Association between Occupational Noise and Vibration Exposure and Insomnia among Workers in Korea

Cell toxicity assessment in co-treatment to metalworking fluids and vibration: an in vitro study of occupational exposure setting

This study was designed to study dual risk of MWFs and vibration according to exposure simulation of selected industry. Air samples of two types MWFs were evaluated according to NIOSH 5026. Vibration acceleration exposure was assessed based on the ISO 8041:2005 standard. Cell treatment of both MWF air samples and vibration as the same as dual exposure to MWF airborne and vibration was assessed. There is a potency of nitrosamine formation in airborne samples of ethylamine containing MWF, while heterocyclic including bore is found in airborne bore containing MWF. DNA breaks caused by boron-containing MWF were higher than nitrosamine air samples. Oxidative stress production and chronic inflammation were highlighted in the response to cell treatments. The risk of cell toxicity in machining workers was evaluated at a level lower than the occupational exposure limit for MWFs and vibration.

Depressive symptoms of people living in areas with high exposure to environmental noise: a multilevel analysis

Exposure and damage caused by noise have been reported in many countries around the world. However, few nationwide studies explored the association of residential environmental noise with depressive symptoms, this study aims to examine this association. The Korean Community Health Survey at the individual-level and the Korean Environmental Noise Measurement Database at the regional-level were used. A total of 30,630 individuals were eligible for the analysis. Multilevel model framework was applied to account for the clustered structure of the regional-level data in which individual-level data containing demographic characteristics and health information were nested. As a result of the analysis, Individuals living in the highest environmental noise area had a 1.55 times higher likelihood of experiencing depressive symptoms than those living in the lowest environmental noise area (95% CI, 1.04-2.31). After stratified analysis according to depressive symptom severity, individuals residing in areas with the highest environmental noise exposure had significantly higher odds of mild (aOR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.02-2.07) and moderate symptoms (aOR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.00-2.91). In conclusion, the higher the residential environmental noise, the higher the possibility of mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms. Our findings suggest the need for continued attention to and management of noise pollution, which has the potential to adversely affect individual's mental health.

The sound of safety: exploring the determinants of prevention intention in noisy industrial workplaces

Occupational noise exposure is a pervasive issue in many industries, leading to a range of health issues and sleep disturbances among workers. Additionally, there is a strong desire among these workers to prevent industrial accidents. This study, aimed at enhancing worker health and well-being, utilized a survey distributed by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions to field workers. Data from 1285 workers were collected and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to identify and understand the factors affecting prevention intention in noisy work environments. Our findings indicate that health problems resulting from occupational noise exposure significantly influence insomnia, perceived severity of potential accidents, perceived benefits of preventive measures, and perceived barriers. Perceived severity was significantly correlated with prevention intention, emphasizing the role of risk perception in motivating preventive behaviors. Perceived benefits were also significantly associated with prevention intention, highlighting the importance of positive outcomes in influencing workers' behaviors. Additionally, perceived barriers showed a significant relationship with prevention intention, suggesting that overcoming these barriers is crucial in promoting preventive behaviors. Demographic factors such as gender displayed a significant association with prevention intention, while age did not. This study provides valuable insights into the multifaceted factors influencing workers' intention to prevent industrial accidents in noisy environments, underlining the importance of comprehensive data collection tools in understanding these dynamics.

The effects of occupational noise on sleep: A systematic review

Noise exposure in the workplace is one of the most common occupational hazards, which can affect sleep in the human. The effects of occupational noise can be different than that of environmental or social noise. This study aimed to conduct a systematic review on the effects of occupational noise on various characteristics of sleep. In this study, three electronic bibliographic databases (Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science) were systematically searched up to 14 December 2022. The search algorithm included two sets of keywords and possible combinations. The first group was keywords related to occupational noise, and the second group was keywords related to sleep. A total of 2082 articles were identified in the initial search, and 2034 articles were excluded based on exclusion criteria or lacking inclusion criteria. Finally, 48 articles met the inclusion criteria and were selected for final review. Among 13 articles identified as high quality, all studies (100%) showed that noise had a significant effect on sleep among workers in various occupations. Among 17 articles with moderate quality, thirteen studies (76.47%) indicated that noise had a significant effect on sleep among workers in different occupations. Among 18 low-quality articles, fifteen studies (83.33%) showed that noise had a significant effect on sleep. 41 out of 48 studies (85.42%) found that occupational noise can negatively impact sleep among employees in various occupations. There are at least four potential pathways for this effect, including the physiological effect of daytime noise exposure, the psychological effect of daytime noise exposure, the effect of nighttime noise exposure, and the effect of hearing problems due to noise.

