Correlation analysis between occupational stress and metabolic syndrome in workers of a petrochemical enterprise: based on two assessment models of occupational stress.

BACKGROUND: Occupational stress is becoming a common phenomenon around the world. Being in a high occupational stress state for a long time may destroy the metabolic balance of the body, thereby increasing the risk of metabolic diseases. There is limited evidence regarding the correlation between occupational stress and metabolic syndrome (MetS), particularly in the petrochemical workers. METHODS: A total of 1683 workers of a petrochemical enterprise in China were included in the survey by cluster sampling method. The occupational stress assessment was carried out by the Job Content Questionnaire and the Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire, and the general demographic characteristics, work characteristics, occupational hazards, lifestyle and health examination data of the participants were collected. Logistic regression and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the correlations and influencing factors between occupational stress and its dimensions with MetS and its components. RESULTS: A total of 1683 questionnaires were sent out, and 1608 were effectively collected, with an effective recovery rate of 95.54%. The detection rates of occupational stress in Job Demand-Control (JDC) and Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) models were 28.4% and 27.2%, respectively. In this study, 257 participants (16.0%) were diagnosed with MetS. Compared with the non-MetS group, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), triglycerides (TG) and fasting blood-glucose (FBG) levels were significantly higher in the MetS group, and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels were significantly lower (P < 0.001). The results of multiple linear regression showed that after adjusting for nation, marital status, education, work system, smoking and drinking, and further adjusting for occupational hazards, the D/C ratio was significantly negatively correlated with SBP in the JDC model. Social support was negatively correlated with WC. In the ERI model, there was a significant positive correlation between over-commitment and FBG. CONCLUSIONS: The detection rates of occupational stress and MetS were high in workers of a petrochemical enterprise. In the JDC model, occupational stress was negatively correlated with SBP, and social support was negatively correlated with WC. In the ERI model, there was a significantly positive correlation between over-commitment and FBG.

[Distribution Characteristics and Source Apportionment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Atmospheric Deposition in Areas Adjacent to a Large Petrochemical Enterprise].

In order to explore the influence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) emissions by petrochemical enterprises on the surrounding environment, atmospheric deposition samples of the PAHs were collected in the industrial and residential areas adjacent to a petrochemical enterprise from March 2017 to February 2018. Deposition fluxes and the composition of PAHs were studied. The source of PAHs was analyzed by a positive matrix factor (PMF) model. The results showed that the deposition fluxes of Σ15 PAHs ranged from 549 ng·(m2·d)-1 to 18845 ng·(m2·d)-1, with an average of 2712 ng·(m2·d)-1. The flux of Σ15 PAHs in the industrial area was 1.36 times greater than that in the residential area. The deposition fluxes of PAHs in winter and spring were higher than those in summer and autumn. The deposition flux was highest in January in the industrial area and lowest in October in the residential area. Phe, BbF, and Fla were the dominant monomers. There was noticeable difference of monomers between the industrial area and the residential area in summer and autumn. The monomers, such as BbF, BkF, and BgP, in the residential area were higher than those in industrial area, and the proportion of 5, 6 rings was higher, which indicated that traffic contributed more to the residential area; 3 ring PAHs in industrial area had a higher proportion, which pointed out that their main source was petroleum volatilization. Based on the quantitative source analysis, the PAHs in atmospheric deposition were mainly from traffic emissions, petroleum volatilization, and coal combustion. Three sources of PAHs accounted for 45.7%, 18.4%, 35.9%, and 46.3%, 21.4%, and 32.3%, respectively, in the industrial area and the residential area in winter and spring. In summer and autumn, the contribution of traffic sources to the residential area was as high as 65.2%, and the proportion of the petroleum source to the industrial area increased to 35.5%. Due to high-altitude emissions and favorable diffusion conditions, the coal combustion contribution was significantly reduced.

Current situation and related factors of occupational stress of employees of a petrochemical enterprise / 环境与职业医学

