Occupational Health

“The CIH Exam - Essential Practice Questions by Farcas, Hammond, and Cena is, as the name implies, an essential set of questions in Industrial Hygiene. It is well laid out in 17 sections. The questions are well introduced with a short narrative before the introduction of the pertinent equations and solution to the over 500 example problems. The book serves not only as a formidable preparation for the CIH exam but a good review of basic principles, a reference for many of the day-to-day technical issues confronting the practicing industrial hygienist, and a guide for raising awareness of potential problems for which alert action is required. The authors bring a breadth of experience and insight into the issues handled in the text. They bring context to the basic principles to be highlighted by the examples of the questions and their solutions. This should be a must-have text for everyone in the field.”Michael McCawley, Ph.D.

İnşaat, İnşaat Sektörü, Fiziksel Risk Etmenleri, Risk, Tehlike, İş Güvenliği, İş Kazası, Risk Analizi, Fine Kinney metodu, İş Sağlığı ve Güvenliği, Occupational Health and Safety, İş Güvenliği Uzmanlığı, İş Güvenliği Uzmanı, Mühendislik, Engineering, İş Kazaları, İşçi Sağlığı, İnşaat Sektörü,  İstanbul, Türkay Ercan Şengöz (Türkay Ercan Şengöz tarafından yayımlanan her çeşit harita, bilgi ve belgelerin her hakkı saklıdır. Her ne şekilde ve amaçla olursa olsun bu bilgi ve belgelerin kaynak belirtilmeden kullanılması, yazılı izin alınmadan elektronik, optik, mekanik veya diğer yollarla dağıtılması, çoğaltılması, basılması, değiştirilmesi, paylaşılması, kopyalanması ve internet sitelerinde kullanılması durumunda gerekli hukuki yollara başvurulacak ve yasal işlem başlatılacaktır. Önemle duyurulur. Bu platformda veya diğer platformlarda paylaşmış olduğum tez veya akademik kapsamdaki çalışmalarımın içerisindeki bütün bilgilerin etik davranış ve akademik kurallar çerçevesinde elde edilerek sunulduğunu, akademik çalışmalarımın tez yazım kurallarına uygun olarak hazırlandığını hatırlatıyor, bana ait olan her türlü ifade ve bilginin kaynağına eksiksiz atıf yapılması gerektiğini bildiriyor, sevgi ve saygılarımı sunuyorum.)

Purpose . To estimate workforce participation characteristics and employees' attitudes regarding participation in workplace wellness programs. Design . Data from a statewide stratified random sample were used to compare small (<50 employees) and larger (50+ employees) workplaces to estimate participation in screening programs and likelihood of participation in workplace wellness programs. Setting . A telephone survey of employed Iowans registered to vote. Subjects . Surveyed were 1171 employed Iowans registered to vote, ages 18 to 65. Measure . Among questionnaire survey modules were items from the Wellness Council of America Employee Needs and Interest Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau for employment documentation, and the World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire for assessment of sickness absenteeism and presenteeism. Analysis . Prevalence of participation in screening and wellness programs was analyzed by employment size and levels of likeliness to ...

Occupational health nursing plays a critical part in improving the safety of foreign labor workers. The development and implementation of safety training programs do not always regularly take into account language barriers, low literacy levels, or cultural elements. This oversight can lead to more injuries and fatalities among this group. Despite established health and safety training programs, a significant number of non-native English speakers are injured or killed in preventable, occupation-related accidents. Introducing safety programs that use alternative teaching strategies such as pictograms, illustrations, and hands-on training opportunities will assist in addressing challenges for non-English laborers. Occupational health nursing has an opportunity to provide guidance on this subject and assist businesses in creating a safer and more productive work environment.

The medical literature reports health hazards for law enforcement personnel from repeated exposure to methamphetamine and related chemical compounds. Most effects appear transitory, but some Utah police officers with employment-related methamphetamine exposures developed chronic symptoms, some leading to disability. This report is of an uncontrolled retrospective medical chart evaluation of symptomatic officers treated with a sauna detoxification protocol designed to reduce the chronic symptoms and improve the quality of life. Sixty-nine officers consecutively entering the Utah Meth Cops Project were assessed before and after a treatment program involving gradual exercise, comprehensive nutritional support and physical sauna therapy. Evaluations included pre- and post-treatment scores of the Research and Development Corporation (RAND) 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) in comparison with RAND population norms, pre- and post-treatment symptom score intensities, neurotoxicity sc...

