Journal of Health in the Field

Background and Aims:. Identification of the most important components of occupational accidents coupled with precise and accurate documentation of them enable us to analyze occupational accidents on both macro- and micro-scale. These analyses play a key role in drawing a policy and application for prevention of occupational accident. The present study aimed to identify important parameters in occupational accident documentation and to develop a new national pattern for recording and reporting of occupational accidents.

Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, nine important occupational accident reporting models belonging to valid organizations were selected and the distinctive features and similarities of these models were determined through meta-analytic analysis. , The important native elements involved in models of occupational accidents reporting were then determined using the Delphi technique and validated by three criteria including usability, relevancy, and necessity. All stages of this research were conducted ethically.

Results: In general, 42 components for reporting and documentation of occupational accidents were determined. The proposed final model encompasses five categories including injured worker information, accident information, accident causes information, and information about accident time.

Background and objectives: Risk assessment is an appropriate solution to determine the risk of local effects in dermal exposure. Dermal exposure to organic solvents such as aromatics compounds in thinner solvent is a health problem in the printing industry. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of local exposure in dermal exposure with paint thinner for printing industry operators.

Materials and Methods: In this study local toxicity risk for dermal exposure to thinners was evaluated based on the European Union guideline of RISKOFDERM. All of printing operators of an offset printing industry was studied. Intrinsic toxicity was evaluated by risk phrases and toxicity information. Intake dose was determined according to contact surface and activity duration. Local risk was assessed by intake dose and intrinsic toxicity between 1 to 10 levels. Ethical issues such as confidentiality of information were all considered in all stages of research.

Results: According to the risk phrases, thinner intrinsic toxicity was determined middle in local effect. Hand exposure rate was assessed high level and duration of activity with thinner was 1-0.4 hours per day. Local risk level was assessed by the score of 6 for 75% of studied people. 

Conclusion: In order to high dermal exposure with thinner decrease of occupational exposure has noticeable effect on the dermal risk level. The use of gloves for printing operators was suggested.

Background and Aims: The early childhood caries has a high prevalence. Considering the importance of providing optimal solutions for increasing level of oral health and improving the health of children, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of early childhood caries and some related factors with it.  

Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study in which the statistical population consisted of 3-6 years old children in kindergarten and preschools in Marivan city in 2016.Totally, 422 children were selected through multi-stage sampling. Two dental specialists were measured and recorded early childhood caries. A researcher-made checklist was also used for demographic and background variables. The collected data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and Logistic regression using the SPSS software (version 16). All stages of the study were conducted according to moral standards.

Results: Based on the results, 306 children (75.2%) had Early Childhood Caries. The results of logistic regression showed that the Early Childhood Caries significantly associated with variables such as child age and parent's education level (diploma & collegiate vs. under the diploma) (P<0.05).   

Conclusion: The prevalence of Early Childhood Caries was higher in children having father and mother with a subordinate level of education and children with higher age. Therefore, it is essential that these children pay more attention to the design of educational programs to maintain and promote the health of the teeth.   

Background and Aims: The extent of fire incidents in commercial complexes has increased the importance of assessing their fire safety status. The American National Fire Protection Association has provided CFSES software for assessing the fire safety of integrated complexes. However, the applicability of this software to assess the safety of commercial fireplaces in Iran should be measured in accordance with national regulations and laws.

Materials and Methods: In the first phase, the applicability of CFSES software to assess the fire safety in commercial complexes in Iran was carefully examined. In the second phase, the fire safety rules applicable to the commercial complexes of Iran were identified and listed quantitatively and qualitatively. In the third phase, by comparing the software and the content of the rules, software compliance with national standards was assessed. All stages of the study were conducted in accordance with ethical standards.

Results: The rules cover all of the 12 evaluated parameters in the CFSES software. The software does not consider the parameters of the manpower population, the type of activity, the safety of electricity and waste, repairs, maintenance, and the availability of non-gazebo fire-fighting equipment, as detailed in the fire prevention and fire prevention regulations in workshops.

Conclusion: According to the results, the CFSES software elements provide an appropriate coverage for the assessment of the fire safety of business complexes. For more precise evaluation of commercial and manufacturing complexes, parameters such as manpower and type of activity, status of electrical and waste safety, maintenance and maintenance should be included in the evaluation.

Background and Aims: Identification of hazards and taking constructive measures for their management are a cause for concern in the fields of oil, gas and petrochemical industries. Tube bundle is one of the most important sub-equipments in heat exchangers, where any damage to it could lead to a disturbance in the performance of the heat exchanger stopping the process. The purpose of this study is to identify and manage the failure risks of tubular bundle EA-1101 by using Risk-Based Inspection (RBI).

Materials and Methods: Semi- quantitative analysis of risk - based inspection method was used to manage the risk of failure and optimize the inspection of tube bundle (TB) of heat exchange. Necessary information of EA-1101 was collected to carry out the RBI and finally the inspection program was determined using RBI software. All stages of this research were conducted ethically.

Results: The results of the RBI analysis showed that the tube bundle failure was occurred in the form of local thickness or uniform reduction. Also, general thinning (uniform) and cooling water corrosion were considered as failure mechanism. The risk level of this sub-equipment was medium (3C) and the effectiveness of inspection method was classified as Highly Effective (A) and Usually Effective (B), according to the API-581 standard.

Conclusion: The results showed that suggested method can identify failure mechanisms of these types of equipment with high reliability and high effectiveness inspection program with corrective action plans to manage the risks.

Background and Aims: Tert-butyl mercaptan is used as an important odorant of natural gas. Exposure to high concentrations of this substance lead to stimulating effects in human. Occupational exposure to mercaptan is measured by gas chromatography - flame photometer according to NIOSH 2542. The purpose of this study was to develop a method for sampling and analyzing tert-butyl mercaptan using GC_MS.

Materials and Methods: In this study, tert-butyl mercaptan was analyzed using BP-5 MS column and internal standard of 4-methyl thiophenol. Calibration curve was developed and evaluated in the range of 0.45-10 ppm. Repeatability of method was presented by inter- day and intra-day assay based on the coefficient of variation (CV). Recovery of tert-butyl mercaptan was reported as the accuracy of method. All procedures of this study were approved by Shahid beheshti University of medical Science Institutional Review Board.

Results: Retention Time of tert-butyl mercaptan and 4-methylthiophenol were determined as 4.05 and 8.01 min, respectively. Calibration curve was evaluated by the regression of 0.99. The mean recovery percent was 98.68 ± 6.6. Intra-day and inter-day coefficient of variance for standard concentrations was ranged between 0.46-7.2 percent. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation were presented 0.037 and 1.84 μg/sample, respectively.

Conclusion: GC-MS method by validated parameters was suggested as a suitable alternative for NIOSH method.

Smoking Literacy is defined as the capacity of individuals to understand and use health information related to smoking. Given the high prevalence of smoking and its harmful effects on the health of people, it seems that the health status of community could be improved through the promotion of smoking literacy. In this regard, health planners should design and implement educational programs based on the effective dimensions of smoking literacy. Furthermore, the more understanding about relevant dimensions of health literacy which have stronger relationship with deciding on tobacco use, the clearer, informative and practical messages could be provided for quitting smoking and preventing measures.