Search results for: occupational safety and health

Authors: Paula C. Latorre Arroyo, Andrea C. Latorre Arroyo

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In the present society, children are exposed to and impacted by technology from very early on in various ways. Artificial intelligence (AI), in particular, directly affects them, be it positively or negatively. The concept of artificial intelligence is commonly defined as the technological programming of computers or robotic mechanisms with humanlike capabilities and characteristics. These technologies are often designed as helpful machines or disguised as handy tools that could ultimately steal private information for illicit purposes. Children, being one of the most vulnerable groups due to their lack of experience and knowledge, do not have the ability to recognize or have the malice to distinguish if an apparatus with artificial intelligence is good or bad for them. For this reason, as a society, there must be a sense of responsibility to regulate and monitor different types of uses for artificial intelligence to protect children from potential risks that might arise. This article aims to investigate the many implications that artificial intelligence has in the lives of children, starting from a home setting, within the classroom, and, ultimately, in online spaces. Irrefutably, there are numerous beneficial aspects to the use of artificial intelligence. However, due to its limitless potential and lack of specific and substantial regulations to prevent the illicit use of this technology, safety and privacy concerns surface, specifically regarding the youth. This written work aims to provide an in-depth analysis of how artificial intelligence can both help children and jeopardize their safety. Concluding with resources and data supporting the aforementioned statement.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, children, privacy, rights, safety

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Authors: Jonathan H. Westover, Ruthann Cunningham, Jaron Harvey

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Purpose: Job satisfaction is one of the most critical attitudes among employees. Understanding whether employees are satisfied with their jobs and what is driving that satisfaction is important for any employer, but particularly for healthcare organizations. This study looks at the question of job satisfaction and drivers of job satisfaction among healthcare professionals at a global scale, looking for trends that generalize across 37 countries. Study: This study analyzed job satisfaction responses to the 2015 Work Orientations IV wave of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) to understand differences in antecedents for and levels of job satisfaction among healthcare professionals. A total of 18,716 respondents from 37 countries participated in the annual survey. Findings: Respondents self-identified their occupational category based on corresponding International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-08) codes. Results suggest that mean overall job satisfaction was highest among health service managers and generalist medical practitioners and lowest among environmental hygiene professionals and nursing professionals. Originality: Many studies have addressed the issue of job satisfaction in healthcare, examining small samples of specific healthcare workers. In this study, using a large international dataset, we are able to examine questions of job satisfaction across large groups of healthcare workers in different occupations within the healthcare field.

Keywords: job satisfaction, healthcare industry, global comparisons, workplace

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Authors: Lukas Kober, Vladimir Littva, Vladimir Siska

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The pandemic has had a significant impact on our lives. One of the most affected professions is the nursing profession. Nurses are closest to the patient, spend the most time with him, support him, often replace the closest family members, and of course, are part of the whole treatment process. Current nurses have more competencies and roles than in the past. The healthcare system has reached a turning point, also in connection with the spreading Delta variant and the risk of the arrival of the third wave. The lack of nurses is a long-term problem, but it did not arise by itself. The reasons for the departure of nurses from the health care system are not only due to the increasing average age of nurses and midwives in Slovakia and their retirement. Thousands of nurses are leaving due to poor working conditions, low wages, and poor management of individual workplaces. We need to keep older nurses in the health care system, otherwise, we risk their early departure. The pandemic only exacerbates this situation, and the associated risks, such as occupational infections or enormous overload and exhaustion, only accelerate the exit from the profession. According to current data from the register of nurses and midwives, we canceled 772 registrations from January to September 2021, and 584 nurses requested the suspension of registration due to non-performance of the profession. During the same period, we registered only 240 new nurses graduate. We have had this significant disparity here for a long time. For the whole of 2020, we canceled 911 registrations and suspended 973 registrations. We registered a total of 389 graduates. Our system loses hundreds of graduates a year and loses experienced nurses with decades of experience who leave due to poor working conditions, wages and suffer from burnout. Such compensation should also be awarded to the families of health professionals who have lost their lives due to work and to COVID-19. These options can also be motivating for promising people interested in studying nursing, who can gradually replace the missing workforce. This purchase is supported by the KEGA project no. 015KU-4/2019.

Keywords: pandemic, COVID-19, nursing, nursing workforce, lack of nurses

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Authors: Rihab Gamaoun, Cynthia El Hage, Laura Ruiz, Erin Prosk, Antonio Vigano