Shipping companies were surveyed to evaluate the effect of public health measures during the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic of 2009 on ship and port operations. Of 31 companies that operated 960 cruise, cargo, and other ships, 32% experienced health-screening measures by port health authorities. Approximately a quarter of ports (26%) performed screening at embarkation and 77% of shipping companies changed procedures during the early stage of the pandemic. Four companies reported outbreaks of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 on ships, which were ultimately stopped through infection control practices. Public health measures did not interfere substantially with port and ship operations with the exception of some port authorities that delayed embarking and disembarking procedures in a few ships. However, in the shipping companies' experience, measures were inconsistent between port health authorities. Access to antiviral drugs and pandemic vaccine was not provided in all ports. Current...

The development and implementation of worksite health and wellness programs (WHWPs) in the United States (US) holds promise as a means to improve population health and reverse current trends in non-communicable disease incidence and prevalence. However, WHWPs face organizational, economic, systematic, legal, and logistical challenges which have combined to impact program availability and expansion. Even so, there is a burgeoning body of evidence indicating WHWPs can significantly improve the health profile of participating employees in a cost effective manner. This foundation of scientific knowledge justifies further research inquiry to elucidate optimal WHWP models. It is clear that the development, implementation and operation of WHWPs require a strong commitment from organizational leadership, a pervasive culture of health and availability of necessary resources and infrastructure. Since organizations vary significantly, there is a need to have flexibility in creating a customize...

This minireview describes the health effects of antimony exposure in the workplace and the environment. To collate information on the consequences of occupational and environmental exposure to antimony on physiological function and well-being. The criteria used in the current minireview for selecting articles were adopted from proposed criteria in The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Articles were classified from an acute and chronic exposure and toxicity thrust. The proportion of utilised and non-utilised articles was tabulated. Antimony toxicity is dependent on the exposure dose, duration, route (breathing, eating, drinking, or skin contact), other chemical exposures, age, sex, nutritional status, family traits, life style, and state of health. Chronic exposure to antimony in the air at levels of 9 mg/m(3) may exacerbate irritation of the eyes, skin, and lungs. Long-term inhalation of antimony can potentiate pneumoconiosis, altered electrocardiog...

Estudo transversal em 1.026 trabalhadores em distrito de perfuração de petróleo do Nordeste brasileiro mostrou prevalência global de doença do disco intervertebral lombar de 5%, variando de 1,8% (atividades sem manuseio de carga), 4,5% (manuseio ocasional) até 7,2% (manuseio habitual). Tal prevalência foi de 11,4% em operadores de sonda de perfuração de petróleo com mais de 40 anos de idade e de 10,5% naqueles com mais de 15 anos de empresa. A razão de prevalência (R.P.) à associação entre trabalho em operação de sonda e doença do disco foi 2,3 (I.C. 95%: 1,3, 4,0). Para minimizar o efeito sobrevivência do trabalhador sadio foram usadas informações retrospectivas acerca da exposição. A informação referente à ocupação atual em lugar do histórico ocupacional resultaria em RP subestimada de 1,1 (I.C. 95%: 0,6, 1,9). A regressão logística ratificou os achados da análise tabular. Não houve confundimento nem interação. O incremento da indústria de petróleo no país e as alterações na gestã...

Factors associated with depression of medical students are poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of depression in medical students, its change during the course, if depression persists for affected students, what are the factors associated with depression and how these factors change over time. A prospective, longitudinal observational study was conducted at the Medical School of the University of Minho, Portugal, between academic years 2009-2010 to 2012-2013. We included students who maintained their participation by annually completing a questionnaire including Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Anxiety and burnout were assessed using the State Trait Anxiety Inventory and Maslach Burnout Inventory. Surveys on socio-demographic variables were applied to evaluate potential predictors, personal and academic characteristics and perceived difficulties. ANOVA with multiple comparisons were used to compare means of BDI score. The medical students were ...

