Journal of Health and Safety at Work

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Introduction: Needlestick (NSI) is a known serious treat and occupational exposure among health care workers especially nurses. Since nurses are the biggest part of healthcare workers, and considerable percent of NSI are preventable, we decided to determine frequency of NSI and some related occupational factors among a group of them.

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Methods and Materials: This cross-sectional project was conducted among all the nurses (340 nurses with at least one year work experience) in Babol and Amirkola educational and private hospitals (in north of Iran). The data were gathered by means of a tailor-made data collection sheet including personal information and some occupational effective factors, during autumn and winter. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistical indexes and Chi-square test.

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Results: Our result showed that the relative frequency of NSI among the nurses group (the mean age of nurses was 33.8±7.7 years old and the mean work experience was 10.3±8 years) was 59.7 percent. Chi-square test result indicated that there were significant differences between NSI in different groups of some personal and occupational factors including age, years of experience, training condition, and needle recapping(p<0.05).

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Conclusion: According to positive effects of training and negative effects of incorrect working habits, repetition and completion of occupational education is necessary.

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Introduction: Correspondence analysis method and preparation of accidents and occupational hazards pattern is able to predict and anticipate accidents and is automatically prioritize the risks and injuries. The aim of this study was to present accidents and occupational hazards pattern based on risk-injury groups, which use it to manage of occupational accidents.

Material and Method: The report of occupational accidents, registered in the social security organization was collected in a period of ten years from 2005 to 2015 (222,300 accidents). Types of risk and injuries to any of the accidents specified based on International Labor Organization criteria and risk of injury were classified in a matrix (18 × 18). Risk-injury groups were separately identified using correspondence analysis and collapse process, as patterns of accidents and occupational hazards. In the mentioned patterns, the relationship between risks and damage can be identified, as it facilitates decision-making in risk assessment in companies covered by the social security organization.

Result: According to the findings, three groups of occupational accidents were obtained and variables of these three groups extracted from the obtained patterns. The first group included six risks and seven injuries that the risks variables were: contact with hot materials, accidents caused by caustic  and corrosive substances, contact with chemicals, accidents caused by toxic substances, contact with electrical equipment, explosion and fire, and injuries were: burns, other injuries, multiple injuries, gas poisoning, suffocation, poisoning, environmental hazards. The second group included seven risks and six injuries that the risks variables were: accidents caused by displacement, projections of fragments or particles, accidents caused by machine tools, slipping, falling people, falling objects, other accidents and injuries were: twists and sprains, dipping the objects in the body, objects in the eyes, cuts and amputations, superficial wounds, deep wounds. Finally, the third group included five risks and five injuries that risks variables were: Falling under the rubble, accident with vehicle, accidents caused by displacement, colliding of persons against objects, projections of fragments or particles, accidents caused by manual tools, trapped between objects, accidents caused by machine tools and injuries were: fractures, dislocation, back pain, hitting, contusions and crushing. It should be noted that the study of these patterns can be used to identify and prioritize of occupational accidents.

Conclusion: The proposed groups make new opportunities for development of the applications to analyze, interpret and automate management of occupational accidents in order to minimize uncertainty and increase its objectivity. Its advantage over other similar analyses can be considering both the risks and injury and to obtain groups of two variables. Due to the frequency and distribution of mass of risk and injury variables in the groups, the risk and injury variables of group 3 are the most important, and the risk and injury variables of group 2 are less important and the risk and injury variables of group 1 have the least importance.

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Introduction: Occupational injuries are considered as the most common work-related risk factors among the medical sciences students. Medical sciences students are mostly exposed to needle stick injuries and sharp objects when training in the clinical environment due to lack of enough experience. This study aimed at investigating the frequency of these injuries and the related causes of its occurrence among the students in various disciplines of medical sciences.
Material and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on the students of Fasa University of Medical Sciences in 2017. All medical, nursing, operating room, anesthesiology, and medical emergencies students were recruited to this stud using census method. Then, a questionnaire was distributed among them. The data collection tool in this study was a researcher-made questionnaire consisting of two parts of demographic characteristics and the related causes of the occurrence of injuries. After completing the questionnaire by the students, data management and analysis was performed using statistical tests and SPSS 22.
Results: The results of this study showed that 74 students (24.3%) had reported being injured caused by sharp objects at least once over their studying period of time. Twenty-six students (35.1%) described their carelessness as the main cause of the injuries. Intramuscular injection with 20 cases (27%) was the most important procedure leading to needle stick exposure. Chi-square statistical test showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the frequency of injuries caused by sharp objects and gender, so that the exposure frequency was more reported by the male students (P <0.05).
Conclusion: The results showed that injuries caused by needle stick and sharp objects are high in medical sciences students. Due to this high prevalence, in educational programs, and especially in the clinical setting, accurate and precise training and arrangements are highl recommended with the emphasis on safety measures. Also, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), before and during working with the patient is essential for medical sciences students. In addition, due to disability of injured students, making a planning program for training them about the potential risk of these injuries is necessary.

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Introduction: Risk assessment matrix is a tool used in a project’s risk assessment process to identify the probability of risks and evaluate the potential damages caused by those risks. Generally, a risk assessment matrix is drawn in a two-dimensional form, with two factors: the severity of the accident and the probability of its occurrence. So, the purpose of this study is to develop a specific risk assessment matrix in a three-dimensional form by using the accident severity grade (ASG) rating system, the accident probability, and taking into account the preventive approach that helps occupational injury risk assessment in the automobile industry.
Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 1402 (2023) in one of the automobile assembly industries. One hundred cases were randomly selected by examining the reports of this industry’s past accidents. The ASG scoring checklist was designed and completed by the experts to assess the severity of accidents. Then, considering the ASG score, the frequency of the accident, and its preventability, a three-dimensional risk assessment matrix specific to this industry was presented.
Results: According to the findings of the accident analysis, a total of 658 accidents and 15,019 lost working days were recorded in this period. The most influential factor in the occurrence of accidents is related to “surface condition” (influence factor = 0.6), and the least of them belongs to the “weather conditions” (influence factor = 0.028). The results of the three-dimensional matrix show that when the ability to prevent accidents increases, the risk of accidents decreases.
Conclusion: Using the accident severity grade (ASG) and preventability in the proposed three-dimensional risk assessment matrix, the accident severity can be quantified immediately after the accident. This approach allows monitoring workplaces during the accident, leading to timely control and risk management implementation.