Search Results (2,153)

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) represent a critical global challenge to workforce productivity. In Thailand, these disorders are particularly prevalent in labor-intensive industries such as ice manufacturing, where workers face significant ergonomic hazards. Addressing this gap, the present study aimed to assess the occupational health, safety, and ergonomic risks facing workers in ice production facilities. This cross-sectional descriptive study investigated production workers who were employees in two of eight ice manufacturing plants in Surat Thani, Thailand, using the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) method. A structured occupational health and safety risk assessment questionnaire and the REBA evaluation form were used to collect data. All participants were male, averaging 30.4 (±8.5) years old. Regular pain areas included the upper/lower back, hips/thighs, shoulders, wrists, and ankles. Ergonomic assessments showed high overall risk due to heavy lifting, repetitive tasks, and cold environments. Based on REBA scores, 13.04% were in the very-high-risk group (score ≥ 11) and 65.22% in the high-risk group (score 8–10). Most production workers in ice plants faced high ergonomic risks, especially from postures affecting the upper and lower back. Training should be provided to promote awareness of risky postures and proper lifting techniques. Mechanical aids and back-support equipment are also recommended to help prevent musculoskeletal injuries. Full article

Background: Occupational health risk assessment in industrial enterprises has traditionally focused on physical, chemical, and ergonomic hazards, while psychosocial working conditions have often been assessed separately from routine occupational surveillance. The aim of this study was to examine whether integrating working conditions, the psychosocial work environment, occupational stress, and temporary disability indicators provide a more informative health risk profile in an industrial setting. Methods: An analytical observational study was conducted at a mining and processing enterprise in Kazakhstan. This study used three data sources: 5429 temporary disability records for 2020–2024, workplace assessments covering 188 job positions, and psychosocial survey data from 392 employees. Occupational stress was evaluated in annual PSS-25 screening waves conducted in 2023 (n = 133), 2024 (n = 133), and 2025 (n = 134). The author-developed psychosocial questionnaire showed acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.82). Results: During the five-year period, 4971 eligible temporary disability episodes and 61,472 lost workdays were recorded. Psychosocial profiles were less favorable in production units than in administration, and mean PSS-25 values remained relatively stable across the years. The Integral Index of Working Conditions (Iwc) was positively associated with temporary disability indicators and occupational stress, whereas the Integral Health Index (Ihr) was inversely associated with psychosocial well-being. Conclusions: The findings suggest that occupational risk assessment remains incomplete when psychosocial factors are excluded or treated separately. Integrating hygienic, psychosocial, stress-related, and medical-statistical indicators may improve the prioritization of preventive measures and support healthier workplace management in industrial enterprises. Full article

Challenging work conditions and a predominantly male workforce have intensified concerns about worker well-being in the U.S. construction industry. Although these issues are increasingly acknowledged, empirical evidence on how management perceives and addresses employees’ psychological needs remains limited. This study seeks to fill that gap by examining managerial awareness and responsiveness to workplace mental health challenges, as well as the implementation of targeted well-being interventions across construction organizations. A mixed-methods approach was employed, integrating quantitative data from a nationwide survey of construction professionals with qualitative insights from open-ended responses. Results indicate that workers experience moderate levels of psychological strain, with notable differences across demographic and occupational groups. Women, non-white professionals, and site supervisors reported higher stress and lower overall well-being, emphasizing the need for more inclusive and tailored interventions. While both senior leaders and frontline supervisors demonstrated moderate awareness of these challenges, supervisors were perceived as less consistent in taking action to address them. Among existing workplace practices, transparent compensation structures and opportunities for skill diversification were identified as the most established supports for well-being. In contrast, mentoring programs, employee recognition, and open feedback mechanisms emerged as promising yet underutilized strategies. Overall, the study contributes by shifting attention from documenting construction-related mental health stressors to understanding how leadership recognition is translated into organizational response. Therefore, the findings provide practical guidance for construction leaders seeking to strengthen workers’ well-being and build a more resilient work environment. Full article

The construction industry is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Different strategies have been implemented to reduce the environmental impact of construction sites and create better city environments for construction workers and citizens. Electrification of construction machinery is one such measure and is rapidly evolving. However, existing literature has largely concentrated on either electrification of road vehicles or emission reduction via the electrification of a building’s operational energy use. This paper presents a systematic literature review on available publications focusing on the electrification of construction sites, identifying and analyzing the key drivers and barriers influencing this. In addition, it provides recommendations for better and effective electrification of construction sites. A total of 55 publications were analyzed to extract insights and organize findings into eight key themes: requirements, technology and market, economic, process and operations, infrastructure, knowledge and experience, environmental, and attitude. The findings indicate strong interconnections between the barriers and drivers to electrification of construction sites. Clear policy frameworks, strategic public procurement, knowledge sharing initiatives, and robust data systems emerged as critical enablers for scaling emission-free construction sites. The lessons learnt are largely drawn from Norwegian experiences but are highly transferable to other cities and regions and offer practical insights into policy design, procurement strategies, and collaborative models for actors interested in reducing GHG emissions and transition into electrification of construction sites. Full article

