Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Exploring The Cause Of Injury Or Death In Grain Entrapment, Engulfment And Extrication, Salah F. Issa

Open Access Dissertations

Grain entrapments and engulfments are one of most common hazards associated with grain storage facilities. Since the 1970’s over 1,880 incidents have been documented in agricultural confined spaces of which 65% of all recorded incidents were grain entrapments and engulfments. There have been several studies conducted on the contributing factors behind these incidents; however, there have been very few attempts to understand the environmental, physiological or psychological factors the victims experience while entrapped, engulfed, or extricated. This includes understanding how secondary injuries are caused by grain or during extrication by first responders. The research effort was divided into three segments. …

Structuring A Risk-Based Bioassay Program For Uranium Usage In University Laboratories, Johnne' Talia Dawson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Bioassay programs are integral in a radiation safety program. They are used as a method of determining whether individuals working with radioactive material have been exposed and have received a resulting dose. For radionuclides that are not found in nature, determining an exposure is straightforward. However, for a naturally occurring radionuclide like uranium, it is not as straightforward to determine whether a dose is the result of an occupational exposure. The purpose of this project is to address this issue within the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’s (UNLV) bioassay program. This project consisted of two components that studied the effectiveness …

Ergonomics And The Potential For Sharps Injury Reduction: Developing A Strategy To Assess Mobile Dentistry In Rural Alaska, Gregory P. Calvert

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

This report describes the development of an ergonomic assessment strategy for a Rural Alaska mobile dental team (n=3). An examination of available peer reviewed literature was conducted to identify known physical risk factors associated with musculoskeletal disorders and the practice of dentistry. The report also explored the association between ergonomics, work-related musculoskeletal disorders, and a reduction in dental sharps injury.

The known physical risk factors associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders, sharps injury prevalence data, and results from Nordic Questionnaires were collected as baseline data. A sharps injury report from January through October of 2016 was obtained from the Bristol Bay …

Differentiating Between Low Level Activities In Sedentary Occupations Utilizing Fitbits, Trace A. Forkan

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Objective: Fitbits are popular devices used to track personal activity throughout the day. The potential usage of these devices in tracking sedentary activities in research studies rely on the validity and accuracy of the devices. The objectives of this study are to investigate if changes in daily activity is associated with changes in duration of standing time using a sit-to-stand workstation. Also to establish if an accelerometer may be used to detect differences between sitting and standing sedentary positions.

Methods: Sixteen participants wore Fitbit accelerometers throughout the workday and were emailed surveys on a weekly basis to report their …

The Effects Of Job Characteristics On Home Care Workers’ Well-Being And Job Performance: Understanding The Psychosocial Effects Of Relational Care, Emily C. Franzosa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Home care workers are the lowest-paid and most precarious segment of the health care industry. Although these workers provide critical, non-medical support that allows elderly and disabled individuals to remain in their homes, the workforce is highly unstable, due to low wages, a lack of supportive benefits like health coverage, paid leave and retirement support, poor working conditions and a physically and emotionally demanding workload. But a lack of consensus around the nature and value of home care has made “quality”, in terms of both jobs and care provision, difficult to define, measure or improve. While home care is a …

Surveillance Of Non-Fatal Agricultural Injuries Among Farm Operators In The Central States Region Of The United States, Ketki Patel

Theses & Dissertations

Agriculture is a major industry in the U.S. with high rates of fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries. The dynamic nature of the U.S. agriculture industry, regional variations in farming practices, and the diverse workforce make surveillance of injuries challenging. A recent National Academies (U.S.) evaluation reported that data for non-fatal agricultural injury are scarce, and mainly available through national surveys. Limited data are available for employees in the agriculture sector, especially farm owners and operators. The objectives of this study were to- 1) review and evaluate existing survey-based systems for surveillance of non-fatal agricultural injuries on U.S. farms, and 2) …

Evaluation Of Libby Amphibole Asbestos In Three Media Sources Via Polarized Light Microscopy And Transmission Electron Microscopy, Kalli Mccloskey

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Studies have shown that the town of Libby, Montana and surrounding forested areas have been contaminated with Libby amphibole asbestos (LA) by activity from the vermiculite mine located northeast of Libby. The mine was in production from the 1920s until its closing in 1990. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) created the operable units (OU) within the superfund site due to the LA contamination. In addition to the work completed in this research, previous studies have shown that there is an exposure pathway for the United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (USFS) personnel tasked with forest maintenance in …

