Identification and classification of factors affecting the non-use of safety harness at height among construction workers in Tehran.

INTRODUCTION: The accident of falling from a height is high among construction workers. Construction workers do not use harnesses. Thus, the present study was conducted to identify the factors affecting the non-use of harnesses among construction workers in Tehran, Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study was conducted by interviewing professors and construction workers in order to identify factors affecting the non-use of harness. Factors influencing the non-use of safety harnesses were identified from the workers' point of view. The obtained data were classified and coded using MAXQDA 10 software. After that, the most essential, effective and powerful factors were identified using the degree and intersectionality of social network analysis. RESULTS: According to the interview results, 27 factors were determined as factors affecting the non-use of harnesses by construction workers and divided into four main groups. The four groups were harness design, management factors, harness comfort, and attitudinal factors. Based on the results of the degree centrality, the non-ergonomic design and attitude of the harness inefficiency were identified as the most influential and powerful factors. The betweenness indicator also showed that the non-ergonomic design could mediate other factors in the non-use of the harness. CONCLUSION: The findings showed that by considering various factors such as considering more comfort in the design of the ergonomic harness, it produced a better product. Also, the use of safety harnesses by workers increases.

Design and psychometric analysis of the safety harness usability and comfort assessment tool (SH UCAT).

Purpose: The present study aimed to design a quantitative tool to evaluate the comfort and usability of working at height safety harnesses. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in both qualitative and quantitative sections in 2022. The research steps included field interviews, an expert panel, and compiling the questionnaires for assessing the comfort and usability of the harness. The items of tools were designed based on the qualitative part of the research and review of the literature. The face and content validity of the instrument were assessed. Its reliability was also evaluated using the test-retest method. Results: Two tools were developed including a comfort questionnaire with 13 questions and a usability questionnaire with 10 questions. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients of these instruments were 0.83 and 0.79, respectively. Additionally, the content and face validity indices were 0.97 and 3.89 for the comfort questionnaire and 0.991 and 4 for the usability questionnaire, respectively. Conclusions: The designed tools showed appropriate validity and reliability and could be used to evaluate the comfort and usability of safety harnesses. On the other hand, the criteria used in the designed tools could be employed in user-centered harness designs.

Cause-responsibility analysis of occupational accidents in an automotive company.

The aim of this study was to determine the root causes of accidents and the responsibility rates of the parties involved in those accidents. For this purpose, 20 important accidents of an automotive company were selected and the root causes, the parties involved in the accidents and the respective responsibility rates were determined by 10 experts based on dividing into 11 Tripod Beta basic risk factors and using occupational accident tree analysis (OATA) and occupational accident component analysis (OACA) techniques. The results revealed that among the defects in the management system, the organizational system's defects had the greatest impact on the occurrence of occupational accidents. By modifying about half of the basic risk factors, 80% of occupational accidents can be controlled. Also, by focusing on monitoring and design units, the company's accidents can be reduced by up to 50%.

Evaluation of effectiveness of risk-based comprehensive safety training planning in the gas pipeline construction industry.

Safety training programs play an effective role in reducing diseases and accidents during working. The purpose of this study was comprehensive safety training planning for the gas pipeline construction industry, and investigation of its effectiveness in a pilot project. For this purpose, in an interventional research study (before and after), a risk-based training needs assessment was performed. Afterwards, a comprehensive training program was developed and implemented based on this assessment. After 6 months of implementing this training program, its effectiveness was assessed using three questionnaires and 19 checklists. Comparison of scores before and after the training showed that the changes made in all cases were significant. Therefore, comprehensive training planning and its implementation based on the hazards of the workplace and the level of risk in the construction of pipelines play an effective role in increasing safety knowledge, perceptions, attitude and behavior of workers.

Risk assessment of fire, explosion and release of toxic gas of Siri-Assalouyeh sour gas pipeline using fuzzy analytical hierarchy process.

BACKGROUND: Risk assessment of gas pipelines is very important because of various hazards and economic losses. Using fuzzy logic increases the reliability and accuracy of the results. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the fuzzy risk of fire, explosion and release of toxic gas in the pipeline using fuzzy analytical hierarchy process. METHODOLOGY: Extraction of all hazards from HAZOP and HAZID was carried out. Fuzzy risk assessment was performed using MATLAB software. Using fuzzy hierarchy process analysis, the weight of each basic risk item (BRI) was summed up in a framework, and the fuzzy risk level was determined with a five-state criterion including highly desirable, favorable, moderate, undesirable and highly undesirable. RESULTS: The final risk score was equal to 0.1492, which according to the five-state criterion the risk level is in the favorable area. The highest risk score was related to hot work with open flame item with a risk score of 0.2485. CONCLUSIONS: The final risk score of fire, explosion and release of toxic gas in Siri-Assaluyeh gas pipeline is in the optimal area. Fuzzy risk assessment, compare to conventional risk matrices, provides more data to safety managers about the hazards and their rankings. Accordingly, the results are expected to be applicable to the safety managers while making decisions related to the risk management of gas pipelines.

Comprehensive analysis and investigation of accident/occupational disease responsibility rates: A case study for accidental CO poisoning.