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Introduction: Santé Cannabis (SC), a Canadian medical cannabis-specialized group of clinics based in Montreal and in the province of Québec, has served more than 5000 patients seeking cannabis-based treatment prescription for medical indications over the past five years. Within a research frame, data on the use of medical cannabis products from all the above patients were prospectively collected, leading to a large real-world database on the use of medical cannabis. The aim of this study was to gather information on the profiles of both patients and prescribed medical cannabis products at SC clinics and to assess the safety of medical cannabis among Canadian patients. Methods: Using a retrospective analysis of the database, records of 2585 patients who were prescribed medical cannabis products for therapeutic purposes between 01-November 2017 and 04-September 2019 were included. Patients’ demographics, primary diagnosis, route of administration, and chemovars recorded at the initial visits were investigated. Results: At baseline: 9% of SC patients were female, with a mean age of 57 (SD= 15.8, range= [18-96]); Cannabis products were prescribed mainly for patients with a diagnosis of chronic pain (65.9% of patients), cancer (9.4%), neurological disorders (6.5%), mood disorders (5.8 %) and inflammatory diseases (4.1%). Route of administration and chemovars of prescribed cannabis products were the following: 96% of patients received cannabis oil (51% CBD rich, 42.5% CBD:THC); 32.1% dried cannabis (21.3% CBD:THC, 7.4% THC rich, 3.4 CBD rich), and 2.1% oral spray cannabis (1.1% CBD:THC, 0.8% CBD rich, 0.2% THC rich). Most patients were prescribed simultaneously, a combination of products with different administration routes and chemovars. Safety analysis is undergoing. Conclusion: Our results provided initial information on the profile of medical cannabis products prescribed in a Canadian population and the experienced adverse events over the past three years. The Santé Cannabis database represents a unique opportunity for comparing clinical practices in prescribing and titrating cannabis-based medications across different centers. Ultimately real-world data, including information about safety and effectiveness, will help to create standardized and validated guidelines for choosing dose, route of administration, and chemovars types for the cannabis-based medication in different diseases and indications.

Keywords: medical cannabis, real-world data, safety, pharmacovigilance

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Authors: Antonella D'Alessandro, Filippo Ubertini, Annibale Luigi Materazzi

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The progress of nanotechnology resulted in the development of new instruments in the field of civil engineering. In particular, the introduction of carbon nanofillers into construction materials can enhance their mechanical and electrical properties. In construction, concrete is among the most used materials. Due to the characteristics of its components and its structure, concrete is suitable for modification, at the nanometer level too. Moreover, to guarantee structural safety, it is desirable to achieve a widespread monitoring of structures. The ideal thing would be to realize structures able to identify their behavior modifications, states of incipient damage or conditions of possible risk for people. This paper presents a research work about novel cementitious composites with conductive carbon nanoinclusions able of monitoring their state of deformation, with particular attention to concrete. The self-sensing ability is achieved through the correlation between the variation of stress or strain and that of electrical resistance. Carbon nanofillers appear particularly suitable for such applications. Nanomodified concretes with different carbon nanofillers has been tested. The samples have been subjected to cyclic and dynamic loads. The experimental campaign shows the potentialities of this new type of sensors made of nanomodified concrete for diffuse Structural Health Monitoring.

Keywords: carbon nanofillers, cementitious nanocomposites, smart sensors, structural health monitoring.

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Authors: Dessy Laksyana Utami

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The sick building syndrome comprises of various nonspecific symptoms that occur in the occupants of a building. It is commonly increases sickness absenteeism and causes a decrease in productivity of the workers. Evidence suggests that what is called the Sick Building Syndrome are at least three separate entities, which has at least one cause. The following are some of the factors that might be primarily responsible for Sick Building Syndrome such as: Chemical contaminants, Biological contaminants, Inadequate ventilation and Electromagnetic radiation. In many cases it is due to insufficient maintenance of the HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) system in the building. As this syndrome is increasingly becoming a major occupational hazard. It was used the analytic cross-sectional design. Based on data obtained 80% of respondents reported significant ongoing health problems in the eyes, head, and the nose. 60% had bad symptoms in the throat, the stomach and cough, 50% had gastrointestinal disorders, 40% fatigue and 25% occurred all symptoms sick building syndrome. The 40 respondents were recruited to the study, with a mean age of 35 years (range 20-55). To support the evidence of Sick Building Syndrome, further checks are needed for some of the factors in next research, i.e. measurement of Chemical contaminants, Biological contaminants, inadequate ventilation & Electromagnetic radiation.

Keywords: indoor air pollution, sick building syndrome, indoor air quality, oil gas polution

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Authors: Melissa C. Monney

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Employee morale is an area in which many companies invest millions of dollars, time and effort. Whether these are attributed in benefits or additional monetary compensation, each year, such companies understand that human capital is one of their greatest assets to driving production and revenue. However, with the ever-changing economy, such emphasis on work and production may be counterproductive to employee morale as employees attempt to achieve a healthy work-life balance. A flexible work schedule may be the solution to both companies’ attempt at increasing employee morale and productivity, while affording employees the opportunity to maintain a healthy work-life balance. The information presented in this review derives mostly from research articles, in which the research conducted by means of direct employee feedback through surveys, telephone or face-to-face interviews, or a collection of both, attempted to corroborate (in one way or another) previous research on the largely debated topic of schedule flexibility as the dynamics of economies and families have over the years. This review endeavors to provide a holistic view of schedule flexibility policies, implementation, and perceptions from research in various industries in different countries.

