Occupational hazards, health conditions and personal protective equipment used among healthcare workers in hospitals, Thailand

Farm operations and slips, trips, and falls among corn farm workers in Thailand

Slips, trips, and falls (STFs) represent a main source of injury among farm workers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between farm operations and STFs among corn farm workers. We conducted a cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire among corn farm workers in Nan and Saraburi provinces, Thailand from July 5 to 23, 2022. Poisson regression analysis was used. Among 338 participants, 122 (36.1%) had experienced an STF in the previous 6 months. Conducting very frequent, frequent, or occasional pest management was associated with a higher incidence rate ratio (IRR) of STFs than never or rarely pest management (adjusted IRR 1.93, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.23 to 3.04, p=0.004). People with marginal or unsatisfactory work break lengths had a higher incidence rate of STFs than those with satisfactory work breaks (adjusted IRR 1.40, 95% CI=1.03 to 1.89, p=0.030). We found that corn farm workers in our study often experienced STFs, which was associated with a high frequency of pest management practices and inadequate work breaks. Reducing the physical burden of pest management may be effective as an STF prevention strategy.

The reality of occupational harm incurred by Japanese home health care nurses, the hazardous situations they face, and protective measures: a cross-sectional study

Objectives: To gain a comprehensive understanding of the occupational hazards encountered by home health care nurses in Japan and to elucidate the reality of harm they incur, the hazardous situations, and the protective measures taken.

Methods:A questionnaire survey of managers of home health care nursing agencies in Japan was conducted, and 355 valid responses were obtained. The survey questions concerned the occupational hazards experienced by home health care nursing staff. The occupational hazards were classified into 6 categories, and responses were obtained regarding harm, hazardous situations, and protective measures in each category.

Results: The types of harm that occurred at highest rates during the previous 3 years were emotional abuse by the patient or their family members, lower back pain resulting from improper posture while providing care, sexual harassment by the patients and their family members, automobile accidents while traveling to home care sites, and allergic reactions to the environment at home care sites. Some hazardous situations were caused by the unique environments of home care sites.

Conclusions: In order to prevent the occurrence of harm, the development of risk assessment tools, educational initiatives to increase awareness of occupational hazards, and consideration of the financial and technical support that will enable the use of assistive devices in the practice of nursing techniques were considered necessary. The development of effective guidelines and manuals specific to the occupational hazards encountered by home health care nurses is an important challenge.

The association between adverse ergonomic factors and work-related musculoskeletal symptoms among medical staff in China: a cross-sectional study

We investigated the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal symptoms (WMSs) among medical staff and evaluated the associations of different levels of adverse ergonomic factors with WMSs. A total of 6099 Chinese medical staff were asked to complete a self-reported questionnaire to assess the prevalence and risk factors of WMSs from June 2018 to December 2020. A prevalence rate of 57.5% was observed for WMSs among overall medical staffs, which mainly affected the neck (41.7%) and shoulder (33.5%). 'Keeping sitting for long hours very frequently' (OR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.53) was positively associated with WMSs in doctors, while 'keeping sitting for long hours occasionally' (OR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.85, 0.97) was identified as a protective factor of WMSs in nurses. The associations of adverse ergonomic factors, organisational factors, and environmental factors with WMSs were different among medical staff in different positions.Practitioner summary: We conducted a multi-city study concerning the risk factors of WMSs by carrying out a face-to-face one-to-multiple questionnaire survey among medical staff in China. As a risk factor of WMSs in medical staff, adverse ergonomic factors should be paid more attention by the standard setting department and policy makers.Abbreviations: WMSDs: work-related musculoskeletal disorders; WMSs: work-related musculoskeletal symptoms; MSDs: musculoskeletal disorders; NMQ: Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaires; DMQ: Dutch Musculoskeletal Questionnaires; NIOSH: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; ORs: odds ratios.

