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Free movement of production factors in the enlarged EU has led to immigration flows from East to West and from South to North with a significant impact on EU labor markets. Fiscal federalism also determined large immigration flows into EU area and affected unemployment rate in the EU countries. The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of factors such as number of immigrants, tax on profits, social contributions, economic growth and population growth on unemployment rates in EU area using a panel quantile regression and an PMG-ARDL approach as robustness test during 1991-2020. The results show a positive association between population growth and unemployment rate, whereas the remaining exogenous factors are negatively associated with unemployment rate. Still, social contributions are statistically significant only for upper quantiles. The overall impact of social contribution on unemployment rate is positive as per PMG-ARDL estimations. We have also demonstrated that the immigrant flows impact on unemployment rate is very weak. The factors that are exerting the most significance influence on unemployment rate, are economic and population growth, followed by tax on profits. Findings support policy recommendation in EU area in terms of fiscal policy., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

This paper is the first comprehensive research to examine the effect of circular economy on environment employing two environmental degradation indicators (CO 2 emissions, ecological footprint) and one environmental quality indicator (load capacity factor) for 57 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries during 2000-2019. The effect of other variables such as renewable energy, industrialization, and globalization was also controlled. The study applied the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag method (CS-ARDL), the augmented mean group (AMG), and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) methods as a robustness checks. The empirical findings reveal that circular economy and renewable energy have pro-environmental effects by decreasing carbon emissions and ecological footprint and increasing the load capacity factor in BRI countries. However, industrialization and globalization have detrimental effects on the environment. The result of causality shows a bidirectional causality between renewable energy, circular economy, industrialization, and three environmental indicators, but the relationship of globalization with CO 2 emissions and the load capacity factor is unidirectional and with the ecological footprint is bidirectional. All the results are confirmed by the robustness tests. The study suggests policy implications for the BRI government., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study analyses the impact of GDP per capita, domestic credit, savings, and population on the environment in Pakistan from 1995 to 2019. The country has consistently been ranked eighth, fifth, and eight as an environmentally vulnerable nation from 1998 to 2017, 1999 to 2018, and 2000 to 2019, respectively. Therefore, the study explores the role of environmental awareness as a potential strategy for making peace with nature. Findings of the ARDL bounds testing approach confirm the long-run cointegration among variables of concern. In further assessment, the study determines that increased per capita income is detrimental to environmental quality in the long run. However, in the short run, it shows a favourable impact. On the other hand, domestic credit worsens the environment in the long and short runs. However, savings are positively insignificant in this regard. Furthermore, the total population significantly harms the environment in the long and short run. Fortunately, environmental awareness has emerged as a key solution to environmental degradation in Pakistan. Findings show that an increase in the dissemination of environmental awareness through the Internet, mobile, and landline phones, as well as by increasing education expenditures, mitigates the populations' detrimental impact on the environment and improves environmental quality in the long run., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

This paper evaluates the impact of the National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAP) that was prepared under the (2009/28/EC) Directive of the European Commission by using Türkiye as a case study. We aimed to reveal the causal impacts of the plan on renewable energy generation based on different technologies such as hydro, wind, and solar, along with the impacts on greenhouse gas emissions. To do this, we used the synthetic control method. The study's outcome indicates that NREAP has served as a promising treatment policy for Türkiye's deployment of renewable energy potential. The total treatment effect is 14%, mainly driven by increases in solar and wind shares, while no significant impact was observed on the hydro share of electricity. Moreover, our analysis found no treatment effect on greenhouse gas emissions, and placebo tests supported the robustness of these results. The analysis did not reveal any evidence of a treatment effect on greenhouse gas emissions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Smart, secure, and environmentally friendly smart cities are all the rage in urban planning. Several technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT) and edge computing, are used to develop smart cities. Early and accurate fire detection in a Smart city is always desirable and motivates the research community to create a more efficient model. Deep learning models are widely used for fire detection in existing research, but they encounter several issues in typical climate environments, such as foggy and normal. The proposed model lends itself to IoT applications for authentic fire surveillance because of its minimal configuration load. A hybrid Local Binary Pattern Convolutional Neural Network (LBP-CNN) and YOLO-V5 model-based fire detection model for smart cities in the foggy