Keywords: flexible scheduling, perceived flexibility, employee morale, productivity

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Authors: Rajender Dahiya

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Investigation outcomes of major process incidents have been consistent for decades and validate that the causes and consequences are often identical. The debate remains as we continue to experience similar process incidents even with enormous development of new tools, technologies, industry standards, codes, regulations, and learning processes? The objective of this paper is to investigate the most common causes of major industrial incidents and reveal industry challenges and best practices to prevent such incidents. The author, in his current role, performs audits and inspections of a variety of high-hazard industries in North America, including petroleum refineries, chemicals, petrochemicals, manufacturing, etc. In this paper, he shares real life scenarios, examples, and case studies from high hazards operating facilities including key challenges and best practices. This case study will provide a clear understanding of the importance of near miss incident investigation. The incident was a Safe operating limit excursion. The case describes the deficiencies in management programs, the competency of employees, and the culture of the corporation that includes hazard identification and risk assessment, maintaining the integrity of safety-critical equipment, operating discipline, learning from process safety near misses, process safety competency, process safety culture, audits, and performance measurement. Failure to identify the hazards and manage the risks of highly hazardous materials and processes is one of the primary root-causes of an incident, and failure to learn from past incidents is the leading cause of the recurrence of incidents. Several investigations of major incidents discovered that each showed several warning signs before occurring, and most importantly, all were preventable. The author will discuss why preventable incidents were not prevented and review the mutual causes of learning failures from past major incidents. The leading causes of past incidents are summarized below. Management failure to identify the hazard and/or mitigate the risk of hazardous processes or materials. This process starts early in the project stage and continues throughout the life cycle of the facility. For example, a poorly done hazard study such as HAZID, PHA, or LOPA is one of the leading causes of the failure. If this step is performed correctly, then the next potential cause is. Management failure to maintain the integrity of safety critical systems and equipment. In most of the incidents, mechanical integrity of the critical equipment was not maintained, safety barriers were either bypassed, disabled, or not maintained. The third major cause is Management failure to learn and/or apply learning from the past incidents. There were several precursors before those incidents. These precursors were either ignored altogether or not taken seriously. This paper will conclude by sharing how a well-implemented operating management system, good process safety culture, and competent leaders and staff contributed to managing the risks to prevent major incidents.

Keywords: incident investigation, risk management, loss prevention, process safety, accident prevention

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Authors: Metrek Almetrek, Naser Alqahtani, Eisa Ghazwani, Mona Asiri, Mohammed Alqahtani, Magboolah Balobaid

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Background: Advocacy of potential for community coalitions to positively address social determinants of health and quality of life, little is known about the views of stakeholders involved in such efforts. This study sought to assess the provinces leaders’ perspectives about social determinants related to the Health Neighborhood Initiative (HNI), a new county effort to support community coalitions. Method and Subjects: We used a descriptive, qualitative study using personal interviews in 2022. We conducted it in the community coalition's “main cities committees” set across service planning areas that serve vulnerable groups located in the seven registered healthy cities to WHO (Abha, Tareeb, Muhayel, Balqarn, Alharajah, Alamwah, and Bisha). We conducted key informant interviews with 76 governmental, profit, non-profit, and community leaders to understand their perspectives about the HNI. As part of a larger project, this study focused on leaders’ views about social determinants of health related to the HNI. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. An inductive approach to coding was used, with text segments grouped by social determinant categories. Results: Provinces leaders described multiple social determinants of health and quality of life that were relevant to the HNI community coalitions: housing and safety, community violence, economic stability, city services coordination and employment and education. Leaders discussed how social determinants were interconnected with each other and the need for efforts to address multiple social determinants simultaneously to effectively improve health and quality of life. Conclusions: Community coalitions have an opportunity to address multiple social determinants of health and quality of life to meet the social needs of vulnerable groups. Future research should examine how community coalitions, like those in the HNI, can actively engage with community members to identify needs and then deliver evidence-based care.

Keywords: social determinants, health and quality of life, vulnerable groups, qualitative research

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Authors: Philippa Sambevski

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Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in Australian women. The incidence of breast cancer for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) women is lower than for non-indigenous women. However, the mortality rate for ATSI women is higher. The participation rate of ATSI women in BreastScreen Australia is below the general population. In this thematic literature review, the author collates viable strategies to increase breast screening rates among culturally and linguistically diverse individuals and provide culturally competent care. Barriers to accessing BreastScreen for ATSI women include language or communication limits, isolation, and a lack of culturally sensitive information. Culturally competent strategies require healthcare workers with an appropriate cultural and social background, clear messages, and the embedding of cultural respect within healthcare organisations. Cultural safety is determined by partnering with local indigenous groups, recognising the consumer experience, and allowing people to raise their concerns. The corresponding academic poster identifies strategies for healthcare workers to provide culturally competent care in a BreastScreen setting.

Keywords: breast screen, closing the gap, Australia, cultural safety, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

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Authors: Mi-Hye Hwang, Young Min Son, Kichan Lee, Bang-Hun Hyun, Byeong Yeal Jung

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Botulism is a paralytic disease of human beings and animals caused by neurotoxin produced by Clostridium botulinum. The neurotoxins are genetically distinguished into 8 types, A to H. Ingestion of performed toxin, usually types B, C, and D, have been shown to produce diseases in most cases of cattle botulism. Vaccination is the best measure to prevent cattle botulism. However, the commercially available toxoid-based vaccines are difficult and hazardous to produce. We produced recombinant protein using gene of heavy chain domain of botulinum toxin B of which binds to cellular receptor of neuron cells and used as immunogen. In this study, we evaluated the safety and efficacy of botulism vaccine composed of recombinant types B. Safety test was done by National Regulation for Veterinary Biologicals. For efficacy test, female ICR mice (5 weeks old) were subcutaneously injected, intraperitoneally challenged, and examined the survival rates compared with vaccination and non-vaccination group. Mouse survival rate of recombinant types B vaccine was above 80%, while one of non-vaccination group was 0%. A vaccine composed of recombinant types B was safe and efficacious in mouse. Our results suggest that recombinant heavy chain receptor binding domain can be used as an effective vaccine candidate for type B botulism.