Association between Occupational Noise Exposure and Insomnia among Night-Shift Production Workers: A 4-Year Follow-up Study

Objectives

This study aimed to investigate whether occupational noise exposure is a risk factor for insomnia among male night-shift production workers.

Methods

This study followed 623 male night-shift production workers at a tire manufacturing factory without insomnia for 4 years. Insomnia was evaluated based on the insomnia severity index at baseline and at 4-year follow-up. A score of ≥15 was defined as insomnia. The higher occupational noise exposure group was defined as those individuals exposed to 8-hour time-weighted-average noise above 80 dB (A).

Results

Participants' mean age was 46.3 ± 5.6 years. Of the 623 participants, 362 (58.1%) were in the higher occupational noise exposure group. At 4-year follow-up, insomnia occurred in 3.2% (n = 20) of the participants. In a multiple logistic regression analysis, the odds ratio of insomnia was 3.36 (95% confidence interval 1.083-10.405, P = 0.036) in the higher occupational noise exposure group when compared with the lower noise exposure group after adjusting for confounders.

Conclusion

Our findings suggested that occupational noise exposure affected insomnia in male night-shift production workers. To prevent insomnia, efforts are required to reduce workplace noise exposure levels. Alternatively, moving to a less noisy work environment should be considered for workers with severe insomnia.

The effect of occupational training provided to workers in a glass factory on their use of ear protectors

Objectives. This study aimed to determine the effect of occupational training applied to workers working in noisy parts of a glass factory on the use of ear protectors. Methods. The study was a semi-experimental pre-test and post-test design. It was carried out with 45 workers determined by purposeful sampling and working in a glass production factory who accepted to participate in the study. The data were collected with an information form and noise-related symptom chart, hearing health information questionnaire and observation. In the analysis of the study data, the number/percentage, χ² test, Cohen κ test and analysis of variance were used. Results. It was determined that workers pre training did not use ear protectors (100%) and there were some noise-related health complaints. There was an increase in using ear protectors (57.8%) and a decrease in their health complaints post training. It was also found that the workers' pre-training hearing health information questionnaire mean score was 11.46 ± 3.20, and post training was 13.77 ± 3.42 in the first month and 15.77 ± 2.88 in the fourth month. Conclusions. Occupational training provided to the workers increased the workers' awareness level and their rate of wearing ear protectors, and health problems caused by work-related noise started to recover.

Proposal of Combined Noise and Hand-Arm Vibration Index for Occupational Exposure: Application to a Study Case in the Olive Sector

In many production and industrial sectors, workers are exposed to noise and hand-arm vibrations (HAV). European directives have established the maximum limit values or exposure action values for noise and vibration independently. However, in many cases, workers who endure hand-arm vibration also receive high noise levels. This research suggests a procedure to aid the establishment of precautionary measures for workers with simultaneous exposure to both physical agents. This procedure defines a combined index based on the energy doses for both noise and HAV. From this combined index, the suggested methodology allows a recommended exposure time for workers with simultaneous noise and HAV exposure to be calculated. This methodology can be adapted to tackle the relative importance assigned to both agents according to the safety manager and new knowledge on combined health effects. To test this method, a measurement campaign under real working conditions was conducted with workers from the olive fruit-harvesting sector, where a variety of hand-held machinery is used. The results of the study case show that the suggested procedure can obtain reliable exposure time recommendations for simultaneous noise and HAV exposures and is therefore a useful tool for establishing prevention measures.