scenario is presented in this research. Additionally, we recommend a two-part technique for extracting features to be applied to YOLO throughout this article. Using a transfer learning technique, the first portion of the proposed approach for extracting features retrieves standard features. The section part is for retrieval of additional valuable information related to the current activity using the LBP (Local Binary Pattern) protective layer and classifications layers. This research utilizes an online Kaggle fire and smoke dataset with 13950 normal and foggy images. The proposed hybrid model is premised on a two-cascaded YOLO model. In the initial cascade, smoke and fire are detected in the normal surrounding region, and the second cascade fire is detected with density in a foggy environment. In experimental analysis, the proposed model achieved a fire and smoke detection precision rate of 96.25% for a normal setting, 93.2% for a foggy environment, and a combined detection average precision rate of 94.59%. The proposed hybrid system outperformed existing models in terms of better precision and density detection for fire and smoke., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Understanding the complex interactions between the economy and the environment is crucial for promoting sustainable development and mitigating the negative impact of human activities on the Planet. The importance of this issue for Serbia is evident as the country strives to balance economic growth and environmental protection to ensure a sustainable and resilient future. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to investigate and model the relationship between CO 2 emissions, economic growth, electricity consumption, and trade openness in Serbia. Initially, an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model is used to characterize the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) using data from the period from 1995 to 2019, followed by the construction of a bootstrap logistic regression model to predict environmental quality in Serbia. Long-term estimates of the model confirm an inverted U-shaped relationship, where all three variables exert a statistically significant influence on CO 2 emissions. In the short run, however, a causal relationship is only observed between electricity consumption and CO 2 emissions. The logistic regression results show that all three factors significantly influence environmental quality. The study proposes policy recommendations for Serbia, such as promoting sustainable economic growth, implementing long-term programs to reduce CO 2 emissions, reviewing trade policies to prioritize sustainable practices, and investing in renewable energy sources to reduce emissions., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The main objective of this study is to examine the impacts of green energy and public investment on the CO2 emissions in North Africa. Moreover, the study also tests the existence of the N-shaped Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis for North African countries between 1995 and 2018. These factors were analyzed using the Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS), Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS), and Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimators to obtain estimations of heterogeneous parameters. The outcome of these tests and examinations showed that the N-shaped curve was confirmed. Secondly, The results of the study also demonstrate the effectiveness of renewable energy as an eco-friendly innovation in reducing carbon emissions. This finding highlights the positive impact that renewable energy sources can have in terms of emitting fewer carbon emissions compared to traditional energy sources. Moreover, public investment, which interprets government expenditure, and urbanization contribute to environmental degradation by increasing CO2 emissions in the case of North African countries. Furthermore, the findings also indicated a trade-off effect resulting from the correlation between CO2 emissions and economic development. Based on these findings, the study recommends that economic policymakers in North African countries prioritize transforming the structure of government expenditures to improve environmental quality, optimize the utilization of revenues from non-environmentally friendly energy resources to accelerate the energy transition, increase the exploitation of renewable energy, and promote environmental awareness in society. By implementing these recommendations, North African countries can balance economic growth and environmental quality while reducing their carbon footprint., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This article investigates the performance of three models - Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA), Threshold Autoregressive Moving Average (TARMA) and Evidential Neural Network for Regression (ENNReg) - in forecasting the Brent crude oil price, a crucial economic variable with a significant impact on the global economy. With the increasing complexity of the price dynamics due to geopolitical factors such as the Russo-Ukrainian war, we examine the impact of incorporating information on the war on the forecasting accuracy of these models. Our analysis shows that incorporating the impact of the war can significantly improve the forecasting accuracy of the models, and the ENNReg model with the inclusion of the dummy variable outperforms the other models during the war period. Including the war variable has enhanced the forecasting accuracy of the ENNReg model by 0.11%. These results carry significant implications regarding policymakers, investors, and researchers interested in developing accurate forecasting models in the presence of geopolitical events such as the Russo-Ukrainian war. The results can be used by the governments of oil-exporting countries for budget policies., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Pollution, war and energy crisis are the CEE countries' most important global actual issues. