Journal of occupational medicine. : official publication of the Industrial Medical Association
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A 2-year study was conducted to evaluate the effect of a health promotion program on the work-related attitudes of employees. The study employed a quasi-experimental design with nonequivalent control groups. The change in employee attitudes at companies that participated in the program was significantly greater and more favorable than that found at nonparticipating companies. Significant change was found on attitudes toward organizational commitment, supervision, working conditions, job competence, pay and fringe benefits, and job security.
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A case of bronchial asthma induced by occupational exposure to alkyl cyanoacrylate, an adhesive, occurred in an assembly operation. Provocative exposure testing induced immediate and delayed asthmatic responses. Alkyl cyanoacrylate seemed to act as an allergen or as an irritant, resulting in the development of asthma.
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Burns are a major cause of injury and death within the civilian and military communities. By accurately predicting the effects of brief thermal exposures, hazardous occupational situations can be identified and preventive devices and procedures can be developed. It is difficult to quantify heat transfer into skin, and calorimetry appears the best measurement method. ⋯ A free air temperature measurement method of predicting burns is less accurate, although, for brief exposures, a time-temperature integral of 1315 degrees C-second (2400 degrees F-second) above body temperature correlates with heat transfer causing second-degree burns. Both of these criteria apply to bare skin. When skin is covered with most types of clothing, a thermal protection factor of 2.5 (approximately 24.4 J/cm2) can be assumed.
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We analyzed a subset of data from the New England Regional Burn Program (NERBP) to assess the effects of employment status on the rates and causes of burn injuries in New England. The subset of the NERBP data analyzed pertained to residents of the six New England states who were hospitalized for the treatment of a burn injury sustained between July 1, 1978 and June 30, 1979 and who were aged 20 years or older at the time of the injury. Analysis of the data identified that men, particularly black men and young men, experienced higher burn rates than did their female, white, and older counterparts among both employed and unemployed persons. ⋯ Scalds were the most common type of burn among work-related burns to women and to men aged 20 to 54 years, and flame or flash burns were the most common otherwise. The majority of work-related burn injuries were caused by activities related to food preparation or consumption, motor vehicle repair and maintenance, and use of flammable liquids. Persons employed as operatives and laborers, or persons employed in the service occupations, appeared to have the highest risk of sustaining a burn injury while at work.
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The degree of hand preference, ie, the extent to which the use of one upper extremity is obligate, has not been studied previously as a possible risk factor for the development of upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders (UECTDs). This case-control study was designed to test the hypothesis that strong hand preference, whether left or right, would be associated with UECTDs in a working population. Case subjects were drawn from workers who presented to one of two acute care clinics for treatment of work-related cumulative trauma disorders of the upper extremity. ⋯ Among the 48 case subjects, 83% had a UECTD ipsilateral to the side of hand preference. This study found that workers who develop cumulative trauma disorders of the upper extremity are more likely to exhibit a strong hand preference than a group of applicants entering the work force. These findings suggest that the endogenously determined obligate use of one extremity may be a significant risk factor for the development of upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders.