Ntombenhle Mtikitiki, Benett Siyabonga Madonsela, Thabang Maphanga
et al.
The quality of education is significantly influenced by occupational health and safety (OHS) measures. To this end, a safety incident at a university could have far-reaching negative effects on facilitating teaching and learning for both lecturers and students. Although OHS standards are widely established in numerous industries, they are often overlooked in the academic setting. It is for this reason that, to date, research gap exists in OHS systems in academic settings. While universities primarily focus on education, they also pose significant health and safety risks to staff and students due to their design and setup. Effective implementation of an occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS) within universities can mitigate these risks. However, there is a notable lack of research focusing on the efficiency of OHSMS in South African universities. This study, therefore, aimed to fill this gap by assessing the efficiency of the OHSMS at a South African university. Data were collected using in-depth interviews, observations, and document analysis qualitative research methods. Data analysis was carried out using the thematic analysis approach. Inductive logic was used in the interpretation of the current study results. This study highlights that while there is strong awareness of the OHS Act 85 of 1993 (>90%) among university staff, significant gaps exist in the communication and enforcement (5%) of OHS policy, alongside the poor communication of hazards and risks (30%). Amongst other challenges are infrastructure maintenance (>35%), as well as the lack of standard operation procedures (>5%). To address some of these setbacks, the current study recommends enhancing policy communication, conducting regular hazard assessments, increasing training participation, and improving documentation practices. These steps aim to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the university’s OHSMS, ensuring a safer environment for all stakeholders.
Industrial safety. Industrial accident prevention, Medicine (General)
Arie Arizandi Kurnianto, Faten Amer, Muhammad Zaky Amiyoso
et al.
Introduction: Occupational health and safety are important for professionals managing an organization’s workplace accident insurance efforts because their work influences productivity. Therefore, this study will compare the associated health and burnout related to work in case managers and administrators. Methods: A longitudinal design was adopted. This study used year-over-year surveys of 158 employee professionals with 79 case managers and 79 administrators over a two-year time frame. They measured occupational health with the questionnaires Work Ability Index (WAI) and Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI). Occupational health was subsequently studied using linear regression and mixed-effects models. Results: Case managers tend to have higher work ability (mean WAI score: 45.08), but they suffer from more personal burnout (mean PB score: 33.0), presumably because they work directly with injured workers. In contrast, administrators are experiencing lower but more stable levels in their work ability (mean WAI score: 37.78) and with higher levels of client-related burnout (mean CRB score: 53.0). Further, work ability deteriorates as age increases, especially among case managers, and is negatively associated with high BMI, low sleep and long sick leave. Employees with a BMI > 30 had 12% lower WAI scores (p<0.01), and those sleeping < 6 hours per night had 15% lower work ability index. Conclusion: This study emphasizes the need for targeted interventions to alleviate occupational burnout and improve work ability, particularly through occupation-specific workplace interventions. The study also suggests that implementing stress management programs, health promotion initiatives, and workflow optimizations may improve occupational health outcomes.
Akizumi Tsutsumi, Keiichi Matsuzaki, Reiko Inoue
et al.
Objectives: We aimed to examine the prospective association between stress profile as defined using the Stress Check Program manual and long-term sickness absence among a working population with various backgrounds. Methods: We analyzed 1,741 participants who participated in two online surveys in December 2023 and October 2024. In the first survey, we asked participants to complete the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire and evaluated their stress profile using the Japanese Stress Check Program manual. In the second survey, we asked participants if they had experienced sickness absence for 1 month or longer between the first and second surveys. We then examined the association between stress status in the first survey and experience of sickness absence during the waves. We calculated the odds ratio after adjusting for gender, age, marital status, educational attainment, household income, employment contract, average working hours per week, occupation, and industrial sector. To estimate the impact of high stress on sickness absence, we calculated the population attributable risk for high stress. Results: After adjusting for confounding factors, we found that high stress was associated with sickness absence, with an odds ratio of 3.54 (95% confidence interval, 2.05–6.12). The corresponding population attributable risk for high stress was 21.4%. Conclusions: The observed prospective association between high stress (as defined using the Stress Check Program manual) and long-term sickness absence among a working population from a wide range of occupations and industries provides evidence supporting the usability of the index in occupational health practice.
Industrial safety. Industrial accident prevention, Medicine (General)
Abstract In order to establish principles for implementing requirements contained in legal acts regarding methods of preventing serious industrial accidents, a study of the procedures in place at NITROERG SA, a company manufacturing explosives, was conducted. The analysis also included regulations concerning actions to be taken in the event of an accident, aimed at minimizing negative impacts on people and the environment. Legislative solutions imply the necessity for business entities to submit reports to emergency services, while also carrying out a range of activities to counteract threats associated with serious accidents. This article presents how these recommendations are implemented by the company and the methods of obtaining data to improve the undertaken projects. However, incidents in recent years indicate the need for further verification of processes to eliminate risks.
