Iranian Journal of Ergonomics

Introduction: Musculoskeletal disorders are the major health problems in nurses. One of the main reasons is patient transfer. The work technique of nursing personnel during patient transfers has been evaluated using different methods. One of the most useful ones is Direct Nurse Observation Instrument (DINO). The purpose of the present study was to assess the musculoskeletal disorders risk related to patient transfer in nursing personnel using the DINO method.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among 250 nurses working in affiliated hospitals of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran in 2015. Data were collected by Nordic questioners and DINO index check list. The validity and reliability of DINO checklist were reviewed and approved. For data analysis, independent t-test, chi-squared test and logistic regression were used.

Results: The average result of DINO checklist was 9.73 points (SD = 1.8), which can suggest that the way in which the technical transfer was carried out might not have been the safest. The results showed that the occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders in nursing staff was significantly associated with final scoring of the DINO index (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: According to the findings, DINO was an appropriate tool to assess musculoskeletal disorders risk due to patient handling in the nursing personnel. This method can be used in the evaluation of patient transfer educational programs and also to identify and assess an unsafe work techniques used by nurses.

Background and Objectives: One of the most important causes of industrial incidents, of which 90% is related to human factors, is to refuse to accept errors because of fear of blaming and concealing them. In the present study, the relationship between just culture and safety culture was investigated in one of the industrial sections of Tehran. 
Methods: The research was descriptive-analytic and conducted as a cross-sectional study. Out of 320 a sample of 181 staff who worked at the operational and administrative sections were selected in an accessible manner. The research instruments consisted of questionnaires of personal and occupational information, just culture and safety culture. Data was analyzed using, Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariate regression by SPSS22 software.
Results: The relationship between different dimensions of safety culture and just culture is 0.84 (P<0.001). The power prediction of safety culture is based on different dimensions of the just culture 0.70 (P<0.05). Between different dimensions of safety culture, the level of information exchange, education and management commitment are most closely related to mean of just culture. Also, the level of information exchange is the highest and safety priority shows the least link with the just culture. Therefore, the exchange of information can lead to a continuous improvement of the just culture.
Conclusion: Evaluating the just culture, the safety culture of the employees of the organization can be predicted with a high level of certainty, which shows the direct relationship between the just culture and the safety culture. So, increasing the just culture directly contributes to the development of the safety culture.
 

Background and Objectives: Studies have shown the effect of smoking on mental and cognitive performance of the individuals who need to concentrate on their work. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of smoking on cognitive performance of the automotive industry workers. 
Methods: In this case-control study conducted in 2018, 280 automotive industry workers were selected through the simple random sampling and then assigned to  two groups of smokers (100 cases) and non-smokers (180 controls). All the subjects were selected from the environments with the sound levels of 82 to 88 dB. The workers’ cognitive performance was also tested using the CPT, Stroop and Tower of London tests.
Results: The mean age of the case group was 36/02 (3/7) and that of the control group was 36/25 (3/65) years. The results showed that the scores of the TOL test in the case group (smokers) were lower than those of the non-smokers (OR=0/903, P<0.01), and other items of the TOL test had no significant relationship with the individuals’ smoking status (P>0/05). The Stroop and continuous performance tests also had a significant relationship with the individuals’ smoking status in terms of the number of correct responses and the response time as well as interference (P<0.01). Other items had no relationship with the individuals’ smoking status (P>0/05).
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the use of cigarettes and nicotine substances significantly decreased the workers’ mental and intellectual performance, and smokers were more likely to suffer from concentration interference, low brain processing speed in decision-making, and low precision at work, compared to non-smokers.