ABSTRACT
Background/Objective: Musculoskeletal disorders [MSDs] are one of the most common causes of occupational injuries. This study was conducted with the objectives of determination of prevalence rate of MSDs and ergonomics assessment of the risk of MSDs among workers of a petrochemical company
Methods: In this study, 261randomly selected workers in a petrochemical company with at least one year of job tenure participated. Office and operational personnel were studied separately. In office jobs, data were collected using Nordic musculoskeletal disorders questionnaire [NMQ] and ergonomics checklist for assessment of work conditions. In operational jobs, NMQ and QEC [Quick Exposure Check] methods were applied to gather the required data. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software
Results: The most prevalent MSDs symptoms were reported in the lower back [36.2%], upper back [31%], neck [31%] and knees [30.3%]. The results showed that the prevalence of MSDs indifferent body regions of the office staff was higher than those of operational workers. Also, in 40.9% of the observed cases, total ergonomics index was in action category 1 [inappropriate working conditions] and 59.9% of the subjects taken in action category 2 [appropriate working conditions]. The results of assessment by QEC technique among operational workers showed that in 82.8% of the workers studied, the level of exposure to musculoskeletal risks was high or very high
Conclusions: The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the office staff was higher than that of operational subjects. To improve the working conditions, taking risk factors of the lower back, upper back, neck and knees into consideration seems to be essential
ABSTRACT
Staphylococcus aureus is usually considered a colonizer but can result in infections under favourable conditions, especially in the healthcare setting. Healthcare workers can be colonized by S. aureus, and may transmit them to patients under their care. We conducted a cross sectional study to determine the prevalence of S. aureus nasal carriers among medical students in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) (from January to June 2011). Our study involved 209 medical students comprising of 111 and 97 preclinical and clinical students respectively. A selfadministered questionnaire was distributed and nasal swabs were collected. Upon identification, the antibiotic susceptibility of the isolates was examined followed by categorical analysis (Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests) with factors associated with S. aureus nasal carriage. Twenty one (10%) S. aureus strains were isolated from 209 nasal swab samples. 14 isolates were from pre-clinical students while the remaining seven were from clinical students. There was no significant association between gender, ethnicity, health status, skin infection and students’ exposure to hospital environment with S. aureus nasal carriage (p>0.05). Nineteen (90.5%) isolates were resistant to penicillin and there was also no significant association between penicillin resistant and the students’ groups. One (5.3%) isolate was resistant to erythromycin. There was no methicillin-resistant S. aureus isolated in this study.