Iranian Journal of Ergonomics
Year:2020 | Volume:7 | Issue:4 |Papers Count:9

Background and Objectives: Ergonomics is associated with the study and systematic design of the workplace to improve human health and well-being. The health and well-being of employees are influenced by a variety of factors. Nature is a new paradigm in occupational ergonomics that has not been well explored in the main texts of ergonomics in relation to human well-being. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to investigate the results of joining with nature on staff health, especially well-being in the form of a systematic review study. Methods: By searching articles published from 2000 to 2019 in the field of Biophilic design, 25 articles were selected for the present systematic study based on the research criteria. Non-English language articles were excluded. Results: The results of this study showed that Biophilic design is associated with improved human well-being, performance, concentration and stress reduction. Conclusion: Organizations, with the help of ergonomists, should consider such changes in the workplace, and nature-based solutions as strategic programs for improving well-being rather than merely applying a temporary strategy that changes the physical condition of a building or its landscape.

Background and Objectives: Sewing is one of the occupations where the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders is high. Sewing conditions at the workstation have made tailors face musculoskeletal injuries in various areas of their body, particularly pain in the neck, shoulder, and upper back and even waist. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a workstation designed for tailoring considering the results of previous studies on the neck and shoulder muscles of users by electromyography. Methods: In this interventional analytical study, the activity levels of four superficial neck and shoulder muscles (meridian, anterior deltoid, middle deltoid, posterior deltoid) were Electromyographed on 33 participants (male and female) at two new and custom designed workstations. Results: There was a significant difference in the amount of muscle activity in the new and existing workstations (P<0. 05). But there was no significant difference between the different modes of the new workstation. Conclusion: All four muscles were less active at the new workstation than the conventional workstation, meaning that the designed workstation was able to reduce neck and shoulder muscle activity during work.

Background and Objectives: Recognition and prevention of burnout plays an important role in promoting mental health and increasing the quality of services provided. This paper aimed to prevent the occurrence of this problem, seeking to identify the effective factors on the employees' burnout. Methods: Many studies have been carried out by researchers on staff burnout using a descriptive-analytical approach, but there is no model comprehensively identifying the factors affecting employee burnout and, more importantly, expressing the relationships between the factors involved. Therefore, system dynamics analysis and VENSIM software have been used for explaining the quantitative relationships between factors affecting employees' burnout, evaluation and simulation. Results: After designing causal, flow diagrams and model validation, four scenarios were extracted using system dynamics and simulation methods. The first scenario, which shows the current status of the company, indicated an increase in burnout. In the second scenario, with increased job satisfaction, employee productivity increased, but higher productivity, in practice, did not lead to reduction in burnout. In the third scenario, burnout decreased with increasing occupational control variables. And in the fourth scenario, by increasing the welfare and rest parameters of the staff, it was found that this scenario also had a significant effect on reducing the burnout of employees. Conclusion: From among the four simulated scenarios, the fourth one, which is the increase in staff welfare parameters, had the most impact on reducing the burnout of Ardabil Regional Water Company employees.

Background and Objectives: Bank staff do much of their work using computers, Their equipment and layout may put the body in an inappropriate position and lead to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), so this study aimed to determine the prevalence of MSDs in bank staff and its relationship with office tensions. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 173 employees of Melli Bank of North Khorasan Province. The prevalence of MSDs was estimated through CMDQ, Risk factors were estimated through ROSA and data were entered into SPSS 20. Then their relationship with each other and with the equipment layout was determined by Spearman test. Results: The mean ROSA scores were 4. 73± 0. 793 and 63. 6% of the postures were in the intervention group. The mean CMDQ scores were 103. 63± 181. 004. Spearman test showed a good correlation between ROSA and CMDQ results (P=0. 021, R= 0. 175). There was a significant relationship between work experience and prevalence of MSDs (P=0. 037, R=0. 159). Kruskal-Wallis test showed a significant relationship between education level and CMDQ scores (P=0. 38). The most common disorders in the organs were neck (53. 8%) and lower back (49. 7%). Conclusion: Given the correlation between the ROSA results and the CMDQ, they can be used together. The change should be considered immediately for persons who are in intervention group. The chair and monitor played a more important role in raising the ROSA score. Improvements should be made by providing an ergonomic chair as well as a proper layout of other equipment such as a monitor.

