The Effectiveness of a New Climbing Device on Working Postures, Musculoskeletal Symptoms, and Fatigue in Date Palm Farmers.

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the main health problems found in date palm farmers. This study aimed to assess a new climbing device on working postures, musculoskeletal symptoms, and fatigue in date palm farmers. METHODS: Data were collected using questionnaires (Standardised Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory, and System Usability Scale) and direct observations of the postures (using the Rapid Entire Body Assessment method [REBA]) from 70 date palm farmers during operating the traditional and new climbing devices. RESULTS: The new climbing device showed significant improvement in working postures (in the knee, legs/ankles, and shoulders). In all tasks, the REBA grand score significantly decreased after using the new climbing device (P ≤ 0.05). Significant differences were found in the severity of complaints ratings, particularly in the knee, legs/ankles, and low back areas, during performance tasks using the traditional and new climbing devices. Also, significant differences were found between the scores of physical and mental fatigue during use of the traditional and new climbing devices(P ≤ 0.05). CONCLUSION: The findings indicate the effectiveness of the new climbing device as a low-cost, simple, and easy-to-use device that improves working postures and reduces musculoskeletal discomfort in date palm farmers.

Socioeconomic correlates of face mask use among pedestrians during the COVID-19 pandemic: An ecological study.

Background: Many countries have recommended using face masks for the general population in public places to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. This study aimed to assess the effects of socioeconomic status on face mask use among pedestrians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Ahvaz, southwest Iran in August 2020. A total of 10,440 pedestrians have been studied from 92 neighborhoods of the city. Three socioeconomic indicators including Land price, Literacy rate, and the Employment rate for each neighborhood were used in this study. Analysis of Covariance and partial correlation coefficients were applied to assess the relationship between prevalence rates of mask usage and SES indicators. Results: The mean ± SD age of the pedestrians was 32.2 ± 15.1 years. Of 10,440 observed participants, 67.9% were male. The overall prevalence of face mask usage was 45.6%. The prevalence of mask usage in older people and women was significantly higher than the others. The three assessed socioeconomic indicators were directly correlated to the prevalence of mask usage at individual and neighborhood levels. Conclusion: We found that literacy had the strongest correlation with the prevalence of mask usage compared to the land price and employment rate among the three assessed SES indicators. Hence, it can be concluded that the social component of socioeconomic status has a greater effect on mask usage by people than the economic component of socioeconomic status.

Metabolic syndrome and its relationship with shift work in petrochemical workers.

BACKGROUND: The metabolic syndrome is a complex of interdependent risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Shift work might have an impact on metabolic variables, and be a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. To date, only few studies have been done on the prevalence of MetS in industrial work environments in Iran, and most of them have been conducted on a small sample size. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of shift work on prevalence of metabolic syndrome in one of the petrochemical companies in Iran. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 692 male workers of a petrochemical company in south-west Iran. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed according to criteria recommended by Adult Treatment Panel III. In order to determine correlation between MetS and its factors with shift work odds ratio (ORs) for the MetS, 95% confidence level (95% CL), chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were performed. RESULTS: Overall 15.1% of workers were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome and 80% of them were shift workers. A significant difference for prevalence of metabolic syndrome and mean values for body mass index, blood pressure, fast blood sugar, waist circumference among shift workers and non-shift workers were identified (p < 0.001). Compared with the day workers, shift workers had a significantly higher risk of MetS (odds ratio = 4.852; 95% CI 2.34-9.974). CONCLUSIONS: There is an association between metabolic syndrome and shift work in petrochemical workers. Promising intervention strategies are needed for prevention of metabolic disorders for shift workers.

Integration of Functional Resonance Analysis with Multicriteria Analysis for Sociotechnical Systems Risk Management.