Background Occupational stress has become one of the main factors affecting people's physical and mental health, and there are many sources of occupational stress in petrochemical enterprises. Objective To evaluate the current situation of occupational stress and its related factors among employees in a petrochemical enterprise, and to provide a scientific basis for reduing the risk of occupational stress among employees in petrochemical enterprises. Methods In June 2022, a cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in a petrochemical enterprise in Hainan, including a general information questionnaire for basic information, the Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) for occupational stress, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for sleep quality. Chi-square test was used to compare differences in positive occupational stress by demographic characteristics, occupational characteristics, behavior, and occupational disease hazards. Logistic regression was employed to evaluate factors associated with occupational stress. Results Of the 1129 questionnaire distributed, a total of 999 valid questionnaire were returned,with a valid recovery rate of 88.5%. The positive rate of occupational stress among employees in the petrochemical enterprise was 29.5%. There were statistically significant differences in the positive rate of occupational stress among the employees grouped by gender, age, marital status, body mass index (BMI), monthly income, length of service, smoking, weekly working hours, type of work, working mode, sleep quality, noise exposure, and high temperature exposure (P<0.05). In terms of positive occupational stress among subcategories: workers being male (vs. female), working ＞40 h per week (vs. ≤40 h per week), regular day shift (vs. shift work), smoking (vs. not smoking), with exposure to noise and heat (vs. without such exposure), and having poor sleep quality (vs. good sleep quality) reported higher positive occupational stress rates (P＜0.05). The results of pairwise comparison showed that the positive rate of occupational stress in divorced (50.0%) or married (32.0%) workers was higher than that in single (27.1%) workers, and higher in operation workers (30.6%) than in other types of work (20.5%) (P＜0.05). The trend chi-square results showed that the positive rate of occupational stress increased linearly with the increase of age, length of service, BMI, or monthly income (P＜0.05). The results of logistic regression analysis after adjustment showed that workers who worked ＞40 h a week had a higher risk of occupational stress than those who worked ≤40 h a week, and the OR (95%CI) was 1.909 (1.135, 3.211); the workers of other types of work had a lower risk of reporting occupational stress than operation workers, and the OR (95%CI) was 0.513 (0.272, 0.968); the workers with noise exposure had a higher risk of occupational stress than the workers without, and the OR (95%CI) was 2.457 (1.070, 5.642). Conclusion The positive rate of occupational stress among employees in this petrochemical enterprise is high. Among them, operators, working hours per week＞40 h, and noise exposure may increase the incidence of occupational stress. The enterprise should actively take measures to reduce the occurrence of occupational stress among employees.

Safety assessment of petrochemical enterprise using the cloud model, PHA-LOPA and the bow-tie model.

Safe production is the foundation of the normal operations of petrochemical enterprises, and it helps maintain social stability. The main purpose of this study is to prevent petrochemical enterprise accidents by proposing a composite safety assessment approach based on the cloud model, preliminary hazard analysis-layer of protection analysis (PHA-LOPA) and the bow-tie model. First, the petrochemical enterprise and its relevant indicators were evaluated based on the cloud model. Second, the quantitative effect of the uncertainty transformation on the evaluation result of the cloud model was further analysed. This mainly includes the error analysis of the numerical characteristics under the conditions of few samples and small values. Third, the critical indicators such as shock and noise can be weakened and prevented by corresponding safety measures based on PHA-LOPA and the bow-tie model. After adopting two independent protection layers, the risk levels of shock and noise decrease from 3 to 2. Then, shock and noise were analysed in depth with the bow-tie model, and the causes and consequences were identified. Moreover, corresponding safety measures were taken to prevent accidents. The case study validated the validity and feasibility of the composite safety assessment approach proposed here.

Analysis of occupational noise exposure and hearing loss in workers in petrochemical enterprises / 中国职业医学

{L-End}Objective To study the situation of occupational noise exposure and hearing loss in workers in petrochemical enterprises. {L-End}Methods A total of 2 052 workers from four large-scale petrochemical enterprises in China were selected as the research subjects using convenience sampling method. The noise-exposed level of job position was detected by individual noise dosimeters, and pure-tone audiometry of the workers was conducted. {L-End}Results The noise-exposed levels at various job positions in the workplace of the enterprises ranged from 83.2 to 86.7 dB(A), and 61.1% of the job positions had a cumulative noise exposure (CNE) > 95.0 dB(A) per year. The detection rate of high-frequency hearing loss was 12.6%(259/2 052) among the research subjects. The detection rate of speech frequency hearing loss was 5.5%(112/2 052) among the research subjects. The result of CNE stratified analysis showed that the detection rate of hearing loss at frequencies of 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, and 6.0 kHz, as well as high frequencies, gradually increased with increasing CNE (all P<0.05). {L-End}Conclusion The noise hazard in petrochemical enterprises is severe, and long-term occupational noise exposure can increase the risk of hearing loss among workers. Efforts should be made to strengthen noise control and hearing protection measures.

Analysis of occupational disease, suspected occupational disease and occupational contraindication in a petrochemical enterprise / 中国职业医学

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the diagnosis of occupational disease and the detection status of suspected occupational disease and occupational contraindication in recent years in a petrochemical enterprise. METHODS: The data of new cases of occupational disease reported by a petrochemical enterprise from 2008 to 2019, the cases of suspected occupational disease and occupational contraindication from 2015 to 2019 were collected. The related data was descriptively analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 30 new cases of occupational disease were reported in this petrochemical enterprise from 2008 to 2019. Among them, there were 16 cases of occupational noise deafness, 10 cases of chronic occupational benzene poisoning, 2 cases of occupational leukemia caused by benzene, 1 case of occupational solvent gasoline poisoning and 1 case of occupational pneumoconiosis. Among the 30 cases of occupational diseases, 28 cases(93.3%) were related to benzene and noise exposure, and 19 cases(63.3%) came from the chemical and oil refining divisions. From 2015 to 2019 in this petrochemical enterprise, 24 cases of suspected occupational disease were reported, of which 17(70.8%) suspected cases were diagnosed as occupational disease, and 63 cases of occupational contraindication were reported, including 47(74.6%) cases of occupational contraindication caused by noise. CONCLUSION: Benzene and noise should be taken as the key factors of occupational hazard for prevention and control in the petrochemical enterprises, and control measures should be adopted for special operation links and job posts to control the hidden dangers of benzene and noise that exceeds the standard limits.