Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene Commons^™

Practices And Factors Influencing Sharps Use And Safety In A Suburban Fire Department And Among Emergency Medical Services Personnel, Christine Michelle Mcguire-Wolfe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Needlestick injuries (NSIs) are a recognized risk for occupationally-related transmission of bloodborne pathogens (BBP). The occurrence of NSIs and BBP exposures among firefighters (FFs) and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel has been documented.

The purposes of this study were: 1) to define the problem of NSI among FFs and EMS personnel in a suburban fire department (FD) and identify practices and factors that influence sharps use and safety; 2) design and implement and intervention to promote safer sharps device usage; and 3) to measure the effectiveness of the intervention among FFs and EMS personnel.

A multi-phase, mixed methods approach was …

Evaluation Of Pulmonary Risks Associated With Selected Occupations, Stephen Casey Harbison

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Occupational health surveillance programs are designed to evaluate and reduce injury, illness, and deaths related to workplace hazards. In the state of Florida, there are numerous industries where workers are potentially exposed to airborne hazards from gases, vapors and dusts. Airborne occupational exposures to irritants, vesicants, and fibrogens have the potential to cause pulmonary function impairment if exposures are not properly controlled for high-level acute exposure as well as chronic exposure. For occupations that demand workers be exposed to substances known to be associated with pulmonary function impairment, respirators may be a principal method for exposure

control. OSHA requires pulmonary …

Quantifying The Ergonomic Impact On Healthcare Workers Using A Needle-Free Injector Device, Humberto Jose Olivero Lara

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Jet injectors are advantageous over needle injectors by eliminating sharps hazards. The Government Accountability Office estimates 29% preventable sharp injuries with an estimated direct cost of more than $500 million out of the CDC's reported incidence of 385,000 needle stick injuries per year among US hospital healthcare workers. Yet the forces required to set and trigger devices using spring mechanisms for medication delivery have not been explored. This laboratory experiment measured forces exerted by healthcare workers (HCWs) using a particular jet injector approved by FDA in 2011.

Objectives: In order to quantify the ergonomic impact on HCWs using a …

Relationships Of Heat Stress Levels To Heat-Related Disorders And Acute Injury During Deepwater Horizon Cleanup Operations, Michael H. Hiles

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Outdoor workers are often subjected to thermal conditions beyond the comfort zone, but to what degree do such conditions affect the health and safety of those workers is still a matter requiring further investigation. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between thermal conditions and (1) heat-related disorders and (2) acute injuries using injury and illness data collected during the BP Deepwater Horizon clean-up operations. Over an eleven month period, 5,485 cases were identified as either heat-related or an acute injury (incident type) and further divided by severity. Daily weather data were used to estimate the wet …

Critical Heat Stress Evaluation Of Two-Layer Clothing Ensembles And The Contributionof A Full-Face Negative Pressure Respirator, Oclla Michele Fletcher

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Protective clothing ensembles are worn by workers as a barrier to chemical and physical hazards, but can restrict heat loss and increase worker heat stress. The question of whether a respirator adds to heat stress or strain burden is a continuing concern among occupational health professionals. The purpose of this study was to determine if there are differences in heat stress or strain among the current Toxicological Agent Protective (TAP) ensemble and two ensemble variations used in demilitarization of chemical weapons. Four acclimatized adult males wore five ensembles in a balanced design while walking in a climatic chamber at a …

Impact Of Occupational Health Interventions In Indonesia, Hanifa Maher Denny

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although the Ministry of Health, Indonesia, has achieved some successful occupational health interventions, published literature on such interventions in Indonesia remains scarce.

This study utilized mixed methods of qualitative and quantitative research for the years 2010 and 2011. The qualitative study covered respondents in West, Central, and East Java Provinces to gather stakeholders' perspectives on the impact, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, maintenance, and barriers of occupational health services for informal sectors in Indonesia. The quantitative portion measured the impact of occupational health training for community health officers using Reach, Efficacy, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance (RE-AIM) dimensions. West Java, as a province …

Noise Exposure In Medical Helicopter Flights, Melissa Constance Hay

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to evaluate noise exposures of helicopter pilots,

nurses and paramedics at a hospital by collecting area and personal samples, determining noise levels inside the helmet, and evaluating the current selection of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Measurements gathered during personal sampling were statistically analyzed and calculated using OSHA 1910.95 App A to determine dose, reference duration and the Time-Weighted Average (TWA).

