Journal of Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention
Year:2017 | Volume:5 | Issue:2|Papers Count:8

In many high-income economies, there is a great emphasis on the importance of collecting and analyzing information of traffic crash victims in the field of traffic incident injury and mortality control. In low- and middle-income economies, control and prevention of injuries have been deal with many challenges. It seems that one of the crucial factors and determinants of inability of the low- and middle-income countries to design effective strategies to control and prevent mortality and injuries is failure in collection of valuable, valid, timely, and relevant information (1). In addition, one of the important barriers to control and prevention of road traffic injuries in such countries is inaccurate and inadequate information for recognition of risk factors in a region (2)…

Mental health affects all aspects of life, and its improvement is considered to be an effective strategy to achieve the human development indicators. This issue is of particular importance in women since they constitute half the population and play a pivotal role as family members and in survival in the periods of austerity. Enhancing mental health should be prioritized during crises and disasters when regular norms and order are replaced with chaos and disorder. With respect to public health, no individual is unaffected by such situations, while the changes are not similar in everyone. In this regard, studies suggest that women account for the majority of victims in disasters (1, 2), while other findings emphasize on the constructive role of women in families during crises (3). However, women have been less considered in health-related studies (4). Preventing mental problems in women would be possible by prioritizing them in preventive planning and educational and support programs (5). Given the importance of preventive policies in improving the mental health of the society (6), empowerment training should be implemented considering its direct association with mental health (7). One of the most effectual strategies for empowerment training involves changing the perceptions of the community toward women, which results in the enhancement of their mental health status.

Background & Objective: Release of chemicals material due to road transportation crashes is associated with adverse consequences, including death, injuries, loss of property, and environmental damage. The present study aimed to investigate the fatal hazards caused by the road transportation crashes of chemical material tankers.Materials and Methods: In an applied study, chemical tankers in Iran’s road transportation fleet were evaluated, and the most frequently transported chemicals including ammonia, chlorine, 1, 3-butadiene, benzene, and toluene, were selected for modeling the release of toxic substances. To cover the other possible scenarios, the full rupture of the investigated tankers was determined as the selected scenario, and lethal concentrations of the toxic substances (LC1, LC10, LC50, and LC90) were calculated using the Probit model. Finally, modeling of the toxic substance release was performed in order to verify the associated fatal hazards using the ALOHA and PHAST software.Results: Based on the lethal concentrations of LC1, LC10, LC50, and LC90 using the ALOHA software, fatal hazard distances of ammonia were determined to be 980, 866, 741, and 629 meters, respectively. In addition, using the PHAST software, fatal hazard distances of chlorine were calculated to be 620, 318, 204, and 157 meters, respectively. Therefore, these chemicals were confirmed as the most dangerous toxic substances in road transportation.Conclusion: Due to the impossibility of emergency response planning based on the results of the mentioned software at all concentrations, it is recommended that in order to prevent the occurrence of probable hazards, the highest fatal hazard distance based on the LC1 be considered in the emergency response planning regardless of the type of the material and software. Furthermore, it is suggested that in the event of an crash, individuals passing through the area within a distance of 980 meters be provided with air suppliers and breathing equipment.

Background and Aim: Elderly pedestrians are one of the vulnerable road users in road traffic injureis. Elderly pedestrians are different from other road users because of special problems such as weakness of physical ability and specific, social and mental psychosocial conditions. Therefore, special attention should be taken in to account. There are need to pay more attention to this group of road users. The present study aimed to explore the obstacles relating to the elderly pedestrians using a qualitative study approach.Materials and Methods: This is a qualitative study that was conducted on male and female elderly pedestrians age equal or more than 60 years old participated to obtain depth understanding about obstacles of road safety among elderly pedestrians.Considering the cultural background and convenience of the participants in order to have comfort interviews, interviews were conducted by male and female interviewee based on participant gender. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and then analyzed employing content analysis as an interpretation method after data collection.Results: Analysis of the interview data yielded three main themes, emerged in interpreting the interviews including the problems related to associated with the environment (e.g., such as; traffic lights, pedestrians bridges, and streets), social respect to elderly people, and physical health.Conclusion: According to findings of our study, special physical and social conditions of the elderly citizens as vulnerable road users should be considered and there is need to pay more attention to urban designs and distribution of safer traffic facilities considering elderly people as a vulnerable road users. Construction of traffic safety equipment in cities (such as using escalators instead of bridges and correction of defects in streets and roads tailored to the needs of the elderly) old people can could positively affect the safety of elderly pedestrians. Furthermore, promoting the culture of respecting the elderly and helping them in streets could largely improve their safety as vulnerable pedestrians can improve pedestrian safety of elderly road users.

