International Journal of Occupational Hygiene
Volume:7 Issue: 1, Feb 2015

The North of Iran has hot and very humid weather especially from late May to September months. Working in the farm is a prevalent job in these regions. Farmers often work under direct sunlight, performing prolonged or strenuous work and wear heavy protective clothing. This can make the human body more heat and encounter them with heat stress and strain. Therefore, evaluation of their environments to reduce the health risk associated with heat exposure and improve the environment is necessary. In this cross sectional study was done in spring and summer, 79 farmers who work in different jobs including agriculture, husbandry and gardening were participated in the study. Evaluation of the heat stress was conducted using Wet Bulb Glob Temperature (WBGT) index according ISO 7243 and heat strain evaluation using measuring the individual physiological responses including aural, oral and mean skin temperatures according ISO 9886. The demographic characteristics of the subjects such as age, job experience, BMI and body area were also gathered through a questionnaire. The statistical analysis was performed by SPSS 18 software and Cross tab, Spearman, Chi2 and fisher exact tests were used. According to WBGT index assessment, almost all studied work environments associated with heat stress considering workload and work-rest regimen. This condition observed especially for the summer and between middle to end of the work shift. The WBGT index values had ranging from 24 to 32.6 °C in summer regardless of clothing insulation, metabolic rate and work rest regimens. Of course, by correction of these parameters the WBGT will accompany with an incensement. Conversely, the heat strain monitoring revealed that in no case the aural and oral temperatures are higher than the limit allowed. The best correlation coefficient was obtained for aural temperature and WBGT index (r= 0.84, p< 0.001). According to the results obtained, it seems that evaluation of hot and humid environment using WBGT index can along with an overestimation and encounter us with inaccurate and inappropriate judgment about the environmental condition. Therefore, simultaneously monitoring of the environmental and biological parameters (especially aural temperature) may be useful for more accurate results.

Bioaerosols are the most significant risk for exposed people leads to infectious diseases.This study was aimed at evaluation of physical and microscopic characteristics and submicron particulate filtration efficiency of surgical masks used in hospitals throughout Iran.Five types of domestic (Zist Filter, Elham Teb and Arman masks) and imported (Blosom, Face Masks) surgical masks were tested separately for physical characteristics and submicron particulate filtration efficiency based on Standards. The results were statistically analyzed.The results showed that Arman mask had the maximum levels in fluid resistance (112 cm of water), pressure drop (35±2.58 Pa) and particulate filtration efficiency (66.5475 % ±6.14951) and lowest averages of pore diameter (18.7micron). Elham Teb had the least weight (59.51 2.46 g/m2) and fluid resistance (50.3 cm of water). Zist filter had the least thickness and pressure drop (11 ±1.82 Pa). Blosom had the least particulate filtration efficiency (27.8275 % ±4.44152) and highest averages of pore diameter (425 micron) and fiber diameter (20 micron).The particulate filtration efficiency in the domestic masks (56.130 % ±10.07) was more than imported masks (31.906 % ±7.062).findings showed that domestic surgical masks have a better quality than imported masks but they can not satisfy the required level of quality, yet.

High intensityoptical radiation can cause damage to the eye and intense radiation in the rangeof 770-1400 nm can cause thermal retinal damage. In the workplaces where thereare high temperature sources, the workers in front of these hot sources withoutbright light maybe exposed to the intense IR radiation, thus regular measurementof these radiations seems crucial. Measurement of IR radiations by radiometerin specific wavelength ranges is elusive. Moreover, when radiometers are used,the correct application of the recommended exposure limits requires knowledgeof spectral radiance which seems sophisticated for hygienists. The mainobjective of the present study is applying a model to express retinal thermalinjury in terms of temperature for molten aluminum ovens in an aluminum foundry that emitoptical radiation without visible light. In the proposed model, ACGIH TLVs forretinal thermal injury in the range of 770 to 1400 nm was used where sourceluminance was under 0.01 cd/cm2. Also, by using the output resultsof this proposed model it is possible to present a new chart for evaluation ofexposure to IR for hot sources based on Threshold Temperature.

The present study was conducted to examine effect of using latex and nitrile examination gloves on hand dexterity. A sample consisting of 30 university students participated in this study. The participants conducted Purdue peg board test in three experimental conditions: bare hand (control), with latex gloves and with nitrile gloves. Both gross and fine finger dexterity tests were calculated and result of analysis showed that the differences between three groups of experimental condition from level of gross to fine finger dexterity was statistically significant. Levels of both gross and fine finger dexterity with latex gloves were significantly different from the nitrile gloves and levels of both gross and levels of both gross and fine finger dexterity with latex gloves was slightly significant different comparison to bare hand. Use of latex gloves could slightly improve dexterity; however, this effect was not observed while using nitrile gloves. The present study confirmed nitrile gloves as an alternative for latex gloves without loss of dexterity in large and small hand movements.