Using a mannequin head, with the noise dosimeters in the ears, tests were performed on the headset inside the helmets to determine the sound pressure levels generated from the radio communications at different volume …

Literacy And Hazard Communication Comprehension Of Employees Presenting To An Occupational Health Clinic, Christine Bouchard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

More than 100 million American workers, 7 million workplaces, and 945,000 hazardous chemical products are covered under the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS), regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. There were a total of 1,183,500 recordable non-fatal illnesses and injuries in private industry workplaces in 2006 resulting in days away from work. Of these, 19,480 were due to chemicals and chemical products. In addition, there were a total of 5,703 work-related fatalities in 2006. In 191 of these, chemicals and chemical products were listed as the primary source of injury and as the secondary source of injury in 104 …

Sharps Injuries In Medical Training: Higher Risk For Residents Than For Medical Students, Rachel Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Because of their relative inexperience in performing procedures and handling sharps devices, medical students and resident physicians are considered to be at high risk for sharps injuries. A higher rate of sharps injuries for medical trainees implies a higher risk for occupationally-acquired infection with bloodborne pathogens and may have financial and legal implications for training institutions. This study examines the prevalence of sharps injuries among US medical students and resident physicians. A systematic review of the literature yielded 10 studies that gave data on sharps injuries for US medical students or residents, and those data were combined with data from …

Apparent Total Evaporative Resistance Values From Human Trials Over A Range Of Heat Stress Levels, Brian Grace

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Clothing can influence heat stress depending on the design and its ability to act as a barrier. The progressive heat stress protocol permitted the collection of data to empirically estimate the apparent total evaporative resistance (R_e,T,a). Five different clothing ensembles were evaluated, which included work clothes, cotton coveralls, and three limited-use protective clothing ensembles including a pthesis-barrier ensemble, (Tyvek^® 1424), water-barrier, vapor-permeable ensemble (NexGen^® LS 417), and a vapor-barrier ensemble (Tychem QC^®). The study design called for three metabolic level's: low, moderate, and high (L, M, & H) and three heat stages: compensable, transitional, …

Apparent Total Evaporative Resistance Values From Human Trials Over A Range Of Metabolic And Heat Stress Levels, Matthew David Dooris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Failure to maintain thermal equilibrium can cause uncontrollable increases in body core temperature beyond critical upper limits. In selecting clothing, consideration must be given to the heat transfer properties of clothing that may restrict the cooling capacity of the human body under heat stress conditions, most importantly, apparent total evaporative resistance (R_e,T,_a). This study calculated and compared R_e,T,_a for five clothing ensembles under varying heat stress conditions, including three relative humidity (RH) levels and three stages of heat stress to determine if R_e,T,_a values varied or remained the same with …

Validation Of The Usf Safe Exposure Time Equation For Heat Stress, Arden Bruce Andersen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Heat stress conditions are prevalent in the working environment around the world. Often they are not readily engineered out. Administrative controls and, in extreme/toxic environments, personal protective gear are the means available to protect workers. For every combination of metabolic work rate, clothing ensemble and environmental WBGT, there is a time of exposure threshold, beyond which the worker can no longer compensate for the heat stress, and signs and symptoms of heat strain appear. Increasingly, worker environments require specialty clothing either for worker protection or to maintain a clean/sanitary environment. Prior to the publication of the USF safe exposure time …

Apparent Total Evaporative Resistance For Clothing Ensembles At High Heat Stress Levels, Patrick Rodriguez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Donning protective clothing for mitigation of hazard from chemical agents poses a problem in the form of heat stress. When choosing protective clothing, many factors must be taken into account including insulative properties and evaporative resistance. This study calculated and compared R_e,T,a for three clothing ensembles at levels of heat stress past the level of compensation for heat gain to determine if R_e,T,a values varied or remained the same with changes in heat stress level. A three-way mixed model analysis of variance demonstrated significant differences for estimated R_e,T,a values among ensembles, heat stress levels and interactions among …

Heat Stress Evaluation Of Protective Clothing Ensembles, Amanda Lee Pease

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Clothing directly affects the level of heat stress exposure. Useful measures to express the thermal characteristics are WBGT (wet bulb globe temperature) clothing adjustment factor (CAF) or apparent total evaporative resistance (R_e,T,_a). The CAF is assigned through laboratory wear trials following a heat stress protocol in which the air temperature and humidity are progressively increased until the participant clearly loses the ability to maintain thermal equilibrium. The critical condition is the point of thermal transition and from these conditions both the CAF and Re,T,a are computed. The first objective of this study is to compare the …