[ survey of unsafe acts as the risk factors of accidents in using taxis for intercity travelling in Tehran]

Car accidents as global concern are expanding in developing countries. Since the majority of taxi traffic accidents are not caused by travelers and are concerned to taxi drivers, other vehicles on the street and people in pavements, aim of this study was survey unsafe acts of taxi drivers as big group of occupational drivers. Due to an approximate discipline in working of linear taxi drivers than others, especially in terms of hours and duration of daily work, were selected for this study. Drivers' Unsafe Acts checklist with 30 given act were prepared and completed by trained personnel as a passenger in the taxi. Data analysis was performed by SPSS software version 18 and used t-test and spearman correlation coefficient. Results showed that most of linear taxi drivers of Tehran city [57.2%] have the cheapest domestic production car [pride and Paykan]. The frequency of total unsafe acts of linear taxi of Tehran city was about 52.5% and more than 46% of drivers unsafe acts were frequency more than 80%. About 50% of taxi drivers did not wear seat belt and the most of them [95.6%] did not pay attention to wearing seat belt of their passengers. Kilometer display 35.4% of taxi drivers in this study have failure and this issue is so important in drivers' perceptual judgment. According to result of current study the frequency of taxi drivers' unsafe act are very high and thus, effective interventions program for promotion of safety attitude and control taxi drivers' unsafe act is necessary.

[Determining service life of respirator cartridge using a simple and practical method: case study in a car manufacturing industry]

For ensuring about proper performance of air-purifying respirators in providing protection against workplace contaminates, it is necessary to change the respirator cartridges before the end of their service life. The aim of this study was determination of service life of organic vapor cartridges using a simple and practical method in a spray painting booth of a car manufacturing industry. NIOSH Multi Vapor software was used for estimating service life of respirator cartridges based on workplace conditions and cartridge specifications. Efficiency of determined service life was investigated using an apparatus for field testing of cartridges in the workplace. The result showed that existing schedule for changing the respirator cartridges is not effective and no longer provide adequate protection for sprayers against organic contaminants while working in a painting booth. It is necessary to change the cartridges before their estimated service life [every 4 hours]. NIOSH Multi Vapor has acceptable efficiency for determining respirator cartridges service life and could be used as a simple and practical method in the workplace. This software could be used as a simple and practical method in the workplace. Moreover, Service life estimated by this software was confirmed by cartridge field test apparatus

[Determination of fire and explosion loss in a chemical industry by fire and explosion index]

Fire and explosion accidents cause numerous economical, environmental and human losses in industries. The aim of this study was to present a new method for fire and explosion loss estimation by virtue of fire and explosion index to determine the premium rate. This is a descriptive-analytical study carried out in Bandar Imam petrochemical complex in 2006. Initially, the fire and explosion index was calculated in selected process units and the hazard radius, equipment value, and the base maximum probable property damage determined. To determine the actual maximum property damage, the loss control credit factor was assessed. Finally, the days' outage and business interruption losses were estimated. Data analyzed with DOW fire and explosion software. The stripper column with 226 F and EI value, actual maximum property damage of about 6.7 million dollars, days' outage of about 120 days, and business interruption loss of about 89 million dollars was identified as the most critical unit of the factory. The least hazardous unit detected was the Nafta storage tank with 64 F and EI value and actual maximum property damage of about 0.36 million dollars. All factors affecting the fire and explosion risk were shown to be among the indices that are considered as a base for loss estimation. Business interruption losses are higher than actual maximum property damage and these losses are not insured in Iran industries. In this technique, the effects of control measures on reducing fire and explosion losses were considered and the estimated losses could be regarded as a base to determine the premium rate

[Evaluation of change schedule of organic vapor respirator cartridges in a petrochemical industry]

In the absence of End of Service Life Indicator [ESLI], a cartridge change schedule should be established for ensuring that cartridges are changed before their end of service life. The aim of this study was determining the efficiency of respirator change schedule and presenting a suitable schedule for changing the cartridges before their end of service life in a petrochemical complex. Required information for change criteria, number and time between changing the cartridges were gathered through the existing records in the industry. Also the highest values of measured environmental conditions were used as a worse case condition for estimation of service life of cartridges. Technical data and specification of used cartridges in the industry were collected through the cartridges manufactures. Manufacturer's service life software was used for estimation of cartridge service life and 10% of threshold limit values were considered for estimation of breakthrough time of cartridges. The results show that there is no effective change schedule for respirator cartridges in the studied industry. Also there was a significant difference between current schedule and developed schedule for changing the respirators in the studied industry. Relying on odor thresholds and other warning properties solely as the basis for changing respirator chemical cartridges is not allowed and a change out schedule should be developed base on workplace conditions and specification of respirator cartridges

