ABSTRACT
Background: Many high-risk and construction-related activities are performed in the course of distributing electricity throughout South Africa, including working at heights, driving, operating electrical networks, excavation work, and maintenance of electrical structures. South Africa has one power utility that provides electricity to the entire country. Different sectors of the utility are distributed throughout the nine provinces, with eight sectors in the Eastern Cape province. Objective: We sought to compare health and safety incidents, and their causes, between the sectors in the Eastern Cape province. Methods: Incident data from 2015 to 2019 were extracted from the power utility's Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing of Environmental Health and Safety (SAP EH&S) database. The most common health and safety incidents and their reported causes are compared across sectors and described as counts and frequencies. Results: There were 614 health and safety incidents recorded in the study period with motor vehicle accidents being the most common overall (n = 482, 78.5%). Incidents related to damage to equipment (n = 48, 7.8%), operating errors (n = 16, 2.8%), falls (n = 15, 2.4%), hand injuries (n = 13, 2.1%), and insect/animal bites (n = 13, 2.1%) were also recorded. Workers ignoring safety rules was the most common reported cause of these health and safety incidents (n = 449, 73.1%). Conclusion: Motor vehicle accidents, damage to property, operating errors, falls, and hand injuries were frequently reported in the energy utility sectors in the Eastern Cape province. The most common recorded cause was workers ignoring health and safety rules. Training workers on the importance of reporting incidents, including near misses, can potentially reduce the frequency of health and safety incidents.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Construction IndustryABSTRACT
En el presente trabajo se analiza la jornada laboral nocturna y las implicaciones que ésta tiene en la salud de los trabajadores de una institución que por sus características requiere atención las 24 horas, los siete días a la semana, como lo es la Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social. Para ello se escogió una muestra de médicos, enfermeras y oficiales de seguridad y se les interrogó acerca de las enfermedades que padecían, para tratar de establecer su relación con la jornada nocturna...
This paper analyzes the night work and its implications on the health of workers in an institution which by its nature requires 24-hour care, seven days a week, as is La Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social. For this, it was chosen a sample of doctors, nurses and security officers and they were questioned about illnesses they had, to try to establish its relationship with the night shift...
Subject(s)
Humans , Occupational Diseases , Social Security , Costa RicaABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the factors related to physical and affective well-being of taxi drivers. The main factors of interests were workplace hazards and work environment. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. A convenience sampling method was utilized. 181 taxi drivers in Seoul metropolitan area completed survey questionnaires. RESULT: In bivariate analysis, payment system, workplace hazards, and work environment were associated with physical health of taxi drivers. Multiple regression analysis revealed payment system and workplace hazards were significant predictors of physical health. On the other hand, age and workplace hazards, and work environment were significantly associated with affective health in the bivariate analysis. Moreover, workplace hazards and environment were significant predictors of affective health in the multiple regression analysis. CONCLUSION: To improve taxi drivers' health status, it is critical to reform payment system to monthly payment, establish prevention policies of workplace hazards, and encourage employers and taxi drivers to make efforts for better work environment.