Irtiqa Imini Pishgiri Masdumiyat (Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention)

Background and Aim: In most countries in the world, subway stations are considered as shelters due to their deep ground settlement. However, in our country, Iran, many of these stations have been situated in the proximity of ground level, and are vulnerable and consequently, their extensive seismic damage is very likely, making them unsafe environments for the passengers. In this regard, this research aims to present an emergency response plan for evacuation of unsafe subway stations in probable future earthquakes.

Methods: This applied research was undertaken in four steps. In the first step, an analysis of the existing situation of the subway stations in Tehran was done. In the second step, a checklist was designed to assess the subway stations including 8 parameters which were completed by the authors. In the third step, few of the Tehran subway stations such as Golhak, Imam Khomeini, Darvazeh Dowlat and Khayam were chosen for field visits. The main parameters were based on the location of the stations to the earthquake intensity zone and their approximation to the ground level. In the fourth step, the gained information was gathered and an emergency planning guideline was conducted on that basis.

Results: The Tehran subway (Metro stations), with an average of two and half million people commuting daily, plays an important role in inner city trips. Many of Tehran subway stations can be used as shelters, but this study showed that a significant number of these stations are considered unsafe. Developing an emergency plan and issuing an emergency response guide for emergency evacuation can be considered the first step in improving the subway safety.

Conclusion: Due to the importance of the subway stations during and after earthquakes, the following issues can help to improve the existing situation: using warning signs for quick alarming, training the train drivers to stop in the nearest station and asking people to securely leave the train, training the subway officials to guide people properly for a quick and safe exit from the stations, and training  passengers to evacuate and shelter in the stations, which can be made possible through designing the emergency response planning and evacuation of the stations in order to reduce the casualties in the future probable earthquakes.

Please cite this article as:

Hosseini M, Ostovar Izadkhah Y. Guidelines on Earthquake Emergency Response Planning for Evacuation of Tehran Unsafe Subway Stations. 2023;11(3):153-163. https://doi.org/10.22037/iipm.v11i3.44363

Background and Aim:  In mass gatherings, participants' health may be threatened, and failure to pay attention to this issue can have unfortunate consequences for them. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of designing and validating the resilience model of mass human gatherings with the health, safety and environment strategy.

Methods: The present study is one of the types of applied studies, which was conducted in two stages, including data collection, questionnaire design, and data analysis by combining DEMATEL and ANP tools (DENAP method). In the second step, the seven steps of Denep technique were used. Also, at the stage of calculating the direct correlation matrix in the Denap technique, to evaluate the relationships between the criteria, the opinions of experts were used using a rating scale of 0 to 4.

Results: Based on the results of the present study, four dimensions of resilience were identified in mass gatherings, including indicators of vulnerability, severity of crisis, probability of occurrence of crisis and severity of crisis. Also, the results of the weighted supermatrices showed that in the indicators of vulnerability, capability, probability of crisis and severity of the crisis respectively, the criteria of the impossibility of implementing laws in special emergency conditions, the participation of visitors in the implementation of health promotion programs, the existence of unstable and unsafe structures, and the lack of transportation facilities And the transfer for the elderly and physically disabled have the highest weight.

Conclusion: To investigate and plan the formation and holding of human gatherings with sacred and religious purposes, it is necessary to carry out risk and resilience assessments in the target area so that it can be corrected by finding its weak points. The implementation of these models can help us find out what is the most important weakness in increasing the risk of gatherings and what is the best way to reduce it and increase the resilience of the region to hold these gatherings.

Please cite this article as:

Safipour M, Zaeimdar M, omidvari M, Naserifar R. Design and validation of the resilience model of mass human gatherings with health, safety and environment strategy. Irtiqa Imini Pishgiri Masdumiyat.  2023;11(1):40-572023;11(3):184-195

Background and Aim: With the increase in the use of nanomaterials, there is a greater risk of exposure to harmful substances in occupational settings, especially in those with limited information on the impact on human health. As a result, the assessment of risks associated with these materials is often challenging, as traditional methods are not sufficient. The development and implementation of tools for classifying risk levels can be seen as an essential step in protecting the well-being of individuals engaged in work related to nanomaterials. Among the various approaches, Control Banding (CB) classification emerges as an effective and practicable qualitative technique for evaluating the potential health hazards linked to engineered nanomaterials. The primary objective of this study revolves around employing the Control Banding approach to evaluate and mitigate occupational risks stemming from the manipulation of nanomaterials.

Methods: The resources were examined in order to identify the factors that impact health hazards in workplaces that handle nanomaterials. This examination considered the potential risks associated with nanomaterials found in the Web of Science and Scopus databases, as well as citations from authoritative sources such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). After conducting a thorough analysis of the available literature, the hazards associated with chemical substances and exposure methods when working with nanomaterials were identified. This analysis further resulted in the determination of the risk and exposure score using the CB approach. Furthermore, an investigation was conducted on control measures related to the identified level of risk.

Results: The categorization of risk scores, determined by the approach of classifying control measures, yielded five distinct categories. These categories, ranging from HB1 as the lowest to HB5 as the highest level of risk, were established based on information pertaining to indicators such as acute toxicity, sensitization, stimulation, and organ damage. Similarly, the categorization of exposure scores, determined by the approach of classifying control measures, resulted in four distinct categories. These categories, ranging from EB1 as the lowest to EB4 as the highest level of exposure, were derived from information concerning the manufacturing methods and release power of various types of nanomaterials, taking into account the probability of exposure. Subsequently, by merging the categories corresponding to the risk score and exposure, the risk level was determined across five categories, with R1 representing the lowest and R5 representing the highest level of risk. In accordance with the classification approach, control measures were proposed based on each level of occupational risk when working with nanomaterials.

Conclusion: The nanomaterials risk management tool based on the approach of CB is an easy and qualitative method to evaluate and make decisions in order to reduce the risk of handing nanomaterials. In this approach, it is easy to achieve risk assessment results by identifying the inherent risks of a substance and predicting the probability of exposure. Using such tools in work environments can help professionals identify and remove obstacles and provide the possibility to communicate with managers.

Please cite this article as:

Naziri S.H, Pouyakian M, Sadegh Hassani S, Farhang Dehghan S. Providing a risk management tool for handling with nanomaterials based on Control Banding approach. Irtiqa Imini Pishgiri Masdumiyat.  2023;11(1):40-572023;11(3):210-222