Journal of Health and Safety at Work

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One of the main goals of all societies whether in developed or developing countries is sustainable development and quality of life improvement. Both of the mentioned fields are known as critical subjects for urban planners, health care systems authorities, organizations and industrial sectors managers. Sustainable development is a global and human-centered approach. Also, ergonomics as a multidisciplinary science has a user center approach in which the quality of life plays a prominent role. The main objective of this article is developing a synergy between ergonomics and sustainability. This research consisted of two parallel phases. The first phase included a review in which two keywords of “ergonomics and sustainability” were considered in PubMed and EBSCO. After following the including and excluding criteria, 12 final articles were assessed. The second phase, was a descriptive study based on questionnaires among 38 participants. According to articles, in-depth evaluation and data gathering throughout questionnaires, it seems that to make a synergy between ergonomics and sustainability especially based on social aspects of both mentioned firms will be ended to effective and feasible planning towards industrial ergonomics and work-related quality of life.  

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Introduction: Throughout the world, many efforts have been made to provide suitable tools for achieving sustainable urban development and the achievement of a sustainable city. Establishing a Health, Safety and Environment Management System (HSE-MS) is one of the tools for achieving sustainable urban development. Measuring the performance of an organization in the HSE area is a precondition for continuous improvement, which is the spirit of the new HSE management systems. Therefore, the main purpose of this research was to provide a practical model for quantitative ranking of different areas of Tehran municipality in terms of HSE performance with using of multi-criteria decision-making method.  
Material and Methods: In this descriptive-applied study, after determining functional axis and performance evaluation indicators related to each of them (29 functional axis and 154 performance evaluation indicators), through designing a questionnaire and based on the views of the expert group, weight of functional axis and performance indicators were determined using a hierarchical process analysis technique.
Results:  In this study, the weighted value for functional axis of the process based HSE in comparison to the result based HSE were higher. “Commitment and Leadership” and “HSE Certificate of Occupations” for the process based HSE, “Safety” and “Health” for the result based HSE, and “Economic Sustainability” and “Architecture and Urbanism” for urban management had the higher and lowest weighted values.
Conclusion: The results of assessment and validation of selected indicators and functional axis showed that in designing and determining the HSE performance assessment model of municipalities, in addition to the axises and indicators of the HSE domain, factors affecting urban management can have a significant impact on the performance of municipalities in the field of HSE.

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Introduction: 1,3-Butadiene is a carcinogenic compound that can be emitted to the atmosphere from several sources like petrochemical industry. One way to determine the level of carcinogenic and health effects of respiratory exposure to pollutants in the workplace is to use risk assessment methods. The aim of this study was to comparative assessment of carcinogenic risk of respiratory exposure to 1,3-Butadiene in a petrochemical industry by the US Environmental Protection Agency and Singapore Health Department methods.
Material and method:  This cross-sectional study was carried out in 2018 in a petrochemical industry that producing copolymer ABS (acrylonitrile, butadiene, styrene) in Iran. Occupational exposure to 1,3-Butadiene was measured according to the NIOSH 1024 method. Cancer risk assessment was done according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and Singapore semi-quantitative methods.
Results: The average occupational exposure to 1,3-Butadiene during work shift among all participants was 560.82 ± 811.36 µg.m^-3 (0.253 ± 0.367 ppm) and in all cases was below the occupational exposure limit. The average lifetime cancer risk in USEPA method in the present study was 2.71 × 10^-3, Also in this method 82.2% of all exposed workers were in the definite carcinogenic risk level and 17.8% were in the probable carcinogenic risk level. The results of the Singapore health department method showed that 91.2% of all subjects were in the probable carcinogenic risk level and 8.8% were in the definite risk level.
Conclusion: The findings of the present study showed that the results of the Singapore semi quantitative risk assessment method are not in good agreement with the results of the quantitative risk assessment method proposed by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Therefore, given the high accuracy and thoroughness of the US Environmental Protection Agency's risk assessment methodology as a worldwide reference method for assessing the carcinogenic and health risk of exposure to chemicals, it is recommended to use this method instead of the Singapore method in future studies.