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of political stability and electricity price in 11 CEE countries in the period 2007-2021 to anticipate the effect of these factors on pollution in times of political and energy crisis. The common results based on DOLS/FMOLS and CCEMG estimations indicate that political stability enhances CO2 emissions, while higher electricity prices for non-household consumers reduce pollution. An inverted-U pattern was observed in the relationship between growth and pollution, while renewable energy consumption is the most powerful tool to reduce CO2 emissions. These results are the starting point for policy recommendations., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Pollution and energy crisis are actual issues in Europe, including the EU Central and Eastern European states. In this context, the objective of this paper is to assess the impact of economic growth and electricity prices for non-household consumers on pollution. The empirical findings reveal the U pattern for energy industry and inverted U pattern for manufacturing in the period 2007-2021 in the EU countries from Central and Eastern Europe. Renewable energy consumption reduces the CO2 and GHG emissions in energy industry. FDI and electricity prices determine the reduction in GHG and CO2 emissions in both sectors. These results are the basis for policy recommendations., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Due to global and regional climatic dynamics for a couple of decades, agricultural productivity, rural livelihood, and food security have been badly affected in Pakistan. This study was conducted in Punjab, Pakistan, to explore the farmers' understanding of the impacts of climate change, adaptation strategies, determinants, and benefits on agriculture using data from 1080 respondents. Perceived risks by the farmers in the rice-wheat cropping system and the cotton-wheat cropping system were weed infestation, seed rate augmented, low-quality seeds, infestation of crop diseases and pests, change of cropping pattern, increase of input use, decrease of cropping intensity and productivity, decreasing soil fertility, increasing irrigation frequency, and increase of harvesting time. To alleviate the adverse influences of climate change, the adaptation strategies used by farmers were management of crop and variety, soil and irrigation water, diversification of agriculture production systems and livelihood sources, management of fertilizer and farm operations time, spatial adaptation, access to risk reduction measures and financial assets, adoption of new technologies, institutional support, and indigenous knowledge. Moreover, the results of Binary Logistic Regression indicate that adaptation strategies are affected by different factors like age, education, household family size, off-farm income, remittances, credit access, information on climatic and natural hazards, information on weather forecasting, land acreage, the experience of growing crops and rearing of livestock, tenancy status, tube well ownership, livestock inventory, access to market information, agricultural extension services, and distance from agricultural input/output market. There is a significant difference between adapters and nonadapters. The risk management system may be created to protect crops against failures caused by extreme weather events. There is a need to develop crop varieties that are both high yielding and resistant to climate change. Moreover, cropping patterns should be revised to combat the effects of climate change. To enhance farmers' standard of living, it is necessary to provide adequate extension services and a more significant number of investment facilities. These measures will assist farmers in maintaining their standard of living and food security over the long term to adapt to the effects of climate change based on various cropping zones., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study investigates the impact of environmental technological innovation, economic complexity, energy productivity, the use of renewable electricity generation, and environmental taxes on carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions in the G-10 countries for the timeframe from 1995 to 2020. The purpose of the study is to examine the need for a clear plan or strategy to achieve environmental objectives in G-10 countries. In both short-term and long-term projections, the increased use of environment-based technology, economic complexity, and renewable electricity generation has a major positive impact on carbon emission reduction. Moreover, the results demonstrate both unidirectional and bidirectional causality from carbon emissions to renewable energy, electrical generation, and environment-based technologies, respectively. Based on the results, the study proposes a number of concrete policies, such as updating modernized tax systems, increasing tax collection, providing individuals with the means to finance the Sustainable Development Goals through incentive regulations, and making grants from international organizations and the private sector available to finance investments toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and carbon neutrality environment targets. This is the study's most significant contribution in order to attain a sustainable and low-carbon future in the G-10 countries, which has policy implications for governments and policymakers., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper, (© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

