The aim of this study is to establish an effective early intervention mechanism for construction engineering to prevent electrocution while improving labor safety and reducing the casualty risk. This study used narrative text analysis and the Haddon Matrix for data collection, and analyzed the causes from the 113 electrocution deaths among in the construction industry, the exhaustive chi-square automatic interaction detector algorithm was employed the segmentation of the correlations. Based on the theory of inventive problem solving, through IDEF0 (ICAM DEFinition) for function modeling was designed the early intervention mechanism. This study revealed the operating features related to electric shock hazards. Early intervention was introduced to reduce the relevant risks and establish safety mechanisms. The first contribution of this study is the determination of hazard correlations between operating features and conductive media, and entry point for the prevention of electrocutions. The second contribution is the suggestion of the establishment of inspection stations for electric tools, thereby ensuring that the portable power tools are safe. The final contribution is the joint application of TRIZ (Teoriya Resheniya Izobreatatelskikh Zadatch) and IDEF0, which establishing the pre-entry testing, strengthening safety mechanisms.

The Inpatient Clinico-Occupational Survey collected data from 3.76 million patients, showing that the average length of stay declined by 16.1 d in FY2008 and by 14.1 d in FY2015. In this study, we assessed the length of hospital stay and readmission, stratified by ICD-10 and employment status. A cross-sectional study was conducted on data from FY2008, including those from 65,806 first hospitalizations and 16,653 readmissions in FY2008, where 62,260 first admissions and 29,242 readmissions in FY 2015. The length of hospital stay was longest in those admitted due to external influences (24.8 d), followed by musculoskeletal disorders (22.5 d). This remained unchanged in FY2015, however, lengths of stay of those were reduced by 20.1 and 20.0 d, respectively. The length of hospital stay for most diseases was longer upon readmission than on first admission, and longer for those who were unemployed. It is necessary to give attention to patients who need to be discharged early due to work, or plan for frequent hospitalization in order to reduce the length of each hospital stay because of the expected increase in the number of elderly workers brought on by a declining birth rate and an aging population.

This study aimed to validate the summation methods suggested by ISO 9920. Twenty seven items from an ambulance personnel clothing system were selected for testing. The basic insulation of each garment item (I_clu) was calculated based on the thermal manikin tests. More than 100 realistic clothing combinations were compiled and basic insulation (I_cl) of these ensembles was calculated according to ISO 9920. These were ranked after the calculated insulation, and 14 sets covering insulation from 0.63 to 3.33 clo were measured on the thermal manikin for acquiring the basic clothing insulation (I_cl). Regression analysis was used to compare the summed and measured I_cl values. The difference between values varied from −18 to 12%. The highest percentual difference was for the lightest clothing sets, while the absolute differences were similar over the whole insulation range ranging between −0.17 to 0.18 clo with an average difference of 0.02 clo (−0.16%). All basic insulation values stayed very close to the line of identity (R²=0.98). The summation equation gave, in the case of this ambulance clothing system, very close results to the measured values. This encourages evaluating and selecting protective clothing combinations for thermal comfort based on individual item measurements.

Professional heavy vehicle drivers can experience a traumatic event at work when suicidal drivers deliberately crash into their vehicles or a pedestrian jumps in front of them. This study adopts a qualitative approach, aiming to gain an understanding about the psychological and other consequences that these crashes have for this occupational group. We organized a semi-structured focus group meeting with six drivers who reported experiencing a deliberate crash into their vehicle. The meeting was moderated by two psychologists. The participants reported that avoiding the crash was difficult. These events can have long-lasting effects on drivers’ well-being although individual differences in the response to the event and coping strategies do exist. Participation in our meeting was regarded as a positive experience. This encourages us to believe that organizing similar meetings that allow drivers under the supervision of professionals to share their own experiences with those who experienced similar events, could perhaps be one way of providing support to such drivers who experienced a traumatic event at work.

This study followed assembly line workers during 7 months, comprising a 4-wk season holidays. The main purposes were to determine the potential effect of working time on the presence and intensity of upper limb musculoskeletal symptoms, as to verify the effect of 4 wk of job interruption in the upper limb musculoskeletal symptoms presence and intensity. Data was collected during 6 moments. Generalized estimating equations analyses were used. For the effect estimates, odds ratio with corresponding 95% confidence intervals were reported for each outcome/model. The upper limb musculoskeletal symptoms showed a significant increase (p=0.001), especially after the 4 wk off. In all data collection points there was a significant positive association between the upper limb musculoskeletal symptoms and general health status (p<0.001). Considering symptoms’ intensity, significant relations were found (p<0.001). Work time had a negative effect on the work-related upper limb musculoskeletal symptoms over 7 months (OR 0.909, 95% CI 0.861–0.960, p=0.001). For the intensity of upper limb symptoms, the effect of time was also statistical significant (OR 0.115, 95% CI 1.031–1.220, p=0.008). A 4-wk job interruption did not show an immediately positive effect on upper limb musculoskeletal symptoms presence.

Physical function impairment in patients with low back pain (LBP) occurs due to the influence of psychosocial factors. Only a few studies have objectively evaluated physical function. We aimed to objectively assess the physical functions of individuals subjects with LBP, and clarify the association between physical function and psychosocial factors. We enrolled 411 individuals with LBP working in special needs schools. We examined their degree of pain, and the psychosocial factors strength through the STarT Back Tool, which categorized them into the low-risk, medium-risk, and high-risk groups. We assessed their abdominal muscle endurance, lower limb muscle strength, and hip joint flexibility. The relationships between these physical functions and psychosocial factors were analyzed by logistic regression models. Those in the high-risk group had significantly lower abdominal muscle and lower limb muscle strength (p<0.001). After adjusting for confounding factors, the odds ratios of the high-risk compared to the low-risk group for low abdominal muscle endurance, lower limb muscle strength, and restricted right and left Straight Leg Raising were 5.47, 3.14, 2.65, and 3.12, respectively (95% CIs: 2.35–12.74, 1.43–6.89, 1.08–6.55, and 1.20–8.11, respectively). Therefore, the low physical function observed in the high-risk group was associated with their psychosocial factors.