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Introduction: Given the importance of the employment status of graduates for countries, the current study aims to investigate the employment status of occupational health and safety engineering (OHS) graduates from Kashan University of Medical Sciences (KAUMS), from the establishment of the field in 1996 up until 2023 Material and Methods: The cross-sectional study examined the employment status of OHS graduates of KAUMS using a researcher-developed Google form questionnaire. The questionnaire included demographic characteristics, five questions for unemployed individuals, and 60 questions for employed individuals. Finally, descriptive and analytical analyses of the study were performed using SPSS v16 software. Results: A total of 229 graduates participated in this study. The results regarding the frequency of employed and unemployed participants showed that 198 (86.5%) participants were employed, and 31 (13.5%) were unemployed at the time of the study. Most employed participants (46%, or 90 individuals) work in the industry and mining sector. Evaluating the effectiveness of the educational course of employed participants in relation to their jobs revealed that 88 participants (44.4%) believe that the subjects taught in the courses are moderately compatible with work needs. Conclusion: With the advancement of industries and the expansion of production, the need to control harmful factors and improve workers’ health is more evident than ever before, making it likely that graduates of this field will have favorable job prospects in the future. On the other hand, the academic conditions should be improved, particularly regarding the quality of the educational and curriculum programs of KAUMS.

Abstract Background The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) should be a culture of a workplace, and deeply rooted in worker behavior and attitude during their practice. According to the recent studies only 64% of the workers use PPE properly. The present study aims to investigate the utilization of PPE among workers in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and its relationship with knowledge, attitude, performance, and safety culture among workers. Methods This cross-sectional study was carried out using a questionnaire tool across SMEs in Kashan city in year 2023. The used tool included three questionnaires: demographic, safety culture, and knowledge, attitude and performance. Study papulation was 529 SMEs. Totally, the sample size was 369 persons and questionnaires were distributed among the workers of SMEs. Finally, SPSS software was used for statistical analysis and structural equation modeling. Various statistical tests including T-Test, ANOVA, RMSEA, CFI, TLI, and the chi-square ratio were employed. Results The mean values (standard deviation) of age and work experience were 35.19 (12.33), and 15.60 (1.69) years, respectively. Among the 369 participants, 267 participants (72.4%) indicated that they use some PPE, although not all types. However, 102 individuals (27.7%) do not employ any PPE. The lowest score for safety culture dimension was attributed to safety training at 1.58. The results of the final model indicate that the assumed relationships between variables, as outlined in the study objectives, were well established, with all connections proving statistically significant. Conclusion It can be concluded that the missing of inadequate legal supervision for small industries exists. Therefore, it can be inferred that if supervision and regulation are enhanced for safety training and implementation that may lead to increased usage of PPE.

Low-Salinity Water Flooding (LSWF) is a technique aimed at modifying the interactions between rock and fluids particularly altering wettability and reducing interfacial tension (IFT). However, there remains limited understanding of how heterogeneous wettability and the presence of Initial Water Saturation (Swi) can impact the effectiveness of LSWF. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of LSWF mechanisms in the context of heterogeneous wettability, while also considering Swi. The simulations were conducted using OpenFOAM, employing a non-reactive quasi-three-phase flow solver that accounts for wettability alteration and IFT reduction during the mixing of Low-Salinity (LSW) and High-Salinity Water (HSW). A heterogeneous pore geometry is designed, and four distinct scenarios are simulated, encompassing both heterogeneous and homogeneous wettability conditions while considering the presence of Swi. These scenarios included secondary High-Salinity Water Flooding (HSWF), tertiary and secondary LSWF. Notably, the simulations reveal that secondary LSWF consistently yields the highest oil recovery across all scenarios, achieving recovery rates of up to 96.98 %. Furthermore, the presence of Swi significantly influences the performance of LSWF in terms of oil recovery, particularly in heterogeneous wettability conditions where it boosts recovery by up to 3.5 %, but in homogeneous wettability, it decreases recovery by nearly 26 %. These simulations also underscore the pivotal role played by the distribution of oil and HSW phases in profoundly affecting the outcomes of LSWF.