Water reservoirs are considered very important storage facilities for the condition of peak demand in the agriculture industry. The construction process of a water reservoir may be accompanied by multiple risks. This study is aimed at identifying the emerging risks resulting from variability in different functions and at prioritizing them based on the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method. In fact, the potential variability (emerging risks), possible dependencies/couplings, and the barriers used for damping this variability were assessed using Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM). The AHP method was then applied to prioritize the various functions. The results of FRAM modeling indicated that there was the possibility of a high variability in five functions. In this context, the AHP findings showed that "initial studies on the construction of the pool" with the weight of 0.310 and "excavation" with the weight of 0.308 were the most important functions in this study. In addition, the results of this study demonstrated that AHP may be a desired alternative for the identification of performance variability and the aggregation of variability.

Job stress and resilience in Iranian nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: A case-control study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has created a wide range of sociocultural pressures on nurses. Resilience is defined as one's ability to adapt to an unpredictable situation and it can be a factor in accepting an undesirable psychosocial situation. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to examine resilience in nurses in the face of job stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The study was carried out as a case-control study with participation of 400 nurses as the target group (nurses exposed to COVID-19 patients) and the control group (nurses not exposed to COVID-19 patients). To examine resilience and job stress, Conor and Davidson's questionnaire and OSIPOW questionnaire were used respectively. RESULTS: The mean scores of job stress and resilience were significantly different between the target and control groups (p < 0.05). So that resilience in the target group was less than that in the control group. In addition, job stress in the target group was higher than that of the control group (p < 0.05). There was a significant and negative correlation between resilience and job stress and the correlation was stronger in the target group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Given the high job stress score in the participants and its negative correlation with resilience, there is need to provide the health personnel with efficient preventive and treatment approaches, improve and educate the principles of resilience, improve mental health services system, and introduce programs to control some of demographical factors in job stress such as physical activity, and employment status of nurses.

Mask use among pedestrians during the Covid-19 pandemic in Southwest Iran: an observational study on 10,440 people.

BACKGROUND: Many countries have recommended the use of face masks for general population in public places to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of face mask usage and investigate about different types of face mask and their distribution among pedestrians in southwest Iran during the Covid-19 pandemic. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in August 2020 in Ahvaz, southwest Iran. Using a multistage sampling method, a total of 10,440 pedestrians selected from 8 urban districts and 92 neighborhoods of the city. The data gathered by observation method. Percentage, mean and standard deviation were used to describe the variables. Chi-square test, fisher exact test and Chi-square for trend used to assess relationship between two categorical variables. We used unconditional logistic regression model to control confounders. RESULTS: The most common age group was 10 to 39 years and 67.9% of the participants were male. The overall prevalence of face mask usage was 45.6% (95% CI, 44.6-46.5). In general, as the age increased, the prevalence of face mask use significantly increased (p for trend < 0.001). Women used face masks significantly higher than men (60.2% vs. 38.7%, p < 0.001). Among the pedestrians who used the mask, 75.6% wore facemask correctly. The most common type of facemask used by the pedestrians were surgical (medical) masks (63.8%). In total, the prevalence of facemask usage was significantly higher during a.m. (49.4%) compared to p.m. (43.9%), (p < 0.001). Besides, in our study, 1.7 and 0.3% of Pedestrians had worn gloves and shielded respectively. Women used shields and gloves significantly higher than men (3.6% vs. 0.7%, p < 0.001). Also, women used shields more than men (0.5% vs. 0.3%, p = 0.036). CONCLUSION: We concluded that the prevalence rate of face mask use in Ahvaz was fairly low especially in men and younger people. Hence, the observed rates probably cannot protect the community against COVID-19 spread. Therefore, it is important to implement educational programs as well as to establish laws and regulations governing the use of face masks in public places.

The relationship between safety attitude and safety performance in the petrochemical industry: The mediating role of safety climate.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between safety attitudes and safety performance considering the mediating role of safety climate in the petrochemical industry. METHOD: The statistical population of this study included all 1700 employees in the petrochemical industry of Iran, among whom 320 were randomly selected as the participants and completed the research questionnaire. Then, the validity (content, convergent, and divergent) and reliability (Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability) of the instrument were examined, and the research hypotheses were tested using Smart partial least squares (PLS) software. RESULTS: The results showed that the model has goodness of fit and, thereby, the positive effect of safety attitude on safety performance was confirmed. In addition, the mediating role of safety climate in the relationship between safety attitude and safety performance was proved. That is, 39.6% of the total effect of safety attitude on safety performance was explained through the mediating role of safety climate. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study can improve safety culture and bring about excellent safety performance in petrochemical industries.

