Articles

A decade of an HIV workplace programme in armed conflict zones; a social responsibility response of the International Committee of the Red Cross

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) works in fragile States and in armed conflict zones. Some of them are affected by the HIV pandemic. Within the framework of its social responsibility program...

Authors: Stéphane Du Mortier, Silas Mukangu, Charles Sagna, Laurent Nyffenegger and Sigiriya Aebischer Perone

Drillers and mill operators in an open-pit gold mine are at risk for impaired lung function

Occupational studies of associations of exposures with impaired lung function in mining settings are built on exposure assessment and far less often on workplace approach, so the aim of this study was to ident...

Authors: Denis Vinnikov

Health behaviour, health status and occupational prospects of apprentice nurses and kindergarten teachers in Germany: a cross-sectional study

Apprentices in human service professions are exposed to emotional and physical stresses in their workplaces. Moreover, they are in the vulnerable phase of becoming an adult. Their lifestyle and health therefor...

Authors: Tanja Wirth, Agnessa Kozak, Grita Schedlbauer and Albert Nienhaus

Cardiovascular risk factors among industrial workers: a cross–sectional study from eastern Nepal

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the number one cause of death globally, more people die annually from CVDs than from any other cause. An estimated 17.5 million people died from CVD in 2012, representing 46.2...

Authors: Prajjwal Pyakurel, Prahlad Karki, Madhab Lamsal, Anup Ghimire and Paras Kumar Pokharel

Influence of the Kinaesthetics care conception during patient handling on the development of musculoskeletal complaints and diseases – A scoping review

The Kinaesthetics care conception is a nursing approach for patient handling which aims to prevent work-related complaints and diseases. The evidence about the influence of Kinaesthetics on musculoskeletal dis...

Authors: Alice Freiberg, Maria Girbig, Ulrike Euler, Julia Scharfe, Albert Nienhaus, Sonja Freitag and Andreas Seidler

Stonefish envenomation of hand with impending compartment syndrome

Marine stings and envenomation are fairly common in Malaysia. Possible contact to various marine life occurs during diving, fishing and food handling. Even though majority of fish stings are benign, there are ...

Authors: Terence Khai Wei Tay, Han Zhe Chan, Tunku Sara Tunku Ahmad, Kok Kheng Teh, Tze Hau Low and Nuraliza Ab Wahab

“Decision-critical” work: a conceptual framework

“Safety-sensitive” workers, also termed “safety-critical” workers, have been subject to fitness to work assessments due to concerns that a performance error may result in worker injury, injury to coworkers or ...

Authors: Xiangning Fan, Charl Els, Kenneth J. Corbet and Sebastian Straube

Wellbeing and occupational risk perception among health care workers: a multicenter study in Morocco and France

The study analyzes health care workers’ (HCWs) occupational risk perception and compares exposure to occupational risk factors in Moroccan and French hospitals.

Authors: Doina Ileana Giurgiu, Christine Jeoffrion, Christine Roland-Lévy, Benjamin Grasset, Brigitte Keriven Dessomme, Leila Moret, Yves Roquelaure, Alain Caubet, Christian Verger, Chakib El Houssine Laraqui, Pierre Lombrail, Christian Geraut and Dominique Tripodi

Could the significantly increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis reported in Italian male steel workers be explained by occupational exposure to cadmium?

Multiple chronic disease risks have been identified in Italian furnace workers. A range of potential toxins have been identified in foundry dust. We suggest that the heavy metal cadmium (Cd) plays an important...

Authors: Daniel Murphy, Benjamin James and David Hutchinson

Standardized assessment of psychosocial factors and their influence on medically confirmed health outcomes in workers: a systematic review

Previous studies of psychosocial work factors have indicated their importance for workers’ health. However, to what extent health problems can be attributed to the nature of the work environment or other psych...

