Journal of Health Research in Community

9-19

Authors: Seyedtaghi Mirmohammadi, Zahra Naseripouya, Zahra Hosseinalipour

Introduction and purpose: Industrial accidents are highly prevalent. Regarding this,identification of the risk factors of occupational accidents can be helpful in preventing the occurrence of this type of accidents. The aim of this study was to assess the risk factors in the incidence of occupational accidents and prioritize the severity of the identified risks in order to prevent their occurrence.Methods: The current study utilized failure mode effects analysis (FMEA) method to evaluate the potential risk factors. All the units of Educational EquipmentManufacturers Company, including 12 different workstations with 55 employees, were assessed; furthermore, failure modes and effects as well as the causes of the failure of each component were recorded. Subsequently, Risk Priority Number (RPN) of each workstation was separately calculated and the crisis level of each risk was prioritized.Results: According to the results of the study, a variety of 51 risk factors were identified among 12 different workstations at the factory. It was demonstrated that 4.25%, 9.54%, and 6.19% of these risk factors were within acceptable, unacceptable, and emergency level, respectively. The highest risk frequency was related to the electric shock caused by working on guillotine, cutter, bending machine, and drilling press. However, the crisis level of these risk factors were found to be average owing to the decrease in the occurrence of these risk factors which was the result of control measures. Conclusion: This study revealed a direct relationship between RPN and the frequency of occupational accidents. Because of the high risks of the aforementioned machines, plant workers are highly prone to occupational accidents and injuries. Although FMEA method is a functional approach in determining the risks of occupational accidents, it is also recommended to use process hazard analysis in order to have a more precise and comprehensive assessment.

30-37

Authors: Haji Omid Kalte, Ehsan Hamamizadeh, Mohammad Amin Faghih, Abdolmajid Garkaz.

Introduction and purpose: Work fatigue is one of the main causes of workrelated musculoskeletal disorders and reduced productivity in industry. Therefore, it is vital to evaluate work fatigue, especially muscle fatigue, to determine the permissible workload. This study aimed to evaluate muscle fatigue of brick field workers. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on ransportation sector workers in Pey Dezh Brick Production Company, Golestan, Iran in 2015. In this research, the qualitative of Muscle Fatigue Assessment (MFA) method was used to assess the level of fatigue. Duration of each task and frequency of efforts were determined using the level of effort to obtain a numerical result for comparison with the standard level. Results: The evaluated task was to remove paired bricks from the conveyor and transfer them to trailer truck by workers. The final results revealed that lower back tolerated the most amount of pressure (score=323), followed by the shoulders and wrist of the right hand (scores=313), which were assigned to the fatigue level. Therefore, the highest total fatigue of workload was imposed on these body parts.Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the upper limbs of workers incurred the highest burden in lifting bricks, and there was a in risk of WMSDS due to high workload. Therefore, it is recommended that working systems be improved through rotating work and reducing the number of transferred bricks to avoid risks caused by accumulation of fatigue.