Keywords: botulism, livestock, vaccine, recombinant protein, toxin

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Authors: Taleb Hosni Abderrahmane, Berga Abdelmadjid

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The development of numerical analysis and its application to geomechanics problems have provided geotechnical engineers with extremely powerful tools. One of the most important problems in geotechnical engineering is the slope stability assessment. It is a very difficult task due to several aspects such the nature of the problem, experimental consideration, monitoring, controlling, and assessment. The main objective of this paper is to perform a comparative numerical study between the following methods: The Limit Equilibrium (LEM), Finite Element (FEM), Limit Analysis (LAM) and Distinct Element (DEM). The comparison is conducted in terms of the safety factors and the critical slip surfaces. Through the results, we see the feasibility to analyse slope stability by many methods.

Keywords: comparison, factor of safety, geomechanics, numerical methods, slope analysis, slip surfaces

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Authors: Ladda Her, Juntip Kanjanasilp, Ratree Sawangjit, Nathorn Chaiyakunapruk

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Cough is the common symptom of the respiratory tract infections or non-infections; the duration of cough indicates a classification and severity of disease. Herbal medicines can be used as the alternative to drugs for relief of cough symptoms from acute and chronic disease. Eucalyptus was used for reducing cough with evidences suggesting it has an active role in reduction of airway inflammation. The present study aims to evaluate efficacy and safety of eucalyptus for relief of cough symptom in respiratory disease. Method: The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus, CINAHL, Springer, Science direct, ProQuest, and THAILIS databases. From its inception until 01/02/2019 for randomized control trials. We follow for the efficacy and safety of eucalyptus for reducing cough. Methodological quality was evaluated by using the Cochrane risk of bias tool; two reviewers in our team screened eligibility and extracted data. Result: Six studies were included for the review and five studies were included in the meta-analysis, there were 1.911 persons including children (n: 1) and adult (n: 5) studies; for study in children and adult were between 1 and 80 years old, respectively. Eucalyptus was used as mono herb (n: 2) and in combination with other herbs form (n: 4). All of the studies with eucalyptus were compared for efficacy and safety with placebo or standard treatment, Eucalyptus dosage form in studies included capsules, spray, and syrup. Heterogeneity was 32.44 used random effect model (I² = 1.2%, χ² = 1.01; P-value = 0.314). The efficacy of eucalyptus was showed a reduced cough symptom statistically significant (n = 402, RR: 1.40, 95%CI [1.19, 1.65], P-value < 0.0001) when compared with placebo. Adverse events (AEs) were reported mild to moderate intensity with mostly gastrointestinal symptom. The methodological quality of the included trials was overall poor. Conclusion: Eucalyptus appears to be beneficial and safe for relieving in respiratory diseases focus on cough frequency. The evidence was inconclusive due to limited quality trial. Well-designed trials for evaluating the effectiveness in humans, the effectiveness for reducing cough symptom in human is needed. Eucalyptus had safety as monotherapy or in combination with other herbs.

Keywords: cough, eucalyptus, cineole, herbal medicine, systematic review, meta-analysis

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Authors: Haruna Seidu, Francis Wilson Owusu, Michael Mensah, Felix Boakye, James Korang, Safia Ibrahim

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Over the years, wooden furniture produced in Ghana had no means of testing their products against standards. It was therefore difficult for such furniture producers to know whether their products conform to international standards. The setting up of the ISO 17025 compliant laboratory has become a reference and accessing point for determining the quality of the furniture they produce. The objective of the study includes the determination of mechanical safety, durability, strength, and stability of wooden furniture produced in Ghana. Twelve wooden furniture manufacturers were randomly selected to design furniture (chairs and tables) for testing. 9 out of the 12 produced chairs, and three provided tables. Standard testing methods were used in this experiment, including GS EN 581-1, GS EN 581-2, and GS EN 581-3. The test results analysis indicates 55.6% of the chairs tested passed all applicable tests. 66.7% of tables tested passed all the applicable tests. The percentage pass and failure of the 12 furniture were 58.3% and 41.7% respectively. In conclusion, chair manufacturers had good designs that withstand the standard testing of strength and durability; most failures occurred largely as a result of poor stability designs adopted for the construction of the chairs and tables. It was observed that the manufacturers did not use the software in designing their furniture.

