[Ability to work--new approach to evaluation methods]. / Zdolnosc do pracy--nowe podejscie do sposobu oceny.

In Poland, the assessment of work ability has thus far been almost entirely objective, which means that it was based on the evaluation of the individual's health state. That is why a subjective method of work ability assessment with work ability index (WAI), developed by the Occupational Health Institute in Helsinki, was used in our present study. This method allows to indicate other possible factors which modify work ability. The study covered 189 men employed in five metallurgical plants, located in the region of Lódz. In the study population, WAI and work load on the basis of the expenditure of energy were measured, the health condition was evaluated, and information on life styles and non-occupational responsibilities was gathered. It was found that WAI values were inversely proportional to age and work load. They were also modified by individual characteristics, such as life style, body mass, and activities at leisure. It was found that the correlation between the general index of work ability and the objective health indicators was low with the concomitant considerably higher correlation with the values of the components which reflect subjective work abilities. In view of the results obtained, WAI can be recommended as a tool for assessing work ability. Due to this method it is possible to present conclusively all elements of individual characteristics and to identify at the same time links with working conditions.

[The influence of chemical and physical factors in the work environment on the amount of risk for abnormal pregnancy outcome]. / Ocena wplywu chemicznych i fizycznych czynników wystepujacych w srodowisku pracy na wielkosc ryzyka niekorzystnego wyniku ciazy.

The authors present a review of the literature on adverse effects of chemical and physical factors in the work environment on the course and outcome of pregnancy together with the results of their own study. The objective of the study was to identify the magnitude and frequency of exposures to chemical and physical factors at workposts where pregnant women were employed and to asses to what extent the existing exposure increased the risk for complications in pregnancy outcome The study involved the collection of information on factors with potential adverse effect on the course and outcome of pregnancy in employed women who were hospitalised in the Polish Mother Memorial Hospital in Lódz during the years 1992-94. The study was carried out in the group of 526 women with abnormal pregnancy outcome (N), including preterm birth (PB)--256; low birth weight < 2500 g (LBW)--232; small for gestational age (SGA)--196; asphyxia (APG)--116; and congenital malformations (M)--71. The control group (C) was composed of 683 women. As the reports on the work environment indicated working conditions in the group of women with abnormal pregnancy outcome were worse than in the control group; the presence of potentially harmful factors in the work environment were reported 57% of women in group N and 51.2% of women in group C. The increase in the risk of abnormal pregnancy outcome was relatively law (OR = 1.26). Taken into account the duration of exposure to these factors (period of employment under conditions of exposure to physical and/or chemical factors) it was revealed that pregnancy is at risk if women continue to work under such work conditions by the end of the second trimester. In this group of women odd ratio for abnormal pregnancy outcome accounted for 1.80 and it was statistically significant. The employment in the period preceding pregnancy and during the first trimester enhanced the risk insignificantly. A similar situation was observed if the risk of abnormal pregnancy outcome was assessed separately for exposure to chemical factors and to physical factors. A conclusion of great practical importance can be then drawn: expecting mothers should be prevented from working under harmful work conditions after the first trimester of gestation. Therefore, doctors attending occupationally working pregnant women should be obliged to make very careful inquiries about their working conditions. Logistic regression analysis helped to reveal and adverse effect of physical factors only in regard to newborns' body weight, but if failed to show negative effect of chemical factors on pregnancy outcome. On the other hand, the analysis highlighted a significant influence on certain social situations, lifestyles and mothers' health status on pregnancy outcome; a positive effect of higher education in the case of preterm birth and asphyxia; and a negative effect of mother's single status, smoking during pregnancy and the poor health condition during pregnancy on the incidence of congenital malformations.

[The effect of mothers' occupation on body mass of newborns born at term]. / Wplyw pracy zawodowej matek na mase ciala noworodków urodzonych o czasie.

