Keywords: Firefighters, Police, Malaysia, Occupational exposures, Smoking, Respiratory system, Quality of life, Health promotion
  • Felice Sirico, Francesco Cacciatore, Stefano Palermi, Roberto Marcantonio, Rocco Spera, Elisabetta Della Valle* Pages 216-217
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