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Introduction: Styrene (C₆H₅CH=CH₂) is known as one of the volatile organic substances produced or used in petrochemical industries. Exposure to this chemical compound can thus lead to respiratory diseases. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate occupational exposure to styrene vapor and to determine the risks of its health consequences in petrochemical industry workers through a quantitative method.
Material and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, a total number of 150 samples from 50 employees were studied using the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) 1501 method. The samples were then analyzed by the Varian CP-3800 chromatograph. Upon determining exposure to styrene vapor, the risk assessment of the health consequences of styrene in the workers in the given industry was evaluated via the relationships established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US/EPA).
Results: According to the results, the polybutadiene latex unit (PBL) was observed with the highest average exposure (0.44 mg.(kg-day)-1). Therefore, the top predictors of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks were valued 0.44 and 0.71, respectively, for the PBL unit. Given the lowest average exposure (0.0012 mg.(kg-day)-1) in the drying unit, the prediction revealed the most moderate carcinogenic (0.1 ×10-5) and non-carcinogenic risks (2×10-3) for the same employees.
Conclusion: Overall, the health risk was higher than the permissible limit in the petrochemical industry studied, especially in the PBL unit. Therefore, it is recommended to make use of artificial ventilation, notably the local type, in addition to the natural ones.

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Introduction: The world is currently facing an all-out crisis over the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This review study aimed to determine the applications of the assistive intelligent technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) in occupational safety and health (OSH) and response to COVID-19.
Material and Methods: The given review was carried out from May to June 2020 and the search strategy was fulfilled in the databases of Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus. The keywords were collected from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) database and searched individually or in combination. Accordingly, the articles with the term “COVID-19” in their titles or abstracts and some other keywords such as “smart hospital, Industry 4.0, or intelligent technology” were selected and reviewed. Next, the titles, abstracts, and keywords of these studies were examined. To augment the sensitivity of the search, the keywords and the references of the selected articles were also surveyed. Then, the related studies were separated from the irrelevant ones and the duplicates were removed. Finally, the full texts of the selected articles were reviewed.
Results: In this resepct, a total number of 175 studies, published in the databases of Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus in 2020 were retrieved. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria and qualitative screening, 30 articles were included in this review. The assistive intelligent technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), big data, virtual reality (VR), holography, cloud computing, autonomous robots (autorobots), three-dimensional (3D) scanning, 3D printing, and biosensors were established as useful ones to respond to COVID-19. In addition, AI and autorobots could be the most significant technologies of Industry 4.0 in the incoming articles.
Conclusion: These technologies can thus help governments to identify, track, monitor, and treat patients and increase resilience in society and workplace environments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Introduction: Assessing health, safety, and environment (HSE) performance based on up-to-date analytical models like resilience engineering, especially in automobile manufacturing companies, affected by the trilogy of HSE factors and functions, is of crucial importance. Therefore, this study was to review the factors effectively involved in HSE management performance assessment based on resilience engineering in automobile manufacturing industries.
Material and Methods: To collect and classify the data, many relevant articles and procedures published in journals or presented at seminars were researched and cited. In this study, reliable online databases, including Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed were searched to meet this purpose. Other databases in Farsi such as Magiran, CIVILICA, and Scientific Information Database (SID) were also employed. Accordingly, a total number of 211 articles were extracted and filtered in terms of content and topic by a team of four HSE senior experts, whereby irrelevant studies were deleted, the full text of each relevant article was more closely considered, and finally 18 studies were selected and thoroughly examined.
Results: The findings from these 18 articles revealed that the HSE would be influenced in various industries by factors such as organizational culture, learning and training, political-economic variables, workforce qualifications and skills, strategic and large-scale programs of organization plus its assets and financial resources. In automobile manufacturing industries as well, circumstances might emerge because of some extra-organizational threats and intra-organizational weaknesses, whereby the appearance of deficiencies in various processes and even the functions of the HSE as a whole would be impaired. Of the many external factors, one could mention economic sanctions, large-scale socioeconomic problems, and lack of materials and production equipment. The internal problems would also range from production reduction and cuts in budgets earmarked for different management departments to a rise in the number of accidents and diseases, soaring medical treatment costs, as well as growing expectations in employees, which together impact the HSE management performance.
Conclusion: Regarding the studies conducted on various models presented so far in the area of resilience, it was concluded that the HSE performance of organizations intended to prevent and control risk factors were by no means distinct from other management factors and strategic decision-making in an organization. Rather, the HSE indicators could be impacted by many extra- and intra-organizational factors. Based on the models surveyed, it would be essential to consider the concept of resilience in HSE management. The reason for this is that the idea of the HSE would appear to be an issue of less virtue and importance in various stages and situations in the lifecycle of an organization, which is not consistent with the HSE management system and does not keep pace with the influencing factors.

