International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics最新文献

Laboratory safety is a critical priority in educational institutions, particularly in microbiology laboratories where infectious disease diagnosis requires strict protocols. Contaminated personnel can unknowingly transmit pathogens beyond the laboratory, posing public health risks. This study explores strategies to enhance safety in a microbiology laboratory at an Egyptian university. A multidisciplinary team of microbiology and design experts collaborated to redesign the laboratory, addressing contamination risks and improving safety and comfort. The process included identifying hazards, redesigning the layout with appropriate materials and testing effectiveness through microbiological culturing. Results showed that epoxy surfaces had superior resistance to bacterial colonization compared to traditional marble surfaces. These findings suggest that material selection plays a crucial role in laboratory safety. Incorporating epoxy surfaces can significantly reduce contamination risks, contributing to a safer environment for students and staff. This study underscores the importance of evidence-based design in optimizing microbiology laboratory safety.

This article attempts to extend the mindful safety practices adopted by pilots in the aviation industry. There is still a lack of discussion about how these factors (individual, group and organizational levels) influence the adoption of mindful safety practices among commercial pilots in the aviation industry. Data were collected from a sample of commercial pilots in China within 8 months. Results show that all the identified factors contributing to the adoption of mindful safety practices are significantly and positively interrelated. The results also reveal that safety knowledge and motivation positively mediate the relationships between safety climate (group level and organization level) and pilots' mindful safety practice adoption in the aviation industry. It is of interest that group-level safety climate exerts more impact on pilots' safety knowledge and motivation gains. Furthermore, leader-member exchange (LMX) strengthens relationships between two dimensions of safety climate and pilots' safety knowledge and motivation acquisitions.

Objectives. Many industries globally strive to ensure the safety of their workforce in order to achieve the goal of economic advancement. As such, employers prioritize workers' safety skills, making this study essential in examining the impact of safety management practices on technicians' safety behaviour, with safety orientation as a mediator. Methods. Using a correlational research design, a sample of 821 electrical installation and maintenance work (EIMW) technicians was selected through stratified sampling from the Nigerian Association of Technologists in Engineering. Data were collected using instruments adapted from existing literature on safety management practices (management commitment, safety training, technician's involvement, safety communication and feedback, safety rules and procedures), safety orientation and safety performance. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted using SPSS version 25 and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using AMOS SPSS version 23 for analysing the hypotheses. Results. Management commitment, safety training, safety communication and feedback positively influenced safety compliance, while technicians' involvement and safety promotion policies positively impacted safety participation. Safety orientation did not mediate the relationship between management commitment and safety compliance. Conclusion. The study recommends that management in industries should engage in a safety leadership walk where there is a regular tour to address safety concerns in real time.

Objectives. This study aimed to identify occupational, personal and psychosocial risk factors associated with musculoskeletal and depressive symptoms in a cohort of Brazilian healthcare workers (HEROES). Methods. The prospective cohort study included 125 healthcare workers from the Brazilian Healthcare System (SUS). Data were collected via e-surveys using a sociodemographic questionnaire, Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire, Beck depression inventory, Copenhagen psychosocial questionnaire and Pittsburgh sleep quality index. The follow-up response was 64, 52, 50 and 49% at 3, 6, 9 and 12-month follow-up, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression identified the main risk factors for musculoskeletal and depressive symptoms. Results. At 3 months, sleep quality, burnout, age, stress, quantitative demands, skill development and emotional demands were associated with musculoskeletal symptoms and recognition was associated with depressive symptoms. At 6 months, justice, stress and age were associated with musculoskeletal symptoms and recognition was associated with musculoskeletal and depressive symptoms. At 9 months, burnout, stress, sleep quality and emotional demands were associated with musculoskeletal symptoms. At 12 months, sleep quality was associated with musculoskeletal symptoms and recognition was associated with depression symptoms. Conclusion. Personal and psychosocial risk factors were significantly associated with musculoskeletal and depressive symptoms. Future intervention studies should emphasize these factors, with larger samples.

This study identifies and analyses the primary elements contributing to accidents in scrap-based steelmaking plants in the Punjab state of India as a typical case study. The collected data for 2017-2022 from different scrap-based steelmaking plants were analysed utilizing Boston square matrix, Pareto chart, Ishikawa diagram and Poisson-distribution-based control chart analysis. The results revealed that fatal accidents contributed to around 13% of total accidents. The least fatal accidents are observed in the summer, around 17% of total accidents compared to the monsoon and winter seasons. The maximum contribution in non-fatal accidents is from lost-time injury, at around 85% of total non-fatal accidents. Moreover, compared to 2017, this study demonstrated a 78 and 45% decrease in non-fatal and fatal accidents in 2022. This decrease may be attributed to the efficacy and influence of regulatory measures, the acquisition of knowledge from past accidents and employee awareness in these scrap-based steelmaking facilities.