The body mass is one of the major indicators which determine the clinical condition of newborns, influence the rate of neonatal mortality and further development of newborns. In order to prevent malformations it is necessary to identify factors which impair the fetus development and cause fetal hypotrophy. The main objective of the study was to find out whether mothers' occupational work affected the body mass of infants born at term. The study covered a group of 1015 women randomly sampled among those who had delivered their babies in the Polish Mother Memorial Hospital in Lódz, during the years 1992-94. In this group the percentage of working women accounted for 69%. The comparison of the body mass in infants born to women employed and not employed during pregnancy did not indicate differences. However, it was found that male infants born to employed mothers showed a lower body mass than those born to not employed mothers. The effect of some factors modifying infants' body mass was different in the case of not employed women than in those employed. In the group of not employed women a significantly lower body mass in infants was observed in the following subgroups: mothers under 24 years of age, spontaneous abortion of one of previous pregnancies, consumption of large quantity of caffeine (equivalent of > two cups of coffee), and poor economic status. Smoking during pregnancy decreased the body mass of infants in both groups of women. In the group of working women, chronic diseases before pregnancy and diseases involving fever during pregnancy proved to be factors affecting the body mass of infants. The indicators of perinatal medical care (the beginning of medical care and the number of visits during pregnancy) in working women were better than in those not working. None of factors characterizing occupational work affected significantly the body mass of infants. Slightly lower infants' body mass was observed only in those born to mothers working overtime (> 9 hrs daily), involved in hard physical work or working in the environment with harmful chemical and physical factors. According to the data obtained, a negative effect of occupational work on the fetus development should not be overestimated. Nevertheless, the performance of occupational work may aggravate a negative effect of woman's bad health condition on the fetus development.

Physiological reaction to workload in women performing manual or mental work.

The aim of our study was to evaluate the reaction of the circulatory system on work with various levels of physical and mental load. The examinations were carried out at a department store in two groups of women: 20 cashiers (mental work) and 53 saleswomen (physical work). There were no statistically significant differences in age, duration of employment or physical fitness between those groups. Work at this department store was performed on a two-shift system with irregular rotations. The psychic load was evaluated as a relation between subjective estimation of work demands and the ability to cope with them. Physical effort was measured as an energy expenditure during work. Cardiovascular reaction was expressed by heart rate during work, leisure time and sleep estimated according to the 24-hour Holter monitoring method. No statistically significant differences in heart rate were found to exist between cashiers and saleswomen. This, taking into account the much higher energy expenditure in saleswomen, suggests that mental effort is likely to affect heart rate. In fact, mean values of subjective assessment of work demands in cashiers were much higher (5.1) than in saleswomen (4.4), unlike the evaluation of the ability to cope with them, which points to the occurrence of a significant psychic load in the work of cashiers. A lower difference between maximum and minimum frequencies of heart rate in cashiers in comparison with saleswomen confirmed this observation, although it might have resulted from different levels of physical activity during work.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Participation of mental workload in circulatory system reaction to occupational work]. / Udzial obciazenia psychicznego w reakcji ukladu krazenia na prace zawodowa.

The aim of the study was to determine the degree to which the heart rate during and after work of variable physical and mental load was affected by the mental workload of moderate intensity. The subjects were 150 women aged 17-57. 24-hour recordings of their heart rates during work, leisure and sleep were taken using the Medilog recording-analysing system. Mental workload was determined in two ways: by the AET method, which enabled objective evaluation of the load, and by a method which involved subjective evaluation of work requirements and the ability to cope with them. Using the multiple regression analysis, the degree to which concurrent elements of mental and physical workload an serve as predictors of heart rate during work, leisure and sleep. The results show that physical workload is the more essential factor affecting the reaction of the circulatory system under the circumstances of concurrent mental and physical workload. By extending the measurements to involve off-duty hours, it was possible to determine that the consequences of mental workload manifested also after the work. The prolonged effect of mental workload on the heart rate was evident only when the subjective method of workload estimation was used. This points to the individual character of mental workload. The findings indicate on one hand that the share of mental workload should not be neglected during evaluation of the effects of occupational workload on the physiological reactions and, on the other, that the heart rate measurement is a useful tool for indicating essential elements of workload.

[Estimation of physical exertion by the AET ergonomic job description]. / Ocena obciazenia fizycznego z zastosowaniem ergonomicznej analizy pracy AET.