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Introduction: Damage to occupational health is one of the major challenges in the industry. Various studies have shown that productivity in industries has a significant relationship with occupational health. In addition, employee’s health in the workplace can be affected by a variety of variables i.e., job stress, job satisfaction, and work in unconventional shifts. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the causal relationships of shift work, job stress, job satisfaction with the occupational health level in a petrochemical industry.
Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was implemented in 2017. The study sample consisted of 20 HSE experts selected using purposeful judgment sampling. A 4×4 matrix questionnaire consisting of four main parameters i.e., shift work, job stress and job satisfaction with occupational health level, was used for data acquisition. Data analysis was done using MATLAB software and Fuzzy DEMATEL method. Also, for each variable, two key values of D+R and D-R were calculated. These values show the degree of interaction and the type of interaction of the variable with other variables, respectively.
Results: Sixty percent of the experts participating in this study were male and 40.0% were female. Only 10.0% of the participants had a PhD degree. In addition, the mean age and the mean work experience of the subjects were 39.64±9.34 and 10.22±7.10 years, respectively. The parameters of shift work and job satisfaction were identified as an effective factor due to the positive values of D-R while occupational health variable with negative value of D-R, was considered as an affected factor. In addition, these results showed that the effect of these parameters on health is different with both direct and indirect mechanisms.
Conclusion: Using the Fuzzy DEMATEL method, our findings indicated that occupational health in the large industries can be influenced by different parameters with different sizes. Considering the interactions among these parameters in health analysis and the affecting factors, therefore, is very important. So, the health level in challenging industrial environment such as petrochemical industries can be affected by shift work as a root cause. This root cause, along with job satisfaction, has a significant effect on increasing stress levels and reducing health levels. Accordingly, any action to increase the health level should focus on improving shift patterns and increasing the level of job satisfaction of employees as a pivotal root and affecting causes on health level.

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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.

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Introduction: Comprehensive and reliable performance evaluation of organizations has always been one of the main concerns of stakeholders and managers of organizations. Performance evaluation can raise awareness of the progress made in improving the performance of any organizations, especially in the field of health, safety, and environment (HSE) and thus, create the necessary motivation and opportunity to improve the quality of HSE performance. National quality awards and excellence approaches emphasizes the fact that survival in global competition requires improving the performance of organizations on a global scale. The EFQM enterprise excellence model, as a comprehensive tool with a comprehensive approach to all aspects of organizations, helps managers to understand their organization well.
Material and Methods: This study was conducted in Tehran Industrial Group in 2018, during which the performance of this industrial group in the design and construction of one of the dams in the south of the country was evaluated and analyzed. The data collection tool was a standard self-assessment questionnaire based on the EFQM enterprise excellence model, the validity and reliability of which was tested by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient at 0.971.
Results: In terms of “enablers” criteria, the leadership dimension, with a score of 76.36, obtained the best percentage of scores, while the processes criterion with a score of 72.04 had the lowest percentage of scores. This dimension, along with staff, resources, and partnership dimensions, needs to be improved. In the field of “results” criteria, the key performance results with 79.77 points had the best percentage and the customer result dimension with a score of 69.13 had the lowest, indicating that the organization should improve these sectors.
Conclusion: The results indicated the suitable status of the organization in terms of the criteria of excellence model. The results of this model are generally used for systematic analysis of the organization in order to achieve a comprehensive view of the organization and its challenges.

