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Fulltext Undergraduate nursing students’ experiences of their clinical practice

LILY LIM, ZABIDAH PUTIT, CHANG CHING THON

Malaysian Journal of Qualitative Research, 2017;4(1):6-16.
MyJurnal

A qualitative study was conducted to assess the nursing students’ experiences of their clinical practice at one public university in Sarawak, Malaysia. Purposive sampling was used to recruit nine undergraduate nursing degree students at a medical faculty. An in-depth interview based on an open-ended questionnaire was used to collect data. The open-ended questionnaire was used to assess the students’ expectation, feelings, challenging experiences related to work culture, knowledge and skills in patient care, teaching learning supports, people interpersonal relationship, students’ role and their coping mechanism in clinical practice. Data were analysed using content analysis approach facilitated by Nvivo software (Version 8.) The themes emerged from the data analysis included (a) Gaining insight into the reality of clinical working environment and (b) challenges. The subthemes illustrated the students’ challenges were interpersonal relationship with people at the work place, different ward environment, theorypractice gap and insufficient clinical practice, and anxiety. The participants also reported experiencing anxiety due to challenges; however, after a period of time, they learnt to cope with them. The students were able to use different coping mechanism such as internal and external motivation, and this increased their confidence as they progressed in their learning. The learning difficulties faced by nursing students during clinical placement show that a supportive learning environment is important. This study proposed practical strategies to empower students in clinical learning and increase their self-esteem and confidence. In order to improve quality of students’ clinical education, adequate and effective work collaboration between nursing education and health care services are recommended. Future research should focus on how to create a supportive clinical learning environment in local setting

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Fulltext Prevalence and related factors of depression among healthcare personnel at primary healthcare centers

Eusof Izzudin MP, Al–Bedri A, Subramaniam V, Matthews P, Cheong AT

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2018;14(Special 2):32-36.
MyJurnal

Depressive disorders are common. As compared to the general population, healthcare personnel are hypothesized to have an above than average risk to develop this condition. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of this condition and its contributing factors amongst primary healthcare personnel.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by universally sampling 179 primary healthcare personnel at nine primary healthcare centers across Kuala Lumpur and Selangor in May 2015. Depressive symptoms were screened using self-administered Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) questionnaire. Socio-demographic and work profile data were also assessed.
Results: 92.7% of the 179 personnel agreed to participate. Near half of the respondents were staff nurses (49%), followed by doctors (22%), assistant medical officers (10%), attendants (10%) and the remaining were pharmacists, dieticians, and laboratory technicians (9%). Depression was found to be present in 38% of the participants with one-third found to have moderate to severe depression. Bivariate analysis show that males (p=0.043), assistant medical officers (p=0.048), and working more than 10 hours per day (p=0.019) are significant risk factors. Further analysis by logistic regression shows that working more than 10 hours per day increases the odds of depression by 3.1 (OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.1-8.7, p=0.03).
Conclusions: A high prevalence of depression was found within the healthcare personnel population at the primary healthcare centres studied. Being a male, employed as an assistant medical officer, and, prolonged hours at the workplace is a significant risk factor for depression.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Fulltext The impact of return to work programs on the health status of injured workers with-related musculoskeletal disorders: a Malaysian study

Murad MS, Farnworth L, O’Brien L, Chien CW

Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, 2012;9(1):3-44.
MyJurnal

Introduction: This study explores the health status of injured workers in return to work (RTW) programs based on their ability and capacity. Injured workers were diagnosed with work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The findings will help not only the service provider plan a specific strategy but also allow stakeholders to review their role in the RTW program.

Methods: 102 participants were chosen from a national RTW program, and categorized into three groups based on different phases of the RTW program: off-work (n=30, 29.4%), work re-entry (n=44, 43.1%) and maintenance (n=28, 27.5%). Self-report questionnaires identified demographic data, health surveillance via SF-36 and perceived physical and psychological workload by 10-point numerical scales. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Kruskal-Wallis Test was employed to examine the differences in three phases of the RTW program. Paired t-test analyzed the differences of related samples of physical and psychological workload before and after injuries.