Keywords: durability, international standards, mechanical safety, wooden furniture design

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Authors: Tanja Salary

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This paper discusses a study conducted in a juvenile justice facility regarding medication errors. It includes an introduction to data collected about medication errors in a juvenile justice facility from 2011 - 2019 and explores contributing factors that relate to those errors. The data was obtained from electronic incident records of medication errors that were documented from the years 2011 through 2019. In addition, the presentation reviews both current and historical research of empirical data about patient safety standards and quality care comparing traditional health care facilities to juvenile justice residential facilities and acknowledges a gap in research. The theoretical/conceptual framework for the research study was Bandura and Adams’s self-efficacy theory of behavioral change and Mark Friedman’s results-based accountability theory. Despite the lack of evidence in previous studies addressing medication errors in juvenile justice facilities, this presenter will share information that adds to the body of knowledge, including the potential relationship of medication errors and contributing factors of race and age. Implications for future research include the effect that education and training will have on the communication among juvenile justice staff, including nurses, who administer medications to juveniles to ensure adherence to patient safety standards. There are several opportunities for future research concerning other characteristics about factors that may affect medication administration errors within the residential juvenile justice facility.

Keywords: Juvenile justice, medication errors, juveniles, error reduction strategies

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Authors: Ayşe Coban, Orhan Coban, Haldun Soydal, Sükrü Sürücü

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While health is a source of prosperity for individuals, it is also one of the most important determinants of economic growth for a country. Health, by increasing the productivity of labor, contributes to economic growth. Therefore, countries should give the necessary emphasis to health services. The primary aim of this study is to analyze the changes occurring in health services in Turkey by examining the developments in the sector. In this scope, the second aim of the study is to reveal the place of health expenditures in the Turkish economy. As a result of the analysis in the dataset, in which the 1999-2013 periods is considered, it was determined that some increase in health expenditures took place and that the increase in the share of health expenditures in GDP was too small. Furthermore, analysis of the results points out that in financing health expenditures, the public sector is prominent compared to the private sector.

Keywords: health, health service, health expenditures, Turkey

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Authors: Lethola Tshikose, Munyaradzi Katurura

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Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays a critical role in improving daily healthcare processes. The South African healthcare organizations have adopted Information Systems to integrate their patient records. This has made it much easier for healthcare organizations because patient information can now be accessible at any time. The primary purpose of this research study was to investigate the best practices that can be applied to enhance patient security and confidentiality when using e-health systems in South Africa. Security and confidentiality are critical in healthcare organizations as they ensure safety in EHRs. The research study used an inductive research approach that included a thorough literature review; therefore, no data was collected. The research paper’s scope included patient data and possible security threats associated with healthcare systems. According to the study, South African healthcare organizations discovered various patient data security and confidentiality issues. The study also revealed that when it comes to handling patient data, health professionals sometimes make mistakes. Some may not be computer literate, which posed issues and caused data to be tempered with. The research paper recommends that healthcare organizations ensure that security measures are adequately supported and promoted by their IT department. This will ensure that adequate resources are distributed to keep patient data secure and confidential. Healthcare organizations must correctly use standards set up by IT specialists to solve patient data security and confidentiality issues. Healthcare organizations must make sure that their organizational structures are adaptable to improve security and confidentiality.

Keywords: E-health, EHR, security, confidentiality, healthcare

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Authors: G. Kloudova, S. Kozlova, M. Stehlik

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Pilots are operating in a high-risk environment rich in potential stressors, which negatively affect aviation safety and the mental health of pilots. In the research conducted, the pilots were offered mental training biofeedback therapy. Biofeedback is an objective tool to measure physiological responses to stress. After only six sessions, all of the pilots tested showed significant differences between their initial condition and their condition after therapy. The biggest improvement was found in decreased heart rate (in 83.3% of tested pilots) and respiration rate (66.7%), which are the best indicators of anxiety states and panic attacks. To incorporate all of the variables, we correlated the measured physiological state of the pilots with their personality traits. Surprisingly, we found a high correlation with peripheral temperature and confidence (0.98) and with heart rate and aggressiveness (0.97). A retest made after a one-year interval showed that in majority of the subjects tested their acquired self-regulation ability had been internalized.

Keywords: aviation, biofeedback, mental workload, performance psychology

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Authors: Jan Karl, Ondrej Suchy, Eliska Fiserova, Milan Ruzicka

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The evolving electromobility and all the electronics also bring an increase of danger with used Li-batteries. Li-batteries have been used in many industries, and currently many types of the batteries are available. Batteries have different compositions that affect their behavior. In the field of Li-battery safety, there are some areas of little discussion, such as extinguishing of fires caused by Li-batteries as well as toxicity of gaseous compounds released from Li batteries, transport or storage. Technical Institute of Fire Protection, which is a part of Fire Brigades of the Czech Republic, is dealing with the safety of Li batteries. That is the reason why we are dealing with toxicity of gaseous compounds released under conditions of fire, mechanical damage, overcharging and other emergencies that may occur. This is necessary for protection of intervening of fire brigade units, people in the vicinity and other envirnomental consequences. In this work, different types of batteries (Li-ion, Li-Po, LTO, LFP) with different kind of damage were tested, and the toxicity and total amount of released gases were studied. These values were evaluated according to their environmental hazard. FTIR spectroscopy was used for the evaluation of toxicity. We used a FTIR gas cell for continuous measurement. The total amount of released gases was determined by collecting the total gas phase through the absorbers and then determining the toxicants absorbed into the solutions. Based on the obtained results, it is possible to determine the protective equipment necessary for the event of an emergency with a Li-battery, to define the environmental load and the immediate danger in an emergency.