Occupational Risks And Hazards Associated With Firefighting, Laura Walker

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Annually about 100 firefighters die in the line duty, in the United States. Firefighters know it is a hazardous occupation. Firefighters know the only way to reduce the number of deaths is to change the way the firefighter (FF) operates. Changing the way a firefighter operates starts by utilizing traditional industrial hygiene tactics, anticipating, recognizing, evaluating and controlling the hazard. Basic information and history of the fire service is necessary to evaluate FF hazards. An electronic survey was distributed to FFs. The first question was, “What are the health and safety risks of a firefighter?” Hypothetically heart attacks and new …

Comparison Of Two Surface Contamination Sampling Techniques Conducted For The Characterization Of Two Pajarito Site Manhattan Project National Historic Park Properties, Lopez Tammy

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Technical Area-18 (TA-18), also known as Pajarito Site, is located on Los Alamos National Laboratory property and has historic buildings that will be included in the Manhattan Project National Historic Park. Characterization studies of metal contamination were needed in two of the four buildings that are on the historic registry in this area, a “battleship” bunker building (TA-18-0002) and the Pond cabin (TA-18-0029). However, these two buildings have been exposed to the elements, are decades old, and have porous and rough surfaces (wood and concrete). Due to these conditions, it was questioned whether standard wipe sampling would be adequate to …

Noise Exposure In Electric And Natural Gas Utility Transmission And Distribution Operations, Christi Cole

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Noise exposures were measured in the electric and natural gas distribution operations workforce of a large Midwestern utility. Both personal dosimetry and area monitoring were utilized to evaluate noise exposures based on job classification as well as operation of specific equipment or performance of certain tasks. Job classifications were chosen for study based on observable noise exposures and employee requests. Five job classifications were sampled with 90% confidence according to NIOSH guidelines for sample sizes. Three of the five job classifications were previously enrolled in the company hearing conservation program and two of them were not.

The study determined that …

What Percentage Of The Security Forces At Macdill Afb Experience Exposure To Noise In Excess Of The Osha Pel And The Air Force Oeel?, Julian Joseph Krusely

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Noise-related hearing loss has been listed as one of the most prevalent occupational health concerns in the United States for more than 25 years with approximately 30 million people in the US alone occupationally exposed to hazardous noise according to the Occupational Safety and Health Organization. Many people are aware of some risks the military members take every day being at war, but very few think about the risks of the members on a base located stateside. To this point, not much research has been done on these risks, and even less has been done on the hazardous noise risks …

Assessment Of Prolonged Occupational Exposure To Heat Stress, Ximena Garzon-Villalba Garzon-Villalba

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Heat stress is a recognized occupational hazard present in many work environments. Its effects increase with increasing environmental heat loads. There is good evidence that exertional heat illness is associated with ambient thermal conditions in outdoor environments. Further, there is reason to believe that risk of acute injury may also increase with the ambient environment. For these reasons, the assessment of heat stress, which can be done through the characterization of the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), is designed to limit exposures to those that could be sustained for an 8-h day. The ACGIH Threshold Limit Value (TLV) for heat …

Hexamethylene Diisocyanate Homopolymer And Monomer Exposure Assessment And Characterization At An Automobile Manufacturer In The United States, Karthik Reguram Sivaraman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A variety of paint products are used for their aesthetic and anti-corrosive properties. Isocyanates are consistently found in automobile paint products, particularly in clear coat polyurethane products. Clear coat is typically sprayed via pressurized air by means of an auto-spray robot. In clear coat repair situations, manual, air-powered spray guns are used, and manual spray Operators administer the clear coat material. The isocyanates are a primary anti-corrosive agent in polyurethane products. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has not established a Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL). The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and American Conference of Governmental …

Assessing Excessive Noise Exposure Of Music-Oriented Nightclub Employees, Aiyanna Fitzgerald

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Much research has gone into noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) and the effects of high intensity noise levels on the hearing mechanism of individuals. A study by the National Institutes of Health has established that high intensity sounds can cause hearing damage of either a temporary, or worse, a permanent nature; regardless of the age of the person. While sound levels below 75 decibels are considered comparatively harmless and have been found not to cause any kind of permanent hearing loss; sound levels greater than 85 decibels and regular exposure of approximately 8 hours per day, on an average, has been …

Evaluation Of Particulate Metal And Noise Exposures At A Foundry And Recommended Control Strategies, Jeshua Sargetis

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

An evaluation of current industrial hygiene practices were performed at a foundry located in the Northwestern United States. The foundry was evaluated for respirable and inhalable manganese, respirable crystalline silica and noise exposure. Personal breathing zone sampling was performed using proper safety and health practices on workers in the foundry and around the entire facility. Results showed that workers were being exposed to respirable manganese but not inhalable manganese. Bulk crystalline silica sampling was performed and personal breathing zone sampling was performed as a follow up to certain control measures which showed low concentrations. Area noise sampling was conducted in …

Reducing Noise Exposures Produced By Vibratory Finishing Machines, Anna Kroening

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Tumbling operators are exposed to loud occupational noises when loading and unloading the metal products in tumbling machines. The increase in the number of hearing loss injuries in the metal stamping industry initiated OSHA’s Special Emphasis Programs in designated industries and locations across the United States. Because occupational hearing loss injuries do not manifest themselves until years later, it is critical that employers install engineering controls immediately in order to protect worker’s hearing and prevent hearing loss injuries.

