| 1. |
- Pacheco-Zenteno, Felipe, et al.
(author)
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The Prevention of Occupational Heat Stress in Sugarcane Workers in Nicaragua-An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.
- 2021
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In: Frontiers in public health. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-2565. ; 9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Chronic kidney disease of non-traditional origin (CKDnt) is an ongoing epidemic that has taken the lives of tens of thousands of people in Mesoamerica, also affecting other tropical geographies. Occupational heat stress, which will increase worldwide as climate change persists, has been identified as a primary trigger of kidney injury and reduced renal function. At Nicaragua's largest sugarcane mill, the water, rest, and shade (WRS) intervention has proven to reduce the risk of heat stress and kidney injury effectively as assessed by the research and policy NGO La Isla Network (LIN) and their academic partners, who have worked with the sugar mill to improve the design of their intervention system. However, discrepancies between intervention design and implementation have been found. This study explores the perceptions of the WRS intervention in the company from the perspective of positions responsible for the workers' environment and heat stress prevention implementation. Methods: A qualitative design was used in the study. Twenty-one key informants of low and middle management, field assistants, and two members from LIN took part in the study. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. Interviews' transcriptions were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Results: Four main themes were developed in the analysis of the data: "A worthwhile struggle," "Culture of care", "Traditional production culture Vs. Culture of care," and "The importance of the formalization of care." Each theme contained sub-themes, all of which were further discussed in the light of organizational psychology. Conclusion and Implications: Discretionary differences resulting in low and middle management prioritizing production over health protection appeared to relate to a fair part of the implementation challenges and indicate that more efforts are needed to align operations' production and health goals. Education enhancement might be necessary, while further focus on health metrics for performance assessment might offer an opportunity to level perceived incentives and value of health and production.
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| 2. |
- Ai Lucas, R., et al.
(author)
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Targeting workload to ameliorate risk of heat stress in industrial sugarcane workers
- 2023
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment & Health. - : Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. - 0355-3140 .- 1795-990X. ; 49:1, s. 43-52
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective The aim of this study was to quantify the physiological workload of manual laborers in industrial sugarcane and assess the effect of receiving a rest, shade, and hydration intervention to reduce heat stress exposure risk.Methods In an observational study, physiological workload was evaluated for burned cane cutters (BCC), seed cutters (SC) and drip irrigation repair workers (DIRW) using heart rate (HR) recorded continuously (Polar (R)) across a work shift. Workers' percentage of maximal HR (%HRmax), time spent in different HR zones, and estimated core temperature (ECTemp) were calculated. The effect of increasing rest across two harvests was evaluated for BCC and SC.Results A total of 162 workers participated in this study [52 BCC (all male), 71 SC (13 female) and 39 DIRW (16 female)]. Average %HRmax across a work shift was similar between BCC and SC (BCC: 58%, SC: 59%), but lower in DIRW (51%). BCC and SC spent similar proportions of work shifts at hard/very hard intensities (BCC: 13%, SC: 15%), versus DIRW who worked mostly at light (46%) or light-moderate (39%) intensities. SC maximum ECTemp reached 38.2 degrees C, BCC 38.1 degrees C; while DIRW only reached 37.7 degrees C. Females performed at a higher %HRmax than males across work shifts (SC 64% versus 58%; DIRW 55% versus 49%). An additional rest period was associated with a lower average %HRmax across a work shift in BCC.Conclusion In this setting, BCC and SC both undertake very physiologically demanding work. Females maintained a higher workload than male co-workers. Regulated rest periods each hour, with water and shade access, appears to reduce physiological workload/strain.
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| 3. |
- Albin, Maria, et al.
(author)
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Delegation med viktigt uppdrag
- 2009
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In: Bulletin från Arbets- och miljömedicin Syd och Yrkes- och miljödermatologi, Malmö. - 2000-3633.
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Journal article (pop. science, debate, etc.)
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Albin, Maria, et al.
(author)
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Mineral fibres, fibrosis, and asbestos bodies in lung tissue from deceased asbestos cement workers
- 1990
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In: British Journal of Industrial Medicine. - 0007-1072. ; 47:11, s. 767-774
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Lung tissue from 76 deceased asbestos cement workers (seven with mesothelioma) exposed to chrysotile asbestos and small amounts of amphiboles, has been studied by transmission electron microscopy, together with lung tissue from 96 controls. The exposed workers with mesothelioma had a significantly higher total content of asbestos fibre in the lungs than those without mesothelioma, who in turn, had higher concentrations than the controls (medians 189, 50, and 29 x 10(6) fibres/g (f/g]. Chrysotile was the major type of fibre. The differences were most pronounced for the amphibole fibres (62, 4.7, and 0.15 f/g), especially crocidolite (54, 1.8 and less than 0.001 f/g), but were evident also for tremolite (2.9, less than 0.001, and less than 0.001 f/g) and anthophyllite (1.7, less than 0.001, and less than 0.001 f/g). For amosite, there was no statistically significant difference between lungs from workers with and without mesothelioma; the lungs of workers had, however, higher concentrations than the controls. Strong correlations were found between duration of exposure and content of amphibole fibres in the lungs. Asbestos bodies, counted by light microscopy, were significantly correlated with the amphibole but not with the chrysotile contents. Fibrosis was correlated with the tremolite but not the chrysotile content in lungs from both exposed workers and controls. Overall, similar results were obtained using fibre counts and estimates of mass.
