International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics最新文献

Objectives. Earlier work found gaps with respect to legislative compliance and disparities in perceptions, attitudes and beliefs towards occupational health and safety in the Ontario manufacturing sector. The current follow-up study was undertaken to gain a more thorough understanding of the cause of these gaps and differences in perspectives. Methods. Focus group discussions were held with workers and managers separately. Key questions related to health and safety in general, health and safety training, and health and safety communication were asked of each focus group. The discussions were qualitatively analysed. Results. Overall, 12 worker focus groups (n = 76) and seven manager focus groups (n = 38) were conducted. Individuals who felt safe in their workplace indicated that it was a supportive environment, and that health and safety was a priority. Health and safety training was considered important but improvements in engagement and frequency were suggested. Conclusions. Health and safety communication might be hindered by technical terms and language barriers. Delivering this communication in multiple ways as well as the tone of communication should be taken into consideration. Overall, safety culture was lacking and manufacturing workplaces should be mindful of the gaps identified to improve health and safety performance.

Objectives. Interest regarding the associated impact of leadership style on employee safety and well-being across organizational settings is on the rise. Transformational leadership forms part of the six leadership constructs with significant research-focused settings. On this premise, this study examines the role played by the transformational leadership style in enhancing a positive safety climate that promotes safety participation and employee well-being in organizations. Method. Data were generated using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA). A qualitative literature review of 350 published studies between 2013 and 2023 was performed and 31 studies informed the study outcome. Results. Based on the analysis of each article, the study concluded that transformational leadership does have a positive role in the development of a strategic workplace safety climate and enhancement of employees' psychological well-being and productivity. The study also reveals existing research gaps in this context and provides useful suggestions for future research in both academia and industry. Conclusion. Further research that examines other factors that mediate the relationship between leadership behaviour and employee well-being will assist with understanding of the role of transformational leadership and the promotion of job satisfaction and performance.

Oil rigs require mud as a drilling fluid to make boreholes into the earth for crude oil exploration. The operator movements in drilling rigs are repeated bending, lifting of sacks for mud mixing, pushing and/or pulling of sacks and working in hazardous body postures. This study adopts risk assessment tools such as rapid entire body assessment and the revised National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health lifting equation to analyse the risks in postures of the mud mixing operator. Also, the study develops a digital human model of the mud mixing operator using Jack digital human modelling for simulating selected tasks associated with mud mixing operation. Finally, lower back analysis and static strength prediction are performed using a digital human Jack model. Safety of mud mixing operators can be improved with the results obtained from the study, thereby reducing non-productive time reports in drilling operations.

Objectives. The mental health of healthcare professionals, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, is a critical concern. This study investigates the prevalence of burnout and professional fulfillment, depression and the relationship between physical activity and adherence to the Mediterranean diet with depression, burnout and professional fulfillment among healthcare professionals. Methods. Data were collected through a web-based survey of 567 healthcare professionals. Logistic regression analysis with age and sex adjustment was employed to analyze the results. Results. The prevalence of depression was 44%, burnout stood at 66% and professional fulfillment was reported at 28%. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was linked to a reduced risk of depression (odds ratio [OR] 0.63, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.41, 0.96], p = 0.033) and physical activity was also associated with a lower risk of depression (OR 0.49, 95% CI [0.32, 0.75], p = 0.001). Furthermore, adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a reduced risk of burnout (OR 0.49, 95% CI [0.25, 0.98], p = 0.045). Conclusion. This study highlights the positive impact of physical activity and the Mediterranean diet as lifestyle factors on depression and burnout. These findings have implications for screening, follow-up and timely interventions to support the mental well-being of healthcare professionals.

Transient three-dimensional (3D) heat and moisture transfer simulations were conducted to analyze the thermal performances of the entire phase change material (PCM) integrated into firefighters' gloves. PCM was broken down into several segments to cover the back and palm of the hand but to avoid finger joints to keep hand functions. Parametric studies were performed to explore the effects of PCM melting temperatures, PCM locations in the glove and PCM layer thicknesses on the overall thermal performance improvement of firefighters' gloves. The study found that PCM segments could extend the time for hand skin surfaces (areas covered or not covered by PCM) to reach second-degree burn injury (60 °C) by 1.5-2 times compared to conventional firefighters' gloves without PCM. Moreover, PCM segments could help mitigate the temperature increase on hand skin and glove surface after fire exposure.