Authors: Susel Rosário, João A. Fonseca, Albert Nienhaus and José Torres da Costa

Endotoxin, dust and exhaled nitrogen oxide among hand pickers of coffee; a cross-sectional study

Primary coffee processing takes place in countries where coffee is grown, and may include hand picking of coffee to remove low quality beans. Hand picking is mostly performed by women. No previous studies on d...

Authors: Bente Elisabeth Moen, Akwilina Kayumba, Gloria Sakwari, Simon Henry David Mamuya and Magne Bråtveit

Identification of metal sensitization in sarcoid-like metal-exposed patients by the MELISA® lymphocyte proliferation test — a pilot study

Pulmonary function is often affected by the inhalation of metal particles. The resulting pathology might trigger various lung diseases, e.g., parenchymal lung fibrosis and granulomatous lung disorders. We prev...

Authors: Elizabeth Fireman, Amir Bar Shai, Yifat Alcalay, Noa Ophir, Shmuel Kivity and Vera Stejskal

Occupational injuries among building construction workers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Occupational injuries can pose direct costs, like suffering, loss of employment, disability and loss of productivity, and indirect costs on families and society. However, there is a dearth of studies clarifyin...

Authors: Sebsibe Tadesse and Dagnachew Israel

Awareness of occupational hazards and associated factors among welders in Lideta Sub-City, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Welding is a manufacturing industry where workers could be exposed to several hazards. However, there is a dearth of studies clarifying the situation in Ethiopia. The present study determined the level of awar...

Authors: Sebsibe Tadesse, Kassahun Bezabih, Bikes Destaw and Yalemzewod Assefa

Design and methodology of the Geo-social Analysis of Physicians’ settlement (GAP-Study) in Germany

Unequally distributed disease burdens within populations are well-known and occur worldwide. They are depending on residents’ social status and/or ethnic background. Country-specific health care systems - espe...

Authors: David A. Groneberg, Michael Boll and Jan Bauer

German version of the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ): translation and validation

Musculoskeletal disorders are a public health problem with significant effects on work ability. In the context of the promotion and prevention of work-related health, there is a need for valid, simple, time-sa...

Authors: Steffi Kreuzfeld, Reingard Seibt, Mohit Kumar, Annika Rieger and Regina Stoll

Daily commuting to work is not associated with variables of health

Commuting to work is thought to have a negative impact on employee health. We tested the association of work commute and different variables of health in German industrial employees.

Authors: Daniel Mauss, Marc N. Jarczok and Joachim E. Fischer

Work-related diabetes distress among Finnish workers with type 1 diabetes: a national cross-sectional survey

Diabetes distress is common among people with type 1 diabetes, but knowledge is scarce regarding the perceived burden of reconciling work with this disease. This cross-sectional study investigated work-related...

Authors: Pirjo Hakkarainen, Leena Moilanen, Vilma Hänninen, Jarmo Heikkinen and Kimmo Räsänen

Fipronil induces lung inflammation in vivo and cell death in vitro

Fipronil is an insecticide that acts at the gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor and glutamate-gated chloride channels in the central nervous systems of target organisms. The use of fipronil is increasing across the ...

Authors: Kaitlin Merkowsky, Ram S. Sethi, Jatinder P. S. Gill and Baljit Singh

An updated re-analysis of the mortality risk from nasopharyngeal cancer in the National Cancer Institute formaldehyde worker cohort study

To determine whether the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) suggestion of a persistent increased mortality risk for nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) in relation to formaldehyde (FA) exposure is robust with respect t...

Authors: Gary M. Marsh, Peter Morfeld, Sarah D. Zimmerman, Yimeng Liu and Lauren C. Balmert

Use of an audience response system to maximise response rates and expedite a modified Delphi process for consensus on occupational health

Different methods have attempted to obtain consensus on occupational health issues. The objective of this paper is to describe a modified three-stage Delphi process that uses a wireless audience response syste...

Authors: Tar-Ching Aw, Tom Loney, Anza Elias, Soha Ali and Balázs Ádám

Health status of male steel workers at an electric arc furnace (EAF) in Trentino, Italy

The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to determine if the workers of an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF), which recycles scrap, had higher mortality and morbidity due to possible exposure to pollutants at w...