Aims: Fatigue is a state in which a person's energy is completely depleted due to excessive physical or mental work. In addition to the importance of women workers and the effects of fatigue on them, limited studies have been conducted in this field in the world, especially in Iran. The present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of fatigue and related factors among women workers in one of the cities of Iran. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed among women workers in Kashan in 2018. The sample size was 265 participants from 300 workers. The data collection tool was the multidimensional fatigue inventory questionnaire. Data were analyzed via SPSS version 16. Results: The lowest and highest total score was 38 and 78, respectively. The mean score of activity decrease was 11.78, which was the highest score among questionnaire. Factors such as overtime, number of children, and work experience showed a statistically significant relationship with the total fatigue score (P < 0.05). Conclusion: According to the results, a large percentage of participants had a high score of fatigue. Managements should identify and modify the factors affecting fatigue to reduce the worker's fatigue. It seems that further studies are needed to reveal the relationship between fatigue and other variables to provide a deeper understanding of the causes of fatigue.

Background: Some researchers state that they are not yet able to provide a deep understanding of the underlying causes of unsafe behaviors (UBs). Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the attitudes and experiences of Iranian workers of UBs. Methods: This present study was conducted in 35 industries using a semistructured interview based on grounded theory. Forty participants were interviewed, including 13 industrial safety and health experts and 27 workers and supervisors. The analysis of the present study consisted of a three-step coding process including open, axial, and selective coding. Results: The results showed that the factors affecting UBs could be classified into three categories: organizational, individual, and socioeconomic factors. Organizational factors were divided into 6 parts: procedure and environmental conditions, communications, monitoring, organizational safety culture, resource allocation, and human resources. Socioeconomic factors had three subcategories: community safety culture, type of organizational ownership, and economic problems. Finally, the individual factors were classified into two categories of personality traits and individual competence. Conclusion: The results showed that organizational factors were the most categorized, and it is estimated that this factor has a more important role in the UBs. Of course, to better understand the close relationship between these factors and find the weight and importance of each factor, it needs to measure it with multicriteria decision systems.

A variety of studies have been conducted in Occupational diseases (ODs) and this makes it difficult for researchers to identify new areas of study. Therefore, the present study was conducted by examining Web of Science data to identify hot topics and research topics on ODs. This is a scientometric study performed using CiteSpace and Gephi software for statistical analysis. The published article in Web of Sciences was searched using the keywords “Occupational disease*” OR “Occupational illness*” OR “Industrial disease*” OR “Industrial illness*”. Finally, the countries and institutions and their cooperation, the most important and main topics discussed, and the path of future progress in ODs was analyzed. Preliminary results of the study show that out of 5,947 articles. The results of important journals showed that the American Journal of Industrial Medicine with 233 articles (6.02%), Oxford Occupational Medicine, and International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health with 86 (2.22%), and 83 (2.15%), respectively. The two producing countries are the United States and Germany, which published 628 and 419 articles, respectively. The results of hot topics showed occupational exposures, epidemiology, mental health, and respiratory diseases were the most important keywords used in these 45 years. It can be concluded that Germany, with its current development trend in the coming years, will surpass the United States based on the number of articles and gain the first rank. Also, future studies can be conducted on respiratory diseases as the most important ODs and health care work as the most important job during the past years.

Abstract Background Occupational contact with blood and body fluids poses a significant risk to healthcare workers. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the epidemiology and risk factors affecting needlestick injuries (NSI) in healthcare personnel in Iran. Methods In March 2020, researchers studied six international databases such as Medline/PubMed, ProQuest, ISI/WOS, Scopus, Embase, and Google Scholar for English papers and two Iranian databases (MagIran and SID) for Persian papers. Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklist was used to assess quality of studies. The method of reporting was based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement. Results A total of 43 articles were included in the analysis. Results showed that females (OR = 1.30, 95 % CI 1.06–1.58, P value = 0.009), younger age (OR = 2.75, 95 % CI 2.27–3.33, P value < 0.001, rotated shift workers (OR = 2.16, 95 % CI 1.47–3.15, P value < 0.001), not attending training courses (OR = 1.30, 95 % CI 1.07–1.56, P value = 0.006), working in the surgery ward (OR = 1.83, 95 % CI 1.33–2.50, P value < 0.001), less work experience (OR = 1.43, 95 % CI 1.04–1.95, P value = 0.025) apposed a greater risk factors for NSI among healthcare workers. Conclusion Based on the results of this review, factors such as young age, less work experience, work shift, and female gender are considered as strong risk factors for NSI injury in Iran. Preventive measures including education programs can reduce the burden of NSI among healthcare personnel.

