Effect of an occupational health and safety management system based on KOSHA 18001 on industrial accidents

Effectiveness of Occupational Safety and Health interventions: a long way to go

Background

Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) has become an area of increasing concern for organizations and institutions. As it evolves, it has gradually posed ongoing challenges, becoming more complex, for organizations. Consequently, more comprehensive studies are required to advance academic and institutional research. From this perspective, this study aims to gather research contributions on the effectiveness of existing interventions for OSH improvement and identify areas for further exploration.

Methods

According to the nature of scientific literature, the overall process of a literature review was investigated following an integrative approach, which involved searching for, selecting, and analyzing various literature in a creative and integrated manner, without a predefined structure.

Results

The analysis suggests that there is room for improvement in understanding the effectiveness of OSH interventions and more concrete guidance is still desirable. Based on the literature, some research areas for future developments in OSH interventions are identified. One potential area to explore further is fostering human-centered technological development and a more conscious network of stakeholders, with higher coordination, shared knowledge, and open communication.

Implications

Focusing on the proposed directions will support scholars and practitioners in pursuing continuous OSH improvement through more effective and well-grounded workplace interventions and encourage organizations to be proactive in daily OSH management.

Occupational health and safety regulatory interventions to improve the work environment: An evidence and gap map of effectiveness studies

Background

Unsafe and unhealthy working conditions lead to injuries and financial losses across the globe, resulting in a need for research into effective work environment interventions.

Objectives

The objective of this evidence and gap map (EGM) is to provide an overview of existing systematic reviews and primary studies examining the effects of occupational health and safety regulatory interventions.

Search Methods

Relevant studies are identified through searches in published and unpublished literature performed up to January 2023.

Selection Criteria

The population for this EGM is workers above the age of 15 and their workplaces within the OECD. We include randomised controlled trials, non-randomised studies with a comparison of two or more groups of participants, and systematic reviews of effects.

Data Collection and Analysis

The map has been populated based on information about interventions and outcomes, study design, OECD country, and publication status. We have performed critical appraisal of included systematic reviews using an adjusted version of the AMSTAR-2 tool.

Main Results

The included studies for this report consist of six systematic reviews, 28 primary effect studies, and three on-going studies. The interactive map shows that the largest cluster of studies is located in the inspection activity domain, while the sickness absence outcome domain and the intervention categories for training initiatives and formulation of regulatory standards are only scarcely populated. Additionally, the AMSTAR-appraisal suggests a lack of rigorous systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Authors’ Conclusions

More research in the form of primary studies and rigorous systematic reviews is needed to provide stakeholders with better guidance as to what constitutes the most efficient regulatory approaches to improve the work environment.

Semi-quantitative risk assessment for workers exposed to occupational harmful agents in an oilfield in Iran

BACKGROUND

Workers are exposed to occupational health hazards from physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, and psychological agents. Assessing occupational health risks is vital for executing control measures to protect employees' health against harmful occupational agents.

OBJECTIVE

The present study aimed to identify, evaluate, and prioritize occupational health risks to assist senior management in determining where to allocate the budget to carry out the required corrective actions in the oilfields project.

METHODS

This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was performed in 2021 among Iran's Sarvak Azar oil field job groups. The occupational health risk was assessed using the Harmful Agents Risk Priority Index (HARPI) as a semi-quantitative method. Then, to simplify decision-making and budget allocation, we reported HARPI final score in the Pareto principle format.

RESULTS

The results show that in this oil field, controlling exposure to adverse lighting, improving the thermal conditions and ergonomics, and preventing noise exposure has the highest priority, with scores of 6342, 5269, 5629, and 5050, respectively. Production, HSE, laboratory, and commissioning need the most health care measures with scores of 8683, 5815, 5394, and 4060, respectively.

CONCLUSION

HARPI could be used to prioritize occupational health hazards, and this method can simplify managers' decisions to allocate resources to implement control measures.