Keywords: Li-battery, toxicity, gaseous toxic compounds, FTIR spectroscopy

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Authors: Hamad Albadr

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Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation process intent to improve the safety and quality of care in the international community through the provision of education, publications, consultation, and evaluation services. These standards apply to the entire organization as well as to each department, unit, or service within the organization. Medical Technology that contains both medical equipment and devices, is an essential part of health care. Appropriate management of equipment maintenance for ensuring medical technology safe, the equipment life is maximized, and the total costs are minimized. JCI medical technology evaluation and accreditation use standards, intents, and measurable elements. The paper focuses on evaluation of JCI standards for medical technology in Saudi Arabian hospitals: a Study Case of PSMMC that define the performance expectation, structures, or functions that must be in place for a hospital to be accredited by JCI through measurable elements that indicate a score during the survey process that identify the requirements for full compliance with the standard specially through Facility Management and Safety (FMS) section that require the hospital establishes and implements a program for inspecting, testing, and maintaining medical technology and documenting the results, to ensure that medical technology is available for use and functioning properly, the hospital performs and documents; an inventory of medical technology; regular inspections of medical technology; testing of medical technology according to its use and manufacturers’ requirements; and performance of preventive maintenance.

Keywords: joint commission international (JCI) accreditation, medical technology, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian hospitals

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Authors: Amjad Alsulami, Farah Albishri, Kholod Alzubidi, Lama Almehemadi, Salma Elhag

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Food allergy is a common and rising problem among children. Many students have their first allergic reaction at school, one of these is anaphylaxis, which can be fatal. This study discovered that several schools' processes lacked safety regulations and information on how to handle allergy issues and chronic diseases like diabetes where students were not supervised or monitored during the cafeteria purchasing process. There is no obvious prevention or effort in academic institutions when purchasing food containing allergens or negatively impacting the health status of students who suffer from chronic diseases. Students must always be stable to reflect positively on their educational development process. To address this issue, this paper uses a business reengineering process to propose the automation of the whole food-purchasing process, which will aid in detecting and avoiding allergic occurrences and preventing any side effects from eating foods that are conflicting with students' health. This may be achieved by designing a smart card with an embedded QR code that reveals which foods cause an allergic reaction in a student. A survey was distributed to determine and examine how the cafeteria will handle allergic children and whether any management or policy is applied in the school. Also, the survey findings indicate that the integration of QR technology into the food purchasing process would improve health condition detection. The suggested system would be beneficial to all parties, the family agreed, as they would ensure that their children didn't eat foods that were bad for their health. Moreover, by analyzing and simulating the as-is process and the suggested process the results demonstrate that there is an improvement in quality and time.

Keywords: QR code, smart card, food allergies, business process reengineering, health condition detection

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Authors: T. Poyai, P. Painmanakul, N. Chawaloesphonsiya, P. Dhanasin, C. Getwech, P. Wattana

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Drilling is a key activity in oil and gas exploration and production. Drilling always requires the use of drilling mud for lubricating the drill bit and controlling the subsurface pressure. As drilling proceeds, a considerable amount of cuttings or rock fragments is generated. In general, water or Water Based Mud (WBM) serves as drilling fluid for the top hole section. The cuttings generated from this section is non-hazardous and normally applied as fill materials. On the other hand, drilling the bottom hole to reservoir section uses Synthetic Based Mud (SBM) of which synthetic oils are composed. The bottom-hole cuttings, SBM cuttings, is regarded as a hazardous waste, in accordance with the government regulations, due to the presence of hydrocarbons. Currently, the SBM cuttings are disposed of as an alternative fuel and raw material in cement kiln. Instead of burning, this work aims to propose an alternative for drill cuttings management under two ultimate goals: (1) reduction of hazardous waste volume; and (2) making use of the cleaned cuttings. Soil washing was selected as the major treatment process. The physiochemical properties of drill cuttings were analyzed, such as size fraction, pH, moisture content, and hydrocarbons. The particle size of cuttings was analyzed via light scattering method. Oil present in cuttings was quantified in terms of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) through gas chromatography equipped with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Other components were measured by the standard methods for soil analysis. Effects of different washing agents, liquid-to-solid (L/S) ratio, washing time, mixing speed, rinse-to-solid (R/S) ratio, and rinsing time were also evaluated. It was found that drill cuttings held the electrical conductivity of 3.84 dS/m, pH of 9.1, and moisture content of 7.5%. The TPH in cuttings existed in the diesel range with the concentration ranging from 20,000 to 30,000 mg/kg dry cuttings. A majority of cuttings particles held a mean diameter of 50 µm, which represented silt fraction. The results also suggested that a green solvent was considered most promising for cuttings treatment regarding occupational health, safety, and environmental benefits. The optimal washing conditions were obtained at L/S of 5, washing time of 15 min, mixing speed of 60 rpm, R/S of 10, and rinsing time of 1 min. After washing process, three fractions including clean cuttings, spent solvent, and wastewater were considered and provided with recommendations. The residual TPH less than 5,000 mg/kg was detected in clean cuttings. The treated cuttings can be then used for various purposes. The spent solvent held the calorific value of higher than 3,000 cal/g, which can be used as an alternative fuel. Otherwise, the recovery of the used solvent can be conducted using distillation or chromatography techniques. Finally, the generated wastewater can be combined with the produced water and simultaneously managed by re-injection into the reservoir.

