BackgroundThis study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors related to needle stick injuries (NSIs) and to assess related safety measures among a sample of Iranian nurses.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, a random sample of 168 registered active nurses was selected from different wards of one of the hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS). Data were collected by an anonymous questionnaire and a checklist based observational method among the 168 registered active nurses.ResultsThe prevalence of NSIs in the total of work experience and the last year was 76% and 54%, respectively. Hollow-bore needles were the most common devices involved in the injuries (85.5%). The majority of NSIs occurred in the morning shift (57.8%) and the most common activity leading to NSIs was recapping needles (41.4%). The rate of underreporting NSIs was 60.2% and the major reasons for not reporting the NSIs were heavy clinical schedule (46.7%) and perception of low risk of infection (37.7%). A statistically significant relationship was found between the occurrence of NSIs and sex, hours worked/week, and frequency of shifts/month.ConclusionThe study showed a high prevalence of NSIs among nurses. Supportive measures such as improving injection practices, modification of working schedule, planning training programs targeted at using personal protective equipment, and providing an adequate number of safety facilities such as puncture resistant disposal containers and engineered safe devices are essential for the effective prevention of NSI incidents among the studied nurses.

as job insecurity, skill discretion, job strain and social support play an important role in maintaining work ability. A positive combination of "psychosocial characteristics" of the job with "individual resources" can promote work ability in such occupations. Work ability is a multifaceted and multidetermined concept not only associated with health but also with competence, values, the working environment and social relations 1) . The level of work ability in the working population can predict both future permanent disability and duration of sick leave absences 2,3) . So far, a large variety of studies have addressed determinants of work ability in occupational populations with predominantly physical demands at work. From these studies, it is known that WAI in such occupations is influenced by various factors like health problems, lifestyles, individual characteristics and many work-related risk factors [4][5][6] . Among the work-related risk factors, Alavinia 7) showed a strong association between psychosocial and physical factors and impairment of work ability.However, a few researches identified a number of psychosocial factors in the work environment as risk factors for work ability. Tuomi 8,9) showed that dissatisfaction with supervisor's attitude, lack of freedom, decrease in recognition and esteem and role ambiguities at work were associated with impaired work ability among municipal workers. Similarly, lack of support at work, poor possibilities to control one's own work and poor management were also associated with a lower WAI among construction workers and home care workers 7,10) . Although the relationship between work ability and some psychosocial factors has been described in In recent decades, work ability index (WAI) has been a common practical tool to measure individuals' work ability in many European, Asian and South American countries. However, there is no study concerning work ability in Iran. The aim of this study was to determine the work ability index in an Iranian petrochemical job setting and to examine its relationship with psychosocial factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 420 male workers in various occupations. Work ability was evaluated using the WAI questionnaire developed by FIOH; the Job content questionnaire (JCQ) was used to assess psychosocial factors. Results: The mean WAI score was 39.1 (SD=5.7) among workers in the studied petrochemical industry. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed a significant association between mean WAI score and age, job tenure, educational level, rest and sleep status and vocational education. Moreover, the results showed that skill discretion, coworker support and supervisor support were positively associated with the mean WAI score. On the other hand, it was inversely associated with job demands, job strain and job insecurity. Conclusions: This study was the first research to determine WAI in an important industry in Iran. Overall, work ability was in the "Good" category among the workers in the studied field. On the...

Objectives: Work ability is a crucial occupational health issue in health care settings where a high physical and psychosocial work capacity is required and a high risk of disabling injuries and illnesses is predictable. This study aims to examine the association between the work ability index (WAI) and individual characterizations, workload, fatigue, and diseases among intensive care units' ( ICUs' ) nurses. Methods : The study sample included 214 nurses selected by a random sampling method from a target population consisting of 321 registered nurses working in eight ICUs. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to test the association between WAI scores and each of the independent variables. Results: Results of multivariate analysis revealed a strong and negative association between WAI scores and diseases P<0.001). Among the studied individual characterizations, body mass index (BMI) was significantly and inversely associated with WAI scores. A significant and negative association was also found between WAI scores and dimensions of MFI-20, such as general fatigue (B=-0.31, 95% CI=-0.53, -0.09, P=0.005) and physical fatigue (B=-0.44, 95% CI = -0.65, -0.23, P < 0.001 ) . From dimensions of workload, frustration (B=-0.04, 95% CI=-0.07, -0.02, P< 0.001) and temporary demand (B=-0.04, 95% CI=-0.08, -0.0001, P=0.04) showed a negative and significant association with WAI scores, while performance showed a positive and significant association (B= 0.04, 95% CI = 0.01, 0.07, P=0.005). Conclusions: Based on the study findings, development of health care programs with the aim of setting up a healthy work environment characterized by a well-structured preventive attitude toward controlling diseases, and a well-designed organizational framework toward increasing the level of performance and motivation, reducing the level of fatigue, as well as reducing the workload, is necessary to promote work ability among ICUs' nurses.

BackgroundA permit to work (PTW) is a formal written system to control certain types of work which are identified as potentially hazardous. However, human error in PTW processes can lead to an accident.MethodsThis cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted to estimate the probability of human errors in PTW processes in a chemical plant in Iran. In the first stage, through interviewing the personnel and studying the procedure in the plant, the PTW process was analyzed using the hierarchical task analysis technique. In doing so, PTW was considered as a goal and detailed tasks to achieve the goal were analyzed. In the next step, the standardized plant analysis risk-human (SPAR-H) reliability analysis method was applied for estimation of human error probability.ResultsThe mean probability of human error in the PTW system was estimated to be 0.11. The highest probability of human error in the PTW process was related to flammable gas testing (50.7%).ConclusionThe SPAR-H method applied in this study could analyze and quantify the potential human errors and extract the required measures for reducing the error probabilities in PTW system. Some suggestions to reduce the likelihood of errors, especially in the field of modifying the performance shaping factors and dependencies among tasks are provided.

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Objectives Maintenance and promotion of employees' work ability is one of the important social goals. This study is aimed at investigating psychometric properties of the Persian translation of work ability index (WAI). Methods A total number of 750 employees were randomly selected from car manufacturing and petrochemical industries. Reliability of the questionnaire was determined using test‐retest and Cronbach alpha coefficient. Factor analysis was used for assessing construct validity. To determine discriminant validity, the mean score of total WAI was compared between workers with high and low sick leave rate. Results Intraclass correlation coefficients for its seven dimensions were estimated higher than 0.7. The questionnaire showed a good internal consistency, Cronbach α = 0.78. Factor analysis showed a three‐factor structure model for Persian translation of WAI including: mental resources, self‐perceived work ability, and presence of disease and health‐related limitation. A good level of discriminant validity was observed for all WAI dimensions except the item “work ability regarding work demands.” Discussion The study findings indicate that the Persian version of WAI questionnaire has good psychometric properties of internal consistency and test‐retest showed a good reliability of WAI questionnaire, which is in line with those found in previous studies. Therefore, this tool can be considered as a reliable instrument for assessing work ability.

The average WAI was at a moderate work ability level for the sample population of farmers in this study. Based on the WAI guidelines, improvement of work ability and identification of factors affecting it should be considered a priority in interventional programs. Given the influence of health dimensions on WAI, any intervention program for preservation and promotion of work ability among the studied farmers should be based on balancing and optimizing the physical and psychosocial work environments, with a special focus on reducing physical work load.(J Occup Health 2014; 56: 478-484).

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