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BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders can cause increased absenteeism, costs, and injuries. OBJECTIVE: The present study was aimed to investigate the impact of ergonomic-educational interventions on the reduction of musculoskeletal symptoms among employees of oil and gas installations. METHODS: This interventional study was conducted on 1243 male workers of oil and gas installations in the south of Iran. The Nordic questionnaire and quick exposure check (QEC) method were used to evaluate the risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders in the participants. Then, the educational interventions via training sessions, designed educational booklets and leaflets, and prepared educational film were performed. Data were collected at the times of two months before and six months after the interventions. RESULTS: The prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms, at least in one of the body areas, was equal to 71.28% . The results showed that the prevalence of these symptoms significantly decreased in all body areas after the educational interventions (P <0.028). The highest reduction rate occurred in the regions of wrists and hands (52.77%), knees (47.17%), and waist (47.13%), respectively. Moreover, the results indicated that the mean value of the total score of quick exposure check (QEC) had a meaningful decrease from 0.92 to 0.54 after the educational interventions (P <0.0001). CONCLUSION: The planned educational interventions efficiently reduced the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms and the ergonomic risk levels estimated by QEC in the research population.

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Background: Nurses face many professional dangers such as needle stick injuries. This study investigated the effects of nurses' personal and professional characteristics on needle stick injuries. Methods: The present cross-sectional study was performed on 200 nursing staff in a hospital. The sampling method was the classified method. Participants were asked to complete a researcher-made questionnaire on personal characteristics (age, work experience, gender, marital status, and educational level) and job (work department, number of shifts per month, and type of work shift). Also, the number of their needle stick events was extracted from their medical records. Results: The prevalence of needle sticks was 45.5%. Based on individual characteristics, the mean age and work experience of people with a history of needle stick are significantly lower than people without a history of needle stick (P <0.03). There was a significant relationship between needle stick history and educational level (P <0.00). However, there was no significant difference between the two groups without and with a history of needle stick in terms of marital status (P = 0.11) and gender (P = 0.13). Based on job characteristics, there were significant relationships between the history of needle stick with the variables of type of work shift (P = 0.00) and the number of shifts per month (P <0.00). Conclusion: Some personal and professional characteristics effective in needle sticking were identified. These findings can be used as a guide to prioritize individuals to take precautionary measures against needle sticking.

Background: Noise is one of these factors and it is considered as a concern through the world. The purpose of this study is to provide information about the rate of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) among workers in one of the cement. Methods: 283 workers were randomly selected from different production units in a cement factory. Equivalent Sound Level (Leq) was measured by using a Casella CEL-320 ‎ dosimeter and Sound Pressure Level (SPL) was measured by using a TES-1358 sound level meter (SLM) (sn: 090717269), with high accuracy. Audiometric tests were conducted by using an AVA C88 audiometer. Collected data were analyzed by using SPSS.16 software and statistical tests. Results: The mean Hearing threshold limit (HTLs) ‎ at frequencies (3 and 4 KHZ) in the study group is significantly higher than the control group (P <0.001). There was a significant difference between the mean HTLs in the left and right ear at all frequencies, except for the frequency of 500 HZ. At higher frequencies (3-8 KHZ), the difference between the mean HTLs ‎ in both ears is more evident and it has significantly increased, compared to lower frequencies (0.5-2 KHZ). Conclusion: Long-term occupational exposure to noise has the potential to cause hearing loss in cement factory workers. Therefore, it is necessary to perform effective measures, such as utilizing technical and engineering techniques and procurement and effective use of hearing protection devices in order to prevent the prevalence of hearing loss in units with high exposure risks.