Search

In this research we identify the main factors believed to trigger occupational hypoacusia in an effort to increase our knowledge of how this occupational disease occurs and develops. With this goal in mind, we have gathered various demographic/personal, occupational and non-occupational data from a heterogeneous sample of 1418 workers. The data selected include the noise levels to which the individuals in the sample are exposed. This entailed taking measurements at their respective jobs, as well as doing an objective assessment of their hearing ability, which required administering medical hearing tests. Lastly, the workers completed a survey on various habits and other factors deemed to be influential, and on the respondents’ own perception of their hearing. Bayesian networks were used to obtain the conditioned probability of developing hypoacusia based on the data collected from the sample. Specifically, for this study we used the general network created by the relationships between all of the factors associated with developing hypoacusia in order to analyze the influence individually and by grouping three specific variables: activity sector, noise level and time on the job. This work yielded a considerable database that can be used to conduct a multitude of analyses intended to study and predict the hearing acuity of the working population under different scenarios. Specifically, in the case at hand, the Bayesian network obtained indicates that the three factors analyzed influence the hearing of the individuals, though to different extents. The least influential factor involves the sector of activity, followed by the noise level on the job, which varies noticeably in favor of better hearing for workers in jobs whose noise levels are rated as low. Finally, we deemed time on the job (which is also related to age), as the most influential factor as it exhibits the largest differences among its potential states, with workers whose time on the job is rated as low or medium exhibiting the best likelihood of having good hearing.

Each day thousands of workers suffer occupational accidents of varying degrees of severity. Accidents at work render workers incapable of carrying out their day to day activities, either temporarily or permanently, and they also have detrimental effects on family life, the company, and the general public. In order to reduce the occupational accident rate, it is necessary to determine the causes of those accidents. Although there are many different types of accidents, they generally stem from poor working conditions. The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of working conditions on occupational accidents from data gathered in the VI National Survey of Working Conditions (VI NSWCs) in 2007. This survey utilized a random sample of the active population of Spain. The sample comprised 11,054 people (5917 males and 5137 females). In order to carry out the study, a probabilistic model was built using Bayesian networks. The model included the following variables: hygiene conditions, ergonomic conditions, job demands, physical symptoms, psychological symptoms, and occupational accidents. The study demonstrated that there were strong relationships between hygiene conditions and occupational accidents; it has been shown that poor hygienic conditions duplicate the probability of accident. Physical symptoms increased almost 50% due to poor ergonomic conditions. And finally, high job demands almost duplicated the psychological symptoms. The investigation also showed a high degree of interdependence between physical and psychological symptomatologies and the relationship between these and occupational accidents.