Interest in explosive-free rock fracturing has grown exponentially in the past two decades due to concerns about the environmental impacts of traditional rock fracturing methods with explosive energy. The present paper essentially presents the findings of an experimental study that aimed to develop a novel method for rock fracturing with soundless chemical degradation agents (SCDAs) at cold ambient temperatures. This is of great significance because commercially available SCDAs do not perform well, or at all, in these conditions. This study is part of a multi-phase project under the umbrella of Canada's Clean Growth Program. The newly established approach is verified through the rock fracture test results with SCDAs of two series of concrete and granite blocks exposed to cold temperatures up to −20°C. This method, the so-called high-temperature wire method (HTWM), utilizes a high-temperature spiral wire inserted into the SCDAs borehole and subjected to a DC voltage. The heat flux generated by the wire helps the SCDAs cure and expand to fracture the block. Based on the experimentally obtained results, it has been shown that the proposed new HTWM is quite promising because it enables rock fracturing with SCDAs at cold ambient temperatures reaching −20°C. It should be emphasized that such a result was previously unattainable with current industry practice.
The process safety management (PSM) system was introduced in South Korea in 1996, wherein a company voluntarily organizes and manages a chemical accident prevention system, which contributes to reducing chemical accidents. However, large- and small-scale chemical accidents occur frequently. This trend necessitates analysis and improvement of the PSM systems. This study aimed to analyze the correlation between major industrial accidents, their main causes, the status of accidents by company size and industry, and the PSM evaluation grade through an analysis of 130 accidents that occurred in the past 17 years (2005–2021). The results showed that small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 100 employees accounted for 36% of all accidents, indicating a higher occurrence rate than large companies. Additionally, the proportion of companies with inadequate PSM levels, rated as M-grade (M+, and M−), were 67.0%, suggesting a high probability of major industrial accidents. The results of this study show that a company’s voluntary safety management can be induced by an improved PSM system and management plan, which is expected to prevent major industrial accidents.
Sisca Mayang Phuspa, Umi Cahyantari, Hikmawani Anas
Introduction: The findings of a systematic review indicate that only a quantitative or qualitative approach was used in studies about the anxiety of health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research that aims to examine the level of anxiety experienced by Indonesian health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the signs and their causes will fill the scientific gap. Methods: A sequential explanatory design was used in this study. In the quantitative phase, the COVID-19 Anxiety Scale instrument was used to perform a survey on 731 healthcare workers, which was then descriptively examined. To further support its findings, 30 informants were involved to in-depth interviews, and qualitative content analysis was performed. Results: According to the poll, 15% of healthcare workers reported having high anxiety, 61% had moderate, 19% had low, and 5% had no anxiety at all. According to a qualitative content analysis, the signs of anxiety included overthinking, psychosomatic complaints, and worry about exposed to and transmit the virus at work. This is a result of managerial issues with managing pandemic, social changes, adjustments in interpersonal connection patterns, an unfriendly society, a large number of health workers who suffer with COVID-19, as well as personal variables. Conclusion: Preventive action for future health crisis situations is to improve systemic physical and non-physical preparedness in healthcare institutions. Psychosocial training programs such as cognitive coping and stress adaptation need to be carried out to improve the mental health condition of health workers so they don't ‘collapse' when dealing crisis situations.
Rosemary Seva, Imanuel Luir del Rosario, Lorenzo Miguel Peñafiel
et al.
The movement of a motorcycle is one of the critical factors that influences the stability of the ride. It has been established that the gait patterns of drunk and sober people are distinct. However, drunk motorcycle (MC) drivers’ balance has not been investigated as a predictor of intoxication. This paper characterized and used MC and head movements, such as pitch and roll, to predict intoxication while riding. Two separate experiments were conducted to monitor MC and head movement. Male participants were recruited between the ages of 23 and 50 to participate in the study. Participants used alcohol intoxication goggles (AIG) to simulate blood alcohol content (BAC) while driving on a straight path. Placebo goggles were used for control. Results showed that pitch and roll amplitudes of the MC could distinguish drivers wearing placebo and AIGs, as well as the pitch and roll frequency of the head. Deep learning can be used to predict the intoxication of MC riders. The predictive accuracy of the algorithm shows a viable opportunity for the use of movement to monitor drunk riders on the road.