Results: The domains of health status are below the average compared to the norm-based population. Mental health component summary is better than physical health. At the domain level, there are significant differences among injured workers, specifically in the three RTW program phases. The SF-36 domains are: role-physical, vitality, bodily-pain, general health, and mental health (p ! 0.049). In contrast, non-significant differences were found in physical and social functioning, and role of emotion status. Moreover, their self-perceived physical and psychological work-load significantly worsened after injuries (p ! 0.020).

Conclusions: The case manager-coordinated RTW program provided further opportunities to improve injured workers’ health status when looking at their differences for different phases of RTW. Other health professionals like occupational therapists, ergonomists and psychologists should become involved in the RTW program. Specific guidelines and regulations have to be implemented to ensure full participation with all parties in the workplace.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Comparison of stress levels between physicians working in public and private hospitals in Johor, Malaysia

Hafiz A, Ima-Nirwana S, Chin KY

J Taibah Univ Med Sci, 2018 Oct;13(5):491-495.
PMID: 31435368 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtumed.2018.01.004

Objectives: Physicians are known to experience a high level of stress due to the profession itself, as well as due to factors related to the workplace, patient care, and work-life balance. Owing to the nature of public and private hospitals in Malaysia, physicians working in different settings are expected to have different levels of stress. However, there is no study to validate this assumption. The present study aimed to compare stress levels between physicians working in public and private hospitals in the state of Johor, Malaysia.
Methods: Participants were selected via stratified sampling. Participants completed an online questionnaire comprising demographic details and the Health Professional Stress Inventory. Scores on each domain and the aggregate scores were compared between physicians in public and private hospitals using a univariate analysis adjusted for potential confounders.
Results: The overall stress level between physicians in public and private hospitals was similar. However, physicians in private hospitals experienced a higher stress level related to patient care responsibilities and professional uncertainty as compared to those in public hospitals.
Conclusion: Physicians from private hospitals experience stress in different aspects of their profession as compared to physicians in public hospitals, especially with reference to patient care and career uncertainty. Measures should be taken to relieve the stress of physicians and thus improve their wellbeing.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
A phone-counseling smoking-cessation intervention for male Chinese restaurant workers

Burton D, Zeng XX, Chiu CH, Sun J, Sze NL, Chen Y, et al.

J Community Health, 2010 Dec;35(6):579-85.
PMID: 20186474 DOI: 10.1007/s10900-010-9244-7

We sought to develop a smoking-cessation intervention for male Chinese restaurant workers in New York City that required no seeking out by participants; provided support over a relatively long period of time; and was responsive to participants' cultural backgrounds and daily lives. The resulting intervention consisted of a minimum of 9 proactive phone counseling sessions within a 6-month period for each participant recruited at his worksite. All activities were conducted in Chinese languages. The efficacy of this proactive phone-counseling intervention was assessed in a pretest/posttest design comparing baseline smoking with smoking 6 months after the intervention ended. Of 137 male employees recruited at their restaurants, 101 (median age 40.5) participated in the phone-counseling intervention in 2007-2008, with 75 completing the program with at least 9 counseling calls. We found a linear increase in smoking cessation from 0% at Call 1 to 50.7% at Call 9 for 75 men who completed the program, and we found for all 101 participants a 32.7% intent-to-treat cessation rate for 6 months post-end of program, adjusted to 30.8% by saliva cotinine assessments. The results indicate that combining field outreach with phone counseling over an extended period of time can facilitate smoking cessation for population groups whose environments do not support efforts to quit smoking.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Fulltext Ten - year Cardiovascular Disease Risk amongst workers in a tertiary healthcare institution in Kuala Lumpur

Norfazilah Ahmad, Santhna Letchmi Panduragan, Yee,San Khor, Kalaiarasan Gemini, Nur Atikah Bahrin, Nur Husnina Azhar, et al.

