Industrial Health最新文献

This study explores the safety culture among chemical laboratory workers in Sri Lanka's academic, industrial, and government sectors, examining how attitudes, practices, and perceptions influence safety practices, mitigate risks, and promote worker well-being. A cross-sectional survey of 267 laboratory workers was conducted between March 14 and July 14, 2024, using the Laboratory Safety Culture Survey. Data analysis involved t-tests, ANOVA, Tukey's post hoc tests, and chi-square tests to evaluate differences in safety culture components and participant characteristics. The findings revealed significant variations in safety attitudes and practices across the three sectors. Industrial laboratories exhibited stronger safety practices, including higher compliance with personal protective equipment (PPE) protocols, while academic and government sectors faced challenges due to limited resources and inconsistent safety practices. The study highlighted the need for sector-specific safety training, effective risk communication, and enhanced adherence to safety protocols, particularly in academic and government settings. Additionally, the importance of leadership in fostering a strong safety culture was emphasized, with active involvement from principal investigators and supervisors contributing to better safety outcomes. The results suggest that tailored interventions, adequate resource allocation, and increased leadership engagement are crucial for improving safety practices and sustaining a culture of safety across laboratories.

Over 10,000 Japanese people are estimated to die annually from overwork. Yet, the reasons why some employees in certain cultures persist in exploitative work environments remain unclear. This study investigates psychosocial factors that prevent exploited employees from leaving their organisations, with a specific emphasis on the role of collectivism. We hypothesise that perceptions of an overwork climate and elevated levels of workaholism contribute to employees' feelings of exploitation, subsequently increasing turnover intentions. Additionally, we predict that collectivism exacerbates the effect of overwork climate on workaholism and weakens employees' intentions to leave their exploitative work environment. Data from 147 Japanese employees were collected via online surveys using snowball sampling. Factor score path analysis and mediation tests (5,000 bootstrap samples) were employed to test our hypotheses. Results suggested that feelings of exploitation are positively linked to turnover intentions, which are driven by the perception of an overwork climate and employees' compulsive orientation towards work. Importantly, collectivism weakened the link between perceived exploitation and turnover intentions. This study provides an account of the complex interplay between organisational climate, culture, and the impact of feeling exploited on employees' intentions to quit, highlighting the potential adverse effects of collectivism on employees.

We investigated the occurrence of fractures caused by same-level falls resulting from occupational accidents in the transportation sector, utilizing data on occupational deaths and injuries (2012-2016) collected by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. We analyzed injury cases requiring four or more days of work absence, focusing on same-level falls. Multiple logistic regression was performed to assess differences in fracture occurrence across occupations. Fractures occurred in 27.8% of workers in the hired taxi business, 23.0% in general cargo transportation, 21.9% in other road freight forwarding businesses, 18.3% in the railroad and orbital sector, 16.5% in the bus line industry, and 7.5% in the airline industry. After adjusting for covariates, hired taxi businesses showed a 1.76-fold higher fracture occurrence (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04-2.95) compared to the railroad and orbital sector, and 1.4-fold higher occurrence (CI: 1.08-1.85) compared to general cargo transportation. Over 60% of falls in taxi and bus lines involved temporary structures. Taxi drivers experience a high occurrence of fractures, following same-level falls, indicating a significant occupational hazard. This study emphasizes targeted interventions, including measures to prevent falls and lifestyle modifications to mitigate fracture susceptibility, to improve worker safety.

The Working Time Traffic Light (WTTL) recommendations are detailed guidelines aimed at mitigating the health and safety effects of shift work. This paper reviews the development, implementation, and effects of the WTTL recommendations in social and healthcare. Based on the payroll-based Working Hours in the Finnish Public Sector (WHFPS) cohort of over 300,000 employees, we analysed many dose-response associations of different working hour characteristics with health and safety and developed cut-off levels and evaluation tools for the traffic light-based WTTL recommendations. The recommendations were implemented in the social and healthcare sector by embedding the recommendations into shift scheduling software in co-operation with commercial software producers, and by giving feedback on the working hour characteristics to the healthcare organizations and policymakers. Based on a 5-year follow-up, the WTTL recommendations were well-known, and used regularly by 20% of the shift planners. Compared to the non-users, the regular use of the evaluation tool was associated with improved working hour patterns, a lower number of occupational accidents, and a decrease in psychological distress. Based on the established use of the recommendations and their effects on health and safety, the development and implementation of the WTTL recommendations can be regarded as successful.

This study aimed to examine the factors and their age differences associated with low back pain (LBP), including lifestyle and psychosocial factors, among Japanese workers at a large company. The study population consisted of 25,610 workers (mean ± SD age, 44.7 ± 9.6 yr) who underwent annual health checkups and completed the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ) at a Japanese company in 2017. The self-administered questionnaire was used to assess gender, age, occupation, smoking status, exercise status, alcohol intake, job stress, and sleep duration. LBP presence was assessed using a part of the BJSQ. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the factors associated with LBP according to age category. The prevalence of LBP in the study group was 23.3%. After stratification by age, overweight status and job stress were found to be significantly associated with LBP in all age groups. However, smoking status was significantly associated with LBP among individuals aged <40 yr (effect of interaction p=0.03) whereas exercise was significantly associated only among individuals aged ≥40 yr (effect of interaction p<0.01). This study shows that LBP factors may differ by age, highlighting the importance of age-appropriate measures for preventing LBP in workers.

