Davood Panahi, Mohsen Sadeghi-Yarandi, Noradin Gharari, Zahra Aghajani Aliabadi, Ahmad Soltanzadeh,
Volume 11, Issue 2 (6-2021)
Abstract
Introduction: Considering the importance of implementing occupational safety and health management systems for the prevention of various diseases in the workplace, as well as determining the notability and role of induction and implementation of occupational health management systems in controlling and reducing COVID-19 outbreak in work environments, as one of the most sensitive and important of society sectors, this study aimed to compare the prevalence of Covid-19 disease in two groups of industries with and without occupational health management systems and related management risk factors in several industries, in Iran.
Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in May 2020 during the outbreak of coronavirus in some industries under Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences’ supervision. During the present study, 70 industries included 24 industries active in chemical products, 6 industries of automotive parts manufacturing, 14 industries of home appliance manufacturing, 16 industries of health and cosmetics products, 4 industries of metal products, and six service companies were studied. The studied population included two industries with an occupational health management system (33 industries) and industries without an occupational health management system (37 industries). In this study, a checklist was designed to collect study data based on the requirements and parameters of occupational health management systems, as well as information related to infectious diseases such as COVID-19, which included information on COVID-19 disease in two groups of studied industry, occupational medicine, biological hazards risk management, occupational health information management system, training, and employee participation, as well as the management parameters of COVID-19 outbreak. Statistical analysis of the study data was performed using the Chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test by SPSS. 23 software.
Results: The number of workers working in the two groups of industries with and without occupational health management systems was 673 and 708, respectively. Among 33 industries with occupational health management systems, 12.1% industries had health, safety, and environment management system (HSE-MS), 66.7% industries had OHSAS 18001:2007 standard, and 21.2% industries also had ISO 45001:2018 certification. It was found that the prevalence of Covid-19 disease in those industries without occupational health management systems was significantly higher (p <0.05). It has been found that Covid-19 outbreak in industries without occupational health management systems was significantly higher (p<0.05). The findings also showed that there was a significant difference between the parameters of occupational medicine, risk management of biological hazards, occupational health information management system, training and employee participation, as well as the management parameters of COVID-19 disease in the two groups of studied industries (p<0.05).
Conclusion: The findings of the present study indicated that there was a significant relationship between the scores of occupational medicine parameters and occupational health information management system, risk management of biological hazards, training and employee participation, management of COVID-19 and finally the prevalence of the disease among industries with or without occupational health management system. So, implementation and establishment of occupational health management systems can be an effective step in reducing the prevalence of viral and infectious diseases such as COVID-19.
Saleh Qahri Saremi, Nabiollah Mansouri, Mahmoud Heidari, Marzieh Shekarriz, Homayon Ahmad Panahi,
Volume 15, Issue 2 (7-2025)
Abstract
Introduction: Evaluation of air pollutants using green microextraction methods that do not require solvents and allow for sampling and analysis in a single step has received attention. In this study, the needle trap microextraction method was developed and the hydroxyl fullerene adsorbent was used for benzene sampling in air.
Material and Methods: Needle traps of identical length were filled with the selected adsorbent, and a standard chamber was used to generate specific benzene concentrations for sampling. Subsequently, the variables influencing the performance of the needle trap—specifically, sampling and desorption parameters—were optimized to achieve maximum efficiency using response surface methodology and Design Expert 11 software. Finally, the efficiency of the developed method was evaluated in a real-world environment and compared with the NIOSH 1501 method.
Results: Sampling temperature and humidity had an inverse relationship with the peak response rate, such that the sampler performed better at low temperature and humidity. The adsorbent’s ability to retain the analyte, despite its high vapor pressure, was deemed satisfactory, with analyte loss after 5 days measured at 5%. The maximum desorption occurred at 275°C and 3 minutes. The instrumental and quantitative detection limits were calculated to be 0.011 µgL-1 and 0.029 µgL-1 of air, respectively. The relative standard deviation (RSD) as an indicator of the repeatability of the method under study was also 5.38%. In a comparative study, the performance of the needle trap was evaluated to be better than the NIOSH method.
Conclusion: The needle trap method and the hydroxyl fullerene nanostructure adsorbent have a good performance in sampling benzene in air and are recommended for occupational and environmental monitoring.