Borneo Epidemiology Journal, 2020;1(1):35-45.
MyJurnal

Strategising, which is an effective workplace intervention to curb cardiovascular disease (CVD), requires understanding of the CVD risk related to a specific working population. The Framingham Risk Score (FRS) is widely used in predicting the ten-year CVD risk of various working populations. This study aimed to use FRS to determine the ten-year CVD risk amongst workers in a tertiary healthcare setting and its associated factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted on workers who participated in the special health check programme at the staff clinic of a tertiary healthcare institution in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A set of data sheets was used to retrieve the workers’ sociodemographic and CVD risk information. The prevalence of high, moderate and low ten-year CVD risk was 12.8%, 20.0% and 67.2%, respectively. Workers in the high-risk group were older [mean age: 54.81 (standard deviation, 5.72) years], male (44%), smokers (72.7%) and having hyperglycaemia (46.7%) and hypertriglyceridemia [median triglycerides: 1.75 (interquartile range, 1.45) mmol/L]. Diastolic blood pressure (aOR 1.07, 95% CI: 1.01,1.14), hyperglycaemia (aOR 8.80, 95% CI: 1.92,40.36) and hypertriglyceridemia (aOR 4.45, 95% CI: 1.78,11.09) were significantly associated with high ten-year CVD risk. Diastolic blood pressure (aOR 1.08, 95% CI: 1.03,1.13) and hypertriglyceridemia (aOR 2.51, 95% CI: 1.12-5.61) were significantly associated with moderate ten-year CVD risk. The prevalence of high and moderate ten-year CVD risk was relatively high. Amongst the workers in the high-risk group, they were older, male, smokers and with high fasting blood sugar and triglyceride. Understanding the ten-year CVD risk and its associated factors could be used to plan periodic workplace health assessment and monitor to prevent CVD

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Occupational risk assessment: review of wooden scaffold board application in Malaysian oil and gas industry

Mohd Jamil Abdul Wahab, Noor Azrieda Abd Rashid, Salmiah Ujang, Choon LS

Sains Malaysiana, 2016;45:1139-1147.

Timber scaffold boards have been widely utilised in the offshore construction industry. However, technical specifications
and inspection procedure for the application of scaffold boards from a wood material were inadequate. In the development
of the standard requirements, evaluation of actual engineering practices could indicate the level of workplace safety. A
study was conducted to identify risk and safety measures concerning the use of timber scaffold boards in construction.
This article discusses on the occupational risks and ergonomics issues of the scaffolding application based on the physical
and mechanical conditions of tropical timber scaffold boards extracted from offshore oil and gas rigs. The boards were
exposed to a seasonal climate of East Coast monsoon of South China Sea between November and February. The scaffolding
application extended up to 20 m directly above the ocean surface and some boards were completely immersed below
the ocean surface particularly during elevated tidal waves. Some of the boards were installed as the on-deck platforms.
Forty scaffold boards fabricated from tropical timber species were evaluated. Physical characteristics of the boards
were described by natural and man-made factors. A three-point bending test was conducted to determine the maximum
load capacity of each board and the mode of fracture was evaluated. Timber identification test was conducted to identify
the groups of the timber being used. The microscopic observation confirmed the presence of hyphae which indicated the
biological deterioration has happened in some of the boards. Occupational risks were summarised based on the results
of the physical and mechanical assessments

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Fulltext Exploring stress coping strategies of frontline emergency health workers dealing Covid-19 in Pakistan: A qualitative inquiry

Munawar K, Choudhry FR

Am J Infect Control, 2021 03;49(3):286-292.
PMID: 32649990 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2020.06.214

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 outbreak has gravely impacted the physical and psychological health of people. As the outbreak is ongoing, it is crucial to equip the emergency healthcare workers (HCWs) to be medically and psychologically prepared.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the psychological impact of COVID-19 on emergency HCWs and to understand how they are dealing with COVID-19 pandemic, their stress coping strategies or protective factors, and challenges while dealing with COVID-19 patients.
METHODS: Using a framework thematic analysis approach, 15 frontline emergency HCWs directly dealing with COVID-19 patients from April 2, 2020 to April 25, 2020. The semi-structured interviews were conducted face-to-face or by telephone. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
RESULTS: Findings highlighted first major theme of stress coping, including, limiting media exposure, limited sharing of Covid-19 duty details, religious coping, just another emergency approach, altruism, and second major theme of Challenges includes, psychological response and noncompliance of public/denial by religious scholar.
CONCLUSIONS: Participants practiced and recommended various coping strategies to deal with stress and anxiety emerging from COVID-19 pandemic. Media was reported to be a principal source of raising stress and anxiety among the public. Religious coping as well as their passion to serve humanity and country were the commonly employed coping strategies.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace/psychology*
Fulltext Intelligent Platform Based on Smart PPE for Safety in Workplaces

