Journal of Health and Safety at Work

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Introduction: Todays, the improvement and optimization of the safety performance are essential and important for control and prevention of accidents in the industry. The purpose of this research was to assist a hybrid cycle power plant for identification and prioritization of the influencing factors in enhancing safety in order to reduce risks and to improve system performance.  
Material and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, influencing factors were classified within three main categories of human, equipment, and managment, and 14 sub-factors was screened and selected by experts using Fuzzy Delphi method. Then, fuzzy DEMATEL method was adopted to determine the relationships, the intensity of affecting and being affected factors, and the analytical network process method for weighting and prioritization the factors.
Results: The findings of the fuzzy DEMATEL method showed that “Managerial”, “equipment” and “human” factors are respectively influencing factors on the improvement of safety performance. “Managerial factors” is the most influencing and “Human factors” is the most influenced one. Based on the results of fuzzy analysis network process method, “human factors” is the first priority among the main factors, and “employee motivation”, “system of control and prevention”, “work team spirit”, “individual skills” and “Individual protection equipment” sub-factors are respectively the first to fifth priorities were according to their weight.
Conclusion: “Human factors” re the most influenced factor and the main problem of the organization, which can be improved by the most influencing “managerial” factor. The success or failure of the safety performance in the power plant depends on better management of the “human factors” and managers need to motivate employees to improve safety performance.

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Introduction: Besides the occupational accident physical, psychological damages, and its economic losses, it can have a serious effect on the quality of working life. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of occupational accidents on the quality of working life and its dimensions among workers in a steel manufacturing companies.   
Material and Methods: This case-control study was carried out among 100 workers (case) with an occupational accident history and 100 workers with no history of incident (control) in the production lines of a steel company during the period of 2012 to 2016. The study was conducted after matching the confounding variables such as age, work history, income level, etc. Data were collected using the NIOSH quality of work life questionnaire. For statistical analysis, SPSS 16 was used and χ2 and paired t-test statistical analysis were performed.
Results: According to the results of current study, the quality of work life average scores of the case (47.6±2.3) and control (49.5±2.3) groups was highly significant (p<0.001). Also, six out of eight dimensions of the quality of life was significantly affected by occupational accidents, but the highest and lowest influence was found on ergonomics and safety aspect, and the work and life aspect, respectively.
Conclusion: According to the result of this study, it can be concluded that occupational accidents are one of the important factors that influence the workers’ quality of work life. Therefore, quality of working life can be considered as a helpful tool in increasing job satisfaction, improving the efficiency and employability of employees and preventing accidents.

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Introduction: The accidents involving the transport of hazardous goods in ports have always been one of the human and environmental threats. The purpose of this research is to study the consequences of incidents involving dangerous goods by modeling and prediction of catastrophic consequences of these goods using the Software valid of management, so in addition to the affected area of the various outcomes of these goods, To provide the necessary management measures to reduce human and environmental toll on keeping dangerous goods in ports and warehouses to be paid.  
Material and Methods: The study performed from PHAST and ALOHA software in the container terminal in the region of Bandar Imam Khomeini and, to verify the consequences of styrene of toxicity of dangerous goods, was used.
Results: According to the results of this study, the extent of pollution coverage (the forbidden region) at least a radius of 79 meters and the best place for placement the Support groups are a radius of 106 meters, around the area dangerous goods. Finally, to offer management practices to avoid or reduce the consequences of possible sites and warehouses storing goods in the study area was dangerous.
Conclusion: In this study, methanol reservoir was introduced as the main focus of risk; therefore, the implementation of safety rules, eliminating mechanical failures, personal protection and education, and effective measures to prevent and fight fire are proposed for decreasing the probable losses and fatalities are necessary. As well as measures such as drainage design and appropriate land cover of hazardous goods and predictions for emergency evacuation with regard to atmospheric conditions (speed and wind direction) were recommended.