Aims: A most widely used tool for measuring the workload is the NASA-task load index (TLX) questionnaire, in which various studies have reported numerous problems. The present study aimed to improve the NSAS-TLX mental workload questionnaire using the fuzzy linguistic variables instead of the virtual rating scale, and multicriteria decision-making Fuzzy Best-Worst method (FBWM) instead of pair-wise comparison. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. In order to compare the traditional NASA-TLX and FBWM NASA-TLX questionnaire, participants performed a standard N-Back task with three low, medium, and high workload, subsequently, they completed the two questionnaires. Finally, results were examined using the researcher-made software and SPSS 16. Results: With regard to the reaction time to response the N-Back test, the mean of correct responses were 107.43 and 85.86 responses at levels 1 and 3, respectively. The mean score of the subscales and the final score in the two questionnaires at different levels of the N-Back test were independent as follows: the two questionnaires had a significant difference on mental demand at level 3 with a mean (standard deviation [SD]) of 18.09 (6.39) in the FBWM-NASA-TLX questionnaire and mean (SD) of 22.64 (8.15) in the NASA-TLX questionnaire ( P < 0.05). Conclusion: In this study, the FBWM-NASA-TLX questionnaire was designed and studied with regard to the problems and limitations of the NASA-TLX questionnaire. Results of this study showed that the FBWM-NASA-TLX questionnaire can estimate more realistic scores and decisions of workload in the studied task.

Aims: Latex sensitivity has been a concern for health-care workers in recent years. Due to the excessive exposure to latex products in the operating room, the personnel of this department are exposed to high sensitivity to these products. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of latex sensitivity among operating room personnel. Materials and Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis conducted based on a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis checklist. The present study researchers explored four international databases, namely Medline/PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus, and Embase in February 2020. The selected keywords for international databases were classified into three categories (a) operating room personnel, (b) latex sensitivity, and (c) prevalence. The collected data were entered into the EndNote X8 software and analytical analysis was performed by STATA statistical software version 12. Results: Seventy-five articles were found by searching for databases. After several screening steps, 12 articles entered the final analysis. The results show that the prevalence of latex sensitivity in total is 14.76 (confidence interval 95%: 9.27–20.25). Meta-regression results showed that the relationship between the years of study and the prevalence of latex sensitivity is not statistically significant (P = 0.222). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that sensitivity to latex is significantly prevalent among operating room staff. Due to the importance of sterility and sensitive working conditions in the operating room, as well as frequent contact with latex products, it is important to pay attention to the side effects caused by latex powder.

Aims: Environmental conditions affect workers health and performance. The present study aimed to investigate the simultaneous effect of ambient temperature and light intensity on human error. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 50 students from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Each participant performed 9 tests in 5 min at 3 different temperatures (20°C, 25°C, and 30°C) and 3 lighting conditions (50, 500, and 1000 lux). The participants were asked to select a text randomly. Participants asked to read the text in just 6 min and identify the mistakes. In each step, the number of remaining lines, number of spelling mistakes found, and task completion time were estimated. Results: There was no significant relationship between the temperature and the number of remaining lines, the number of spelling mistakes, and the task completion time (P > 0.05). However, the relationship between different light intensity and the number of remaining lines and number of spelling mistakes was statically significant (P < 0.05). At a lighting of 500, 1000 lux, and a temperature of 25°C, male subjects performed better. Unlike men, women's performance was not affected that much by the light intensity and only declined slightly in the 1000 lux and at 20°C. Conclusions: The results showed that light intensity could be important to create a suitable environment for reducing human error. If the temperature could not increase in an environment due to the nature of a job or economic issues, reducing human errors could achieve by increasing light intensity.