Industrial safety. Industrial accident prevention, Medicine (General)
The Serious Accidents Punishment Act was enacted in a surprise move to raise corporate managers' interest and awareness of fatal accidents, effective on January 2022. The government policy to reduce serious disasters by punishments has significant limitations. Thus, it is important to conduct a study on estimating industrial accident costs in the safety and health management system so that companies can voluntarily check the workplace realities. In order to strengthen the occupational safety and health (OSH) management system, this study focuses on the development of safety accident cost disclosure items, estimating industrial accident loss costs, both direct and indirect. The OSH disclosure items can be divided into general information of companies, OSH management system, OSH budget and expenses, certification status, and corporate industrial accident information. And also the OSH disclosure survey form was developed.
Introduction. Construction is one of the most injury-causing industries. It is connected with a large amount of operating production factors, that are constant or present potentially, which aggravate the high level of professional risks. The need to develop a methodology on the organization and performance of work in the field of labor protection in case of installation and construction works on building sites is proved in the article and by practical organizational activities of the construction entities.Problem Statement. The objective of this study is to develop a methodology for assessing occupational risks for construction companies.Theoretical Part. The paper analyzes dangerous and harmful production factors that affect workers of construction organizations. The emphasis is placed on practical provision of labor protection in construction. At the same time, special attention is paid to the identification of occupational risks, their assessment and management. It is proposed to take into account statistical data on injuries in construction, the content of the construction organization project, work production projects and technological maps for the work carried out in the general assessment of occupational risk in the workplace.Conclusions. The authors propose an effective methodology for assessing occupational risks, taking into account the specifics of construction production.
Introduction: With the advancement of science and technology in third world and developing countries, more and more harmful factors in the working environment endanger the employees’ lives. One of these detrimental factors is the incompatibility of work with people’s characteristics, which causes musculoskeletal disorders. In developing countries this happens at the cost of musculoskeletal disorders. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of ergonomic interventions on reducing the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, and finally, use the results obtained to prevent musculoskeletal disorders and improve the working environment among the staff of Qeshm Zinc Smelting company, in 1399.
Methods: In this study, staff were randomly evaluated as a case control by the Nordic questionnaire, using QEC method and body map. Ergonomic interventions were then performed on the case group. After one month and four months, re-evaluation was performed by QEC and body map methods.
Results: Findings indicated that 84.21% of the participants had musculoskeletal disorders in the past year before the study. Ergonomic interventions for musculoskeletal disorders in the lower back, shoulders, neck, knees and hands were significantly reduced.ftAer ergonomic interventions, the risk factor of these disorders was significantly reduced.
Conclusion: Therefore, by doing ergonomic interventions, including teaching ergonomic principles, using automatic equipment, etc., musculoskeletal disorders in the back, shoulders, neck and knees were created and musculoskeletal disorders were reduced to 13.58%.
Industrial safety. Industrial accident prevention, Public aspects of medicine
The mission of criminology is not only to describe, explain and interpret the existing ones, but it must also anticipate a closer and more distant future. The value of criminological knowledge is determined by its accuracy and completeness, as well as the timeliness, which provides the prerequisites for making decisions without time constraints. The development of reliable forecasts of crime, usable for making the highest decisions and effective practical measures, requires not only correct and comprehensive analysis of the prognostic background that causes its development, but also the most effective use of current methodological instrumentation of forecasting.
Industrial safety. Industrial accident prevention, Risk in industry. Risk management
Abstract Accident analysis methods are widely used in industry to understand how companies with seemingly strong safety management systems failed to prevent a serious incident. These methods can equally be used to help governments, particularly in emerging economies, to analyse industrial incidents to understand how their institutions may be failing to control risk, providing insight into potential improvements while also extracting lessons for other emerging economies with similar risk profiles. The fire and explosion accident of the Ruihai hazardous goods warehouse at Tianjin Port, China, that occurred on 12 August 2015 is a prime example of a common emerging economy dilemma. Emerging economies typically struggle for years, sometimes decades, to build the capacity sufficient to address the challenges of sustainability that accompany rapid and wide-spread economic development. These economies experience particularly high rates of serious and catastrophic industrial disasters, with significantly higher rates of injury, death and environmental impacts in comparison to more mature developed economies. Yet, in many of these incidents, the country may already have some, or even substantial, legal frameworks in place to address industrial risk. In the case of Tianjin, China has strengthened industrial law substantially since the early 2000s to establish more rigorous control over chemical hazard sources. In this circumstance, understanding the sequence of events, and missed opportunities by various actors to prevent the accident and mitigate its impacts could provide support to targeted improvements to risk governance in China, and also other countries who are striving to impose a higher standard of industrial risk management. This paper describes a study in which accident analysis methods based on bow tie barrier analysis and safety systems theory were used to analyse the institutional failures that contributed to the occurrence and severity of the Tianjin disaster. The resulting analysis shows that the application of accident analysis methods to industrial disasters can highlight weaknesses in the evolving governance systems of emerging economies that may also offer lessons to other countries who are also on a similar path.