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Introduction: Nurses of the emergency department experience stressful events that affect their mental health and reduce the quality of their work life. Career adaptability is considered a personal capability that enables employees to adapt to changes and avoid the negative consequences of job mismatch. This study was conducted to study career adaptability and its correlation with the quality of work life in the emergency department.
Material and Methods: This descriptive-correlational study was conducted on 104 nurses in the emergency department of teaching–therapeutic hospitals in Tabriz who were selected using random stratified sampling. Data was collected using a demographic checklist, the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) by Savickas, and the Quality of Nursing Work Life (QNWL) scale by Brooks & Anderson. Data were analyzed in SPSS using descriptive statistics (frequency, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and linear regression analysis).
Results: The total scores of career adaptability and the quality of nursing work life were 88.55±25.01 from the achievable range of 24-120 and 141.15±22.56 from the achievable range of 42-252, respectively, which were moderate. In this study, 85.6% of nurses enjoyed a moderate quality of work life. Furthermore, the results of Pearson’s correlation indicated a significant positive correlation between career adaptability and scopes with the quality of work life score (p=0.05). Regression analysis results indicated that career adaptability significantly predicts the quality of nursing work life (p=0.000).
Conclusion: In this study, nurses experienced moderate career adaptability and quality of work life. Given the above factors, and considering adaptability as a variable predicting quality of work life, it is suggested to take measures to increase career adaptability in nurses through training or consulting interventions to improve the quality of nursing work life.

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Introduction: Emergency technicians face workplace violence and increasing occupational stress. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a virtual self-management training in communication skills on occupational stress and the degree of aggression among emergency technicians.
Material and Methods: This study involved 60 emergency technicians randomly assigned to either the intervention or control group. They completed surveys on workplace violence and occupational stress. The intervention group received six weeks of a virtual self-management training in communication skills. Data was collected after two months and analyzed using SPSS software.
Results: The findings showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the control group (110.08±11.92) and the two intervention groups (114.39±11.25) in terms of the average occupational stress before the intervention; The average job stress score between the intervention (94.0±12,70) and control (98.81± 20,81) groups significantly differed following the intervention (p=0.034); After the intervention, the intervention group had lower verbal and physical abuse frequencies compared to the control group.
Conclusion: The virtual self-management communication training demonstrated the potential to reduce occupational stress but did not significantly decrease the violence towards the emergency technicians. A comprehensive training program addressing violence factors and communication techniques, implemented over a longer period, is recommended.

 

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Introduction: Obesity and overweight are major global health challenges. One of the bad effects of noise that has been recently expressed is the effect of noise on obesity. This study aimed to investigate the effect of high-frequency noise exposure on obesity, food intake, and abdominal visceral fat in adult male guinea pigs.
Material and Methods: The animals in this study were 24 adult male guinea pigs randomly divided into 3 groups (control and two case groups). Each case group was separately exposed to high- frequency white noise with sound pressure levels in 65 dB and 85 dB for 5 days per week in 30 days. The food intake was measured daily. The weight of animals was measured at the start and on days 6, 12, 18, 24, and at the end of exposure period. The abdominal visceral fat was extracted and weighted at the end of the study period. The data were assessed using SPSS V.22 software.
Results: ANOVA analysis showed that exposure to high-frequency noise at 65dB and 85dB had a significant effect on weight gain, food intake, and abdominal visceral fat weight (P-value< 0.05) which in the group exposed to the noise with 65 dB was more than other groups.
Conclusion: Based on this study, exposure to high-frequency noise may be an effective factor in obesity and increasing abdominal visceral fat. Further studies are needed to investigate the mechanism affecting weight status following noise exposure.
 