This study aims to demonstrate the impact of renewable energy consumption (REC) on environmental degradation using the EKC hypothesis testing for the BRIC and G-7 countries. Two EKC models were created and tested, with Model 2 including REC and other independent variables such as economic freedom (EF) and economic policy uncertainty (EPU), which affect the level of renewable energy consumption and CO 2 emissions. Empirical findings indicate that the EKC hypothesis is verified faster in the REC-EF-EPU-based EKC model (Model 2) than in the EF-EPU-based EKC model (Model 1) for G-7 countries since the turning point takes place earlier in Model 2 than in Model 1 with REC. This suggests that renewable energy consumption accelerates the reduction of CO 2 emissions. Moreover, this earlier turning point results in lower environmental cleaning costs, less time vesting, and saving resources and money for G-7 countries. However, the study found no evidence supporting the EKC hypothesis for the BRIC countries., Competing Interests: Conflicts of InterestThe authors declare no conflict of interest. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2023, Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

As a result of a greater worldwide aspiration for wealth and economic progress, increased use of natural resources for diverse industries resulted in increased pollution emissions, mainly carbon dioxide. Energy security, economic stability, job security, biodiversity loss, climate change, and global warming all require reconciliation and resolution now, more than ever before. This paper explores the causal relationship between CO 2 emissions, economic growth, available energy, and employment for a panel of eight South-Eastern European countries from 1995 to 2019. We investigate the relationship using panel unit root tests, panel cointegration methods, and panel causality tests. The results show a short-run bidirectional panel causality between CO 2 emissions and employment and between available energy and employment. The results further indicate a unidirectional causality from available energy and employment to GDP. The long-run causal relationship results show that the estimated coefficients of the lagged ECT in the CO 2 emissions, GDP, and employment equations are statistically significant, implying that these variables could play a significant role in the system's adjustment process as it departs from long-run equilibrium. We also conducted a variance decomposition analysis, which allowed us to compare the extent of the individual factors' contributions to each other over the next 5 years., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The deployment of energy sources is considered the compassion of several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Countries should keep balance with the three major proportions of the global energy trilemma: energy security, affordability, energy access, and ecological balance to construct a solid basis for competitiveness and prosperity. In this regard, this study examines the influence of nuclear energy, technological innovations, renewable energy, non-renewable energy, and natural resources on carbon footprint in the highest nuclear energy-producing countries from 1990 to 2019. To do this, we developed an inclusive and comprehensive empirical investigation and applied modern econometric approaches. Panel second-generation long-run cointegration advocates long-run associations among the series. The findings reveal that nuclear and renewable energy consumption extensively improve environmental excellence. Conversely, technological innovations and non-renewable energy significantly reduce environmental sustainability. Moreover, natural resources play an adverse role in long-run. The findings of the panel causality test discovered unidirectional causality is running from carbon footprint to nuclear energy. Additionally, bidirectional causality exists between technological innovations, renewables, non-renewables, and natural resources with carbon footprint. This recommends that these nations should integrate energy policy activities and develop energy strategy consistency by harmonizing the vital global nuclear energy aspects to assist a well-calibrated energy structure., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The primary goal of this study was to examine the relationship between fossil fuel energy, electricity production from nuclear sources, renewable energy, CO 2 emissions, and economic growth in Pakistan. Data ranging from 1975 to 2019 were utilized, and the stationarity of this data was verified through the unit root testing. The dynamic connections between variables were investigated by utilizing the linear autoregressive distributed lag technique. Long-run analysis results uncover that fossil fuel energy, renewable energy use, CO 2 emissions, and GDP per capita have a productive relationship with economic progress in Pakistan, whereas electric power consumption, electricity produced from nuclear sources, and energy utilization have an adverse effect on economic growth. Furthermore, the consequences revealed that fossil fuel energy, renewable energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions, and GDP per capita have a significant linkage to Pakistan's economic growth via short run, whereas we revealed that the variables electric power consumption, electricity produced from nuclear sources, and energy usage have an adversative linkage to Pakistan's economic growth. Feasible progressive policies are required from the Pakistani government to pay more attention for tackling the energy and power sectors' issues in terms of fulfilling the country's energy requirements., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study empirically estimates the impact of clean and non-clean energy consumption on economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions within the framework of the environmental Kuznets curve and pollution haven hypothesis in the case of PIMC countries from 1980 to 2019. The results of the panel cointegration test proposed by Westerlund (2007) show a long-term equilibrium relationship among the variables of each designated model. The long-term elasticities of economic growth and carbon emission estimated by AMG, CCEMG, and MG estimators indicate that both clean and non-clean energy consumption has a significant impact on economic growth, while carbon emission hinders growth. The results also reveal that economic growth, non-clean energy consumption, and interaction between trade openness and non-clean energy consumption have a driving effect on carbon dioxide emission; however, clean