Population growth, industrial pollution and high energy consumption, cause the release of significant amounts of pollutants in the environment. Power plants play an important role in the release of pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and carbon dioxide; and if the necessary measures in the field of prevention and control shall not be implemented, human health and other living creatures will be at risk.The aim of this study was to control management of gaseous pollutants emissions from power plants using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP).In this study, first, the emission rate of power plant pollutants from existing monitors was directly examined. In order to determine priority control from a variety of pollutants, SO2, NOX, and CO2 gases were selected using the AHP method. Assessment criteria were determined using previous studies. To specify the priority control first the weight matrix of criteria determination and then the relative weight of each of the pollutants was identified. Finally, the ultimate weight of each pollutant was identified using the calculation of the arithmetic mean in the AHP method.The results showed that among the trio-selected pollutants determined for priority control, the NOX with the final weight of 0.577was regarded as the first priority, SO2 with the final weight of 0.32 considered as the second priority and the third priority was specified to CO2 with the final weight of 0.093.The present study is a new approach to identify and prioritize pollutants and has provided the ability to plan and carry out the appropriate control design for power plant pollutants.

The adverse consequences of major accident events have led to development of accident analysis techniques so as to thoroughly investigate the accidents. However, each technique has its own advantages and shortcomings, which make it very difficult to find a single technique being capable of analyzing all types of accidents. Therefore, the comparison of accident analysis techniques would help finding out their capabilities in different circumstances to choose the most one. In this research, the techniques CBA and AABF were compared with Tripod β in order to determine the superior technique for analysis of major accidents in manufacturing industries. At first step, the comparison criteria were developed using Delphi Method. Afterwards, the relative importance of each criterion was qualitatively determined and the qualitative values were then converted to the quantitative values applying Fuzzy triangular numbers. Finally, the TOPSIS was used to prioritize the techniques in terms of the preset criteria. The results of the study showed that Tripod β is superior to the CBA and AABF. It is highly recommended to compare all available accident analysis techniques based on proper criteria in order to select the best one whereas improper choice of accident analysis techniques may lead to misguided results.

Important factor in the prevention of industrial accidents involve of the ability of employees to maintain awareness of the work situation, understand the information it holds, and predict how situations will develop. In this study, we examined the role of fatigue and work overload in predicting work situation awareness among workers. The current study was a cross-sectional study. The sample consisting of 180 employees in National Petrochemical Company in 2014 was selected according to the stratified random sampling method and responded to questionnaires about demography characteristics, work situation awareness of Sneddon, Mearns & Flin (2013), fatigue of Chalder, Berelowitz & Hirsch (1993) and work overload of Beehr, Walsh & Taber (1976). The data were analyzed by correlation techniques and stepwise regression.The results showed that these were internal correlation among fatigue, work overload and work situation awareness. Also, the results of stepwise regression analysis revealed that fatigue and work overload significantly predicted, respectively, almost 33% and 14% of variances of work situation awareness among workers.According to the findings of the present study, fatigue and work overload can predict work situation awareness. Therefore, considering these variables can be important to promoting the awareness of work situation among workers.

Low back pain (LBP) is a widespread musculoskeletal disorder worldwide. It causes disability that influence work performance in individuals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of LBP in the middle-aged office workers in the Lebanese Population. In this observational, cross-sectional study performed in 2013, overall, 250 office workers aged between 20 and 64 years from different Lebanese companies and banks filled out a questionnaire containing various predictor individual and occupational factors. Our results show that 112 (44.8%) of the recruited population suffer from back pain. Females are the most affected (68%) versus males (32%) (P=0.023). The logistic regression showed that LBP was positively associated with backbone crookedness (P=0.003), knee pain (P<0.001), wrist pain (P=0.002), contractions (P=0.014), numbness (P=0.009), previous treatment for back pain (P<0.001), doctor consultation (P=0.029), household work for 3-6 hours (P=0.001), maintaining same posture for > 5 hours (P=0.024), fear of changing job (P=0.036) and higher BMI (P=0.005). However, use of ergonomic chair, job advancement satisfaction, making radiography was negatively associated with LBP with P value=0.072, 0.022, 0.005 respectively. LBP has an important prevalence among office worker in Lebanon. This study might help to estimate low back problems in office workers and emphasize healthy lifestyle, ergonomic measurement and holding educational programs.