Associations between maternal occupational exposures and pregnancy outcomes among Chinese nurses: a nationwide study

BACKGROUND

Several studies have provided evidence about adverse pregnancy outcomes of nurses involved in occupational exposure. However, the pregnancy outcomes among nurses in middle-income countries are not well demonstrated. The main aim of this study is to present the prevalence and influencing factors of pregnancy outcomes among female nurses in China.

METHODS

We included 2243 non-nurse health care workers, and 4230 nurses in this national cross-sectional study in China. Information on occupational exposures and pregnancy outcomes was collected using a face-to-face investigation. Odds ratios (ORs) were estimated through logistic regression.

RESULTS

The proportion of threatened abortion, spontaneous abortion, and stillbirth of female nurses was 2.6%, 7%, and 2.1%, respectively. We found an increased risk of threatened abortion among nurses with overtime work (OR = 1.719, 95% CI 1.158-2.550). The risk of threatened abortion and spontaneous abortion was elevated among nurses handling disinfectant (OR = 2.293 and 1.63, respectively). We found a nearly twofold increased risk of premature birth (OR = 2.169, 95% CI 1.36-3.459) among nurses handling anti-cancer drugs.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggested that maternal occupational exposures might be associated with the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes among female nurses in China. We recommend that policy-markers and hospital managers work together to reduce exposure to occupational hazards and improve pregnancy outcomes among female nurses.

Awareness of occupational health hazards and occupational stress among dental care professionals: Evidence from the GCC region

A hazardous work environment creates critical concerns, and resultantly, workers may suffer from job-related stress. So, this study aimed at identifying the nature of hazards prevailing in dental hospitals and their role in increasing job-related stress. The study also assumes that awareness of the existence of health hazards and their possible risk will originate the stress. To conduct the study, close-ended questionnaires were administered to 300 workers having more than 1 year of experience in Oral and Dental Health Services provided by the Kingdom of Bahrain. In total, 222 responses with an acceptable level of accuracy were included for statistical treatment. Results confirmed the prevalence of ergonomic, biological, physical, and, to some extent, chemical hazards in the workplace. Results revealed that stress befalls the employees as they know their exposure to these hazards. Ergonomic hazards have the highest prevalence, chemical hazards are the least prevalent, while biological and physical hazards fall in between. This study enriches the related bank of literature by tapping the hazards specifically in the dental hospitals' environment with the degree of intensity of their prevalence within the context at hand. The study of the impact of these workplace health hazards on occupational stress with mediating effect of awareness is also an addition to the existing literature. The findings may help hospital administrators to take correct measures to manage job-related stress that is counterproductive and take remedial steps to mitigate these hazards.

Heat Stress, Physiological Response, and Heat-Related Symptoms among Thai Sugarcane Workers

Prolonged or intense exposure to heat can lead to a range of health effects. This study investigated heat exposure and heat-related symptoms which sugarcane workers (90 sugarcane cutters and 93 factory workers) experienced during a harvesting season in Thailand. During the hottest month of harvesting season, wet bulb globe temperature was collected in the work environment, and workloads observed, to assess heat stress. Urine samples for dehydration test, blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature were measured pre- and post-shift to measure heat strain. Fluid intake and heat-related symptoms which subjects had experienced during the harvesting season were gathered via interviews at the end of the season. From the results, sugarcane cutters showed high risk for heat stress and strain, unlike factory workers who had low risk based on the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygiene (ACGIH) threshold limit values (TLVs) for heat stress. Dehydration was observed among sugarcane cutters and significant physiological changes including heart rate, body temperature, and systolic blood pressure occurred across the work shift. Significantly more sugarcane cutters reported experiencing heat-related symptoms including weakness/fatigue, heavy sweating, headache, rash, muscle cramp, dry mouth, dizziness, fever, dry/cracking skin, and swelling, compared to sugarcane factory workers. We conclude that the heat stress experienced by sugarcane cutters working in extremely hot environments, with high workloads, is associated with acute health effects. Preventive and control measures for heat stress are needed to reduce the risk of heat strain.