Female firefighters in the USA face increased risk of injury due to ill-fitting personal protective clothing. The purpose of this research was to assess the adequacy of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1977 sizing system for wildland female firefighters, using the first and largest female firefighter anthropometric database (n = 187) in the USA. Ten body measurements in the upper and lower torso garment sizing ranges were analyzed. Results of descriptive analyses and sample estimation highlighted varying degrees of discrepancies in the NFPA 1977 sizing system. Extreme cases were observed, such as the front rise length, for which only 4.3% (n = 8) of participants fell within the NFPA 1977 size range. Overall, findings suggest the NFPA 1977 standard remains insufficiently inclusive of the US female firefighter population based on the sample analysis. Improvements are necessary to improve firefighter performance and safety and to reduce the heightened risk of injury for female firefighters.

Objectives. Railway track maintenance is one of the essential tasks for the Indian railway, where millions of workers have musculoskeletal disorders. The main aim of the present investigation is to determine the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). Methods. Nordic modified questionnaire studies and posture analysis were performed by the Ovako working posture analyzing system. Physiological stress assessment was carried out by recording the participants' heart rate and blood pressure. Results. The questionnaire study revealed that most of the railway track maintainers complained that the maximum discomfort (pain) felt was in the lower back region (90.3%) of the body, followed by the hands (76.4%), knees (76.0%), wrists (75.2%) and shoulders (68.2%). There was a significant change in heart rate reserve, net cardiac cost, relative cardiac cost and cardiovascular stress index between the railway track maintainers and controls. Conclusion. This study shows that railway track maintainers are constantly engaged in highly repetitive hand-intensive jobs, and by performing such strenuous jobs for several years suffer from discomfort in the upper and lower back regions of the body followed by a decrease in handgrip strength. All of these factors consequently may lead to the development of WMSDs.

Preventing miners' unsafe behavior and reducing accidents in deep coal mines are crucial. This study comprehensively used methods such as the human factor analysis and classification system for China mines (HFACS-CM) model, grounded theory and the back propagation (BP) neural network model to construct an early warning index system for miners' unsafe behavior. A three-layer feed-forward BP neural network warning model with a structure of 13-14-4 layers was developed to predict miners' unsafe behavior. The results showed that the model can accurately predict miners' unsafe behavior and reflect the complex non-linear relationship between the driving factors and unsafe behavior. Unsafe supervision was the most critical driving factor affecting miners' unsafe behavior, followed by organizational influence, miners' unsafe state and environmental factors. This study can help mining enterprises formulate more effective management measures for miners' unsafe behavior so as to improve the efficiency of coal mine safety management.

This study explores how work characteristic factors influence the safety behavior of front-line employees in small and medium-sized industrial enterprises in China, using an expanded job demands-resources model. The research constructs a structural model based on job demands and job resources. A total of 558 valid responses were collected using a designed variable measurement scale to empirically test the influence of work characteristics on safety behavior (safety compliance and safety participation). The findings reveal that job demands negatively affect safety behavior, with job burnout mediating this relationship. In contrast, job resources positively influence safety behavior, with safety motivation mediating the effect. Additionally, psychosocial safety climate moderates the mediating path between job demands and employee safety behavior, while it partially moderates the mediating paths between job resources and employee safety behavior.

Objectives. Job stress (JS) can endanger health. This study therefore determined the association between risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and JS in hospital office employees. Methods. The cross-sectional study examined JS of 350 hospital administrative staff using the Osipow questionnaire. After 10 h of fasting, the participants' systolic and diastolic blood pressure, cholesterol, triglyceride and glucose levels were recorded. SPSS version 20 was used for statistical analysis. Results. In total, 85.14% participants have more than medium stress. Significant differences were observed between the blood triglyceride levels (p < 0.05) and levels of stress. The blood cholesterol and glucose level in the medium or lower stress group were significantly lower than in the more than medium stress group (p < 0.001). Conclusions. According to the results, psychological counseling programs are recommended for reducing the risk of (CVD) factors in stressful work environments.