Estimation of Heat Stress and Maximum Acceptable Work Time Based on Physiological and Environmental Response in Hot-Dry Climate: A Case Study in Traditional Bakers.

BACKGROUND: Heat stress is common among workers in hot-dry areas. To take preventive strategies for the protection of workers against heat stress, it is important to choose a suitable index that can accurately explain environmental parameters relative to physiological responses. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate heat stress and maximum acceptable work time (MAWT) based on physiological and environmental response in hot-dry climate among traditional bakers. METHODS: The current study was carried out on 30 traditional bakers of 3 different bread baking systems in Ahvaz, Iran. Environmental and physiological parameters were measured simultaneously for a work shift. The work-rest time was also determined based on the relative heart rate (RHR) and the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) index. RESULTS: The average WBGT index was estimated to be higher than the standard limit for all baking stations. Despite the higher-than-the-recommended-limit WBGT index, there was no significant relationship between the WBGT index and physiological parameters. The results indicated a significant (p<0.05) difference between the percentages of work-rest time estimated using the WBGT and RHR index. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of environmental and physiological monitoring of this study as well as the limitations of the use of the WBGT index, it seems that using WBGT as a standard index would not suit heat stress management in hot-dry climates. A revision of this standard to adapt to hot climatic conditions should be in order.

Evaluation of resilience engineering using super decisions software.

Background: Resilience engineering (RE) is a new approach to upgrade safety management systems. Due to its novelty in the field of safety, RE seems to be promising in providing good indicators to assess priorities in organizational strengths/weaknesses while planning to promote safety within organizations. Several methods have been recently developed to evaluate REperformance. The current study is an attempt to quantify and determine the priorities of REdimensions in a steel industry using analytic network process (ANP). Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 489 male workers of a steel industry participated. For this purpose, the RE questionnaire was distributed among workers and, then, super decisions software (version 3.2) was used to analyze the data. Results: The results indicated that there was a sufficient level of RE in the organization where top management commitment with normalized weight 0.1781 and awareness-opacity with normalized weight 0.1483 were ranked as the first and last priorities of the organization, respectively. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the top management system, with the adoption of safety policies, has been able to improve the performance of RE in the organization. Managers should consider appropriate measures to improve the RE situation.

Predicting the outcome of occupational accidents by CART and CHAID methods at a steel factory in Iran.

Background: A large number of occupational accidents happen at steel industries in Iran. The information about these accidents is recorded by safety offices. Data mining methods are one of the suitable ways for using these databases to create useful information. Classification and regression trees (CART) and chisquare automatic interaction detection (CHAID) are two types of a decision tree which are used in data mining for creating predictions. These predictions could show characteristics of susceptible people exposed to occupational accidents. This study was aimed to predict the outcome of occupational accidents by CART and CHAID methods at a steel factory in Iran. Design and methods: In this study, the data of 12 variables for 2127 cases of occupational injuries (including three categories of minor, severe and fatal) from 2001 to 2014 were collected. CART and CHAID algorithms in IBM SPSS Modeler version 18 were used to create decision trees and predictions. Results: Five predictions for the outcome of occupational accidents were created for each method. The most important predictor variables for CART method included age, the cause of accident and level of education respectively. For CHAID method, age, place of accident and level of education were the most important predictor variables respectively. Furthermore the accuracy of CART and CHAID methods were 81.78% and 80.73%, respectively for predictions. Conclusions: CART and CHAID methods can be used to predict the outcome of occupational accidents in the steel industry. Thus the rate of injuries can be reduced by using the predictions for employing preventive measures and training in the steel industry.