Objectives. The purpose of this study is to determine the causal relationships among positive and negative cyberloafing dimensions, safety behaviors and occupational incidents among hospital employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. Data were obtained from 210 healthcare employees working in public hospitals in Turkey. The data were analyzed using Bayesian network analysis. This study examines the factors that have the most significant impact on occupational incidents through Bayesian belief updating. Results. The findings demonstrated that 28.7% of the sample experienced occupational incidents. Safety behaviors had the strongest impact on occupational incidents. When recovery (66.2%) and developmental cyberloafing (53.1%) are high, and deviant (64.3%) and addictive cyberloafing (35.6%) are low, the probability of safety behaviors increases (79.6%) and occupational incidents decrease. The development dimension of positive cyberloafing and the deviance dimension of negative cyberloafing had the greatest impact on hospital employees' safety behaviors and occupational incidents. Conclusions. Minor/positive cyberloafing behaviors have a high impact on safety behaviors and occupational incidents, whereas major/negative cyberloafing behaviors have a low impact. Therefore, the hospital administration should specifically control deviant and addictive cyberloafing behaviors. Furthermore, the analysis results recommend that managers consider allowing some positive cyberloafing behaviors to reduce occupational incidents.

Heavy lifting tasks at work sites can cause musculoskeletal disorders. One strategy to avoid such disorders is to choose a work motion with low cumulative physical workload during the work. This study investigated whether the cumulative workload between different work motions can be compared from a biomechanical perspective. The work motions were analyzed biomechanically by a digital human model. The cumulative workload was calculated using the time integrated value of the product of the torque and the amount of motion at each joint, i.e., an index proposed by a previous study. The results showed that the lifting operation with the shortest route is not always optimal in terms of cumulative workload on the whole body. This indicates the importance of selecting work motions based on a cumulative workload index obtained by mechanical analysis.

Developing new fabric systems with excellent thermal protective performance is essential to protecting workers from hot pressurized steam hazards. In this study, a laminated fabric was selected and a weft-knitted spacer fabric was developed for steam protective fabric systems. Effects of the configuration of the fabric systems and heat setting of spacer fabric on performances were investigated. The results demonstrate that the developed spacer fabric significantly prolonged skin burn times compared with controls. However, heat setting of spacer fabric had a negligible effect on improving thermal protective performance. Spacer fabric provided superior thermal protection while ensuring thermal comfort and enhancing air permeability, especially for spacer fabric after heat setting. Generally, a fabric system composed of a laminated outer shell and a spacer fabric is the best choice for steam protective clothing. The findings help develop a novel thermal liner to decrease energy transfer and provide better protection from pressurized steam.

Objectives. This study aimed to investigate 12-month and 7-day prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms among workers of the pulp and paper industry, and assess the contribution of age, gender, body mass index (BMI) and physical activity (PA). Methods. The sample comprised 904 workers. Musculoskeletal symptoms were assessed using the Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire. χ² tests assessed the association between musculoskeletal symptoms and age/gender/BMI/PA, and multivariate logistic regression models predicted the 12-month occurrence of symptoms in the five most prevalent regions. Results. The five most affected body regions were the lower back, shoulders, neck, knees and wrists/hands. Older workers presented more symptoms in all body regions, except dorsal; female gender was associated with neck symptoms (p = 0.001); overweight was associated with a higher prevalence of lower back (p = 0.01), knee (p = 0.017) and ankle/foot (p = 0.037) symptoms; and a moderate PA level was associated with thigh/hip symptoms (p = 0.006). Age was a significant predictor in all five most affected regions; gender was a significant predictor for shoulders, neck and wrists/hands; and BMI was a significant predictor for lower back symptoms. Conclusion. The 12-month and 7-day prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms among workers of the pulp and paper industry is higher in the lower back, shoulders, neck, knees and wrists/hands.

This study proposes a systematic approach based on axiomatic design incorporating lean and ergonomic principles within the proposed design. The contribution to the body of knowledge is to keep construction workers safe by fostering a secure construction environment. Axiomatic design and lean approaches are combined to address human factors and eliminate wastes that hinder a safe construction environment. The application of the proposed system is set in the context of the construction industry. The methodology provides the construction sector with a road map toward reducing the occurrence of accidents and serves as a complementary approach between lean and ergonomic principles. The design solution has been validated and partially applied in a metro construction firm. Results show that the design solution can improve the efficiency of the construction phases by adopting a value-maximization strategy and has the potential to improve the safety and ergonomics of construction projects.