The Relocation of a Health Care Department's Impact on Staff: A Cross-Sectional Survey.

OBJECTIVE: This survey compares certain quality of work-life factors between a relocated work group and a control group. METHODS: A self-administered, cross-sectional survey was conducted 12 months after five departments (304 workers) had been relocated between two public health sites. The survey explored the workers' psychosocial job characteristics, their perceived health, and psycho-organizational constraints. The results compared both the relocated and control groups by using univariate and then multivariate statistical analyzes. RESULTS: When compared with the control group (n = 272), the relocated group (n = 180) showed a higher prevalence of psychosocial job characteristic "isostrain." The relocated group showed greater psycho-organizational constraints regarding the organizations favoring communication and team relationships. CONCLUSIONS: It seems that staff relocation can provoke a sense of uncertainty and isolation. Perhaps better communication might have reduced this and deter possible negative health outcomes.

Paraquat poisonings in France during the European ban: experience of the Poison Control Center in Marseille.

Paraquat, a widely used herbicide in the world, has caused severe and fatal poisonings. Because of its high toxicity, the European Union withdrew paraquat from its market in July 2007. The purpose of this report is to describe cases of paraquat poisoning recorded at the Poison Control Center in Marseille over the 9-year period starting and ending 4.5 years before and after the paraquat ban. Data analysis showed that the most severe exposures were linked to ingestion. The fatality rate of deliberate consumption was near 50 % (34 suicide attempts and 15 deaths). Our data showed a marginal decline in total number of poisonings observed after the paraquat ban (38 vs 33 after the ban) mostly due to a decrease in the number of unintentional exposure (21 vs 16 after the ban). However, there was no apparent change in the number suicidal attempts using paraquat. Regarding geographical distribution, data showed that most poisonings in mainland France were unintentional, while poisonings in overseas French territories were mostly voluntary. Despite the European ban and the preventive measures, paraquat continues to contribute to severe and life-threatening poisonings in Southeastern and overseas France.