Keywords: drill cuttings, green solvent, soil washing, total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH)

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Authors: Yong Cang

Abstract:

RJV001 is a subcutaneous injection containing mutated recombinant Collagenase H (ColH), leading to disruption of collagen matrix in adipose tissue and programmed cell death of adipocytes. Here we reported our clinical investigation of the safety, tolerance and pharmacodynamics of localized RJV001 injection into healthy human abdominal fat tissues (NCT04821648, Arizona Research Center). Investigate the safety, tolerance and clinical pharmacodynamics of subcutaneous RJV001 in humans. In the dose-escalating study, 18 subjects completed the study, 100% female, 78% white, with a mean age of 42[±9.9]. All three tested dose (0.05, 0.075 and 0.15 mg/injection), up to 30 injections, were safe and well-tolerated. Bruising and tenderness to palpation, mild to moderate, were the most frequent local skin reactions but nearly all resolved within 30 days. Additionally, physician-monitored ultrasound measurement showed that a reduction in abdominal fat tissue thickness was consistently observed in Cohort C (0.075, 0.15 mg/injection, 30injections), with a mean reduction of 7.37 [± 2.020] mm. Based on this clinical study, RJV001 has been advanced to phase II clinical studies. In the dose-escalating study, subcutaneously administered RJV001 was safe and well-tolerated in healthy adults up to 0.15 mg/injection, 30 injections. Fat reduction and adipocytolysis were observed by ultrasound measurements and histological analysis for exploratory purposes.

Keywords: fat reduction, mutant collagenase, clinical trial, subcutaneous injection

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Authors: Fiona Jensen, Barb Goodwin, Nancy Kleiman, Rhonda Usunier

Abstract:

Background: Clinical simulation is now a common component in many health profession curricula in preparation for clinical practice. In the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences (RFHS) college leads in simulation and interprofessional (IP) education, planned an eight hour simulated hospital day shift, where seventy students from six health professions across two campuses, learned with each other in a safe, realistic environment. Learning about interprofessional collaboration, an expected competency for many health professions upon graduation, was a primary focus of the simulation event. Method: Faculty representatives from the Colleges of Nursing, Medicine, Pharmacy and Rehabilitation Sciences (Physical Therapy, Occupation Therapy, Respiratory Therapy) and Pharmacy worked together to plan the IP event in a simulation facility in the College of Nursing. Each college provided a faculty mentor to guide the same profession students. Students were placed in interprofessional teams consisting of a nurse, physician, pharmacist, and then sharing respiratory, occupational, and physical therapists across the team depending on the needs of the patients. Eight patient scenarios were role played by health profession students, who had been provided with their patient’s story shortly before the event. Each team was guided by a facilitator. Results and Outcomes: On the morning of the event, all students gathered in a large group to meet mentors and facilitators and have a brief overview of the six competencies for effective collaboration and the session objectives. The students assuming their same profession roles were provided with their patient’s chart at the beginning of the shift, met with their team, and then completed professional specific assessments. Shortly into the shift, IP team rounds began, facilitated by the team facilitator. During the shift, each patient role-played a spontaneous health incident, which required collaboration between the IP team members for assessment and management. The afternoon concluded with team rounds, a collaborative management plan, and a facilitated de-brief. Conclusions: During the de-brief sessions, students responded to set questions related to the session learning objectives and expressed many positive learning moments. We believe that we have a sustainable simulation IP collaborative learning opportunity, which can be embedded into curricula, and has the capacity to grow to include more health profession faculties and students. Opportunities are being explored in the RFHS at the administrative level, to offer this event more frequently in the academic year to reach more students. In addition, a formally structured event evaluation tool would provide important feedback and inform the qualitative feedback to event organizers and the colleges about the significance of the simulation event to student learning.

Keywords: simulation, collaboration, teams, interprofessional

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: Ai Chin Wong, Wan Ahmad Jaafar Wan Yahaya, Balakrishnan Muniandy

Abstract:

This study aims to explore the impact of Virtual Reality (VR) using visual signaling principles in learning about the science laboratory safety guide; this study involves students with different spatial ability. There are two types of science laboratory safety lessons, which are Virtual Reality with Signaling (VRS) and Virtual Reality Non Signaling (VRNS). This research has adopted a 2 x 2 quasi-experimental factorial design. There are two types of variables involved in this research. The two modes of courseware form the independent variables with the spatial ability as the moderator variable. The dependent variable is the students’ performance. This study sample consisted of 141 students. Descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted to analyze the collected data. The major effects and the interaction effects of the independent variables on the independent variable were explored using the Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVA). Based on the findings of this research, the results exhibited low spatial ability students in VRS outperformed their counterparts in VRNS. However, there was no significant difference in students with high spatial ability using VRS and VRNS. Effective learning in students with different spatial ability can be boosted by implementing the Virtual Reality with Signaling (VRS) in the design as well as the development of Virtual Science Laboratory (ViSLab).