Tumbling machines come in a variety of configurations. In addition to sound absorption material that can be installed on floors, ceilings, and …

Comparison Of Sample Methods And Results For Hexavalent Chromium Exposures At Langley Afb, Ericka Crosley

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Various exposure limits and analytical methods are recommended for hexavalent chromium exposures. While the OSHA standard is legally binding, NIOSH and ACGIH recommendations should be considered as well when determining personnel overexposures. Hexavalent chromium is linked to severe acute and chronic effects, including cancer. The United States Air Force currently uses NIOSH methods 7600 and 7605 to sample for hexavalent chromium. This research analyzed if personnel are being overexposed, in addition to comparing NIOSH 7600 and NIOSH 7605 results to determine if both methods are required, or if one can be used in place of both. The results of the …

Making It Sound As Good As It Tastes: Noise Reverberation Reduction In A Micro Distillery Tasting Room, Andrew Sheehy

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Noise reverberation in micro distillery tasting rooms can interfere with speech communication and negatively impact the acoustic quality of live music. Noise reverberation was characterized in a tasting room in Butte, MT by calculated and quantified methods. Sound absorbing baffles were then installed in an effort to reduce reverberation and improve room acoustics. The overall reverberation time and speech interference level were decreased by measureable amounts that corresponded with an increase in overall absorption in the space. Reverberation time decreased from 0.85 seconds to 0.49 seconds on average. As shown by a customer survey given before and after the installation, …

An Exploratory Study Of Carbon Monoxide Exposures In Ice Rink Volunteers, Jonathan Triner

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Hockey has grown in popularity in the United States substantially in the last fifty years. The combustion engine has primarily been utilized to power the ice resurfacing equipment to make the ice smooth and able to support the next activity. The exhaust from the combustion engine creates a source of CO that could be harmful to the bystanders if the exhaust is not ventilated from the area properly. Many studies have investigated CO concentrations in ice rinks, but few have evaluated carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) levels as a biological indicator of CO exposure, in order to evaluate the potential health effects of …

An Analysis Of Helmet Sound Attenuation During Abrasive Blasting, Michael Lindsey

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

During abrasive blasting, the operator is exposed to a process consisting of combined sound pressure levels from compressed air propelling an abrasive media through the hose, the abrasive striking metal substrate, the flow of breathing air inside the helmet, and the reverberation of sound inside the walls of the blast booth. The resulting noise can reach peak sound pressure levels (Lpeak) of 128 dBA, exceeding allowable occupational exposure levels.

The objectives of this study were to investigate the noise levels produced during abrasive blasting, attempt to further quantify total noise exposure to the abrasive blast operator, and calculate combined attenuation …

Whole Body Vibration Exposure To Crane Operator’S, Steven Campbell

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Whole body vibration (WBV) has been linked to lower back disorders (LBD’s). The purpose of this study is to determine whether crane operators are exposed to whole body vibration (WBV). If exposure exists then, do they exceed a current consensus standard. This information will be used to determine whether WBV should become a larger discussion item when purchasing cranes and or rebuilding. This information can also be used to make the case for seat replacement or at the very least a qualification to consider when purchasing replacement seats.

While many studies exist relating WBV to LBD, I could not find …

Neck Injury Criteria Development For Use In System Level Ejection Testing; Characterization Of Atd To Human Response Correlation Under -Gx Accelerative Input, Craig M. Zinck

Theses and Dissertations

The use of Helmet Mounted Displays is ubiquitous in the field of aviation, adding operational capability, increasing head-supported weight and potential neck injury risk. Developing neck injury criteria to evaluate and quantify neck injury is important to ensure ejection systems are produced within acceptable standards. An ATD to human transfer function is developed that quantifies the difference between ATD and human neck response from -Gx accelerative tests, and demonstrates how this function can be applied to ATD test data to make previously developed human risk functions directly applicable to interpreting ATD data with a human based neck injury criterion. A …

Critical Heat Stress Evaluation In Two Ebola Ensembles, Christopher T. Lee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ebola, a type of filovirus that causes hemorrhagic fevers, dominated global headlines in 2014 when the largest Ebola epidemic in history took place in West Africa. Healthcare practitioners were at particular risk of contracting Ebola while taking care of patients with the disease because they were easily exposed to bodily fluids such as blood, urine, saliva, and feces, quite often in the intensive care unit (ICU). While personal protective equipment (PPE) protects the healthcare practitioner by providing an effective barrier against the virus, users were also at risk for heat stress because of the type of protective clothing. In this …