Purpose Annually, hundreds of drilling crew suffer from major injuries during performing oil and gas drilling operation because of the deficiency of an adequate hazard safety management system for real-time decision-making in hazardous conditions. According to previous studies, there is a sheer industrial need for an effective industrial safety management decision support system for accident prevention at oil and gas drilling sites at both drilling domains. Therefore, this paper aims to focus on the design and development of knowledge base decision support system (KBDSS) for the prevention of hazardous activities at Middle Eastern and South Asian origins’ onshore and offshore oil and gas industries during drilling operations. Design/methodology/approach In this study, data were gathered from safety and health professionals from targeted oil and gas industries in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan through quantitative and qualitative approaches. Based on identified data, KBDSSs (HAZFO Expert 1.0) were systematically developed and designed by adopting Database Development Life Cycle and Waterfall Software Development Life Cycle models. MySQL and Visual Studio 2015 software were used for developing and designing knowledge base and graphical user interface of the system. Findings KBDSS (HAZFO Expert 1.0) for accident prevention at onshore and offshore oil and gas drilling industries based on identified potential hazards and their suitable controlling measures aligned with international safety standards and regulations. HAZFO Expert 1.0 is a novel KBDSS that covers all onshore and offshore drilling operations with three and nine outputs, respectively, to achieve the current trend of Industry Revolution 4.0 and Industrial IoTs for workforce safety. Practical implications This industrial safety management system (HAZFO Expert 1.0) will be efficiently used for the identification and elimination of potential hazards associated with drilling activities at onshore and offshore drilling sites with an appropriate hazard controlling strategy. Originality/value Moreover, the developed KBDS system is unique in terms of its architecture and is dynamic in nature because it provides HAZFO Expert 1.0 data management and insertion application for authorized users. This is the first KBDSS which covers both drilling domains in Malaysian, Saudi Arabian and Pakistani industries.
The paper considers the main systems for monitoring elevator equipment condition, their tasks and functionality. The dependence of the degree of elevator load on the number of storeys of the building is considered. The paper provides options for expanding the possibilities of dispatching systems for better safety of elevator structures.
Béda Barkokébas Junior, Eliane Maria Gorga Lago, Ana Rosa Martins
et al.
The objective of this work was to investigate on safety and health risks to which tropical agricultural workers are exposed, mainly in relation to heat stress and ergonomic evaluation. In total, five workers from the sugarcane industry were assessed through the Life Quality Questionnaire (SF-36), and four through measuring their body composition, heart rate, hydration status, and ergonomic evaluation. Meteorological data on air temperature, relative humidity and air movement were gathered through a nearby metrological station. The analyzed sugarcane activities were found to be of moderate physical activity, and therefore less consuming than the activity of sugarcane cutters. The work-rest periods were found to be appropriated, without repetitive movements. The workers involved in agricultural activities should always evaluate the thermal environment conditions and appropriate their working activities and stay well hydrated in order to minimize heat stress risk.
Isabel Moreira-Silva, Joana Azevedo, Sandra Rodrigues
et al.
This study aimed to investigate the 12-month and 7-day prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in different body regions and its association with individual (age, gender and BMI) and lifestyle-related (physical activity level and sitting time) factors among blue-collar workers of a Portuguese manufacturing company. One hundred and thirty-six blue-collar workers participated in the study. Musculoskeletal symptoms were assessed with the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, and physical activity level and sitting time were assessed with IPAQ-Short Version. The 12-month prevalence was higher in the low back (56.6%), followed by the wrist/hand (50%), the shoulder (45.6%) and the neck (44.9%). In the last 7 days, the four most affected body regions were: the low back region (25%), the shoulders (20.6%) and the neck and wrist/hands (19.9%). Regarding individual factors, significant associations were found between age and the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in the shoulder (p=0.034), elbow (p=0.033), wrist/hand (p=0.030), thigh/hip (p=0.008), neck (p=0.010) and the low back region (p=0.045), with the older workers reporting higher prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms. Also, women reported a significant higher prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in the neck than men (p=0.025). Overweight and obese workers had a significantly higher prevalence of symptoms in the shoulder (p=0.003), wrist/hands (p=0.030) and neck (p=0.033). Regarding lifestyle-related factors, no significant associations were found between physical activity level or sitting time (p>0.05) and the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in any of the body regions. To conclude, blue-collar workers have a high prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms. Individual factors like age, gender and BMI seem to influence the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in different body regions, but lifestyle-related factors such as the physical activity level and sitting time seem not to be associated with the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in studied sample. The results emphasize the need of workplace interventions to prevent musculoskeletal symptoms in this population.