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Introduction: Considering the importance of identifying and tracing primary sources of Covid-19 crisis in infection control, this study was carried out with the aim of identifying the occupational tasks effective in transmitting Covid-19 in the event of death of a female staff in medical record unit in Shafa Takestan Hospital (Qazvin Province).
Material and Methods: This case study was performed on the death of a 26-year-old married woman working in the medical records department of Shafa Takestan Hospital in March 2019. After identifying and completing the tasks, hazards analysis was performed and finally, various tasks and amount of the Covid-19 sources were determined.
Results: Covid-19 risk sources are classified into three groups of human resources with 51 cases (38.06%), office tools and equipment with 46 cases (34.33%) and paper with 37 cases (27.61%). Four tasks were identified as major tasks with a 59.90% of the total number of COVID-19 risk sources. In this study, two critical tasks were determined with the titles of “reply to requests of forensic medicine and insurance” and “reviewing patients’ surgical reports” that contained a total of 39.06% of the Covid-19 sources.
Conclusion: The results showed that the human resources in two major tasks were the most critical sources of Covid-19. So, the control of these critical tasks is of special importance. The results also showed that it is necessary to transfer the special and unusual tasks to the time after the crisis, in order to reduce the sources of Covid-19 contamination.

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Introduction: The carpet industry is one of the most important handicrafts in Iran. This industry is one of the most difficult and harmful professions, in which the employees are often working in a workplace with non-ergonomic, unsafe, and unhealthy conditions. The present study aimed to address the modeling of the individual, job characteristics, and workplace conditions with the general health of carpet weavers through an ergonomic approach.
Material and Methods: The current study was a descriptive-analytic survey. The study population was female workers, who have had a minimum of one-year work experience and working in the workshops located in Meshginshahr city villages. The data collection tool was a combination questionnaire including, Goldberg’s questionnaire (GHQ-28), NIOSH questionnaire (disease history section), and questions about workplace conditions. The obtained data were entered into SPSS-17 software and analyzed statistically using statistical modeling based on the general linear model, multivariate and other statistical tests.
Results: Unpleasant condition was observed among the 37.4% of the examined, in terms of general health. Logistic regression modeling was used to investigate the internal and external factors of carpet weavers with their general health status. According to the model, general health has a significant relationship (p<0.05) with most of the internal factors such as age, marital status, history of disease, etc. However, there was no significant relationship with the workplace conditions.
Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it can be concluded that demographic and job variables are of the most important factors affecting the general health of carpet weavers. Although in the model, the workplace conditions did not show any significant relationship with the components of general health, interpreting these findings requires more studies. More studies are required objectively to identify the effect causes of the general health of carpet weavers (especially workplace conditions).

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Introduction: Covid-19 pandemic has imposed a significant effect on mental health of the health care workers. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed at determining the pooled prevalence of anxiety and depression among Iranian health care workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Material and Methods: To conduct this systematic review and meta-analysis, Web of Science, Scopus, Medline (PubMed), Embase, SID, Magiran databases and Google Scholar search engine were investigated to find studies over the prevalence of anxiety and depression among health care workers during the Covid-19 pandemic from December 2019 to June 10, 2021. Quality of the primary studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa tool and the random effects model was applied to estimate the pooled prevalence. Furthermore, χ2 test and I2 index were used to evaluate the degree of heterogeneity among the studies. The pooled prevalence of anxiety and depression in different subgroups was reported based on the severity of anxiety and depression, assessment tools, and staff jobs.
Results: Of 488 articles obtained as a result of the initial search, 10 related studies were identified and entered into the systematic review and meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of anxiety was 42% (95% CI: 25-75) and the pooled prevalence of depression was 35% (95% CI: 19-55). The pooled prevalence of anxiety was 54% (95% CI: 39-70) in the occupational group of nurses and 29% (95% CI: 17-44) among all health care workers. The pooled prevalence of depression was 46% (95% CI: 30 to 63) and 17% (95% CI: 10 to 26) among nurses and all health workers, respectively.
Conclusion: According to the findings, a high prevalence of anxiety and depression was observed among the health care workers of Iran during the Covid-19 epidemic. The authorities are required to plan for preventive and therapeutic interventions to reduce the psychological burden of the epidemic.

