Journal of Health and Safety at Work

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Introduction: Heat-related illnesses are major causes of morbidity in the world. Workers who are exposed to extreme heat are not be able to activate their compensatory mechanisms and their health will consequently be at risk. Heat stress due to its impact on work performance increases the likelihood of worker disease and injuries and it also affect productivity. During sugar beet harvest, farmers from about 8 am to 4 pm, are exposed to sunlight and excessive heat. Therefore, preventive measures are essential in order to protect the health of farmers and improve productivity. The aim of this project as to study the effectiveness of the rehydration to reduce heat stress and increasing productivity during sugar beet harvest, conducted in 2012.

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Material and Method: in this project, 20 farmers from sugar beet farmers were studied during summer season, from 8 am to 4 pm in West Azarbaijan- Boukan city where the average temperature and relative humidity were 29.85 0C and 41%, respectively during sugar beet harvest. Selection criteria were defined as working more than 50% of the day’s working schedule and to have worked for at least 10 days of the follow-up period. Individual characteristics and water consumption rate during the work shift and also Production output data by farmers were recorded at the end of the working day. Environmental parameters using a portable monitoring device was measured and recorded and finally, the collected data was used for analysis using spss software version 20.

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Results: WBGT-TWA index for four the period of the time from morning to afternoon obtained 27.39 0C, as it was greater than the allowable thresholds. Ten workers receive 6-7 L of liquid and harvest production was significantly increased among those who are better hydrated (P=0.005), from 5 to 7 tons of harvest sugar beet per any worker per day, against lower 5 tons for farmers without drinking enough water.

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Conclusion: Farmers productivity can be increased by applying rehydration measures during work.

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Introduction: Heat is one of the hazardous physical agents in the workplace. Exposure to heat and consequent thermal stress influence workers productivity in addition to adverse health effects. The aim of this study was to determine the heat stress induced productivity loss related to different tasks of farmers in Darreh Shahr city, during summer.

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Material and Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in summer, 2014, among farmers in Darreh Shahr city. After determining the sample size, farmers’ activities were determined using hierarchical task analysis (HTA), and WBGT measurements were done according to the ISO7243. Metabolism was estimated by the ISO8996. Following, the type of activities were identified according their required metabolism. Knowing WBGT and workload and using the work capacity model, the productivity loss in different tasks and ultimately total productivity loss were calculated.

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Result: The mean WBGT activities for plowing, terracing, planting seeds, watering, fertilizing, weeding, spraying, and harvesting were 29.98 °C, 31.28 °C,30.66 °C,31.39 °C,31.99 °C,31.75 °C,31.08 °C, and 30.3 °C, respectively. WBGT values were higher than the permissible level provided by ISO7243 in all farming activities. Maximum value of WBGT was belonged to fertilizing activity (31.99 °C) and the lowest value was for plowing (29.98 °C). ANOVA test results did not show a significant difference in WBGT at head, waist, and ankle height. The highest and lowest amount of productivity loss was estimated respectively for weeding and plowing activities. The total productivity loss for farming was calculated 69.3 percent in an hour which is due to high physical activity, working outdoor, with exposure to direct solar radiation, and consequent heat stress imposed to workers.

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Conclusion: Productivity is a factor which is affected by the workplace heat stress. According to results of the present research, the amount of productivity is reduced in different tasks due to heat and this reduction is exacerbated by increase in temperature and might impact the local economy. Thus, further studies are needed to improve the working conditions.

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Introduction: Workplace design is one of the factors that can influence comfort, performance, productivity and the health status of employees. The effects of this factor on human’s productivity and performance are studied in the domain of ergonomics. The impact of workplace design on workers’ productivity and performance can be determined by investigation of the quality of the design. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of workplace design on productivity of the bank clerks.

Material and Method: Samples in this cross-sectional study were comprised of 150 employees of 22 different branches of a bank in Tehran city. Data collection tools included demographic questionnaire and a questionnaire related to the effects of workplace design on employees’ productivity, developed by Hameed and colleagues. Correlation and regression statistical tests were used in order to analyze data.

Result: According to the results, the mean (±SD) for age and job tenure of participants were 37.2(±6) and 13(±7) years, respectively. Of the surveyed demographic features, a significant relationship was observed between age and scores belonging to the temperature and furniture (P-value<0.05). In addition, there was a significant association between employees’ productivity and the noise (P-value=0.044) and spatial arrangement of environment (P-value=0.048).

Conclusion: Overall, appropriate and high quality design of work environment can improve productivity of bank clerks. In other words, employees’ productivity can be enhanced by comfortable and ergonomic design of working environment and also by considering their needs.

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Introduction: One of the important consequences of globalization and development, especially in developing countries, are occupational accidents. As, today the economic burden due to these accidents is remarkable on the country’s economy. The aim of this study was financial estimate of the productivity loss due to work-related deaths in Iran in 2013.

Material and Method: In this study, occupational accident data were used registered in the environmental and occupational health center, in Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education. A formula used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention America (CDC) was used to estimate the productivity loss. Finally, after replacing the necessary parameters amount of productivity loss was calculated.

Result: The total lost years of life were calculated 1293.15 years due to the deaths caused by occupational accidents. The total amount of monetary loss due to the productivity loss in the country, was estimated 730513.06 Rials. The greatest loss was in the 59-50 years old age group.

Conclusion: The negative rate of productivity, the large quantity of the discount rate, low life expectancy in the country as well as the low wages of the workers, are the likely reasons for minimal negative impact of the workforce deaths on the country’s productivity.

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Introduction: Occupational health is one of the important issues that can affect productivity and economic development of an organization. This study aimed to determine the effect of didactic interventional Ergonomic-Safety program on workers’ productivity of an assembling industry.
Methods and Materials: This interventional study was conducted on 54 workers of assembling part of an electronic industry. Firstly, QEC method was used for Ergonomic assessment of work place and Hersey-Goldsmith questionnaire was applied for assessment of productivity. Then a comprehensive program was provided using findings of first stage assessment and identifying of existing failures. Second assessment of Ergonomic condition and productivity was done again by using QEC method and Hersey-Goldsmith questionnaire within three month of interventions. Data was analyzed by using of R software.
Results: Mean total productivity score and mean whole body score of QEC were 75.24 and 99.40 in before intervention phase respectively. In after intervention phase, Mean total productivity score and mean whole body score of QEC were 80.16 and 97.92 respectively. Data analysis by paired-samples t-test shows that difference of productivity score in before and after intervention phase was significant (P-value˂0.05). But difference of whole body score of QEC score in before and after intervention phase was not significant (P-value>0.05).
Conclusion: Accomplishment of Ergonomic-Safety intervention had a positive effect on productivity score whereas had not significant effect on general condition of body limbs.