Keywords: spatial ability, science laboratory safety, visual signaling principles, virtual reality

Procedia PDF Downloads 230

Authors: A. Roomy

Abstract:

The dramatic rise in violence against game officials has affected all levels of sports including recreational, amateur, and professional sports. One way to combat this rise in violence is through the creation of laws specifically aimed at preventing and punishing this kind of violence. This paper will use related legal cases as a starting point to explore possible ways of better protecting the safety of game officials. It will do this by looking at relevant cases, related legal issues, and two specific ways of reducing violence against game officials. In closing, it will be argued that there needs to be a more robust legal approach with emphasis on criminal and civil penalties for assault and battery, and a more comprehensive social approach with emphasis on raising social awareness on the need to protect game officials from violence.

Keywords: game officials, legal issues, safety, violence

Procedia PDF Downloads 355

Authors: Mahmoud M. AbuAlSamen, Tamam El-Elimat

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Amid the economic crisis in Jordan, the Jordanian government has opted for a knowledge economy where education is promoted as a mean for economic development. University education usually comes at the expense of study-related stress that may adversely impact the health of students. Since stress is a latent variable that is difficult to measure, a valid tool should be used in doing so. The effort-reward imbalance (ERI) is a model used as a measurement tool for occupational stress. The model was built on the notion of reciprocity, which relates ‘effort’ to ‘reward’ through the mediating ‘over-commitment’. Reciprocity assumes equilibrium between both effort and reward, where ‘high’ effort is adequately compensated with ‘high’ reward. When this equilibrium is violated (i.e., high effort with low reward), this may elicit negative emotions and stress, which have been correlated to adverse health conditions. The theory of ERI was established in many different parts of the world, and associations with chronic diseases and the health of workers were explored at length. While much of the effort-reward imbalance was investigated in work conditions, there has been a growing interest in understanding the validity of the ERI model when applied to other social settings such as schools and universities. The ERI questionnaire was developed in Arabic recently to measure ERI among high school teachers. However, little information is available on the validity of the ERI questionnaire in university students. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 833 students in Jordan to measure the validity and reliability of the ERI questionnaire in Arabic among university students. Reliability, as measured by Cronbach’s alpha of the effort, reward, and overcommitment scales, was 0.73, 0.76, and 0.69, respectively, suggesting satisfactory reliability. The factorial structure was explored using principal axis factoring. The results fitted a five-solution model where both the effort and overcommitment were uni-dimensional while the reward scale was three-dimensional with its factors, namely being ‘support’, ‘esteem’, and ‘security’. The solution explained 56% of the variance in the data. The established ERI theory was replicated with excellent validity in this study. The effort-reward ratio in university students was 1.19, which suggests a slight degree of failed reciprocity. The study also investigated the association of effort, reward, overcommitment, and ERI with participants’ demographic factors and self-reported health. ERI was found to be significantly associated with absenteeism (p < 0.0001), past history of failed courses (p=0.03), and poor academic performance (p < 0.001). Moreover, ERI was found to be associated with poor self-reported health among university students (p=0.01). In conclusion, the Arabic ERI questionnaire is reliable and valid for use in measuring effort-reward imbalance in university students in Jordan. The results of this research are important in informing higher education policy in Jordan.

Keywords: effort-reward imbalance, factor analysis, validity, self-reported health

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Authors: Volkmar Nolting

Abstract:

Fatigue crack growth prediction has become an important topic in both engineering and non-destructive evaluation. Crack propagation is influenced by the mechanical properties of the material and is conveniently modelled by the Paris-Erdogan equation. The critical crack size and the total number of load cycles are calculated. From a Larson-Miller plot the maximum operational temperature can for a given stress level be determined so that failure does not occur within a given time interval t. The study is used to determine a reasonable inspection cycle and thus enhances operational safety and reduces costs.

Keywords: fracturemechanics, crack growth prediction, lifetime of a component, structural health monitoring

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Authors: Ujjal Chattaraj, M. Raviteja, Chaitanya Aemala

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Over the years vehicular traffic has been given priority over pedestrian traffic. With the increase of population in cities, pedestrian traffic is increasing day by day. Pedestrian safety has become a matter of concern for the Traffic Engineers. Pedestrian comfort is primary important for the Engineers who design different pedestrian facilities. Pedestrian comfort and safety can be measured in terms of different level of service (LOS) of the facilities. In this study video data on pedestrian movement have been collected from different railway foot over bridges (FOB) in India. The level of service of those facilities has been analyzed. A cellular automata based model has been formulated to mimic the route choice behaviour of the pedestrians on the foot over bridges.

Keywords: cellular automata model, foot over bridge, level of service, pedestrian

Procedia PDF Downloads 243

Authors: Ahmed Z. Gabr, Ahmed A. Helal, Hussein E. Said

Abstract:

With the incessant increase of power systems capacity and voltage grade, the safety of grounding grid becomes more and more prominent. In this paper, the designing substation grounding grid is presented by means of genetic algorithm (GA). This approach purposes to control the grounding cost of the power system with the aid of controlling grounding rod number and conductor lengths under the same safety limitations. The proposed technique is used for the design of the substation grounding grid in Khalda Petroleum Company “El-Qasr” power plant and the design was simulated by using CYMGRD software for results verification. The result of the design is highly complying with IEEE 80-2000 standard requirements.

Keywords: genetic algorithm, optimum grounding grid design, power system analysis, power system protection, single layer model, substation

Procedia PDF Downloads 508