Background and Objectives: Occupational accidents impose high costs on organizations annually. This study aimed at investigating the factors affecting military work-related accidents using artificial neural network (ANN) and Bayesian models. Materials and Methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey in a military unit that examined all occupational accidents recorded during 2011–2018. First, we collected the data of the accidents using the accident database in the inspection sector of the Department of Health and the Medical Commission of the Armed Forces. ANN, Bayesian, and logistic regression models were used to analyze the data. Results: The results of the type of accidents showed that 219 cases of sport accidents (32.8%), 125 cases fall from height (18.7%), and 104 cases of driving accidents (15.6%) were the most common accidents. Based on the results of multivariate regression, accident variables due to fighting (odds ratio [OR] =17.21), injury to the body or back (OR = 122.55), and multiple injuries (OR = 25.72) were considered as influential and significant factors. The ANNs results showed that the highest importance factor was the injury to the body or back, multiple injuries, age, fighting, and finally, driving accident. Furthermore, the Bayesian model showed that the most important factors affecting the death consequence due to accidents were related to injuries to the body or back (OR = 276.23), multiple injuries (OR = 54.98), and accidents due to conflict (OR = 33.69). Conclusion: The findings show that the most important factors affecting the death consequence due to accidents in the military are the injury to the whole body, multiple injuries, age, fighting accident, and driving accident. The ANN and Bayesian models have provided more accurate information than logistic regression based on the obtained results.

Background and Objective: The existence of noise in the workplace is considered one of the causes of job stress. Stress can affect an individualchr('39')s communication skills. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between workplace noise and workerschr('39') communication skills. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in one of the mines in Yazd Province, Iran, in 2019. The samples of this study (n=80) were divided into two groups of exposed and control. The instruments utilized to collect the necessary data included two questionnaires, namely a demographic form and the Queendom communication skills test. Moreover, the sound measurement was performed using a noise dosimeter and sound level meter. The gathered data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 21). Results: Based on the results, the demographic characteristics of all participants showed no significant relationship with subscales and final scores of communication skills (P>0.05). Therefore, the two groups were not significantly different in this regard. However, it was revealed that communication skills had a significant relationship with the level of sound exposure in the two groups (P

Background: Workforce health is one of the primary and most challenging issues, particularly in industrialized countries. This article aims at modeling the major factors affecting accidents in the workplace, including general health, work–family conflict, effort–reward imbalance, and internal and external locus of control. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Esfahan Steel Company in Iran. A total of 450 participants were divided into two groups—control and case—and the questionnaires were distributed among them. Data were collected through a 7-part questionnaire. Finally, the results were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 and Amos software. Results: All the studied variables had a significant relationship with the accident proneness. In the case group, general health with a coefficient of –0.37, work–family conflict with 0.10, effort–reward imbalance with 0.10, internal locus of control with –0.07, and external locus of control with 0.40 had a direct effect on occupational stress. Occupational stress also had a positive direct effect on accident proneness with a coefficient of 0.47. In addition, fitness indices of control group showed general health (–0.35), work–family conflict (0.36), effort–reward imbalance (0.13), internal locus of control (–0.15), and external locus of control (0.12) have a direct effect on occupational stress. Besides, occupational stress with a coefficient of 0.09 had a direct effect on accident proneness. Conclusion: It can be concluded that although previous studies and the present study showed the effect of stress on accident and accident proneness, some hidden and external factors such as work–family conflict, effort–reward imbalance, and external locus of control that affect stress should also be considered. It helps industries face less occupational stress and, consequently, less occurrence rates of accidents. Keywords: Accident proneness, Effort–reward imbalance, Occupational stress, Work–family conflict, Work locus of control

