OBJECTIVES To assess neurobehavioural effects of low exposure to lead, 43 workers from a lead smelter and 45 workers from a glass factory were evaluated with the World Health Organisation neurobehavioural core test battery (NCTB) in a cross sectional study. METHODS The NCTB comprises a questionnaire and seven tests that measure simple reaction time, short-term memory (digit span, Benton), moo...

Worker perception of risk influences worker behavior and consequently exposure to risks. However, an inverse relationship between perception of occupational risks and work-related injuries has not yet been clearly established. A matched case-control was performed aiming to investigate possible differences in perception of occupational risks between workers who had suffered occupational injuries...

In 1950s and 60s, asbestosis had been a major health hazard for asbestos exposed workers. In the late 1970s, lung cancers with or without asbestosis were found among asbestos workers. All cohort studies on asbestos workers and on chrysotile miners in China showed excess deaths from lung cancer. In a large scale of cohort study on asbestos workers, a synergistic effect was found between cigarett...

1 Doll R. Mortality from lung cancer in asbestos workers. Br J Ind Med 1955;12 :81-6. 2 Knox JF, Doll RS, Hill ID. Cohort analysis of changes in incidence of bronchial carcinoma in a textile asbestos factory. Ann NY Acad Sci 1965;132:526-35. 3 Knox JF, Holmes S, Doll R, Hill ID. Mortality from lung cancer and other causes among workers in an asbestos textile factory. BrJf Ind Med 1968 ;25 :293-...

BACKGROUND Assessment of the level of exposure to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) risk factors can be an appropriate basis for planning and implementing an interventional ergonomics program in the workplace. This study was conducted among workers of an Iranian sugar-producing factory to determine WMSD prevalence rate among production workers and to assess the level of exposure to...

Background:Purpose of present study was to investigate whether chronic exposure to zinc fume would affect serum zinc levels, memory, and cognition in zinc fume-exposed workers. Methods:In a cross-sectional study, all zinc fume-exposed workers (exposed, n=20) were compared with unexposed workers (reference, n=20) matched for sex and education level in a zinc galvanization factory. The worker...

This report describes a cohort study conducted on workers who were employed in a factory mainly manufacturing asbestos yarn and cloth and were followed from 1964 to 1981. A total of 208 workers (73 males and 135 females) could be traced and 15 deaths were observed by the end of 1983. Among them, three had lung cancer and its relative risk was 6.8 (p less than 0.05) computed based on the age, se...

This paper is about the requirements for an advanced factory governance system. Based on Rudd’s (2004) variant of Ostrom’s IAD framework five capital assets are distinguished: Natural, artificial, human, social, and financial. A factory’s operations involve and affect these five capital assets. To scope worker activities with respect to objectives that exist for these capital assets, this paper...

Examination of the records of employees leaving an electronics factory over three-and-a-half years showed that a significantly greater proportion left the shop floor (where soldering took place) because of ill health than left the stores and office areas. This difference was largely due to work-related respiratory disease in those whose job was soldering. Shop floor workers leaving for health r...