Background/aimMost epidemiological studies investigating the association between noise exposure and health use modelled outdoor noise estimates as exposure proxy. This study aims to explore the relationship between indoor and outdoor noise at residential dwellings in London and evaluates potential parameters of dwelling ad sound insulation characteristics to predict the indoor exposure.MethodsMeasurements were done at 49 homes mostly in winter and spring seasons when windows are closed. Continuous noise measurement were made inside and outside each home for three consecutive days using an Optimus CR:171B sound level metre. Selected homes were located close to major roads, railway, under an aircraft flight path or any combination of them. Building survey and time activity diaries of the occupants were also collected.ResultsFrom the unadjusted linear regression model, significant associations were found between indoor and outdoor noise for LAeq,16h (β=0.413, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.081–0.745, p=0.016) and Lnight (β=0.332, 95% CI: 0.039 to 0.624, p=0.027). After adjusting for room volume, window size, source of noise, window type and number of occupants, the association remained significant in the adjusted model for LAeq,16h (β=0.378, 95% CI: 0.071 to 0.685, p=0.018) and Lnight (β=0.297, 95% CI: 0.013 to 0.580, p=0.041) with only a small reduced of the β coefficient from the unadjusted model. These linear models yield an explained variance of 64% (adjusted R2) for LAeq,16h and 51% for Lnight. Based on the preliminary analysis, it is predicted that the indoor level could be 60%–70% lower than the outdoor.ConclusionThe wide CI suggests misclassification bias of exposure when conducting epidemiologiocal studies using the outdoor noise estimates. Further analysis will be done to improve the model by adding some more related sound insulation factors.

Food loss and waste are mainly occur in developing and industrialised Asian countries due to spoilage in warm and humid climates. Service is one of the main food waste generator including restaurants and institutions. This study aimed to investigate and quantify the food waste generated from cafeterias in Universiti Sains Malaysia Health Campus (USMKK). Weighing of food waste were conducted daily and repeated for three cafeterias within five weeks using portable hanging weight scales. Questionnaire were distributed randomly to 369 respondents. This survey was conducted to investigate customers' opinions on food waste issues within university cafeterias. The number of customers was determined using a checklist. The results indicated that USMKK cafeterias generated average of 71.78 kg avoidable food waste and 275.93 kg unavoidable food waste. 26% of the customers claimed that they were regularly leave a quarter plate or bowl of uneaten food. Significant positive correlations (p<0.001) were found between number of customers and amount of food waste generated at the cafeterias. Factors that influence the generation of food waste at the cafeterias were include poor food quality, lack of freshness of the food, habits of consuming little amount of food and hours of operation of the cafeterias. The amount of avoidable and unavoidable food waste generated between the three cafeterias were significantly difference (p=0.001). Awareness campaign could increase the level of knowledge about food waste among customers. This would help the top management to plan suitable programme in minimising the production of food waste as to support sustainable environment.

Cooks who are exposed to heat produced from stoves when working in the kitchen are at risk of thermal stress and heat-related illness. Physiological changes such as increased heart rate, sweat production and blood pressure may also affect them. This study aimed to determine the area heat exposure levels and physiological changes including core body temperature, blood pressure and heart rate during pre-, mid- and post-shift among cooks and its association, and to compare the mean difference of physiological changes between the shifts. This cross-sectional study utilised the purposive sampling method and recruited 30 cooks from food stalls and cafeterias in Kelantan. Area heat measurements were collected from 14 sites (7 inside and 7 outside the USM Health Campus). Wet-bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) monitor was mounted on a tripod at 1.1 m height near the source of heat for 8 hours. The core body temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate were taken three times per day during pre-, mid- and post-shift for physiological changes measurement. Respondents’ personal information, health history, work description, and symptoms of heat-related illness were collected using a questionnaire. The overall WBGT area levels at each sampling site were homogeneously distributed. There was significant increase in core body temperature and heart rate from pre-shift to post-shift. However, there was no significant correlation (p>0.05) between heat exposure (WBGT index) established with the physiological changes. This may suggest that the increase in core body temperature and heart rate might be attributed to other factors and needed further investigation.

Employees play important roles regarding safety culture in the manufacturing industry. The study was conducted among 108 manufacturing workers and aimed to determine employees' perceptions of safety culture in the manufacturing industry. The data obtained were analysed to see the relationship between sociodemographic factors and safety culture dimensions to safety performance. The four aspects of perception include four dimensions of management commitment, employee engagement, communication, and training and education. Demographic factors such as age and duration of work were not significantly related to variables related to staff perceptions (p > 0.05). In addition, the relationship between aspects of security culture dimensions and safety performance showed that there was a significant relationship between communication having the highest relationship (r = 0.403, P < 0.01) and the lowest relationship by management commitment dimension (r = 0.244, p < 0.01). The overall a grand total of these studies show a significant positive relationship with workers’ safety in the workplace (r = 0.377, p < 0.01). Therefore, companies are encouraged to increase training programs in the workplace to raise awareness of workplace hazard awareness as well as ongoing health and safety programs through helpful channels for employees to reduce workplace accidents.