Authors: Roberto Cappelletti, Marcello Ceppi, Justina Claudatus and Valerio Gennaro

Physicians’ working conditions in hospitals from the students’ perspective (iCEPT-Study)—results of a web-based survey

Medical students undergo numerous clinical clerkships. On these occasions they are confronted with current working conditions in hospitals. Because of the many implications of the students’ perceptions of thes...

Authors: Jan Bauer and David A. Groneberg

Utilization of personal protective equipment and associated factors among textile factory workers at Hawassa Town, Southern Ethiopia

Use of personal protective equipment is one of the important measures to safeguard workers from exposure to occupational hazards, especially in developing countries. However, there is a dearth of studies descr...

Authors: Sebsibe Tadesse, Temesgen Kelaye and Yalemzewod Assefa

Consequences of tuberculosis among asylum seekers for health care workers in Germany

Immigrants have been contributing to the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in Germany for many years. The current wave of migration of asylum seekers to Germany may increase that figure. Healthcare workers (HCW) ...

Authors: Roland Diel, Robert Loddenkemper and Albert Nienhaus

Erratum to: Vaccination against hepatitis b virus: are Italian medical students sufficiently protected after the public vaccination programme?

Authors: Monica Lamberti, Alfredo De Rosa, Elpidio Maria Garzillo, Anna Rita Corvino, Nicola Sannolo, Stefania De Pascalis, Eliana Di Fiore, Claudia Westermann, Antonio Arnese, Gabriella Di Giuseppe, Albert Nienhaus, Antônio Paulino Ribeiro Sobrinho and Nicola Coppola

Burnout among young physicians and its association with physicians’ wishes to leave: results of a survey in Saxony, Germany

Concerns about burnout, and its consequences, among German physicians are rising. However, data on burnout among German physicians are scarce. Also, a suspected association between burnout and German physician...

Authors: Birte Pantenburg, Melanie Luppa, Hans-Helmut König and Steffi G. Riedel-Heller

Involvement of lysosomal dysfunction in silver nanoparticle-induced cellular damage in A549 human lung alveolar epithelial cells

While silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely used in consumer and medical products, the mechanism by which AgNPs cause pulmonary cytotoxicity is not clear. AgNP agglomerates are found in endo-lysosomal struct...

Authors: Takamitsu Miyayama and Masato Matsuoka

Usage of gloves for hair shampooing in German hairdressing salons

Occupational skin disease caused by wet work is particularly common in employees in hairdressing salons. The objective of this paper was to determine the frequency of glove use for hair shampooing.

Authors: Madeleine Dulon, Björn Kähler, Sandra Kirvel, Günter Schlanstedt and Albert Nienhaus

Use of alcohol and drugs by employees in selected business areas in Norway: a study using oral fluid testing and questionnaires

Alcohol or drug use and associated hangover may reduce workplace safety and productivity and also cause sickness absence. The aims of this study were to examine (i) the use of alcohol and drugs, and (ii) reduc...

Authors: Hilde Marie Erøy Edvardsen, Inger Synnøve Moan, Asbjørg S. Christophersen and Hallvard Gjerde

Occupational exposure to blood borne pathogens among healthcare workers: a cross-sectional study of a registry in Colombia

Occupational exposure to blood borne pathogens caused by percutaneous injuries or mucosal contamination is frequent among Healthcare Workers (HCW).

Authors: Carlos Pérez-Diaz, Omar-Javier Calixto, Álvaro A. Faccini-Martínez, Juan S. Bravo-Ojeda, Carlos A. Botero-García, Erika Uribe-Pardo, Yesid F. Mantilla-Florez, Fabian Benitez, Ada Duran and Johana Osorio

Paracetamol as a toxic substance for children: aspects of legislation in selected countries

Paracetamol is used widely in pediatrics because it has a high drug safety when used in therapeutic dosages. In case of overdose the majority of paracetamol is metabolized to N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine (NAP...