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Introduction: Job burnout is a kind of psychological exhaustion that is associated with psychological stress or job and workplace stress and can affect the general health of the individual.  Job burnout is more likely to occur in jobs offering health and social services. Considering the special problems of hospital staff due to high work sensitivity, this study was conducted to identify the relationship between job burnout and mental health among non-medical staff of general, specialty and sub-specialty hospitals affiliated to the Iranian oil industry.
Material and Methods: This research is descriptive-analytical which is of correlation type. Cluster random sampling was used to select 251 non-medical staff members of Oil Company’s hospitals in Abadan, Ahwaz, Mahshahr and Tehran. The instruments used included demographic checklist, Goldberg General Health Questionnaire and Maslach Burnout Questionnaire. The data were analyzed by Spearman, Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis correlation test at the level of 0.05.
Results: The findings showed that the mean and standard deviation of age of participants were 38.82±8.3. 49.5% of participants were female  The mean and standard deviation of mental health was 2.12 ± 0.405 and the mean and standard deviation of burnout was 28.4 ± 0.634. There is a meaningful and reverse relationship between burnout and mental health, mental health and emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and personal adequacy in non-medical staff in general, specialty and sub-specialty hospitals affiliated to the Iranian oil industry.
Conclusion: Based on the findings of the study, job burnout affects mental health. Burnout affects both male and female. The findings of this study can be used in planning preventive measures, and identifying groups which are exposed to risk in work environments.

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Introduction: The study of noise has always been of interest to occupational health professionals as a harmful physical factor in the workplace. However, the psychological and psychoacoustic aspects of noise in the workplace have been less studied. This study has dealt with different colors of noise and their applications in psychoacoustics.
Material and Methods: This review study was conducted by searching the databases of Google Scholar, ProQuest, Science Direct, PubMed, and Scopus to extract the articles related to the research subject within a 50-year interval from 1970 to 2020.
Results: Based on the results of the present study, colored noises and white noise seem to have the potential to be used as acoustic stimuli to improve the sleep of employees, especially shift workers, to improve memory and attention, especially in jobs that require high care and attention. Colored noise and white noise have potential applications to improve cognitive function in different occupations to reduce the activity of the sympathetic nervous system and anxiety and stress, especially in jobs with high job stress. Also, these noises are helpful for people’s privacy, especially in the open workplace, for noise masking and noise control purposes, as well as for medicine and treatment of disorders such as tinnitus, ADHD, and hyperacusis.
Conclusion: Paying attention to the colors of noise and their psychoacoustic impacts shows us that the noise impacts are not limited to their undesirable and damaging effects. Instead, their positive and applied aspects should also note. Familiarity with such aspects and their introduction can identify the existing information gaps in this field and pave the way to fill them.

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Introduction: Ergonomics culture emphasizes ergonomics policies, goals, and programs that create behavioral, environmental, and structural reforms in the governing environment of the organization. The present study assesses the ergonomics culture dimensions in the North Tehran Health Center office building through the Delphi method and an expert questionnaire.
Material and Methods: The Delphi method was used to develop an expert questionnaire. The evaluation criteria were determined based on the engineering dimensions of human factors and the organizational culture factor model. Besides, the sub-criteria were specified based on the macro-ergonomics approach. In this case, the most critical sub-criteria were chosen using 15 experts and the Delphi method. Thus, a questionnaire was developed with 15 questions. The ergonomics culture criteria were classified considering the frequency of negative responses. The highest frequency of negative response demonstrated poor ergonomic status and vice versa.
Results: The results revealed that the maximum average negative score among the six principal evaluation criteria was related to the information and communication index at an average score of 66. The other criteria were ranked as follows: the management, staff, equipment design, environment layout, and job characteristics with average scores of 58, 56, 54.67, 49.5, and 36.8, respectively.
Conclusion: The ergonomics culture questionnaire was prepared and analyzed by an expert team using the Delphi method. According to the indices, the ergonomics culture level was unacceptable at the North Tehran Health Center. Thus, it is recommended to provide ergonomics courses and seminars, video clips, pamphlets, posters, and related courses. Also, training and development of ergonomics instructions can help establish an ergonomics culture in the organization to a significant extent.