Márquez-Sánchez S, Campero-Jurado I, Herrera-Santos J, Rodríguez S, Corchado JM

Sensors (Basel), 2021 Jul 07;21(14).
PMID: 34300392 DOI: 10.3390/s21144652

It is estimated that we spend one-third of our lives at work. It is therefore vital to adapt traditional equipment and systems used in the working environment to the new technological paradigm so that the industry is connected and, at the same time, workers are as safe and protected as possible. Thanks to Smart Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and wearable technologies, information about the workers and their environment can be extracted to reduce the rate of accidents and occupational illness, leading to a significant improvement. This article proposes an architecture that employs three pieces of PPE: a helmet, a bracelet and a belt, which process the collected information using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques through edge computing. The proposed system guarantees the workers' safety and integrity through the early prediction and notification of anomalies detected in their environment. Models such as convolutional neural networks, long short-term memory, Gaussian Models were joined by interpreting the information with a graph, where different heuristics were used to weight the outputs as a whole, where finally a support vector machine weighted the votes of the models with an area under the curve of 0.81.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Fulltext SmartFire: Intelligent Platform for Monitoring Fire Extinguishers and Their Building Environment

Garcia-Martin R, González-Briones A, Corchado JM

Sensors (Basel), 2019 May 25;19(10).
PMID: 31130598 DOI: 10.3390/s19102390

Due to fire protection regulations, a minimum number of fire extinguishers must be available depending on the surface area of each building, industrial establishment or workplace. There is also a set of rules that establish where the fire extinguisher should be placed: always close to the points that are most likely to be affected by a fire and where they are visible and accessible for use. Fire extinguishers are pressure devices, which means that they require maintenance operations that ensure they will function properly in the case of a fire. The purpose of manual and periodic fire extinguisher checks is to verify that their labeling, installation and condition comply with the standards. Security seals, inscriptions, hose and other seals are thoroughly checked. The state of charge (weight and pressure) of the extinguisher, the bottle of propellant gas (if available), and the state of all mechanical parts (nozzle, valves, hose, etc.) are also checked. To ensure greater safety and reduce the economic costs associated with maintaining fire extinguishers, it is necessary to develop a system that allows monitoring of their status. One of the advantages of monitoring fire extinguishers is that it will be possible to understand what external factors affect them (for example, temperature or humidity) and how they do so. For this reason, this article presents a system of soft agents that monitors the state of the extinguishers, collects a history of the state of the extinguisher and environmental factors and sends notifications if any parameter is not within the range of normal values.The results rendered by the SmartFire prototype indicate that its accuracy in calculating pressure changes is equivalent to that of a specific data acquisition system (DAS). The comparative study of the two curves (SmartFire and DAS) shows that the average error between the two curves is negligible: 8% in low pressure measurements (up to 3 bar) and 0.3% in high pressure (above 3 bar).

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Fulltext BeSafe B2.0 Smart Multisensory Platform for Safety in Workplaces

Márquez-Sánchez S, Campero-Jurado I, Robles-Camarillo D, Rodríguez S, Corchado-Rodríguez JM

Sensors (Basel), 2021 May 12;21(10).
PMID: 34066186 DOI: 10.3390/s21103372

Wearable technologies are becoming a profitable means of monitoring a person's health state, such as heart rate and physical activity. The use of the smartwatch is becoming consolidated, not only as a novelty but also as a very useful tool for daily use. In addition, other devices, such as helmets or belts, are beneficial for monitoring workers and the early detection of any anomaly. They can provide valuable information, especially in work environments, where they help reduce the rate of accidents and occupational diseases, which makes them powerful Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The constant monitoring of the worker's health can be done in real-time, through temperature, falls, noise, impacts, or heart rate meters, activating an audible and vibrating alarm when an anomaly is detected. The gathered information is transmitted to a server in charge of collecting and processing it. In the first place, this paper provides an exhaustive review of the state of the art on works related to electronics for human activity behavior. After that, a smart multisensory bracelet, combined with other devices, developed a control platform that can improve operators' security in the working environment. Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things (AIoT) bring together the information to improve safety on construction sites, power stations, power lines, etc. Real-time and historic data is used to monitor operators' health and a hybrid system between Gaussian Mixture Model and Human Activity Classification. That is, our contribution is also founded on the use of two machine learning models, one based on unsupervised learning and the other one supervised. Where the GMM gave us a performance of 80%, 85%, 70%, and 80% for the 4 classes classified in real time, the LSTM obtained a result under the confusion matrix of 0.769, 0.892, and 0.921 for the carrying-displacing, falls, and walking-standing activities, respectively. This information was sent in real time through the platform that has been used to analyze and process the data in an alarm system.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace*
Dysphagia training for speech-language pathologists: implications for clinical practice