Background & Objective: Previous studies have shown that FIFA 11+comprehensive warm-up program is effective in the prevention of injuries in soccer players. Although dynamic postural stability is one of the main risk factors for soccer injuries, data is scarce on the effects of this program on dynamic postural stability. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of FIFA 11+on the dynamic postural stability of male soccer players aged 14-16 years.Materials and Methods: In this study, 30 soccer players were randomly divided into two groups of experimental (n=15) and control (n=15). Participants had no history of lower-extremity injuries. Control subjects continued routine exercises, while the experimental group received the FIFA 11+injury prevention exercises as warm-up, followed by common soccer practices. Exercises were performed three times per week for eight weeks. Dynamic stability was measured based on single-leg jumplanding on a force-plate. Data analysis was performed using repeated measures ANOVA, and paired and independent t-test were used for the comparison of inter-group and intra-group differences (P>0.05).Results: Compared to the control group, significant differences were observed in the experimental group in terms of the time of reaching stabilization in the anterior-posterior (P=0.004) and mediolateral directions (P=0.001).Conclusion: FIFA 11+injury prevention program could increase dynamic postural stability probably through improving proprioception and neuromuscular coordination.

Background & Objective: Failure is inevitable in the daily activities and machinery in industrial operations, the causes of which should be properly evaluated and analyzed. Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a potent and effective method for identifying and eliminating potential failure, as well as the difficulties and failures in systems, design, processes, and services. The present study aimed to assess the potential risk in an air conditioning equipment manufacturing company using the FMEA.Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, all activities and machinery in different units of the air conditioning equipment manufacturing company were analyzed by census evaluation and FMEA risk assessment. Cutoff point was determined at 70%, and the risks were categorized into three levels of acceptable (L), medium (M), and unacceptable (H); based on the classification of the organization and control ability. Data analysis was performed in Microsoft Excel 2010.Results: Among 1, 453 identified risks, 237 risks (16.3%) were in the H category with the ratio of 1/6, 473 risks (32.6%) were in the L category with the ratio of 1/3, and 743 risks (51.1%) were in the M category with the ratio of 1/2. Moreover, 44 unacceptable risks (H) (3%) were in the Likert classification developed by the researcher in accordance with the organization, which were considered acceptable in the FMEA classification. These risks could be considered the margins of control measures.Conclusion: According to the FMEA classification, the ratio of H risks to the total risks is 1/10, while it was obtained at 1/6 in the present study. On the other hand, high number of the identified risks does not necessarily indicate the manufacturing units to be of high risk.

Background & objective: Every year, we witness hazardous and even fatal accidents in laboratories. Therefore, identification of the risks in laboratories and creating safe conditions are of paramount importance in these settings. The present study aimed to evaluate the potential risks in the laboratories of the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea Ecological Research Center.Materials and Methods: In order to assess and classify the risks associated with working in research centers, the failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) and relevant statistical tests were used.Results: Potential risk levels were evaluated as moderate or high in all the laboratories, with the exception of the benthic laboratory. Therefore, appropriate corrective measures must be taken in this regard. Based on the results of the Kruskal-Wallis test, there were significant differences between the studied laboratories in terms of the risk priority number (RPN) before and after the corrective measures. In addition, posthoc tests indicated the lowest risk levels in the benthic and histology laboratories, while the highest risk was identified in the instrumental analysis laboratory. Results of laboratory classification using cluster analysis were noticeably similar to the post-hoc test results. According to Mann-Whitney U test, there were significant differences between the RPN values before and after the corrective measures only in the case of the sample preparation laboratory (P>0.05).Conclusion: It could be concluded that FMEA is an effective method for risk assessment in research laboratories, while appropriate statistical approaches could also be used for the complementary analysis in this regard.

Background and Objective: The present study aimed to assess the educational needs of the medical emergency technicians in Tehran emergency center, Iran.Materials and Methods: This descriptive and applied survey that was conducted on three groups emergency medical services groups including medical emergency technicians, senior technicians, and supervisors and senior managers. Stratified random sampling and convenience sampling was performed for sample size. Data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire, of which the formal and content validity was confirmed by experts. In addition, reliability coefficient of all the items in the questionnaire was estimated at the Cronbach’s alpha of 97.4%. Data were collected by qualified researchers, and data analysis was performed in SPSS version 23.Results: Theoretical educational needs of the participants were related to professional legal issues, technician tasks in crises, and principles of report writing. On the other hand, practical educational needs were related to out-of-hospital births, exposure to environmental emergencies, psychological and communicable diseases, care of burn patients, report writing, and completing operational forms. The lowest score belonged to the domain of ‘efficacy of educational courses’, which highlights the necessity of providing relevant courses to address the employees’ needs.Conclusion: Findings of the present study emphasized on the importance of assessing the educational needs of emergency center employees based on their requirements for developing and planning the necessary educational courses in this regard.