Background: High job stress is positively associated with reduced quality of life in workers, detrimental effects on worker health, and increased worker absenteeism and lower productivity. Exercise is a proven approach for coping with psychological stress in general. However, relatively few research studies have examined the effects of workplace exercise interventions on job stress reduction. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify associations between workplace exercise interventions and job stress reduction among employees. Methods: A literature search was performed using five databases (i.e., CINAHL, Medline via PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, and Embase), and eligible studies were written in English, and were published between January 1990 and October 2018. Studies were included if worker participants were subjected to a workplace exercise intervention, and their job stress was measured before and after the intervention. To assess the quality of these studies, van Tulder’s risk of bias assessment tool was applied. Findings: Eight studies were identified, and six of those (75%) were found to be of relatively good quality. In only two of the studies (25%) was the workplace exercise program associated with a statistically significant reduction in job stress. The study findings suggest that relationships between workplace exercise interventions and job stress reduction have not been sufficiently evaluated in the literature. Conclusion and Application to Practice: Based on the limited data available, future intervention research should focus on randomized controlled trials of interventions incorporating both exercise and multidimensional strategies to reduce job stress.

Introduction: Noise exposure has long been an occupational health concern and has been an important area of focus of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) since its founding. Nevertheless, it remains unclear what effects OSHA's noise standards have had on employer efforts to reduce risks. Consequently, a review of OSHA noise standard violations was performed to clarify the violation trends between 1972 and 2019. Methods: Using the OSHA Information System, researchers identified 119 305 violations involving four noise standards between 1972 and 2019: 29 CFR 1910.95, occupational noise exposure in general industry; 1926.52, occupational noise exposure in construction; 1926.101, hearing protection in construction, and 1904.10, recording criteria for cases involving occupational hearing loss. Violation frequencies of noise standard subparagraphs and relationships to factors such as industry differences were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t tests.Results: The most commonly violated noise standard was 1910.95 in manufacturing.Such violations rose between 1972 and 1985 and then declined steadily. Whether in general industry or construction, four noise standards were most-frequently cited: lack of feasible administrative or engineering controls (1910.95[b] and 1926.52[d]) and inadequate hearing conservation program (1910.95[c] and 1926.52[b]). These violations were more highly penalized (mean = $1036.50) than other subparagraph violations (mean = $915.80). Programmed and unprogrammed inspections generated similar violation quantities except between 1980 and 1985, when programmed inspections exhibited a sharp spike in violations. Conclusion:The study identified trends in OSHA noise standard violations and possible explanations for those trends. The study findings can support development of more practical noise-exposure protection policy.

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Few studies of death preparation in South Korea are available. This article describes South Koreans’ experiences of death and a funeral in a hospital setting to improve health care providers’ ability to care for dying patients and their family. Using Colaizzi’s phenomenological method, we conducted semistructured interviews with 40 South Koreans who had lost a family member in a hospital setting. Participants’ statements were classified into 12 themes, 5 theme clusters, and 3 categories: (a) vagueness of funeral culture, (b) distortion of meaning in funeral culture, and (c) the need to prepare for death and process grief. Our findings are relevant to hospital-based health care providers who care for dying patients and their family. Targeted educational information could help health care providers better serve patients and family. Policy changes could improve quality of care by allowing health care providers to transition with the family from hospital units to a hospital-based funeral setting.

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