Using Artificial Neural Networks To Predict Disease Associations For Chemicals Present In Burn Pit Emissions, Amanda R. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

In June of 2015, 27,378 of the 28,000 returning Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) veterans report being exposed to burn pits. According to Barth et al. (2014), 9,660 returning OIF/OEF veterans were diagnosed with respiratory diseases, to include asthma, bronchitis, and sinusitis, thus strengthening the need to develop decision support tools that can be used to understand the relationships between chemical exposure and disease. In this study an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was used to predict the chemical-disease associations for burn pit constituents. Ten burn pit constituents were tested using varying hidden layers, similar chemical structure relationships, and three …

Comparison Of Urinary Pahs Among Firefighters And Asphalt Pavers, Theodore Aquino

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Firefighters and asphalt pavers are exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during various work activities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate urinary PAH levels and compare these bio-monitoring levels among firefighters, asphalt pavers, and non-occupationally exposed individuals. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) urinary PAH levels were used for non-occupationally exposed controls. When compared to the NIST standard for smokers and non-smokers, firefighters demonstrated statistically significant differences in urinary concentration differences for the following metabolites: 2-OH-fluorene, 3-OH-fluorene and 1-OH-pyrene, which were lower in firefighters than the NIST mean for smokers. 1-OH-phenanthrene, 2-OH-phenanthrene and 3-OH-phenanthrene were higher …

Risk Factors Associated With Non-Compliance With The Respiratory Protection Program Among Firefighters, Brandon Dawkins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Non-compliance with respiratory protection programs among firefighters may put them at increased risk of injury and illness from occupational exposures during fire extinguishing activities. This research aims to characterize respiratory protection practices among Florida firefighters. This information will allow better understanding of factors that are associated with non-compliance with respiratory protection guidelines.

Methods: Survey questionnaire was used to characterize Florida fire departments in this cross sectional study. Four hundred and seventy-seven surveys were administered to Florida firefighters both in person and electronically to collect information regarding firefighter knowledge and participation in their respective respiratory protection programs during the past …

Workplace Violence, Organizational Culture, And Registered Nurses' Incident Reporting Patterns In Acute Hospitals In California, Feodora Jacobsen

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to increase understanding of the reporting patterns of WPV Type II in acute hospital settings. Although some patients are abusive toward nurses, that the abuse is underreported to hospital administrators. Qualitative studies identified common themes for underreporting including fear of being blamed, abuse considered part of the job, and not having sufficient time to fill out a formal report. This study is the first quantitative study to explore the changes in mean scores of organizational-culture factors under two mutually exclusive conditions: registered nurses (RNs) who do not report hospital incidents and RNs who do …

Establishing Methodology For Occupational Injury Surveillance In Agriculture And Logging, Erika Elisabeth Scott

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Developing a low-cost surveillance system for occupational injury in agriculture and logging has long been a challenge. These data are needed to prioritize public health interventions in the agriculture and logging industries, and are crucial to evaluating changes in injury rates, as well as the effectiveness of safety interventions. Recently, the transition to electronic data reporting created new opportunities for the development of sustainable, low-cost surveillance systems. Pre-hospital care reports (PCR) and hospital data (emergency department, inpatient, and outpatient) are datasets of particular interest.

A Study Of Occupational Health : Disclosing Homosexuality In The Workplace, Yim Yam, Whywhy Chan

Bachelor of Social Sciences – Senior Theses

In this study, the associations among disclosing homosexuality, discrimination and occupational health was examined, as well as the associations among disclosing homosexuality, workplace sexual identity management strategies and occupational health. It is aimed to investigating whether discrimination serves as a moderator between disclosing homosexuality and occupational health, plus whether workplace sexual identity management strategies serves as a mediator between disclosing homosexuality and occupational health. In total, 225 gays and lesbians full-time workers in Hong Kong were participated in this study through completing an online questionnaire. Results showed that discrimination serves as a moderator between disclosure and job satisfaction, and workplace …

Assessing The Effectiveness Of Safety Training Provided To Corrections Personnel In Appalachia, Ali K. Al Yammahi

Online Theses and Dissertations

The context of the study was assessment of whether corrections officers in Appalachia are receiving adequate health and safety training who attended health and safety trainings sessions provided by the OSHA Training Institute and Education Center on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University. Participants included in the study were corrections officers who have been working in corrections for a minimum of two years. Participants were required to be working in Appalachian corrections during distribution of the questionnaire. Participants were selected by using convenience and snowball sampling procedures. The questionnaire was sent on 4 separate occasions, 10 of the expected 30 …