Injury narratives in occupational safety and health prevention in Italy.

BACKGROUND: Storytelling is an effective information source when coupled with technical-scientific evidence. It can promote a structured relationship between evidence-based knowledge and field experience of workplace safety and prevention services (WSPS) inspectors. This is key to identifying the causes of workplace injuries and to set priorities for prevention strategies. AIMS: The main aim was to describe and report how story collection can be used for deriving validated indications for injury prevention. The specific objectives were to report the results of the creation and dissemination on the web of the story collection and the experience of setting up a community of practice (CoP) to develop preventive recommendations. METHODS: WSPS inspectors from local health boards in Piedmont (northwest Italy) were asked to write injury stories. They identified the key elements of their stories and developed a narrative of witness accounts to explore the critical issues identified during the investigation. In sessions with the CoP, the inspectors validated the indications for prevention elaborated in each story to reduce bias and standardize recommendations. RESULTS: Between 2012 and 2017, 60 WSPS inspectors wrote 53 injury stories which were collected and published on the institutional website. Twenty-two stories were selected for discussion during peer review sessions in the CoP and the indications for prevention were transformed as preventive solutions. CONCLUSIONS: Occupational safety and health prevention can benefit from a narrative-based approach that provides a more comprehensive look at health and safety by facilitating knowledge improvement and sharing.

Defining reference values of trace elements in the tear film: diagnostic methods and possible applications.

The study has been performed on tears of apparently healthy subjects who live and work in urban and rural areas, respectively. After the collection the following elements were investigated: chromium (Cr); arsenic (As); copper (Cu); zinc (Zn); selenium (Se); rubidium (Rb); barium (Ba); lead (Pb) and cobalt (Co). Significantly higher values of As were found in subjects living and working in rural areas as compared to those found in urban area residents (0.290 vs. 0.025; p<0.001). Conversely, Ba and Pb were significantly lower in rural area residents (1.10 vs. 2.50, p=0.027 and 1.70 vs. 1.10, p=0.057, respectively). Our data show that trace elements analysis in tears is possible; further studies could define if it could be a reliable biomarker in persons exposed to high concentration of trace elements due to working or environmental reasons.

[Carcinoma of the colon. Statistico-epidemiologic study carried out at Casale Monferrato Hospital]. / Carcinoma del colon. Indagine statistico-epidemiologica condotta presso l'Ospedale di Casale Monferrato.

The authors report here on the results of a statistical and epidemiological review of cases of carcinoma of the large bowel observed in the General Surgery Division of the Casale Monferrato Hospital. After supplying introductory data on the diffusion of the disease, risk factors and statistical aspects, the authors report data on 137 cases of large bowel carcinomatous neoplasms observed and treated over the period 1978-1984, complete with tables summarising the neoplastic localizations aid the types of operation performed. After calculating the operative mortality and both the absolute and relative survival rates, the authors analyze the results of the survey, comparing the findings obtained with those reported in the literature by various authors.

[Occlusive neoplastic pathology of the large intestine (a clinical contribution)]. / Patologia neoplastica occlusiva del grosso intestino (contributo clinico).

The Authors report an investigation on 42 patients with large bowel occlusions for neoplastic lesions. Obstruction complications were localized in 69% in sigmoid colon and recto-sigmoid junction. This pathology involved old patients with one or more associated affections. The Authors explain reflections on surgical treatment, on necessity of therapeutic approach in high-risk patients, and of large bowel surgery with oncologic radical treatment.