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Introduction: For years, chemical process industries have reported the unexpected release of highly hazardous liquids and gases. A disaster could not be avoided when these materials were not adequately controlled. The issue of Process Safety Management (PSM) is still being discussed in developing and developed countries. PSM was established to manage the risks of a company’s personnel, properties, products, environment, and credit risks. This study aimed to review the challenges and achievements of PSM implementation and provide recommendations for improvement.
Material and Methods: A collection of scholarly articles published from 2000 to 2023, such as Science Direct, WOS, PubMed, and Scopus, was chosen through a systematic, meticulous review. After thoroughly examining these abstracts, titles, and complete contexts, 49 articles were finally selected for inclusion in the study and classified based on different criteria, such as publication year, authors, achievements, and challenges.
Results: PSM in the United States has been chiefly studied due to the high number of chemical process industries and its presence in the form of OSHA legislation in this country. The areas of operations, audits, and resources have the most challenges in implementing PSM. On the other hand, reducing the severity of incidents in chemical processes and increasing productivity are considered the most significant achievements of PSM implementation.
Conclusion: PSM as an interdisciplinary field has improved  and become more effective over the years.. However, incidents still exist, and the number can increase, considering the growth of industries’ chemical processes. Therefore, a deep look at the issues of risk-based regulations, competency, operational excellence, and learning from incidents is necessary to achieve excellence in PSM.

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Introduction: Polymer nanofiber filters have great potential for controlling particulate pollution due to their high filtration efficiency and low pressure drop. This study aimed to fabricate nanofiber membranes from a biodegradable polymer through solution electrospinning to address both health and environmental concerns, along with analyzing their morphological characteristics. The filtration performance of the prepared membranes was evaluated against different particle sizes under two air face velocities. 
Material and Methods: The nanofiber membranes were fabricated from aqueous poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) solutions at various concentrations from 5 to 6 w/v%  under different process parameters. The morphological characteristics of the nanofibers were examined using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), while structural properties such as basis weight and thickness were measured to estimate porosity. Filtration performance, including efficiency and pressure drop, was evaluated at two standard air face velocities (2.5 and 5.3 cm/s) using a media test system. In addition, the quality factor of the prepared membranes was calculated.
Results: The electrospun nanofibers were uniform and bead-free, with the mean fiber diameters ranging from 106 to 151 nm. The filtration efficiencies were 95.72–99.92 % for sub-micron particles (0.3 and 0.5 µm), and 99.43–100 % for larger particles (1 and 3 µm). The pressure drop ranged from 67 to150 Pa at an air face velocity of 2.5 cm/s, and from 58 to150 Pa at an air face velocity of 5.3 cm/s.
Conclusion: The 6 wt.% PVA nanofiber membrane electrospun at 15 kV, 0.5 mL/h, and 15 cm produced thinner fibers (approximately 106 nm) and exhibited higher efficiency for 0.3 µm particles (99.89 % and 99.92 % at 2.5 and 5.3 cm/s air face velocities, respectively). For this membrane with thinner fibers, the pressure drop increased from 67 to 150 Pa with rising the air face velocity. 
 

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Introduction: Industrial units, such as oil refineries, face significant hazards due to the release of toxic and flammable gases. Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), due to its high toxicity and environmental impact, is among the most dangerous pollutants. This study aimed to model and assess the consequences of H₂S release in the Sulfur Recovery Unit (SRU) of Abadan Refinery using PHAST software to support safety planning and risk reduction strategies.
Material and Methods: Consequence modeling was conducted using PHAST version 8.4. Process data, including temperature, pressure, flow rate, and feed composition, along with meteorological conditions (average temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed based on Pasquill stability classification), were used to define probable scenarios. Scenarios included partial pipeline rupture, variable leak flow, short pipe release, and catastrophic reactor tank rupture. Key damage criteria, including thermal radiation threshold, explosion overpressure, and toxic dose, were used to determine hazard zones.
Results: Thermal radiation up to 71.027 kW/m² can cause instant death within a 70-meter radius, while overpressure exceeding 0.206 bar can destroy equipment and structures up to 35 meters in summer conditions. The H₂S cloud can spread up to 120 meters downwind, causing immediate fatalities among exposed personnel. These findings identify high-risk zones in and around the SRU, emphasizing the need to relocate shelters, install gas monitoring systems, and provide protective equipment. Results are limited to the defined scenarios and PHAST assumptions.
Conclusion: Due to the lack of risk assessment studies in early phases and during operation, identifying safe points and high-risk zones, along with prioritizing risk reduction, is essential to ensure workplace and public safety. Comprehensive risk assessment, including probability analysis (using software such as SAFETI) and application of advanced models (CFD and AI-based methods), is recommended for future research.