energy consumption is found to reduce carbon emission. In addition, the analysis confirms the existence of the inverted U-shaped environmental Kuznets curve and pollution haven hypothesis in the panel of PIMC economies. Finally, there is a one-way causality from non-clean energy consumption to economic growth, but no such causation exists between clean energy consumption and economic growth. The objective of sustained economic growth with a safe environment may be achieved by encouraging clean energy consumption in the PIMC economies., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The study explores the association between economic complexity index (ECI), tourism (TR), gross domestic products (GDP), gross domestic products per capita (GPC), and energy prices indices (EPI) on CO 2 e using the top 18 economic complexity index countries data from 1990 to 2019. We employ the second-generation cointegration methods and cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) to analyze the short- and long-term association also Dumitrescu and Hurlin Granger causality test applied. The results of Pesaran and Yamagata slope heterogeneity and Pesaran CD test confirm the presence of cross-sectional unit relationship and slope heterogeneity across countries, while positive long- and short-term associations were found among ECI, GDP, and CO 2 e. Also, TR, GPC, and EPI decrease carbon emissions both in the long and short term . Moreover, Augmented Mean Group (AMG) techniques verified and support these findings. The outcomes of the Dumitrescu and Hurlin Granger causality test showed that any policy aim at ECI, TR, GDP, GPC, and EPI has a considerable impact on CO 2 e. Based on the rigorous empirical analysis, we suggest that economic complexity, tourism, GDP, GPC, and energy prices would help alleviate high economic complexity countries' environmental degradation challenges., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Given the importance of individual level creativity, this paper investigates the influence of employee polychronicity on employee creativity among nurses in the healthcare sector. The current research also tests how job engagement acts as a mediator between employees' polychronicity and creativity. Finally, thepaper analyzes the role of functional flexibility as a moderator that enhances the influence of polychronicity on employee creativity. The current paper presents empirical research, and cross-sectional data were gathered from 457 nurses (Subordinate Staff) and 127 doctors (Supervisors) working in 37DHQ (District Head Quarters) hospitals in Pakistan. Descriptive statistics, correlation, and multiple-regression techniques were applied for analyzing the collected data. The findings proved that the nurses' polychronic attitude increases their creativity. Findings revealed that job commitment plays a mediating role between polychronicity and employee creativity. The findings proved that functional flexibility enhances the link between polychronicity and creativity. This research has contributed to both theory and managerial practice about the interplay of polychronicity, creativity, job engagement, and functional flexibility among nurses. The management in practice should focus on employee attitude, i.e., polychronicity, for improving their creativeness.

Background: Cleaning and kitchen employees have an increased risk of suffering from occupational dermatoses. Prevention including improving individual skin care and skin protection behavior, health education, optimizing diagnostics and therapy as well as avoidance of occupational skin disease (BK 5101) is important., Patients and Methods: Participants in the courses were patients suspected of having an occupational skin disease. Besides socio-demographic and disease-related data, health-related quality of life (QL) was measured using the SF-36 and Skindex-29. One year later all participants were interviewed by telephone about the course of their skin disease., Results: Out of 212 participants, 84.0 % were female. The mean age was 41.6 (SD = 10.8) years.168 patients (79.2 %) suffered from hand dermatitis,with irritant contact dermatitis being the predominant diagnosis (46.2 %,n = 98). One year later 65.4 % (n = 85) of the patients interviewed still suffered from hand dermatitis.9.2 % (n = 12) had meanwhile quit their job due to the skin disease. QL was impaired in all age groups being lower with increasing age of the patients., Conclusions: The follow-up confirmed the positive impact of the skin protection courses on patients' skin disease and well-being. Occupational skin diseases impair health-related quality of life in these professions but disease severity does not seem to play a key role.

Background: Occupational dermatoses and allergies are frequent and often affect individuals with atopic dermatitis. Our aim was to inform adolescents about potentially dangerous occupations, risk groups and preventive measures before they started apprenticeships in order to minimize the risk of occupational allergies or skin diseases., Methods: 1015 high-school students were instructed by two dermatologists/ allergists (Heidelberg) and a teacher (Potsdam) in a 90-minute instructional unit. This included the exemplification of occupational skin hazards and allergies, the identification of at-risk persons, and application of preventive measures. A questionnaire was filled in by the students prior to and at least two weeks after the training., Results: In both regions, the students showed an increase in knowledge after the training, which was statistically significant higher in the Heidelberg region (6.6 points on average vs.4.4 points). 76% of students termed the subject matter as "important", and 67% rated the teaching unit as "very good" or "good"., Conclusions: We demonstrate that students who have not yet chosen a career are highly interested in this subject, that the developed instructional unit is widely accepted, and that it leads to an increase in knowledge. Therefore we suggest nation-wide implementation of this primary prevention measure in high-schools.