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| 6. |
- Albin, Maria, et al.
(author)
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Mortality and cancer morbidity in cohorts of asbestos cement workers and referents
- 1990
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In: British Journal of Industrial Medicine. - 0007-1072. ; 47:9, s. 602-610
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Total and cause specific mortality and cancer morbidity were studied among 1929 asbestos cement workers with an estimated median cumulative exposure of 2.3 fibre (f)-years/ml (median intensity 1.2 f/ml, predominantly chrysotile). A local reference cohort of 1233 industrial workers and non-case referents from the exposed cohort were used for comparisons. The risk for pleural mesothelioma was significantly increased (13 cases out of 592 deaths in workers with at least 20 years latency). No case of peritoneal mesothelioma was found. A significant dose response relation was found for cumulative exposure 40 years or more before the diagnosis, with a multiplicative relative risk (RR) of 1.9 for each f-year/ml. No relation was found with duration of exposure when latency was accounted for. There was a significant overrisk in non-malignant respiratory disease (RR = 2.6). The overall risks for respiratory cancer, excluding mesothelioma, and for gastrointestinal cancer were not significantly increased. Surprisingly, colorectal cancer displayed a clear relation with cumulative dose, with an estimated increase of 1.6% in the incidence density ratio for each f-year/ml (but not with duration of exposure).
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| 7. |
- Albin, Maria, et al.
(author)
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Nya arbetsmiljöplanen inte långsiktigt hållbar
- 2010
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In: Bulletin från Arbets- och miljömedicin Syd och Yrkes- och miljödermatologi, Malmö. - 2000-3633. ; , s. 1-2
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Journal article (pop. science, debate, etc.)abstract
- Globalisering, ny teknologi och demografiska förändringar innebär genomgripande förändringar av arbetsmiljö och arbetsorganisation. Om arbetsmiljöpolitiken då inte är tydlig och viljeinriktad finns en påtaglig risk för ett polariserat arbetsliv, där de som kan välja mellan olika arbetsgivare får en god och utvecklande arbetsmiljö, medan de andra riskerar att bli hänvisade till förhållanden där inte ens arbetsmiljölagens minimikrav efterlevs. Det snedvrider konkurrensen, och ger negativa spiraler vad gäller arbetsmiljö, arbetsrelaterad ohälsa och gap i hälsa mellan olika grupper i samhället.
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| 8. |
- Albin, Maria, et al.
(author)
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Occupational health epidemiology in the Nordic countries – status and trends
- 2009
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In: Scandinavian Joural of Work, Environment and Health, supplements. - 1795-9918. ; suppl:7, s. 7-41
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This overview aims to give an indication of the current status and trends in occupational health epidemiology in the Nordic countries. As indicated by recent biometric reviews, Nordic countries currently rank among the top five globally in terms of research output on the work environment. However, birth-cohort effects and rapid change in institutions and funding may seriously jeopardize this position. As a result, training a new generation of excellent researchers will be a major task for the next decade and require changes in funding structures. With respect to research topics, the ageing population in the Nordic countries will make preservation of work ability a major issue to explore from a multidisciplinary perspective. Moreover, the growing migration of labor, goods, and capital across borders is likely to increase the number of workers involved in dangerous work and unprotected by minimal occupational safety measures. Consequently, there is a need to research the efficiency of the present occupational safety structures under these new conditions. Research on occupational health services remains remarkably scant. The increase of mental ill-health, especially among young women, and the related interaction between structural societal change and the work environment are important challenges. New suggested disease mechanisms (eg, epigenetic change, oxidative stress, and intrauterine priming of sensitivity to postnatal exposure) are also important applied research areas for occupational epidemiology.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Albin, Maria, et al.
(author)
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Survival in cohorts of asbestos cement workers and controls
- 1996
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In: Occupational and Environmental Medicine. - 1470-7926. ; 53:2, s. 87-93
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: To measure the impact on survival of being exposed to asbestos cement dust. METHODS: Survival of 866 asbestos cement workers and 755 controls was studied with Cox's proportional hazards regression models with age as the basic time variable. The effect of cumulative exposure up to the age of 40 was investigated in an internal analysis of 635 asbestos cement workers who had dose estimates. RESULTS: The death risk was higher for the asbestos cement workers than for the controls with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.15 (95% confidence interval was 1.00 to 1.31). The increased risk found seemed to be confined to the period 20-40 years from start of employment. The estimates of the cohort effect were almost unaffected by adjustment for smoking habits. The estimates of the exposure effect rose with increasing dose (< 4 fibre-years/ml (f-y/ml): HR = 1.00, 4-9.9 f-y/ml: HR = 1.06, > or = 10 f-y/ml: HR = 1.35, for workers with at least five years of employment), and were higher when restricted only to deaths from malignant or non-malignant respiratory disease. However, none of the point estimates were significantly increased. Median age at death was two years lower in the high than in the low, exposure group. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that even a moderate asbestos exposure may shorten the median duration of life in an exposed population. Compared with the estimated effect on duration of life from ever being a smoker, that of ever being an asbestos cement worker was less, although that of having a high exposure was similar.
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