One of the major problems of courts and insurance companies is the lack of a proper technique to determine the rate of responsibility of the parties involved in the accident. The aim of this study was to determine the Accident/Occupational Diseases Responsibility Rates (AOD RR) for complex events. Accordingly, a case study of a complex accident of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning was selected and Occupational Accident Tree Analysis (OATA) and Occupational Accident Component Analysis (OACA) techniques, which were solely used to investigate occupational accidents, were used with the new names Accident/Occupational Disease Tree Analysis (AOD TA) and Accident/Occupational Disease Component Analysis (AOD CA) to evaluate their applicability to investigate non-occupational accidents and occupational diseases. For this purpose, causes of CO penetration to victims' room was assessed using gas tracking methods. Finally, Fuzzy Accident/Occupational Disease Tree/Component Analysis (FAOD TA and FAOD CA) techniques were developed and used for determining AOD RR in fuzzy environment. The results showed that the AOD RR obtained by AOD TA and AOD CA based on the average of experts' personal opinions and consensus between experts, and AOD TA and AOD CA in a fuzzy environment were close to each other, with the power terminal and the power cable crossing route being the main routes of transmission and penetration of CO to the victims' room. Also, the owner, contractor, tenant, and serviceman were responsible for the CO poisoning of victims. It can be concluded that any hole, crack, or fission in the building can result in CO penetration to the individuals' living rooms, and gas tracking in early winter, especially in older buildings, plays a very significant role in preventing residents' poisoning. Further, due to the uncertainty of AOD TA and AOD CA techniques, it is recommended to use FAOD TA and FAOD CA techniques for increasing the accuracy of the results. This will enhance the court and insurance companies' trust in the opinions of accident investigation experts, decrease delays in the proceedings, and prevent any violation of the individual rights.

Epidemiology and risk factors of needlestick injuries among healthcare workers in Iran: a systematic reviews and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Occupational contact with blood and body fluids poses a significant risk to healthcare workers. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the epidemiology and risk factors affecting needlestick injuries (NSI) in healthcare personnel in Iran. METHODS: In March 2020, researchers studied six international databases such as Medline/PubMed, ProQuest, ISI/WOS, Scopus, Embase, and Google Scholar for English papers and two Iranian databases (MagIran and SID) for Persian papers. Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklist was used to assess quality of studies. The method of reporting was based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement. RESULTS: A total of 43 articles were included in the analysis. Results showed that females (OR = 1.30, 95 % CI 1.06-1.58, P value = 0.009), younger age (OR = 2.75, 95 % CI 2.27-3.33, P value < 0.001, rotated shift workers (OR = 2.16, 95 % CI 1.47-3.15, P value < 0.001), not attending training courses (OR = 1.30, 95 % CI 1.07-1.56, P value = 0.006), working in the surgery ward (OR = 1.83, 95 % CI 1.33-2.50, P value < 0.001), less work experience (OR = 1.43, 95 % CI 1.04-1.95, P value = 0.025) apposed a greater risk factors for NSI among healthcare workers. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this review, factors such as young age, less work experience, work shift, and female gender are considered as strong risk factors for NSI injury in Iran. Preventive measures including education programs can reduce the burden of NSI among healthcare personnel.

An innovative index for assessing vulnerability of employees of different occupations from the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran.

The vulnerability of employees of different occupations from the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Iran was assessed using an innovative index. The vulnerability index was developed in five steps as follows: (1) determining the principles and components of employees' susceptibility and resilience, (2) weighting the principles and components, (3) converting the levels of components to the sub-index values, (4) introducing the aggregation functions, and (5) characterizing the vulnerability index values in five categories as very high (80-100), high (65-79), medium (50-64), low (30-49), and very low (0-29). The average values of susceptibility, resilience, and vulnerability index of the employees were determined to be 35.2 ± 15.0, 73.9 ± 17.0, and 32.9 ± 12.7, respectively. The average resilience of the employees was more desirable than their average susceptibility. The distribution of the employees into the vulnerability index categories was 46.3% for very low, 41.9% for low, 3.6% for medium, and 8.2% for high. The worst cases of susceptibility and resilience principles were exposure to contaminated surfaces (59.1 ± 22.8) and top management commitment (66.6 ± 23.1). The elderly staff (especially over 50 years old), employees with low education levels, and employees in private and self-employment sectors were significantly more vulnerable (p value < 0.01) from the COVID-19 pandemic. The principles with significant incremental effects on the vulnerability index (p value < 0.05) were respectively top management commitment (+1.78), exposure to COVID-19 patients at work (+1.36), exposure to contaminated surfaces (+0.82), installing clear shields and wearing PPE (+0.59), observance of social distancing (+0.48), and just culture (+0.22). An especial plan to support the more vulnerable employees with an emphasis on the principles with the most incremental effects on the vulnerability index can efficiently control the inequality between the employees as well as occupational transmission of the COVID-19 in Iran.

Developing techniques for cause-responsibility analysis of occupational accidents.

The aim of this study was to specify the causes of occupational accidents, determine social responsibility and the role of groups involved in work-related accidents. This study develops occupational accidents causes tree, occupational accidents responsibility tree, and occupational accidents component-responsibility analysis worksheet; based on these methods, it develops cause-responsibility analysis (CRA) techniques, and for testing them, analyzes 100 fatal/disabling occupational accidents in the construction setting that were randomly selected from all the work-related accidents in Tehran, Iran, over a 5-year period (2010-2014). The main result of this study involves two techniques for CRA: occupational accidents tree analysis (OATA) and occupational accidents components analysis (OACA), used in parallel for determination of responsible groups and responsibilities rate. From the results, we find that the management group of construction projects has 74.65% responsibility of work-related accidents. The developed techniques are purposeful for occupational accidents investigation/analysis, especially for the determination of detailed list of tasks, responsibilities, and their rates. Therefore, it is useful for preventing work-related accidents by focusing on the responsible group's duties.