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Background: Ionizing radiation is one of the hazardous agents in the work place. It can cause serious and irreversible damage to the people exposed to it. Working in such environments can also causes chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of CFS in radiotherapists. Methods: This study selected all men and women exposed to X-ray as the exposed group and nurses working in the same hospital as the control group. The sample size was considered of 46 radiotherapists and 46 nurses. Data on demographic characteristics and chronic fatigue syndrome were collected by the questionnaire. Results: The mean CFS score in all participants was 10.64±4.77. About 17.39% of them had fatigue syndrome. There was no significant difference between two groups in terms of fatigue syndrome (p=0.47). radiotherapists with more than 20 image taking per day had higher mean CFS; however, this relationship was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Conclusion: Chronic fatigue is multifactorial phenomenon in health care personnel. Workload is more important factor in development of chronic fatigue in radiotherapists.

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Background: The basis of welfare and health in all individuals is their work ability. Many factors such as work and working conditions, fatigue, and individual characteristics affect the work ability. In the present study, we evaluated the work ability among workers employed in a ceramic industry and determined the relationship between fatigue areas. Methods: The present study was a descriptive cross-sectional study. 200 subjects were randomly selected and investigated. This study was conducted using two standard questionnaires of Work Ability Index (WAI) and Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI). Data were analyzed by SPSS software. Results: Mean general fatigue score was of 9.65 (SD=2.88) and the mean motivation score was 7.11 (SD=2.45). There was a significant difference in fatigue in different job groups in terms of work experience (P <0.05). The mean of fatigue in different occupational groups was higher for those without experience than those with skill. The mean of the work ability index was 39.69 (good level). The highest correlation was found between the score of work ability index and fatigue index among job titles belonging to the operational group (r = 0.97). Conclusion: With the increase of the fatigue score, the score of the work ability index decreased. Better recognition of factors creating fatigue and providing appropriate strategies can be effective in reducing this factor.

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Background: Research has shown that dermal exposure to multi-ring aromatic compounds can lead to skin and systemic absorption of these materials. Due to the low vapor pressure of these materials, the main cause of occupations exposure in certain occupations is skin contact. The production of bitumen products due to the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHS) in the bitumen of the production line has a health hazard. It is noteworthy that skin rashes with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in this industry can cause skin problems in the workplace. This study evaluates skin exposure to these compounds in the ISO-industry using DREAM method. Methods: In this study, we evaluated 120 different workers in different groups of four waterproofing plants with aromatic hydrocarbons. In the DREAM method, five types of skin exposures including distributing exposure, transitional exposure, displacement exposure, probable exposure, and actual exposure are assessed and calculated using tables and software. Results: The highest transmission and distribution exposure was found to be 28.81 (19.5) and 9.1 (4.86), respectively, in the manufacturing jobs and bitumen ponds. Displacement exposure was observed only in roll-up and labeling groups. The areas of the hand and shoulder were more likely to be exposed than other parts of the body. The probable and real exposure to the head and arm was lower than elsewhere. In all occupations, the most important exposure to the skin was transmission and distribution exposure. Conclusion: DREAM method can be used to assess skin exposures. In this study, the actual and probable skin exposure levels were approximately the same, indicating a lack of proper skin protection in the workforce. Unhealthy behaviors, non-use of personal equipment and inappropriate connection are the causes of this finding.
 

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Background: Noise is the most common occupational exposure. Over an extended period, especially in occupational settings, it causes an increased risk of coronary artery disease and high blood pressure. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between exposure to noise and cardiovascular function based on the results of electrocardiography in the ceramic tile industry. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 94 healthy workers with at least one year of work experience in Yazd's ceramic tile industry were selected by simple sampling method. After completing the demographic and occupational questionnaire, electrocardiography and sounding were performed. Then, the data were analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and correlation test using SPSS 21 software. Results: In this study, all participants were male. The mean and standard deviation of age and work experience of the population under study were 35.10 (6.03) and 9.95 (4.62) years, respectively. There was no statistically significant relationship between age and work experience with electrocardiographic parameters. Although there was a significant relationship between noises and the PR interval, there was no significant relationship with other parameters. Conclusion: In this study, the only significant correlation was found between the noise and the PR interval. Also, although the relationship between exposure to noise and heart rate was not statistically significant, it was reversible.