The study has been aimed at showing the advantages of using the AET ergonomic job description for estimation of physical workload, as compared to the traditional methods in which the estimates are made on the basis of the value of energy expenditure, static load and motion monotypicity. From tests on employees at 28 workposts it has been found that by analysing 17 factors involved in the overall estimate of physical workload according to AET, it is possible to characterize the work more precisely. The results of the tests indicate that AET estimates of heavy dynamic work are strongly correlated with the size of energy expenditure, whereas the estimation of body position--with the estimate of static load and the frequency estimate--with the estimate of motion monotypicity. New possibilities, with regard to the traditional method of physical workload estimation, are opened up by the AET method in relation to light dynamic work and static effort. The physical workload rate, calculated according to the AET method as the total of 17 elements estimated, does not differentiate the values of the workloads at individual workposts and, therefore, requires physiological verification.

[The role of physical load in the reaction of the circulatory system to professional work]. / Udzial obciazenia fizycznego w reakcji ukladu krazenia na prace zawodowa.

In order to evaluate the effect of particular elements of physical workload on the heart rate in a group of 148 women working at 18 work-posts whose jobs were characterized by different physical workload, 24-hour cardiograms were made using Holter's method and applying the Medilog 3000 (Oxford). It was observed that heart rate heart rate during work was higher in women who performed jobs demanding dynamic physical effort, and lower in those subjects who performed static work. Heart rate during work was positively correlated with the dynamic effort intensity and negatively--with the intensity of light dynamic work and static workload, which means that particular elements of physical workload are of different physiological importance. Therefore, the synthetic indicator of physical workload cannot be treated as a sum of the intensity of particular elements. Consequences of physical workload lasted during daytime. During sleep and leisure hours the effect of physical workload intensity upon the cardiac contraction frequency is not significant.

[A method of evaluating physical exertion during work based on the assessment of work capacity]. / Metoda oceny obciazenia fizycznego podczas pracy na podstawie pomiaru zdolnosci wysilkowej.

A method of calculating the synthetic index of effort capability, based on results of submaximal effort test, has been presented. Examinations of people working at 4 workstations demonstrated that the reduced effort capability after work is proportional to work energetic expenditure. The usefulness of work fatigue analysis has been indicated, as its magnitude, when accompanied by evaluation of effort capability changes, points to static load as an additional disadvantageous factor.

[Effect of the type of work on the correlation between the subjective and objective evaluation of the workload]. / Wplyw rodzaju pracy na zwiazek miedzy subiektywna i obiektywna ocena obciazenia praca.

This paper is aimed at the determination of the relationship between the heart rate and results of subjective rating of the workload in women working in the forming and sewing workrooms of the hosiery plant. The work in these workrooms differed in respect of organization, degree of motorial activity, type of activities performed, and working conditions. The subjective rating involved 22 symptoms evaluated three times during a working day, by a 5 -- degree scale. During the same periods heart rate was determined telemetrically. In forming women, heart rate was higher by approx. 11%, and average rating by around 7%, as compared to sewing women. In both groups a positive correlation was found between the heart rate and symptoms typical of general fatigue and working conditions. On the other hand, the correlation between symptoms of monotony sensation and rating of hands efficiency was negative. The correlation between the heart rate and average rating was positive in forming women and negative in sewing women, which indicates that the similar total rating of the workload resulted form different causes (general fatigue and working conditions in forming women and monotony sensation and a great number of hands movements in sewing women.)

[Analysis of the usefulness of different methods of the evaluation of heart rate during work in work load studies]. / Analiza przydatnosci róznych metod oceny czestosci skurczów serca podczas pracy w badaniach rozmiaru obciazenia praca.

The load of the circulatory system during work is usually evaluated basing on the heart beats above the heart rate at rest (i.e. the difference between the heart rate during work and at rest). To differentiate this evaluation according to the subjects' age, the percentage of heart rate reserve (the difference between the maximum heart rate and that at rest), constituted by the heart beats above the heart rate during work and at rest). To differentiate this evaluation according to the subjects' age, the percentage of heart rate reserve (the difference between the kers as well as at the model exercise on cycle ergometer in the group of students and female whitecollar workers has demonstrated that the heart rate before work is often higher than at breaks during the working day, whereas the heart rate during work depends on the output level when work results in a slight tachycardia. It was also found that incusion of the maximum heart rate results in much greater changes in evaluating individual groups--when it is calculated what percentage of this value constitutes heart rate at work, then when calculating the heart rate reserve percentage constituted by the difference between the maximum heart rate and that at rest. Therefore the calculation of the percentage of the maximum heart rate is promoted for evaluating the load of the circulatory system during work.