Plasma metabolomics analyses highlight the multifaceted effects of noise exposure and the diagnostic power of dysregulated metabolites for noise-induced hearing loss in steel workers

Noise exposure can lead to various kinds of disorders. Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is one of the leading disorders confusing the noise-exposed workers. It is essential to identify NIHL markers for its early diagnosis and new therapeutic targets for its treatment. In this study, a total of 90 plasma samples from 60 noise-exposed steel factory male workers (the noise group) with (NIHL group, n = 30) and without NIHL (non-NIHL group, n = 30) and 30 male controls without noise exposure (control group) were collected. Untargeted human plasma metabolomic profiles were determined with HPLC-MS/MS. The levels of the metabolites in the samples were normalized to total peak intensity, and the processed data were subjected to multivariate data analysis. The Wilcoxon test and orthogonal partial least square-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were performed. With the threshold of p < 0.05 and the variable importance of projection (VIP) value >1, 469 differential plasma metabolites associated with noise exposure (DMs-NE) were identified, and their associated 58 KEGG pathways were indicated. In total, 33 differential metabolites associated with NIHL (DMs-NIHL) and their associated 12 KEGG pathways were identified. There were six common pathways associated with both noise exposure and NIHL. Through multiple comparisons, seven metabolites were shown to be dysregulated in the NIHL group compared with the other two groups. Through LASSO regression analysis, two risk models were constructed for NIHL status predication which could discriminate NIHL from non-NIHL workers with the area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.840 and 0.872, respectively, indicating their efficiency in NIHL diagnosis. To validate the results of the metabolomics, cochlear gene expression comparisons between susceptible and resistant mice in the GSE8342 dataset from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) were performed. The immune response and cell death-related processes were highlighted for their close relations with noise exposure, indicating their critical roles in noise-induced disorders. We concluded that there was a significant difference between the metabolite’s profiles between NIHL cases and non-NIHL individuals. Noise exposure could lead to dysregulations of a variety of biological pathways, especially immune response and cell death-related processes. Our results might provide new clues for noise exposure studies and NIHL diagnosis.

The Association between Working Hours Flexibility and Well-Being Prior to and during COVID-19 in South Korea

Objective: This study examined the relationship between the flexibility of work schedule arrangements and well-being among full-time workers prior to and after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in South Korea. Methods: Data from the fifth 2017 and sixth 2020–2021 Korean Working Conditions Survey, including a final sample of 45,137 participants (22,460 males; 22,677 females), were used. Multiple logistic regression was performed to establish the association between schedule arrangement types and the 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index. Results: The study found an association between flexible schedule arrangements and good well-being in 2017: “little flexibility” (odds ratio (OR), 1.33; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.27–1.48), “moderate flexibility” (OR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.28–1.71), and “high flexibility” (OR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.06–1.72). During COVID-19, only workers with “high flexibility” were likely to have good well-being (OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.18–1.88), while the association between well-being and “low flexibility” (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.96–1.17) and “moderate flexibility” types (OR, 0.66; 95% CI 0.59–0.75) decreased. This study found that flexible working hours may contribute to better well-being among full-time workers. However, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on working conditions and employee well-being should be addressed while setting working hours.

Modernization of Heavy Loaded Tram Radial Effect on Noise and Vibration

The noise and vibration that cause deterioration of comfort at specific locations can be reduced by modernisation of tram lines in some large cities where dense development surrounds tram lines. The paper deals with the impact of noise and vibration produced by tram traffic. Its aim was to verify whether the modernisation of one of the busiest tram lines in the capital of Slovakia had an impact on the reduction of noise and vibration emissions arising in its surroundings. The paper analysed experimental measurements conducted at the busiest locations of the studied tram line, focusing on the parameters LAeq and vrms. The methodology for reducing the adverse effects of noise and vibration is based on the modernisation of the tramway line, characterised in detail in the paper. The presentation and analysis of the measurement results are followed by conclusions that underline the importance of reducing noise and vibration emissions generated by tram traffic by modernising the tram line network.

Association between physical hazardous agent exposure and mental health in the Korean working population: the 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey

Background

Mental health problems are emerging issues in occupational safety and health, whereas the findings on the relationship between physical hazards and mental health are not consistent. The aim of our study was to investigate the association between physical hazard exposure and mental health outcomes including depression and anxiety.

Methods

We included 48,476 participants from the fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS) in this study. The χ² test and logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between physical hazard exposures and mental health. All statistical analyses were performed sex-specifically.

