ABSTRACT
Safety climate is a psychological phenomenon and a sub-component of safety culture, which is usually reflected in the shared workforce's perceptions about the state of safety at any particular time. It can provide an indication of the priority of safety in an organization with regard to other priorities such as production or quality. The objective of this study was to assess the safety climate profile in a steel manufacturing plant in Iran and using the results to improve the level of safety. In this cross-sectional study, the UK Loughborough University Safety Climate Assessment Toolkit was used to assess the safety climate in a steel-manufacturing industry in Iran. Information was collected through interviews and questionnaires, focus group discussions, and direct observations in the filed. Safety climate scores were calculated in 17 themes. A graphic representation of the safety climate scores obtained showed that safety climate in the company is at the medium level [4.80 +/- 2]. The highest and lowest scores were for dimensions of personal priority and need for safety [8.6 +/- 0.8] and accidents and incidents [1 +/- 0.00]. A non-significant correlation was found between worker's education and work experience on the one hand and their attitude towards safety on the other hand [p>0.05]. Both management commitment and personal priority were associated with the workers' age [p= 0.03 and 0.02, respectively], while work environment was associated only with employment status [p = 0.04]. Safety climate assessment can be a proactive safety performance indicator used to improve the level of safety in an organisation
ABSTRACT
The performance of respirator-face piece is depending on a good contact between the worker's face and the respirator. Improper sealing can cause reduction in performance of respirators to protect health and safety of workers against risks related to chemical agents at work. This study is aimed to evaluate the fitness of half-face respirators and other related factors on it in an Iranian petrochemical industry. In this cross sectional study, 54 persons using half mask, in a petrochemical complex, were evaluated qualitatively by means of Moldex Kit. The effect of staff training on adjusting and doing seal-check and effects of facial hair and different mask's brand used in the industry on respirator fit was investigated. The data were analyzed using Chi-square and McNemar tests by means of SPSS software. Before intervention 17 [31.5%] of staff out of 54 passed the test. After training, the results improved from 31.5% to 92.6% [P<0.05]. Respirator-face seal in clean-shaven and bearded employees as well as relation of fit test results to different mask's brand using in the industry was not significant. Staff training about providing adequate fit can improve the performance of selection of respirators. Furthermore, by carrying out fit testing as a part of initial selection of respirators, it will be possible to check that the mask size and model chosen fit properly with the face