[Relative ranking of fire and explosion in a petrochemical industry by fire and explosion index]

Fire and explosion hazards are considered as the first and second major hazards in process industries. The aim of this study was to quantitatively assess the fire and explosion hazards as well as relative classification of such hazards in a petrochemical industry. This was a quantitative study in which the process units were selected based on parameters affecting the risk of fire and explosion. Later, these parameters were analyzed using DOW's fire and explosion index [F and EI]. Technical data to determine the index were obtained through process documents and reports as well as the fire and explosion guideline. Following calculating the DOW's index, the high and low risk process units were determined. The stripper column with a rank of 226 and the naphtha tank with a rank of 64 were determined as the most and least disastrous process units. The level of hazard was determined as severe for columns [F and EI>158], heavy for magna-former reactor and gasoline furnace [127< F and EI

[Assessment of organic vapor-respirator cartridge efficiency based on the EN 14387:2004 standard]

Determining the degree of conformity of respirator cartridges with the accepted standards is very important for ensuring their respiratory protection efficiency. The aim of this study was to determine the degree of conformity of organic vapor-respirator cartridges used in different petrochemical companies with the EN 14387:2004 standard. In the first phase of the study, the respirator cartridges used in petrochemical complexes were identified and their specifications obtained from their manufacturers and the relevant technical catalogues. In the second phase, 3 samples of each of the cartridge models were chosen and tested according to the EN 14387:2004 standard. An instrument was especially designed for measuring the breakthrough time of the cartridges. The results showed that the minimum and maximum breakthrough times of cartridges were 29 and 142 minutes, respectively. From all the 10 different cartridge models tested, one had a service life of lower than the minimum standard breakthrough time of 70 minutes. Considering the existence of a non-standard type of cartridge among the samples studied, it is essential to launch a program aiming at ensuring the conformity of cartridge efficiency with the respective standards. Such a program should be developed and implemented by such responsible organizations as the Institute of Standard and Industrial Research of Iran and the Center for Occupational Health and Safety Research and Training of Iran

[Safety climate in a steel-manufacturing plant]

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

Injuries among the health and therapeutic employees in a general hospital in Tehran

The health and therapeutic employees are facing with some particular hazards. The existing insurance system has a lot of different shortcomings. Determination of the frequency and type of accidents in a hospital was the main objective. All accidents were recorded and the study period was divided in to 3 periods. The victims who reported their accident were classified from personality point of view and the accidents of highly reliable employees were analyzed. Although number of needle-stick was relatively high [4.5%], cuts [45.4%] were on top. Youngsters had the highest injury rate. Creation of a unique record keeping system for the country or even for the world was the final conclusion

Useful field of view and risk of accident in simulated car driving

This study investigated the relationship between Useful Field of View and simulator-driving performance measures. Ninety professional drivers, aged 22-65 years from several government organizations voluntarily participated at this study. Useful Field of View was measured by a computerized task was developed at the present study. The participants then performed a driving simulator task and experienced a scenario that could lead to an accident. Reaction time and speed were measured and recorded by simulator and general driving performance and collision events were recorded by examiner. The reduction of Useful Field of View based on subject's error score on Useful Field of View subtests between young and old group statistically was analyzed. Correlation analyses used to examine the relationship among the Useful Field of View as an independent variable and driving performance measures as a dependent variables. A univariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the extent to which reduction of Useful Field of View predicts risk of accident in simulated car driving. There was a significant and negative correlation between Useful Field of View and simulator performance, on the divided peripheral subtest [Correlation Coefficient-0.28]. Student's t-tests revealed significant differences in peripheral scores of Useful Field of View subtests between accident involved and non-involved groups. The result of logistic regression indicated that 40% reduction of Useftil Field of View, regardless of age, increased risk of accident involvement. Useftil Field of View could be used to predict driving performance and risk of accident. The obtained result can help to identify a high risk driver which is useful to licensing authorities