Introduction: Observation of the safety principles in educational and research laboratories is very important to protect the researchers and students. This study was conducted to investigate the safety and health status of the educational and research laboratories in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 34 educational and research laboratories of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 2013. In this regard, the safety and health status of the studied laboratories was studied based on the ELMERI Indicator. This indicator consists of 59 items in nine dimensions including electrical safety, fire safety, building safety, emergency response management, chemical safety, individual safety, device and equipment safety, waste management, and safety management. Finally, the Laboratory Safety Index (LSI) was calculated in percentage using the mean and standard deviation by SPSS 16 in each laboratory. Results: The mean of LSI was 77.62 ± 10.35 percent in all the studied laboratories. The highest and the lowest percentages of LSI score were in individual safety (89.46 ± 12.86%) and emergency response management (53.72 ± 35.46%) dimensions, respectively. The other dimensions were classified to have good status. Conclusion: According to the results, the overall status of safety and health was good in the studied laboratories. However, in the dimension of emergency response management, the status of laboratories was unacceptable. So, required measures should be taken in this regard. For example, all the emergency exit systems should be investigated, instructions should be issued, staffs should be trained with regard to the emergency conditions, emergency exit doors should be designed, and the requirements for the exit emergency routes should be observed appropriate to the laboratory conditions.

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders are responsible for significant problem for workers' health. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among mining workers. Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis study were designed in 2020 (from Jan to Mar). The researchers searched five international databases Medline/PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus, Embase and Web of Science. All analyzes were performed using STATA statistical software. Results: The search results were 447 articles and after screening stage finally 50 studies were included in review. The highest number of studies (26 studies) reported the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders of upper back and 4 studies reported the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders of the arms and ankles & feet. The results of meta-analysis based on prevalence in different organs showed that the highest prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders was in the upper back and the lowest in the knees with a prevalence of 50.39% (CI 95%: 31.23-54.73%) and 16.03% (CI 95%: 11.78-20.28%), respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among miners is relatively high. Therefore, supervisors and mine managers should pay more attention to reducing musculoskeletal disorders and increasing the ergonomic level of mines in order to increase workers' health.

Background: Unsafe behaviors are the cause of 80% of accidents. However, there has also been no worldwide review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of workers’ unsafe behaviors. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate and estimate the prevalence of unsafe behaviors among Iranian workers using a systematic review and meta-analysis study. Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted from Nov to Dec 2018. The researchers searched Medline/PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Science Direct, and Google Scholar for international articles and four Iranian databases (Scientific Information Database, MagIran, IranMedex, and IranDoc) for Persian articles. The method of reporting this study was based on the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) checklist. Results: Overall, 235 articles from databases were imported to EndNote library. Final screening of the included studies produced a total of 38 studies. Based on the random-effect model, the prevalence of total unsafe behaviors, non-use or inappropriate use of personal protective equipment, and inappropriate work posture was 40.37% (CI 95% = 35.8-44.9), 27.79% (CI 95% = 21.2-34.3), and 14.87% (CI 95% = 10.7-18.9). There was no statistically significant relationship between unsafe behaviors and mean age, mean of work experiences, and year of study. Conclusion: The prevalence of unsafe behaviors among Iranian workers was relatively high and the most common behaviors were non-use or inappropriate use of PPE; one of the most important causes for this behavior is lack of training, inappropriate working conditions, and lack of positive attitude towards safety. Therefore, further studied are required to investigate the causes of these unsafe behaviors.

Background: Prostate cancer is one of the most common health issues among men, especially older men. In recent years, incidences of prostate cancer is increasing. Objective: The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive estimate of the survival of prostate cancer in Asian countries. Methods: We searched five international databases including Medline/PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Knowledge and ProQuest until June 1, 2018. The Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment was used to evaluate the quality of selected papers. The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42019117044). Results: A total of 714 titles were retrieved. Thirty-seven studies met the inclusion criteria. Based on the random-effect model one-year, five-year and ten-year survival rate of prostate cancer were 81% (95% CI 77.8–84.2), 61.9% (95% CI 59.5–64.3) and 36.2% (95% CI 9.2–63.2) respectively. Survival rates based on HDI level for five-year were 30.07, 43.43 and 70.84 percent for medium, high and very high levels, respectively. Conclusion: According to the results of our study, the prostate cancer survival rate in Asian countries is relatively lower than in Europe and North America.