Kamal RM, Ward E, Cornwell P

Int J Speech Lang Pathol, 2012 Dec;14(6):569-76.
PMID: 22974073 DOI: 10.3109/17549507.2012.713394

There are competency standards available in countries with established speech-language pathology services to guide basic dysphagia training with ongoing workplace mentoring for advanced skills development. Such training processes, however, are not as well established in countries where speech-language pathology training and practice is relatively new, such as Malaysia. The current study examines the extent of dysphagia training and workplace support available to speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in Malaysia and Queensland, Australia, and explores clinicians' perceptions of the training and support provided, and of their knowledge, skills, and confidence. Using a matched cohort cross-sectional design, a purpose-built survey was administered to 30 SLPs working in Malaysian government hospitals and 30 SLPs working in Queensland Health settings in Australia. Malaysian clinicians were found to have received significantly less university training, less mentoring in the workplace, and were lacking key infrastructure needed to support professional development in dysphagia management. Over 90% of Queensland clinicians were confident and felt they had adequate skills in dysphagia management; in contrast, significantly lower levels of knowledge, skills, and confidence were observed in the Malaysian cohort. The findings identify a need for improved university training and increased opportunities for workplace mentoring, training, and support for Malaysian SLPs.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Fulltext Morning boost on individuals' psychophysiological wellbeing indicators with supportive, dynamic lighting in windowless open-plan workplace in Malaysia

Sithravel R, Ibrahim R, Lye MS, Perimal EK, Ibrahim N, Dahlan ND

PLoS One, 2018;13(11):e0207488.
PMID: 30496193 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0207488

Workplace architectural lighting conditions that are biologically dim during the day are causing healthy individuals to experience light-induced health and performance-related problems. Dynamic lighting was reported beneficial in supporting individuals' psychological behavior and physiological responses during work period in Europe. It has yet to be investigated in workplaces with minimal/no natural daylight contribution in tropical Malaysia. Hence, an exploratory experimental study was initiated in an experimental windowless open-plan workplace in Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang. The aim was to identify dynamic lighting configurations that were more supportive of a morning boosting effect than the control constant lighting, to support dayshift individuals' psychophysiological wellbeing indicators during the peak morning work period. The immediate impact of a 2-hour morning exposure to overhead white LED (6500 K) with different horizontal illuminance levels and oscillations (lighting patterns) were investigated on physiological indicator limited to urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin, and psychological indicators for alertness, mood, visual comfort, cognitive and visual task performance. Not all of the investigated dynamic lighting configurations were supportive of a morning boost. Only configurations 500increased to750 and 500increased to1000 lx therapeutically supported most of the indicators. Both these configurations suppressed urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin, and improved alertness, cognitive performance, positive affect, and visual comfort better than 'visit 1: 500constant500' lx (control). The increasing oscillation was observed more beneficial for the morning boost in tropical Malaysia, which is in reverse to that specified in the human rhythmic dynamic lighting protocol developed by researchers from the Netherlands for application during winter. The findings from this study present the feasibility of dynamic architectural lighting acting as an environmental therapeutic solution in supporting the individuals' psychophysiological wellbeing indicators in windowless open-plan workplace in tropical Malaysia. Further investigations on the two prospective configurations are recommended to determine the better supportive one for the morning boosting effect in Malaysia.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace*
Safety management practices and safety behaviour: a preliminary investigation in Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises in Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER)