INTRODUCTION: Instruments that measure job well-being have the aim to evaluate consequences as individual health due to job unsatisfaction but not nurse perception about organizational health. The aim of this study was to assess the psychometric characteristics of the Nursing Organizational Health Questionnaire (MOHQ), an instrument derived from the Multidimensional Organizational Health Questionnaire (MOHQ) that measures nursing organizational health.METHODS: The MOHQ underwent to content validity by a group of experts that modified and added new items of the MHQ. Afterward the MOHQ was administered to a sample of 1279 nurses working in several contexts in Lazio and Umbria regions. Dimensionality of each scale of MOHQ, and concurrent validity of the new items were investigated using Exploratory Factor Analysis approach. Therefore Cronbach's alpha was computed for each dimensions of each scale to examine internal consistency.RESULTS: Statistical analysis confirmed the factor structure of each scale and the reliability of the emerged dimensions. Moreover analyses have shown the importance of the new items to investigate specific dimension related to the nurse organizational context.DISCUSSION: The present study showed that the MOHQ has good psychometric properties of validity and reliability and can be used to study organizational health in nursing population.

Obesity has been characterized as a disease. Strategies to change the incidence and prevalence of this disease include a focus on changing physical and social environments, over and above individual-level strategies, using a multilevel or systems approach. We focus our attention on evidence published between 2008 and 2013 on the effectiveness of interventions in nutrition environments, i.e., environmental interventions designed to influence the intake of healthful foods and amount of energy consumed. An overarching socioecological framework that has guided much of this research was used to characterize different types of environmental strategies. Intervention examples in each area of the framework are provided with a discussion of key findings and related conceptual and methodological issues. The emphasis in this review is on adults, but clearly this literature is only one part of the picture. Much research has been focused on child-specific interventions, including environmental in...

In a voluntary national effort, U.S. industry, education, labor, and government have initiated the development of standards for job skills and competencies in jobs in 15 economic sectors. The aim of the skill standards is to maintain a globally competitive workforce. Efforts to include occupational safety and health knowledge and skills as core elements in these standards are described. The first skill standards to include occupational safety and health competencies were developed for the manufacturing sector, evaluated by 3,800 workers in 700 companies, and published. National skill standards can stimulate extensive training in occupational safety and health, with resultant application to a larger percentage of workers than ever before.

An updated and expanded database for the Hanford Mortality Study has been developed by PNL`s Epidemiology and Biometry Department. The purpose of this report is to document this process. The primary sources of data were the Occupational Health History (OHH) files maintained by the Hanford Environmental Health Foundation (HEHF) and including demographic data and job histories; the Hanford Mortality (HMO)

A participatory ergonomics model was designed for improving working conditions, quality, and productivity in a medium-sized manufacturing enterprise by making use of a Supportive Expert Team (SET). In order to implement the model, a team-based structure consisting of a Steering Committee (SC) and 2 Action Groups (AGs) was designed and a 5-phase methodology followed. To validate the model, a similar factory was selected as control. Performance of the model was successful throughout the project. AGs under the supervision of the SC and the support of the SET designed and implemented several ergonomics solutions using local resources. Our findings showed that, in comparison with the control factory, application of such a model could be considered as a provider of a more humanized work environment as well as a more efficient and cost-effective approach.

Evidence regarding the extent of mental health problems and the associated characteristics within an employee population is necessary to inform appropriate and tailored workplace mental health programs. Mental health within male dominated industries (such as mining) has received recent public attention, chiefly through observations regarding suicide in such populations in Australia and internationally. Currently there is limited empirical evidence regarding the mental health needs in the mining industry as an exemplar of a male dominated workforce, and the relative contribution to such problems of individual, socio-economic and workplace factors. This study aimed to investigate the mental health and associated characteristics among employees in the Australian coal mining industry with a specific focus on identifying modifiable work characteristics. A cross-sectional study was conducted among employees (n = 1457) across eight coal mines stratified by key mine characteristics (state, ...

SUMMARY Objective: Despite the progress in the implementation of health promotion programs in the workplace, there are no questionnaires in Brazil to assess the scope of health promotion interventions adopted and their scientific basis. This study aimed to translate into Brazilian Portuguese and culturally adapt the CDC Worksite Health ScoreCard (HSC) questionnaire. Method: The HSC has 100 questions grouped into twelve domains. The steps are as follows: translation, reconciliation, back-translation, review by expert panel, pretesting, and final revision. The convenience sample included 27 individuals from health insurance providers and companies of various sizes, types and industries in São Paulo. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The average age of the sample was 38 years, most of the subjects were female (21 of 27), and were responsible for programs to promote health in these workplaces. Most questions were above the minimum value of understanding set at 90...