Authors: Menen E. Mund, David Quarcoo, Christoph Gyo, Dörthe Brüggmann and David A. Groneberg

The occupational health of Santa Claus

Previous publications in the field of Santa studies have not focused on health and safety issues arising from Santa’s workplace activities. However, it should be acknowledged that unique occupational hazards e...

Authors: Sebastian Straube and Xiangning Fan

Attitude, reporting behavour and management practice of occupational needle stick and sharps injuries among hospital healthcare workers in Bale zone, Southeast Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Although the prevalence of blood borne pathogens in many developing countries is high, documentation of infections due to occupational exposure is limited. Seventy percent of the world’s HIV infected populatio...

Authors: Tolesa Bekele, Alem Gebremariam, Muhammedawel Kaso and Kemal Ahmed

Vaccination against hepatitis b virus: are Italian medical students sufficiently protected after the public vaccination programme?

The development of a vaccine against hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been a major achievement in terms of prevention of HBV infection. For the present study, we analysed the long-term immunogenicity and effectiven...

Authors: Monica Lamberti, Alfredo De Rosa, Elpidio Maria Garzillo, Anna Rita Corvino, Nicola Sannolo, Stefania De Pascalis, Eliana Di Fiore, Claudia Westermann, Antonio Arnese, Di Giuseppe Gabriella, Albert Nienhaus, Antônio Paulino Ribeiro Sobrinho and Nicola Coppola

Chronic low back pain among French healthcare workers and prognostic factors of return to work (RTW): a non-randomized controlled trial

Many factors influence the return to work of workers with chronic low back pain (CLBP). They have been said to vary according to socio-professional group. This study first aimed to compare prognostic factors i...

Authors: B. Cougot, A. Petit, C. Paget, C. Roedlich, G. Fleury-Bahi, M. Fouquet, P. Menu, C. Dubois, C. Geraut, Y. Roquelaure and D. Tripodi

Subjective stress, objective heart rate variability-based stress, and recovery on workdays among overweight and psychologically distressed individuals: a cross-sectional study

The present study aimed to investigate how subjective self-reported stress is associated with objective heart rate variability (HRV)-based stress and recovery on workdays. Another aim was to investigate how physi...

Authors: Tiina Föhr, Asko Tolvanen, Tero Myllymäki, Elina Järvelä-Reijonen, Sanni Rantala, Riitta Korpela, Katri Peuhkuri, Marjukka Kolehmainen, Sampsa Puttonen, Raimo Lappalainen, Heikki Rusko and Urho M. Kujala

Telemedicine – a scientometric and density equalizing analysis

As a result of the various telemedicine projects in the past years a large number of studies were recently published in this field. However, a precise bibliometric analysis of telemedicine publications does no...

Authors: David A. Groneberg, Shaghayegh Rahimian, Matthias Bundschuh, Mario Schwarzer, Alexander Gerber and Beatrix Kloft

Lung function and fractional exhaled nitric oxide among petroleum refinery workers

Occupational and environmental exposure to petroleum refinery products poses a great threat to human health. This study aimed to assess the lung function and Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) among petrol...

Authors: Sultan Ayoub Meo, Abdulrahman Hamad Alrashed, Abdulrahman Abdulaziz Almana, Yazeed Ibrahim Altheiban, Mohammed Saud Aldosari, Nawaf Faleh Almudarra and Sulaiman Ali Alwabel

What do healthcare workers in elderly care know about occupational health and safety? An explorative survey

Demographic changes will lead to a growing demand for healthy, motivated healthcare workers (HCW) in the years ahead. Along with well-targeted prevention, knowledge of occupational health and safety and infect...

Authors: Stefanie Schönrock, Anja Schablon, Albert Nienhaus and Claudia Peters

The Arab world’s contribution to solid waste literature: a bibliometric analysis

Environmental and health-related effects of solid waste material are considered worldwide problems. The aim of this study was to assess the volume and impact of Arab scientific output published in journals ind...