Khoo Teng Hong, Lilis Surienty, Daisy Kee Mui Hung

Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, 2011;8(1):0-0.
MyJurnal

The paper reports on a study conducted in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in NCER, Malaysia. Four safety management practices were studied in relation to safety behaviour of employees. Respondents consisted of employees working in SMEs in NCER. Companies were sampled randomly from directories provided by SMECorp and other SME-related body. Self-administered questionnaires were sent by mail to employees working in SMEs. Completed questionnaires were mailed back by respondents using pre-addressed and post-paid envelope included. Correlation analysis were conducted and found that all four safety management practices are highly correlated with safety behaviour. The result provides support to the use of safety management practices to improve safety behaviour of employees and overall safety of the workplace. Suggestions for management in SMEs are presented in the discussion section. Management in SMEs can consider the use of safety management practices as antecedents that trigger safety behaviour of their employees in order to reduce accident rate in workplace.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Fulltext Impact of Multifaceted Workplace Bullying on the Relationships between Technology Usage, Organisational Climate and Employee Physical and Emotional Health

Iftikhar M, Qureshi MI, Qayyum S, Fatima I, Sriyanto S, Indrianti Y, et al.

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2021 03 19;18(6).
PMID: 33808837 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18063207

This research article investigates the effect of organisational climate and technology usage on employees' physiological and emotional health damage resulting from face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying at the workplace. Furthermore, we investigated emotional intelligence as a coping strategy to moderate employee physiological and emotional health damage. The research used a quantitative research design. A five-point Likert-scale questionnaire was used to collect data from a multistage sample of 500 officials from Pakistan's four service sectors. Results revealed that organisational climate and technology usage are negatively related to face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying at the workplace. At the same time, workplace bullying adversely affects an employee's emotional and physiological health. However, emotional intelligence can reduce an employee's emotional health damage due to workplace bullying. Thus, we suggest incorporating emotional intelligence training at the workplace to minimise the devastating effects of face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying on employees' physical and emotional health.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Fulltext Occupational and Environmental Risk Factors Influencing the Inducement of Erythema among Nigerian Laboratory University Workers with Multiple Chemical Exposures

Reuben U, Ismail AF, Ahmad AL, Maina HM, Daud A

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2019 04 13;16(8).
PMID: 31013942 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16081334

: The chemicals from laboratories pose a significant risk forinducing erythema, an abnormal redness of the skin, as a result of poor occupational and environmental factors that promote hypersensitivity to a chemical agent. The aim of this present study was to determine the occupational and environmental risk factors influencing the inducement of erythema in laboratory workers due to exposure to chemicals. This was a cross-sectional study on a population-based sample of Nigerian university laboratory workers. Data were collected using the erythema index meter and an indoor air control meter. The study included 287 laboratory workers. The laboratory workers who properly used personal protective equipment (PPE) were 60% less likely to have induced erythema (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.40; 95% confidence interval CI: 0.22-0.77; probability value p = 0.011). The chemical mixture exceeding the permissible exposure limit (PEL) was found to have a small effect in inducing the erythema (AOR = 4.22; 95%CI: 2.88-12.11; p = 0.004). Most of the sampled laboratories where the respondents worked had unsuitable temperatures (AOR = 8.21; 95% CI: 4.03-15.01; p = 0.001). Erythema was more frequently found in the respondents who spent 4-5h in the laboratory (AOR = 3.11; 95%CI: 1.77-9.23; p = 0.001). However, high levels of ventilation reduce the likelihood of erythema in a laboratory by 82% (0.18). Multiple logistic regressions revealed that PPE, PEL, exposure time, temperature, and ventilation were the probable predictive factors associated with the inducement of erythema. Providing better educational knowledge and improving the attitude towards hazards and safety in a laboratory would lead to reduced rates of new cases.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace/standards
Fulltext The effectiveness of the Occupational Safety and Health Master Plan 2015 (OSH-MP 15) in enhancing government leadership and preventive workplace

Norhafizah Yaacob, Shamsul B.M. Tamrin, Ng, Yee Guan, How, Vivien, Rozanah A. Rahman, Zerguine, Haroun, et al.