We examined cardiovascular responses during driving and investigated the effects of different break patterns on these responses. Forty-seven males in their 40s and 50s participated, and the protocol included three driving sets with four break patterns. One driving set consisted of 1 h of city driving and 1 h of highway driving. The four break patterns were a 30-min lunch break (short/one: SO, n=12), a 60-min lunch break (long/one: LO, n=12), a 10-min break and a 50-min lunch break (long/two: LT, n=12), and a 10-min break and a 20-min lunch break (short/two: ST, n=11). The results showed that the lunch break was significantly effective in moderating diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure and heart rate for all conditions, but the long-break conditions (LO and LT) were also effective in moderating cardiac output and stroke volume. Additionally, for the same total break length, one longer break was more effective in moderating cardiovascular and subjective burden than two shorter breaks. The results of this study suggest that it is important for drivers to take a lunch break, especially a long break around an hour, to reduce cardiovascular and subjective burden during their shift.

Silicosis is a fibrotic respiratory disease caused by inhalation of crystalline compounds. In particular, it should be taken into account in all professions where silica is used, such as sandblasting, stone bench manufacturing, ceramics, jewelry and glass production Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a slowly progressive systemic autoimmune disease characterized by chronic lymphocytic invasion of exocrine glands and extraglandular tissues, accompanied by a series of systemic symptoms. Occupational silica exposure is known to be associated with autoimmune diseases such as systemic sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus This manuscript presents a case of Sjögren's syndrome in a ceramic worker.

Employees' physical and mental health issues have intensified following the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in telecommunications. Organizational wellbeing is a holistic approach that is gaining prominence. This study aimed to investigate the level of organizational wellbeing at the individual level and associated factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 2,070 telecommunication workers in Thailand. Data collection employed a structured questionnaire comprising three sections: personal factors; occupational factors; and an organizational wellbeing assessment categorized into five domains including workplace physical environment and safety climate (9 items), workplace policies and culture (10 items), health status (10 items), work evaluation and experience (13 items), and home, community, and society (3 items). Data analysis involved both descriptive and inferential statistics. Bivariate analysis and multiple linear regression were performed. A total of 655 responses (31.6%) were collected. The mean score was 177.8 (SD=22.0). The analysis reported significant factors associated with organizational wellbeing scores comprising working more than 48 h per week (β=-5.8, 95% CI: -10.4 to -1.2) and sleeping duration of at least seven hours per day (β=4.4, 95% CI: 1.1 to 7.7). Workplaces should design wellbeing promotion programs that address these factors by encouraging adequate sleep and balancing working hours to enhance overall employee wellbeing.

The ability to adapt to night shift work varies greatly among individuals, but little is known about how personal traits and coping strategies interact to affect shift-work tolerance. This study aimed to identify how certain personal traits (e.g., flexibility, languidness, chronotype, and neuroticism) and behavioral and coping strategies influence shift-work tolerance. Additionally, it explored whether behavioral and coping strategies moderate the association between neuroticism and shift-work tolerance. In this cross-sectional study, nurses (N=297) working rotating shifts consisting of either three 8-h shifts or two 12-h shifts at two university hospitals and one training hospital in South Korea completed a survey on shift work. Data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis. Nurses with personal traits of lower flexibility, higher languidness, evening-oriented chronotypes, and higher neuroticism had less shift-work tolerance. Engagement-coping decreased fatigue, whereas disengagement-coping increased insomnia. Among those with higher levels of neuroticism, disengagement-coping further reduced alertness, while engagement-coping aggravated insomnia. Addressing the complex interplay between personal traits and coping strategies is essential to enhance adaptations to shift work without adverse consequences.

In the theoretical part of this article, we provide a brief introduction to different types of repeated measure designs and methods to analyze repeatedly measured data, with a particular focus on continuous time modelling of intensive longitudinal data (ILD) with N≥1 analysis. We built on the distinction between within-person versus between-person effects, and how this is addressed in static versus dynamic models. Further, we elaborate on the distinction between discrete time dynamic models versus continuous time dynamic models. In particular, we deal with continuous time structural equation models (CTSEM), and we provide a brief introduction into the underlying math. Since smart devices have become useful tools in monitoring health, we use the applied part of this article for explaining how to retrieve N=1 bivariate ILD from popular smart watches and how to prepare them for CTSEM (including N>1 multivariate extensions). We show how to specify a cross-lagged panel CTSEM using the R package ctsem, how to fit the specified model to the retrieved data, and how to interpret the results. Limitations of CTSEM are discussed, too. Monitoring and forecasting industrial health represent important issues for organizations.