Background and Objective: In order to take control measures to protect the health of employees against occupational hazardous agents, it is essential to assess the occupational health risks. The purpose of this study was to develop a method for occupational health risk assessment in petrochemical industry. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among operational and administrative occupational groups in one of the petrochemicals plants in the south of Iran. The "comprehensive occupational health risk assessment" method was used to assess the risks of occupational hazards. For this purpose, the exposure rate (ER) and hazard rate (HR) for all hazards were determined based on the results of exposure measurements and health hazards data, respectively. Finally, the risk of occupational health hazards was evaluated and calculated by multiplying the ER by HR. Results: The level of risk in 13.6% of the investigated occupational groups was evaluated as high. Among occupational health hazards, the risk of exposure to noise and inappropriate lighting, benzene and ergonomic factors were assessed at a high and moderate level, respectively. The risk of all occupational health hazards, except for ergonomic factors, were higher among operational jobs compared to administrative occupations. Conclusion: Comprehensive occupational health risk assessment could be used for prioritizing the occupational health hazards and making desicion about resource allocation and required control measures.

This study aimed to identify factors affecting the incidence of chemical accidents in chemical process industries. The present study investigated 840 accidents in 42 chemical process industries over 11 years (2008–2018). Data analysis was conducted using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA and CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). Data analysis was done using IBM SPSS AMOS v. 22. Moreover, χ2/df, RMSEA, CFI, NFI, and NNFA (TLI) indices were used as model fit indices. The descriptive results showed that 45.3% and 32.14% of the accidents were related to transportation and the release of chemicals, respectively. Factor analysis showed that 6 latent factors and 37 indicator variables affected the accidents. SEM findings showed that latent factors, including individual and occupational training, risk management, and their indicator variables, had indirect effects on the chemical accidents (P < 0.05). In contrast, unsafe conditions and unsafe acts latent factors with their indicator variables had a direct impact on the incidence of chemical accidents (P < 0.05). The findings confirmed that chemical accidents are affected by different causal layers. Using different methods of accident analysis and combining them with scientific and updated techniques of other sciences, that is, mathematics, as well as statistics, can improve accident analysis and controlling methodologies.

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BACKGROUND: Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs) are major challenges in the occupational health services industry. Dental practitioners are regularly subjected to ergonomic risks, which can cause Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) in various body regions. OBJECTIVE: This comparative cross-sectional study aimed to investigate MSDs and select a proper ergonomic risk assessment method in dental practice. METHODS: This study was conducted on 70 dentists and 70 administrative staff of dental offices (comparison group) from Shahroud, Iran. The Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ) and two observational ergonomic risk assessment methods, including Quick Exposure Check (QEC) and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA), were utilized. RESULTS: The results suggested that the mean score of musculoskeletal discomforts was significantly higher in dentists than in the administrative personnel. Additionally, the results of multiple regression analysis technique inferred that job tenure, working hours, and age had a significant impact on total MSDs. Regular exercise was found to significantly reduce neck discomfort complaints. It was also found that QEC was more effective in predicting musculoskeletal discomforts compared to REBA. CONCLUSION: Considering the high incidence of WMSDs in dentists, various interventional measures revolving around ergonomically redesigned workstations, enhanced physical working conditions, and ergonomic training courses are suggested.

INTRODUCTION: Various parameters can affect the performance of firefighters. Thermal stress in firefighters is one of the most important harmful factors, which causes impaired performance and subsequent occupational accidents. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of personal protective equipment (PPE) on thermal stress in firefighters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was performed on 30 firefighters. Heart rate, metabolism and temperature parameters were measured with and without using PPE in a simulated standard chamber. Then, the two indices of predicted mean vote (PMV) and predicted percentage dissatisfied (PPD) were calculated. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 22.0. RESULTS: The results showed that PPE-induced weight directly increased heart rate and indirectly led to an increase in metabolism and temperature as well as significant changes in PMV and PPD indices (p <  0.001). In addition, our results showed that the effect of thermal resistance of clothing (Clo) on PMV and PPD indices was very high (p <  0.001). CONCLUSION: The findings of the study indicated that heat stress in firefighters is influenced by PPE weight and thermal resistance of clothing. Therefore, cooling vests can be used to reduce the thermal stress induced by temperature rise resulted from metabolism, PPE weight and thermal resistance of clothing. Reduced thermal stress will lead to the cooling of body temperature to acceptable levels of PMV and PPD.