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Introduction: Strategic management involves determining the organization’s direction, preparing a strategic vision and mission statement, and providing the basis for growth, profitability, and production. It also includes the inclusion of employee safety and health programs throughout the organization. The existence of a strategic plan for the scientific and practical strengthening of occupational health and safety is one of the country’s academic and industrial priorities. The purpose of this study is to present a strategic plan for developing the specialized field of occupational health and safety engineering in Iran.
Material and Methods: The current study is a collaborative action research study that was conducted in 2021. The strategic planning committee consisted of 20 professors, experts, and doctoral students. Over the course of 14 weeks, they held regular weekly meetings, collected information from inside and outside the organization, analyzed the organization’s internal and external environment, and identified its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Based on this analysis, the committee determined the organization’s mission, perspective, values, and general and specific goals for 2021-2024. They also identified the necessary measures to achieve these goals and developed an operational plan to improve the performance of the specialized field of occupational health and safety.
Results: Conducting this applied research led to the strategy of internal and external analysis of the specialized OHS field, determining the direction of the basic strategy, mission, perspective, values, and general goals. Finally, seven specific goals and 286 actions were determined to improve the performance of OHS. The SWOT analysis of OHS’s internal and external environment identified 27 strengths, seven weaknesses, 26 opportunities, and 12 threats. According to the results of the SWOT matrix, the strategic position of the OHS field is to implement preventive strategies and maintain existing conditions.
Conclusion: This plan aligns with the 4-year OHS plan. In developing the program, attention has been paid to the documents and policies of upstream organizations. The strategic position of occupational health and safety engineering is a prudent strategy. In this situation, strategies for maintaining existing conditions can be applied. Therefore, it is suggested to reduce the weaknesses of OHS as much as possible and increase its strategic capabilities by focusing on prudent strategies. From the second year of implementing the strategic plan, the OHS field can gradually focus on developing activities.

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Introduction: Studies have demonstrated that teaching carries a substantial burden of health risks. Prevalent health issues among teachers include asthma, respiratory diseases, musculoskeletal problems, and mental disorders. These problems can be attributed to the specific attributes of their work environment. Consequently, this study aims to investigate the correlation between air quality within educational establishments and the overall health of teachers.
Material and Methods: This systematic review aims to examine the impact of temperature, humidity, and ventilation rates within educational environments on teachers’ health status and thermal comfort. Relevant studies were searched for using the PubMed and Web of Science databases, employing keywords such as teacher, temperature, humidity, ventilation, school, classroom, health symptoms, and thermal comfort (2000-2022). The inclusion criterion was that articles examined teachers’ health and comfort with temperature, relative humidity, and ventilation of the educational place.
Results: Out of the 103 articles found in the initial search, 13 articles were finally reviewed. Six studies investigated the voice abnormalities of teachers due to various factors (including temperature, relative humidity, and the ventilation rate of the educational place) and found that these abnormalities were affected by these factors. Two studies explored the relationship between the prevalence and exacerbation of respiratory symptoms and quality parameters of the indoor environment of educational places. Additionally, five studies investigated the relationship of air quality parameters of educational places with common non-specific symptoms among teachers.
Conclusion: Teachers frequently experience symptoms such as voice disorders, respiratory difficulties, allergies, and other nonspecific ailments, which may be associated with the quality parameters of the indoor environment in educational settings. These parameters include temperature, humidity, and ventilation rate. Consequently, controlling and regulating these parameters within the recommended values can help prevent the onset or exacerbation of these symptoms.