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Background: Epidemiological studies have shown a change in blood biochemical parameters due to short and long exposure to airborne particles. Long Exposure to airborne particles can increase the risk of blood lipid disorders through oxidative stress. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between respiratory exposure with inhaled particles and blood lipid parameters in workers of a ceramic tile factory. Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, a sample size based on similar studies and Cochran formula, 128 healthy workers (77 exposed and 51 unexposed) were estimated in the age range of 24-40 years and randomly selected from among the factory workers. Sampling of the breathing region of all individuals was performed to determine the concentration of respirable particles based on the NIOSH_0600 method. Blood lipid parameters of people having cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL, and LDL were measured using standard methods. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 software. Results: The Mean of exposure to respirable particles in different units were 73.29 ± 7.75 mg / m3 and lower than standard (3 mg / m3). In this study, the levels of triglyceride and HDL were higher in the exposed group and the mean of these two parameters were statistically different. There was no correlation between lipid parameters and density of respirable particles and work experience (P value> 0.05); however, the body mass index had a positive correlation with cholesterol, triglyceride and HDL. Moreover, cholesterol and triglycerides showed a positive correlation with systolic hypertension. Conclusion: Exposure to particles has relationship with levels of lipid-related markers factors and can change the level of some of the lipid parameters. Therefore, protecting workers in units with high levels of dust and constant efforts to train and supervise workers to enhance safety and monitoring the proper and consistent use of these equipment is essential.

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Introduction: A large part of the compensation payments is allocated to the musculoskeletal disorders of the injured employees. The economic losses imposed by these disorders affect not only the individuals, but also the organizations and communities. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of educational intervention on improving the working conditions of the computer-using employees working in Yazd University of Medical Sciences. Method: This semi-experimental study was conducted among the employees of Yazd University of Medical Sciences. In this regard, 100 computer users were randomly selected and the study was conducted in three stages of investigating the current situation, implementing the educational intervention, and re-investigating the situation. We collected the information one month before and one month after the educational course. For this purpose, we used the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) checklist 1910/0900 (31 questions).We analyzed the data using SPSS version 19 and run Chi-square and descriptive statistics to determine the frequency. The significance level was also considered at 0.05. Results: We found that the postures of the participants were unfavorable before the intervention and they were unconscious about it. However, after the intervention, we observed a significant change in their postures (P <0.05). Moreover, we investigated the effect of intervention on desk and workstation medical condition and found no significant difference between the results before and after the intervention (P> 0.05). In other words, we cannot change the inappropriately designed desk or workstation by the training intervention. Conclusion: Interventions based on the ergonomic training had a positive effect on the improvement of participants' posture at work. This improvement one month after the intervention can confirm the sustainable effectiveness of such programs. In addition, educational intervention did not have any effect on the workstations; the training program could not change the workstations that were undesirable in terms of ergonomics.

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Background: Particulate matter air pollution is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. By increasing the number of mineral industries in the two past decades, workers in these industries are exposed to pathogenic respirable particulate matter pollutants. Cluster analysis is a multivariate statistical analysis method. Clustering creates groups or classes that the difference between the sub-groups samples is less than the difference between the groups. Therefore, this study assigns the cluster analysis to air sampling data collected from the various units of a tile factory. Methods: In this observational study, sampling from the respiratory zone of 93 workers in a tile and ceramic factory for both respirable and inhalable particles were performed. Sampling of inhalable particle based on NIOSH_0500 protocol and respirable particles based on NIOSH_0600 was conducted. Data were analyzed by both R 3.2.2 software and hierarchical cluster analysis with Ward link. Results: 92.47% of Workers were exposed to respirable particles less than TLV and 39.8% of them were exposed to inhalable particles more than TLV. The maximum average exposure for respirable particles 13.04 mg/m3 and inhalable particles 84.88 mg/m3 is respectively reported for crusher unit. The lowest average exposures to respirable (0.41 mg/m3) and inhalable (min=1.74 mg/m3) particles were observed in the glaze line division. Conclusion: Since the workers are exposed to concentrations more than the threshold limit value of respirable particles, and especially inhalable particles in some units, appropriate control measures must be considered to prevent possible consequences.