Authors: Sa’ed H. Zyoud, Samah W. Al-Jabi, Waleed M. Sweileh, Suleiman Al-Khalil, Shaher H. Zyoud, Ansam F. Sawalha and Rahmat Awang

Contamination of health care workers’ coats at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia: the nosocomial risk

Health care Associated Infections (HAIs) are a major public health problem in both developed and developing countries. They pose a severe impact in resource-poor settings, where the rate of infection is estima...

Authors: Susan Mwamungule, Henry Mwelwa Chimana, Sydney Malama, Geoffrey Mainda, Geoffrey Kwenda and John Bwalya Muma

The rubber manufacturing industry: a case report and review of cutaneous exposure and sequelae

Exposure to chemical carcinogens in rubber manufacturing remains a serious occupational health concern. Workers are exposed to these carcinogens via skin or inhalation. Rubber manufacturing work is associated ...

Authors: Claire Powers and Heather P. Lampel

Diesel engine exhaust and lung cancer risks – evaluation of the meta-analysis by Vermeulen et al. 2014

Vermeulen et al. 2014 published a meta-regression analysis of three relevant epidemiological US studies (Steenland et al. 1998, Garshick et al. 2012, Silverman et al. 2012) that estimated the association betwe...

Authors: Peter Morfeld and Michael Spallek

Health of the corporate worker: health risk assessment among staff of a corporate organization in Ghana

Health promotion at the workplace and for workers is important to promote workers’ health, improve working environments and work practices. The goal of this analysis was to provide an example of health risk as...

Authors: Henry Aidoo, Akye Essuman, Phyllis Aidoo, Anita O. Yawson and Alfred E. Yawson

Sickness absenteeism and associated factors among horticulture employees in lume district, southeast Ethiopia

Sickness absenteeism is the major occupational health problem in developing countries where the majority of working population are engaged in hazardous sectors, such as agriculture. However, there is a dearth ...

Authors: Sebsibe Tadesse, Kamil Ebrahim and Zemichael Gizaw

Two cases of hard metal lung disease showing gradual improvement in pulmonary function after avoiding dust exposure

We present herein two cases of hard metal lung disease (HMLD) with distinct pathological findings. Both cases showed gradual improvements in pulmonary function over a period of a few years (Case 1: 30 months; ...

Authors: Hiroya Terui, Satoshi Konno, Kichizo Kaga, Yoshihiro Matsuno, Kanako C. Hatanaka, Hiromi Kanno, Hiroshi Moriyama, Motohiro Uo and Masaharu Nishimura

Do overweight workers profit by workplace health promotion, more than their normal-weight peers? Evaluation of a worksite intervention

Worksite health promotion programs have been identified as strongly effective in decreasing body weight and increasing awareness and change in health behavior. Aim of this study is to determine the effects of ...

Authors: Stefanie Mache, Sarah Jensen, Stefan Linnig, Reimo Jahn, Mirco Steudtner, Elke Ochsmann and Geraldine Preuß

Comet assay based DNA evaluation of fuel filling stations and automobile workshops workers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan

Fuel filling stations workers and automobile workshops mechanics are consistently exposed to gasoline hydrocarbons during their occupation, this may cause DNA damage. Objective of this study was to evaluate th...

Authors: Muhammad Khisroon, Aisha Gul, Ajmal Khan, Naheed Ali, Farah Zaidi, Syed Basit Rasheed, Ahmadullah and Huma Akbar

A case of methyl ethyl ketone peroxide poisoning and a review of complications and their management

Methyl Ethyl Ketone Peroxide (MEKP) is a highly toxic clear liquid used as a solvent. It is a strong oxidizing agent and a corrosive. Acute and chronic toxicity can occur as an occupational hazard. Ingestion i...

Authors: Isurujith K. Liyanage, Mitrakrishnan R. Navinan, A C A Pathirana, H R I S Herath, Jevon Yudhishdran, Nilesh Fernandopulle and Aruna Kulatunga