A lot of attention has been paid to improving occupational safety and health (OSH) in small scale industries all over the globe. This study describes the outcomes of a preliminary OSH status assessment in small scale industries of motor vehicle repair workshops (MVRW) in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). An inspection tool composed of 10 OSH elements and 62 items employed walk-through survey, observations and interviews. The mean positive responses for different OSH elements surveyed were as follows; personal protective equipment (PPEs) (43%), emergency preparedness (49%), fire protection (60%), facilities (80%), general workshop safety (43%), housekeeping (17%), chemical exposure (12%), services and maintenance (57%), mechanical handling (81%) and tool safety (63%). However, special concerns were found for OSH elements including; use of PPE's, emergency preparedness, general workshops safety, housekeeping and exposures to chemicals as having safety score less than 50%. OSH elements with lower positive responses at surveyed workshops would be addressed through further monitoring and training of technical and administrative staff. This preliminary survey will form the basis of a more comprehensive study for evaluation of an accurate representative OSH status in small scale industries in KSA.

Professional driving is associated with high rates of occupational musculoskeletal disorders (OMSDs). The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of OMSDs among drivers and office workers of taxi industry in Jeddah city. A detailed custom-made questionnaire was used that included socio-demographic and occupational characteristics of subjects together with OMSDs prevalence rates. In this research, 173 subjects participated of which 70.5% were drivers and 29.5% were office workers. Standard Nordic Questionnaire (SNQ) was used to assess 1-year and 1-week prevalence rates of OMSDs in nine body regions. 1-year and 1-week reported prevalence rates of OMSDs among taxi drivers were 85.3 and 51.6%, while among office workers were 52.9 and 31.4%, respectively. The highest self-reported prevalence rates of OMSDs for taxi drivers were found for the lower back (60.7%) and lowest rates for the elbow (14.8%). Whereas, among office workers, the highest prevalence rates were found for the lower back and knee (29.4%) and lowest rates for feet/ankle (2.0%). The chi-square test found significant correlation between being immigrant (p=0.038), hours of driving per day (p=0.002), number of working days per week (p=0.000) with 1-year prevalence of OMSDs, While job experience (p=0.006), hours of driving per day (p=0.004) and break during work (p=0.029) showed significant correlation with perceived 1-week prevalence of OMSDs among taxi drivers in Jeddah.

The studies carried in the world regarding the possible significant influence of climate change on the health and safety of outdoor workers has not been given the due consideration (especially in the least developed and developing countries). Hundreds and thousands of outdoor workers are exposed to elevated temperatures, humid environments and climate extremes in combination with urban air pollution; which is ultimately impacting their safety and well-being. The statistics show that in the past few years, due to the rise in temperature on earth and frequent heat waves within urban settlements, an abrupt increase has been observed in the rate of heat-related health problems. Exposure to extreme heat (exceeding 40 ºC)causes many direct and indirect health hazards, which include vector-borne diseases and exposure to certain harmful chemicals. Currently, the climatic and heat-related effects are decreasing the working capacity of workers and in the future it is projected that the frequency and magnitude of these effects will increase. With the rise in temperature and the occurrence of frequent heat waves in urban areas, the number of health issues due to high (maximum average)temperature has increased rapidly. This article discusses the impacts of heat exposure and climatic change on productivity,health and safety of outdoor workers by summarizing findings from the literature, and eventually recommends control measures for reducing heat exposure at the outdoor work areasand climatic adaptations. In addition, it argues that there is a need for more research about the impacts on health and economic conditions due to heat and climate change in the workplace on global level (especially in developing countries).

This paper investigates the potential efficiency of researches from various departments under a common faculty in terms of their individual publications. The outcome in terms of the number of research publications of the eight departments working under the faculty of engineering at King Abdul-Aziz University was utilized as the case for these investigations. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is utilized for the benchmarking of the research potential efficiency of these departments. The results of these studies are useful to know the potential research efficiency of each department under investigation and enable the respective departments/administration to determine the number of research publications necessary from each department to reach their respective optimal levels. The present study is helpful in diverting the interest of university management towards the quality development in education and research. The study is important as it uses Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method to determine the relative efficiency of the publication amount for engineering departments at King Abdul-Aziz University. It further suggests some of the important measures required for the improvement.