 

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Introduction: To ensure employee safety and health, it is crucial to choose and use personal protective equipment correctly. An investigation of the respiratory and hearing protection equipment used in the industries of Tehran was conducted in the present study.
Material and Methods: This study was a descriptive-analytical study conducted in 2023 on 400 occupational health and safety experts in Tehran province. A researcher-made checklist and questionnaire (physical and online versions) were used to determine the criteria that are considered when selecting protective equipment. Statistical analysis and graphing were performed using SPSS-v21 and Excel-2016.
Results: Participants had an average age of 38.66 and an average work experience of 11.78 years. The participants reported 48.3% and 47.7% disapproval of the quality and 42.5% and 39.5% disapproval respectively of the quantity of respiratory and hearing protection equipment available in their industrial units. In addition, 56.3% of them admitted that they have no responsibility for providing or approving the equipment in their workplace. Overall, 27 and 29 criteria were mentioned by study participants pertaining to respiratory and hearing protection equipment, respectively. In the identified criteria, the frequency distribution ranged from 0.3% to 38%.
Conclusion: A high rate of expert dissatisfaction with protective equipment and a low frequency of most of the criteria mentioned indicates that industries aren’t paying much attention to the issue of choosing the right respiratory and hearing protection equipment. To improve the situation, more investigation is needed and practical and operational solutions will be provided. This study highlights the importance of proper selection and use of personal protective equipment in ensuring the safety and health of employees.

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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has been a significant global health challenge. Primary care services, such as screening health centers, were crucial in identifying infected individuals. However, these centers were often crowded and posed a high risk to staff and non-COVID-19 patients. This study aims to assess the risk of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in such settings through simulation.
Material and Methods: In this study, waiting and sampling rooms of a COVID-19 healthcare center were simulated using different scenarios. Then, the Quanta emission rate was estimated using the viral load in the sputum of infected individuals. Finally, the airborne transmission risk of SARS-CoV-2 was determined using the Wells-Riley method for scenarios of wearing and without masks.
Results: The study showed that the Quanta emission rate in an unmodulated speaking activity was higher than other expiratory activities in both units (p <0.001). Also, the total amount of Quanta was slightly higher in the sampling room than in the waiting room, which was not statistically significant. On the other hand, the calculation of transmission risk showed that the probability of airborne virus transmission in the sampling room was higher (about 2 to 8%). In addition, wearing masks reduced the possibility of airborne transmission of the virus significantly (77 to 81%).
Conclusion: This study shows that the level of risk in the sampling and waiting rooms is moderate. Masks also significantly reduce the possibility of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Taking appropriate health and safety measures such as avoiding crowds, wearing masks, whispering, and monitoring social distancing can reduce the plausibility of airborne transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
 

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Introduction: The purpose of occupational health is to maintain and improve the health of employees and improve their physical, mental and social well-being through the prevention, control and elimination of occupational hazards. It is necessary to integrate educational, research and health service activities to prevent and control potential occupational health hazards in the community. This study aimed to develop a Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA) for occupational health at Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS).
Material and Methods: In this participatory action research, a strategic planning committee was established, whose members were professors of the occupational health department in the school of public health and managers of the occupational health department in the health deputy of TUMS. The strategic planning committee carried out a strategic evaluation of the internal and external environments of both occupational health deprtments of TUMS and identified the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Then, the strategic direction of JCPOA including the vision, mission, values, goals and objectives was determined. Also, the strategies and actions to achieve the goals and objectives were identified. Finally, the action plan to achieve these objectives was developed.
Results: This applied research led to the strategic evaluation of the internal and external environments of the occupational health depratment of the School of Public Health and the occupational health depratment of the Health deputy of TUMS, determining the strategic direction, and finally, developing an action plan to achieve the goals and objectives.
Conclusion: The JCPOA for occupational health was developed using a collaborative and systemic approach. The proper implementation of this plan can lead to the improvement of occupational health indicators in the community. Cooperation between university and industry is necessary for the sustainable development of society.