Results

In logistic regression analysis, the odds ratios (ORs) of depression were significantly increased in male workers who were exposed to vibration (severe OR: 1.54, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.21–1.95) and noise (severe OR: 1.93, 95% CI: 1.49–2.48) whereas the ORs of depression were not significant in female workers from vibration (severe OR: 0.86, 95% CI: 0.50–1.38) or noise exposure (severe OR: 1.39, 95% CI: 0.84–2.17). The ORs of anxiety were significantly increased in male workers with vibration (severe OR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.43–2.15) and noise exposure (severe OR: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.69–2.63) whereas the OR between vibration and anxiety (severe OR: 1.45, 95% CI: 0.91–2.21) was not significant in female workers. High or low temperature exposure had significant associations with depression and anxiety in both male and female subjects.

Conclusions

Results of our study suggest that physical hazard exposures may be associated with increased risk of mental health problems including depression and anxiety. These associations are more prominent in male workers in comparison with female workers.

Association between occupational noise and vibration and anxiety in the South Korean working population: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Although occupational exposure to noise and vibration is common, its effect on psychological wellbeing is poorly understood. This study investigated the relationship between occupational exposure to noise and vibration and anxiety among Korean workers.

METHODS

Data from the 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey, conducted in 2017, were used. Participants were classified into four groups according to their level of exposure, and anxiety was assessed using a self-report questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the significance of the association between exposure and anxiety.

RESULTS

Overall, 45,241 participants were enrolled in this study. The likelihood of anxiety increased, in both males and females, when exposed to both occupational noise and vibration (males: odds ratio (OR) = 2.25, confidence interval [CI] = 1.77-2.87; females: OR = 2.17, CI = 1.79-2.61). The association between the varying degrees of noise, vibration, and combined exposure showed a dose-response relationship among males.

CONCLUSIONS

This study revealed that occupational noise and vibration exposure is associated with anxiety. These results suggest that more detailed regulations regarding occupational noise and vibration should be developed and implemented to ensure a safer environment for workers.

Annoyance Based Vibro-Acoustic Comfort Evaluation of as Summation of Stimuli Annoyance in the Context of Human Exposure to Noise and Vibration in Buildings

This paper presents the issues of assessing the comfort of people staying indoors who are exposed to vibrations and material noise caused by vibrations of partitions like floors and walls (ground-borne noise). Current criteria in the evaluation of vibrational and acoustic comfort cannot be assessed in the context of the simultaneous occurrence of stimuli such as noise and vibration. Railway transport, including passenger and cargo transport, is becoming increasingly prevalent, and new railway lines are being planned for environmental reasons. Sometimes, there are changes in stimuli produced by existing railway lines. For example, high-speed trains appear on an old railway track. Such a situation appeared on the Central Railway Line in Poland, which is still used by old trains, yet its operator plans to raise their speed limits. The analysis of the problem of the simultaneous occurrence of stimuli presented in this paper was based on measurements performed in a residential building located near the Central Railway Main Line in the city Zawiercie. Noise and vibration as the analyzed stimuli in both cases meet comfort requirements, yet when exposure to two stimuli was considered, comfort may be at risk.

First-Step PPG Signal Analysis for Evaluation of Stress Induced during Scanning in the Open-Air MRI Device

The paper describes first-step experiments with parallel measurement of cardiovascular parameters using a photoplethysmographic optical sensor and standard portable blood pressure monitors in different situations of body relaxation and stimulation. Changes in the human cardiovascular system are mainly manifested by differences in the Oliva–Roztocil index, the instantaneous heart rate, and variations in blood pressure. In the auxiliary experiments, different physiological and psychological stimuli were applied to test whether relaxation and activation phases produce different measured parameters suitable for further statistical analysis and processing. The principal investigation is aimed at analysis of vibration and acoustic noise impact on a physiological and psychological state of a person lying inside the low-field open-air magnetic resonance imager (MRI). The obtained results will be used to analyze, quantify, and suppress a possible stress factor that has an impact on the speech signal recorded during scanning in the MRI device in the research aimed at 3D modeling of the human vocal tract.