Objectives: Due to increased occupational dermatoses in certain professions such as health care workers (HCW), cleaning and kitchen employees (CKE), measures of prevention and skin protection are of high significance. Skin protection courses focus on educational aims (e.g. improving skin care habits, influencing the participants' attitudes towards health) and medical aims (e.g. optimising diagnostic procedures, complementing individual therapy)., Methods: Participants are patients who have been suspected to suffer from an occupational skin disease and are insured with the German Accident Prevention & Insurance Association (BGW). Teaching units of the skin protection courses focus on basics of skin functioning and important aspects of occupational skin diseases. Practical parts include information and instructions about the correct implementation of skin protection, skin care and skin cleansing. Every participant is seen by a dermatologist obtaining a precise patient's history and performing a skin examination. All this results in working out individually adapted and professional skin protection strategies., Results: In total, 791 participants (93 men and 698 women) completed the skin protections courses. Six hundred and sixty-seven patients (mean age: 36.9 years, SD = 11.6) were HCW and 124 patients (mean age: 40.4 years, SD = 10.8) were CKE. In HCW 82.5% (n = 550) and in CKE 86.3% (n = 107) suffered from hand eczema of the atopic, irritant or allergic type. Irritant contact dermatitis as a single diagnosis was the most frequent one in both groups (HCW: 34.5.%, n = 230; CKE: 49.2% n = 61). According to regularly performed evaluations, the participants rated the course as good to excellent. Nearly 80% of the participants had skin lesions while attending the course, in 27% the dermatosis was severe., Conclusions: There is a high need for health education, advisory services, diagnostics and additional therapy in occupational dermatology. Prevention of occupational skin diseases and maintenance of health through educational programmes are important complementary measures for dermatological care but still missing in endangered professions.

Healthcare workers (HCW) have an increased risk of suffering from occupational skin diseases (OSDs). Therefore, we established special prevention and skin protection courses for HCW. Medical aims are to optimize diagnostic procedures and individual therapy, educational aims are to improve individual skin protection/skin care habits of the patient and also to influence the participants' attitudes towards health. Participants are patients that have been suspected to suffer from an OSD and are insured with the German Accident Prevention Insurance Association for Health Care Workers (BGW). Teaching units mainly focus on the texture and functioning of the skin, general aspects of OSDs, general information concerning skin protection, instructions about the correct use of skin cleansing and skin protection products. Besides, every participant is clinically examined by a dermatologist and a precise patient's history is obtained. Individually adapted skin protection strategies are developed. Patients can ask the dermatologist questions in confidence. 504 patients (mean age: 36.9 years, SD = 11.7) participated in the skin protection courses. 94.6% (n = 477) suffered from hand eczema frequently caused by a mixture of atopic, irritant and allergic contact dermatitis, but irritant contact dermatitis was the most frequent diagnosis (55.4%, n = 279). The participants rated the course as good to excellent. Health education and advisory services in occupational dermatology are still fragmentary. Prevention of OSD and maintenance of health through education are important complementary measures for dermatological care. In the future, similar educational programmes should be offered for employees of other professions with an increased risk for OSD.

Background: Healthcare workers have an increased risk of occupational dermatoses. In January 2002, the Department of Social Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Dermatology of the University of Heidelberg started organizing special prevention courses for this group of employees in cooperation with the Accident Prevention & Insurance Association for Health Care Workers (BGW). The major aims are to improve individual skin protection and skin care habits, as well as to optimize diagnostic procedures and therapy., Patients and Methods: The two-day course has up to 14 participants. Teaching units mainly focus on skin structure and function, general aspects of occupational skin diseases, general information concerning skin protection and practical exercises emphasizing the correct use of skin cleansing and skin protection products. Additionally, every participant undergoes a dermatological examination including a detailed history and skin inspection. Individual skin protection strategies are developed, and the participants are provided with the opportunity to ask the dermatologist questions in confidence., Results: Most of the 355 participants have been female (87.3%) with a mean age of 36.9 years. 95% had hand eczema, predominantly dyshidrotic morphology. In many cases, there was a mixture of atopic, irritant and allergic contact dermatitis but irritant contact dermatitis was most common (43%). Atopy was present in 68% of the patients. The participants rated the course as good to excellent. Other benefits are the exchange of experience between patients working in the same or similar occupations and transfer of the new knowledge to colleagues, family and friends., Conclusions: Examinations and advisory services in occupational dermatology are still fragmentary. Skin barrier creams and moisturizers are not sufficiently utilized in daily practice. In the future, similar courses should be offered for employees in other professions with an increased risk of occupational skin diseases.