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Fulltext Respiratory symptons prevalence among traffic policemen in Malaysia

Putri Anis Syahira Mohamad Jamil, Karmegam Karuppiah, Irniza Rasdi, Shamsul Bahri Mohd Tamrin, Sivasankar Sambasivam, Nur Athirah Diyana Mohammad Yusof, et al.

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2018;14(102):1-5.
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Traffic policemen are exposed to polluted air for a long time in high concentrations since they are working outside for most of the time which is bad for their health. Hence, this study was to determine the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function among traffic police in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru. Methods: A pulmonary function test using spirometer was used to measure the pulmonary function of subjects. A questionnaire on respiratory symptoms translated version from IUALTD was used. The questionnaire includes background data, occupational and health history. Results: The traffic policemen were determined as having lower lung function parameters; low FVC% predicted (89.6%) and low FEV1% predicted (94%) due to their nature of work and the environment. Coughing was present at the highest (33.6%) among them, whereas wheezing was found the least (15.7%) of the workers. Conclusions: Findings from this study, indicated that there is a development of respiratory diseases and deterioration of lung function among traffic policemen. These baseline data can serve as a reference to the top management of traffic police officers in order to develop an occupational safety and health guideline for police officers as they are not covered by Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA, Act 514 1994).

Matched MeSH terms: United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Fulltext Respiratory effects of exposure to high levels of particulate among Malaysian traffic police

Putri Anis Syahira Mohamad Jamil, Nur Athirah Diyana Mohammad Yusof, Nurul Maizura Hashim, Karmegam Karuppiah, Irniza Rasdi, Vivien How, et al.

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2019;15(204):136-140.
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Introduction: Malaysian traffic police are always working on the public roads to alleviate traffic congestion and therefore exposed them to the polluted air every day. In particular, polluted air containing PM2.5 is dangerous to their respiratory health as they can penetrate deep into the lungs, leading to bronchitis, lung cancer and many more. Hence, this research examined the relationship of personal exposure level to PM2.5 with respiratory symptoms among traffic policemen in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru. Methods: 134 participants among traffic policemen were agreed to participate in this study. They were requested to complete a questionnaire regarding the sociodemographic back- ground and respiratory health information. The questionnaire was adopted from International Union Against Tuber- culosis Lung Diseases (1986). Personal exposure level of PM2.5 was measured using an air pump with 5.0µm pore size PVC filter. Results: The mean exposure level of PM2.5 among traffic policemen was 28.69 µg/m3. It was found that some of them possess respiratory symptoms (Coughing 33.6%, Phlegm 25.4%, Wheezing 14.9% and Shortness of breath 32.1%). There was significant association detected at p-value < 0.05 in coughing. Despite, there was no significant association in other symptoms such as phlegm, wheezing and shortness of breath. Conclusions: Traffic police were exposed to a relatively high level of PM2.5 (12.4 µg/m3 to 55.3 µg/m3) and showed symptoms of respi- ratory effects. Therefore, recognition of the risks connected with occupational lung disease and exposure monitoring must be a high priority. This baseline data can serve as a reference to the top management of traffic police officers in order to develop an occupational safety and health guideline for police officers as required by Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA, Act 514 1994).

Matched MeSH terms: United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Fulltext Tahap pengetahuan keselamatan dan kesihatan pekerjaan di kalangan pekerja di makmal perubatan di Lembah Klang

Anuar, I., Zahedi, F., Kadir, A., Mokhtar, A.B.

Malaysian Journal of Community Health, 2009;15(2):35-42.
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Background : A safety culture practice through prevention needs skillful, knowledgeable and competencies workers. The effectiveness of occupational safety and health programme implementation needs the knowledge related to Occupational Safety and Health Acts, 1994 (OSHA 1994) and its regulations.
Objective : This study was to determine the level of knowledge and awareness towards Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) aspects among workers in medical laboratory.
Methodology : A cross-sectional study was carried out on 34 medical laboratories in which 17 were from private and another 17 laboratories were from public sectors. It consists of 112 medical laboratory disciplines. Data were obtained using self-administered questionnaire consisting of 33 questions related to Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). Each question was coded “know” and “do not know” and respondents were needed to state their understanding towards each OSH issue tendered.
Results : Respondent’s level of knowledge was analyzed according to socio-demography and socioeconomic factors. OSH level of knowledge among medical laboratory workers showed that there are significant differences (p0.05) in OSH knowledge according to between sex, marital status, income and services sectors among workers in medical laboratories. Only about 60.5% of respondents knew the existence of OSHA 1994, whereas those who knew about OSHA 1994 regulations were below than 50.0% from overall respondents.
Conclusion : Promotion and practices of dynamic safety culture through prevention needs high knowledge of OSH.

Matched MeSH terms: United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The effectiveness of applying different permissible exposure limits in preserving the hearing threshold level: a systematic review

Sayapathi BS, Su AT, Koh D

J Occup Health, 2014;56(1):1-11.
PMID: 24270928

OBJECTIVES: A systematic review was conducted to identify the effectiveness of different permissible exposure limits in preserving the hearing threshold level. This review compared the limits of the US National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health with those of the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The prevalence of occupational noise-induced hearing loss is on an increasing trend globally. This review was performed to reduce the prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss.
METHODS: We searched 3 major databases, i.e., PubMed, Embase and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Journals@Ovid, for studies published up until 1May 2013 without language restrictions. All study designs were included in this review. The studies were identified and retrieved by two independent authors.
RESULTS: Of 118 titles scanned, 14 duplicates were removed, and a total of 13 abstracts from all three databases were identified for full-text retrieval. From the full text, eight articles met the inclusion criteria for this systematic review. These articles showed acceptable quality based on our scoring system. Most of the studies indicated that temporary threshold shifts were much lower when subjects were exposed to a noise level of 85 dBA or lower.
CONCLUSIONS: There were more threshold shifts in subjects adopting 90 dBA compared with 85 dBA. These temporary threshold shifts may progress to permanent shifts over time. Action curtailing noise exposure among employees would be taken earlier on adoption of 85 dBA as the permissible exposure limit, and hence prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss may be reduced.

Matched MeSH terms: United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration/standards*