Background and Objectives: Macro Ergonomics is a socio-technical approach that deals with organizational, and work system design, as well as the design of human-machine, human-environment, and human-job interactions. Researches show that workplace macroeconomic’ conditions have undesirable effects on employees’ health, and hospital staff experience high levels of occupational stress and high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders. This study aimed to investigate the relation between macroeconomic’ condition and prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders as well as outcomes of job stress among employees of hospitals affiliated to Urmia University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study and 350 employees who randomly were selected from 5 hospitals participated in this study. Macro-ergonomic, Nordic and job stress outcomes questionnaires were used for data collection. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA and Chi-square tests were applied for data analysis. Results: The findings of the present study indicated that out of 350 participants 217 (62%) were female and 168 were nurses (48%). Their mean age was 36. 63 (± 8. 13) years and their average work experience was 11. 53 (± 7. 65) years. The results of ANOVA test showed that the status of macro-ergonomics was significantly different in hospitals and hospital 1 had favorable condition. The majority of musculoskeletal disorder symptoms were reported in the neck (75. 7%), hip, and waist (73. 7%). The average score of job stress outcomes for the participants was lower than favorable limit. Macro-ergonomic’ conditions had significant associations with musculoskeletal disorders and job stress’ outcomes. Conclusion: Based on the results of the current study, macro-ergonomic conditions had significant effects on musculoskeletal disorders and job stress outcomes. Interventional efforts should focus on organization and developing macro-ergonomic training programs to reduce musculoskeletal disorders and job stress and improve job conditions in hospitals.

Background and Objectives: One of the major challenges that managers face in competitive organizations is the improvement of the performance and productivity of the organization and understanding the factors affecting them. The promotion of the organizational performance requires managers to focus on the organizational justice and employees’ motivation at work. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between organizational justice and organizational performance in the Health Center of Kermanshah Province. Methods: The present work was a descriptive-analytic and correlation study. This study was performed on 166 employees of the Health Center of Kermanshah in summer 2019, selected by random sampling. Data were collected using two standard questionnaires: the organizational justice of Nihoff and Morman (1993), and the organizational performance of Hersey and Goldsmith (1980). Reliability of the questionnaires was assessed by the pilot study and Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 16 software. Results: The results showed that the average scores of the organizational justice and the organizational performance are 54. 84 ± 16. 92 and 140. 54 ± 18. 66, respectively. According to the results of Pearson correlation coefficient, there is significant relationship between the organizational justice and its dimensions with organizational performance (P<0. 001). However, the procedural justice has the more potential to predict the organizational performance. Conclusion: The organizational justice is an important variable, strongly affecting the organizational performance. Therefore, managers need to pay particular attention to the justice as an important motivating factor for employees in order to improve the organizational performance and productivity.

Background and Objectives: Using anthropometric characteristics in the ergonomic design of workstations can be useful in the prevention and reduction of musculoskeletal discomfort and in office-work environments. The purpose of this study was to determine the anthropometric dimensions of Hormozgan province gas department staff to design desks and chairs for computer work based workstations. Methods: This is a descriptive-analytical study for measuring 36 anthropometric variables of 121 Hormozgan province gas company staff selected by cluster random method. After collecting anthropometric data considering ergonomic design criteria, dimensions of desk and office chairs are designed. Results: Participants were 80. 2% male and 19. 8% female with a mean age of 35. 11 and a standard deviation of 6. 6 between 25 and 59 years. The mean and standard deviation of height measured was 170. 7 and 8. 06 cm, respectively. Anthropometric results are shown separately by gender and percentile in the tables. Dimensions of chair and office desk are designed based on obtained data. Conclusion: The presented anthropometric desks can be used in future studies and designs. Also, the dimensional characteristics of the furniture provided can be a practical guide for designing and manufacturing office workstations.

Background and Objectives: Factors affecting one's job performance include job stress, job calling and burnout. The purpose of this study was to determine the causal relationship between job stressors, job calling and job burnout among employees of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was performed on 378 non-faculty members of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences. Data were collected using Maslach Burnout Inventory, Job Stress Questionnaire (HSE-Q) and Dik's job calling. To investigate the relationship between variables, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method was used in AMOS version 24 software. Results: The mean age of participants was 38. 93 years. The components of job stressors and job calling had a positive and significant correlation with the components of job burnout (P<0. 05). The measurement model was acceptable with the collected data. Job stressors indirectly and mediate the dimensions of presence and search of job calling are related to job burnout of medical university employees. The sum of squares of multiple correlations for job burnout variable was 0. 56. This finding indicated that occupational stressors and job calling account for 52% of the variance in burnout. Conclusion: Given the detrimental effects of burnout on employees, it is suggested that authorities reduce stressors such as the psychological and physical needs of the workplace, lack of support, job insecurity, and job calling.