Introduction: The working conditions, type of activity, and production or consumption of different materials expose the employees to harmful biological factors, which leads to infectious diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the harmful biological agents of the work environment among administrative personnel of a power plant in south of Iran. Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted among 200 administrative workers of different sections of power plant in 2016. The participants used personal protective equipment and samples were collected from five parts of the participants' body including auricle, inside the ear, the area between the toes, palm of foot, toe nails. Finally, 1000 samples were collected. Results: The mean age of the workers was  years and all participants were male. Of the 1000 samples cultivated in the laboratory, 192 (96%) people had negative and 8 (4%) had positive culture results. The results showed that auricle had the highest rate of opportunistic pathogenic fungi (87.5%). The most positive cases of opportunistic pathogens were associated with workshops, warehouses, and operational buildings. Conclusion: Regarding the results of the study, we need to implement more health care in the mentioned places, observe personal hygiene in keeping the feet dry, not using protective handsets (air plug and earmuff) of other people, disinfecting the personal protective equipment, and daily washing to prevent the spread of the disease to other people.

Background: Job analysis, detecting hazards, and measuring their relationship with risk perception in workers are efficient ways of preventing accidents. Therefore, the present study is an attempt to identify and assess the risk of job accidents in steel industry in the south of Iran in 2020 using job safety analysis and the William Fine method. The results are also compared with the workers' perception of risk. Methods: The study population consisted of workers in the supplementary section of the studied steel industry(N=169). All the collected data were analyzed in SPSS using frequency and percentage for description and simple/multivariate logistic regression for analysis with sig. equal to 0.05.  To determine the risks, JSA was used. Risk assessment was also performed using William Fine method, and then risk scores were obtained. Afterwards, Risk Perception Questionnaire was used to collect information about risk perception in the workers. Results: In total, 265 job activities along with 2684 risks were identified and evaluated in 7 units of sections in the steel industry. Conclusion: The results of risk assessment and risk perception in this study indicate that when safety risk is properly perceived by workers, the chance of observing safety codes and better detection of risks increases. Therefore, in the face of an unsafe condition at work, workers will be abed to make the right decision and control the risk and prevent work accidents by taking corrective measures and making safe and efficient decisions.

Background and Objectives: Psychosocial factors are among the factors affecting employee productivity. Since few studies have been done in this field, this study was conducted to investigate the relationship between psychosocial factors regarding productivity. Methods:This cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2020 among 105 employees of a food distribution company in Ahvaz. Data collection tools included demographic information questionnaire, Copenhagen Psychosocial Factors Questionnaire (COPSOQ) and Goldsmith Hershey Productivity Questionnaire. Independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance and Pearson correlation coefficient were used to investigate the relationship between variables. Results:The results showed that there was no significant relationship between any of the demographic variables with the score of psychosocial factors and productivity (P>0.05). Psychosocial factor 2 has a negative and significant relationship with the average score of productivity, ability, role clarity, organizational support, motivation, feedback and credibility. And psychosocial factor 4 has a negative and significant relationship with motivation. The mean score of psychosocial factors, factor 1 and 3 showed a positive and significant relationship with the mean score of productivity, ability, role clarity, organizational support, motivation, feedback and credibility. Conclusion:Considering the role of psychosocial factors on employees' productivity, it is necessary to consider organizational interventions in order to control effective psychosocial factors. More attention to psychosocial factors in the workplace can play an effective role in the efficiency and productivity of employees and the organization.

Shift work is a social phenomenon with adverse effects on the lives and health of people in various aspects. This adverse effect decreases shift workers’ ability over a time period. The aim of the present study was to survey disturbances due to shift work and some disorders associated with work ability index among nurses in educational hospitals, Ahvaz, Iran. This cross-sectional survey was conducted among 33 nurses at the Golestan Hospital, Ahvaz, Iran. The survey of shift workers questionnaire (SOS) and the Work Ability Index (WAI) questionnaire was used as data collection tools. The related data was analyzed based on the descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation test, and Spearman correlation test using IBM SPSS software version 19. The results showed that 97% of problems related to the effects of shift work on the individuals’ lives, families, and musculoskeletal disorders, 87.9% related to insomnia and social problems, and 75.8% related to mental disorders. Although it showed a significant relationship between the workability index with the variable of experience and mental disorders, it showed no significant relationship between the prevalence of insomnia and musculoskeletal disorders variables. The results of this study showed that shift working disrupts mental, social, and physical health that ultimately adversely affect the ability of shift workers. Therefore, it was recommended to adjust working hours and allocate the appropriate shifts to improve the workability of individuals.