Introduction: In order to take control measures to protect the health of employees against occupational hazardous agents, assessing occupational health risks is essential. The purpose of this study was to develop a method for occupational health risk assessment in a petrochemical industry. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among operational and administrative occupational groups in one of the petrochemicals plants in south of Iran. The “comprehensive occupational health risk assessment (COHRA)” method was used to assess the risks of occupational hazards. For this purpose, the exposure rate (ER) and hazard rate (HR) for all hazards were determined based on the results of exposure measurements and health hazards data, respectively. Finally, the risk of occupational health hazards was calculated by multiplying the ER by HR and evaluated. Results: The level of risk in 13.6% of studied occupational groups was evaluated as high. Among occupational health hazards, the risk of exposure to noise and inappropriate lighting, benzene and ergonomic factors were assessed at high and moderate level, respectively. The risk of all occupational health hazards, except for ergonomic factors, were higher among operational compared to administrative jobs. Conclusions: Comprehensive occupational health risk assessment could be used for prioritizing the occupational health hazards and deciding about resource allocation and required control measures.

Introduction: Musculoskeletal disorders are the most common occupational diseases and, to prevent these disorders, it is important to survey and recognition the significant factors underlying. This study has been made by tow object, the primary objective was to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the steel industry and, the conclusive goal was to examine the relationship between work-family conflict as social factors and musculoskeletal disorders. Methods: This study was conducted in one of the country's steel industry in the steel sector with a research population of 270 workers. To study work-family conflict was used 18-item questionnaire Carlson and Kakmar that this questionnaire survey the six sub-scales of this type of conflict in two dimensions and, musculoskeletal disorders were assessed by using a Nordic questionnaire. In the end, the results were analyzed with SPSS 21.0 software. Results: The mean score (SD) for the entire study population of work-family conflict is 50.30 (12.352). The relationship between work-family conflict and musculoskeletal disorders shows that work-family conflict in general and in the domains of time-based from work to family and family to work (P

Introduction: Work-Family Conflict can influence the physical and mental health of workers as a social parameter. The aim of this study is supposed to provide theoretical model of relationship between work-family conflict and occupational accidents, taking into account parameters such as job stress and general health of employees in a steel manufacturing industry. Material and Method: Research population included workers of steel department of a steel manufacturing industry. This research was a cross-sectional study, and 270 individuals were selected in two groups, with an accident experience during lasts 5 years (case) and without (control). They responded to questionnaires including 4 parts, demographic, 18 questions of work-family conflict, 35 questions of job stress and, 28 questions of general health. Data were analyzed and introduced using AMOS software. Result: Result showed that the model present an excellent goodness of fit and all of factors were significant between parameters (p

Background: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) include a large part of manufacturing jobs and play an important role in developing national economics and employment. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate occupational health problems and safety conditions among SMEs in Shiraz, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 711 SMEs, including 371 small enterprises (fewer than 25 workers) and 340 medium enterprises (25–99 workers), in Shiraz, Iran. The participants were selected randomly among the workplaces under the coverage of social security insurance. The researcher-made questionnaire, which consisted of demographic characteristics, the frequency rate of occupational accidents, and exposure to workplace harmful agents, were distributed among participants. Findings: The results showed there were significantly more physical and chemical harmful agents in medium enterprises compared to small ones (P < 0.001). However, the frequency rate of accidents in small enterprises was significantly higher than in medium enterprises (P < 0.001). Also, there was no significant difference between the studied enterprises in ergonomic hazards, except for awkward posture, whose frequency rate was significantly higher in small enterprises (P < 0.05). Finally, among the reported symptoms, the prevalence of eye, skin, ear, and respiratory symptoms was significantly higher in medium enterprises compared to small enterprises (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Occupational health and safety (OHS) regulations in medium enterprises have led to improved OHS conditions compared to small enterprises. Therefore, small enterprises should be included in OHS regulations.

Drivers are vulnerable to musculoskeletal and psychological disorders because of substantially harmful agents in this stressful occupation. This study aimed to investigate the influence of driver’s physical and psychological health on the risk of road accidents using fuzzy logic approach. Two input variables including musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and mental health, alongside accident risk levels as output variables were fuzzed using a fuzzy inference system (FIS). Triangular and trapezoid membership functions were used to graphically define outputs related to low, moderate, high and very high, in fuzzy sets. A Mamdani-type FIS was applied to represent all the rules in the IF-THEN format and the patterns of linguistic variables were designed using AND, OR and NOT operators. There was significant relationship between MSDs and psychological health with road accidents involving drivers of heavy vehicles (P