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2018;14(2):57-66.
MyJurnal

Background: Occupational Safety and Health Master Plan for Malaysia 2015 was intended to increase awareness, knowledge and commitment to Occupational Safety and Health in all undertaking to reduce the number of injuries, diseases and fatalities. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of Occupational Safety Health Master Plan for Malaysia 2015 (OSH-MP 15) in enhancing government leadership and preventive workplace culture. Methods: This cross sectional study covered all the states in Malaysia, constituting of 309 employers, 350 Occupational Safety Health practitioners and 360 employees as respondents. There were three questionnaires for three different groups which were employers, Occupational Safety Health practitioners and general employees. The respondents were selected through random sampling. Results: For strategy 1, there was a significant difference in mean of effectiveness of OSH-MP15 between sectors for general workers [F (11, 348) =12.06, p= =

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Comparison of the effectiveness of online and face-to-face weight-loss interventations in the workplace: evidence from Malaysia

Roszanadia Rusali, Zahara Abdul Manaf, Suzana Shahar, Fatin Hanani Mazri, Norhayati Ibrahim, Arimi Fitri Mat Ludin, et al.

Sains Malaysiana, 2018;47:2437-2445.

A structured weight management programme at a workplace may help in reducing the prevalence of overweight and obesity.
Therefore, this intervention study was to determine the effectiveness of weight loss programmes including face-to-face,
online and control group at workplace among employees who are overweight and obese. A total of 108 overweight and
obese adults were recruited and randomly divided into three groups (face-to-face group (FT), n=38; online group (OG),
n=31; control group (CG), n=39). In the FT group, the participants took part in health talks, interactive activities and
counselling; the OG group was given access to an online weight management program and the CG group was provided
with educational booklets on weight loss. All information given was related to nutrition, physical activity and motivation
to reduce weight. Body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), body fat percentage, dietary intake,
fasting lipid profile and glucose levels were assessed at baseline and 4 months. The FT group showed greater reduction
in body weight (-5.80 kg) compared to OG (-1.12 kg) and CG (-1.82 kg). Significant interaction effects were found for BMI,
WC, fasting serum triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol and total cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol ratio (all p<0.05), with the FT
group showing the biggest improvements, compared to the other groups. The face-to-face weight management program
offered in the workplace showed to be the most effective at improving anthropometric profile, fasting serum triglycerides,
HDL-C, total cholesterol/HDL-C ratio, and dietary intake among overweight and obese employees.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Fulltext A stochastic simulation framework for the prediction of strategic noise mapping and occupational noise exposure using the random walk approach

Han LM, Haron Z, Yahya K, Bakar SA, Dimon MN

PLoS One, 2015;10(4):e0120667.
PMID: 25875019 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120667

Strategic noise mapping provides important information for noise impact assessment and noise abatement. However, producing reliable strategic noise mapping in a dynamic, complex working environment is difficult. This study proposes the implementation of the random walk approach as a new stochastic technique to simulate noise mapping and to predict the noise exposure level in a workplace. A stochastic simulation framework and software, namely RW-eNMS, were developed to facilitate the random walk approach in noise mapping prediction. This framework considers the randomness and complexity of machinery operation and noise emission levels. Also, it assesses the impact of noise on the workers and the surrounding environment. For data validation, three case studies were conducted to check the accuracy of the prediction data and to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of this approach. The results showed high accuracy of prediction results together with a majority of absolute differences of less than 2 dBA; also, the predicted noise doses were mostly in the range of measurement. Therefore, the random walk approach was effective in dealing with environmental noises. It could predict strategic noise mapping to facilitate noise monitoring and noise control in the workplaces.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace*
Fulltext The Malaysian Workplace Bullying Index (MWBI): A new measure of workplace bullying in Eastern countries

Kwan SSM, Tuckey MR, Dollard MF

PLoS One, 2020;15(1):e0223235.
PMID: 31971942 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0223235

Workplace bullying is a significant cause of stress at work. Existing studies, primarily based on Western-oriented frameworks and instruments, have largely overlooked the role of culture. This oversight questions whether understandings generated from those studies can be generalised to employees working in Eastern countries, which differ on important cultural dimensions. To date, there is no Eastern-based instrument for measuring workplace bullying. In two studies, we developed and validated such a measure: the Malaysian Workplace Bullying Index (MWBI). Study 1 entailed a content validation of bullying behaviours via written records (diaries) completed by Malaysian bullying victims. The 19 validated behaviours formed the basis of Study 2, with additions from the wider literature. Study 2 used survey data collected at three time-points from Malaysian employees exposed to bullying at work. The final result was an 18-item scale with two nine-item factors: work-related bullying and person-related bullying. Overall, the MWBI is a psychometrically sound measure of workplace bullying in Eastern workplaces.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace/psychology*

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