Background/Objectives: Small-scale workplaces often have limited access to occupational health services, despite potential exposure to hazardous solvents. Biological monitoring can provide worker-level evidence of internal exposure when routine environmental monitoring is limited. This study evaluated urinary biomarkers of benzene and toluene exposure among workers in small-scale printing workplaces in South Korea and examined whether self-reported chemical handling corresponded with biomarker patterns. Methods: In this cross-sectional field biomonitoring study, 21 workers from eight printing companies provided end-of-shift urine samples. Creatinine-adjusted urinary concentrations of trans,trans-muconic acid (t,t-MA), S-phenylmercapturic acid (SPMA), phenol, and o-cresol were analyzed and compared with applicable biological reference values. Associations between reported chemical handling and elevated biomarker levels were estimated using Firth’s penalized logistic regression, and correlations among log-transformed biomarkers were explored. Results: Nine workers (42.9%) had urinary o-cresol concentrations at or above the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) biological exposure index of 300 μg/g creatinine. Workers reporting benzol handling, a local term for petroleum-based cleaning products, had higher odds of elevated SPMA, although the estimate was imprecise and hypothesis-generating (age-adjusted OR 6.04, 95% CI 0.75–104.90, p = 0.093). The correlation between SPMA and t,t-MA was stronger among workers reporting benzol handling (r = 0.94) than among those reporting toluene handling (r = −0.01). Conclusions: These exploratory findings indicate that toluene-related internal exposure is a relevant occupational health concern in small-scale printing workplaces, while reported benzol handling may indicate possible low-level benzene-related exposure. Urinary biomonitoring may support exposure surveillance and preventive occupational healthcare in small enterprises when interpreted alongside workplace observations, product information, ventilation, protective equipment use, and worker education. Full article

This paper addresses a human resource allocation problem with spatial-temporal constraints (HRAP-SC) in the parallel assembly of complex products, such as satellites and aircraft. It involves coordinating a limited pool of multi-skilled workers across geographically distributed workstations, subject to rigorous constraints including team collaboration requirements, operation priorities, technological tail times (e.g., curing), and strict 8 h workdays. Existing exact approaches typically fail to converge due to the combinatorial explosion arising from the strong coupling of shared resources across workstations, while meta-heuristic methods often suffer from performance instability caused by hyper-parameter sensitivity. To overcome these limitations, we propose a pattern-based decomposition algorithm (PDA), a novel parameter-free exact solution framework. By exploiting the inherent symmetry of identical jobs and parallel workstations, PDA defines a set of canonical patterns to drastically reduce the search space. It employs an efficient traversal mechanism reinforced by rigorous mathematical bounds and pruning rules to eliminate unpromising solutions. Computational experiments demonstrate that PDA significantly outperforms state-of-the-art Mixed-Integer Programming (MIP) and Constraint Programming (CP) solvers. Unlike standard solvers, which frequently time out (3600 s), PDA strictly evaluates only a single pattern when proving optimality, and robustly scales to large industrial instances (e.g., six jobs comprising 78 operations) to provide high-quality schedules. By successfully solving complex scheduling problems that remain intractable for monolithic solvers, PDA provides a robust and automated decision-support tool for production management in complex manufacturing systems. Full article

This systematic review investigates the application of computer-vision technologies for automated monitoring of personal protective equipment compliance in industrial environments. This review followed the PRISMA 2020 guidelines and covered studies published between 2010 and 24 February 2026. It provides a structured synthesis of advances in deep learning-based object detection models, with particular emphasis on different YOLO variants, two-stage detectors such as Faster R-CNN, and emerging transformer-based and vision–language models. Model effectiveness, reported performance metrics, and dataset characteristics are comparatively examined, including their performance under practical operating conditions. Special attention is given to performance variability in real-world scenarios affected by illumination changes, occlusion, viewing angle variation, worker movement, computational constraints, and large-scale deployment requirements. The review also appraises the reporting quality and risk of bias of the included studies and identifies current research trends, methodological limitations, and the gap between laboratory validation and industrial implementation. It also outlines future directions for improving the reliability, cost-effectiveness, and practical application of computer vision-based personal protective equipment compliance systems. Full article

The study introduces a portable sliding sand sieve, transforming traditional stationary systems into an innovative solution for sand separation in the construction industry. This innovative tool offers improved mobility, durability, and operational efficiency, particularly for construction workers, civil technology students, and educators in areas with limited access to advanced equipment. Utilizing a developmental research design, the study involved the conceptualization, fabrication, and evaluation of the prototype. The design incorporated locally available materials, including phenolic boards, mesh screens, steel tubing, and a sliding mechanism supported by bearings and brackets. The Input–Process–Output (IPO) model guided the development, ensuring focus on functionality, affordability, and user safety. To address this gap, the researchers aimed to design, develop, and evaluate a portable sliding sand sieve to enhance sand sieving in construction settings. Expert and student evaluators highly rated the portable sliding sand sieve for its design simplicity, functionality, durability, modularity, and ergonomics. It was praised for its ease of use, time-saving capability, and adaptability to various work environments. The sliding feature enabled continuous sand flow, enhancing productivity and reducing physical strain. Full article

Seasonal workers in the tourism sector are exposed to significant psychosocial risks, such as work overload, emotional exhaustion, and precarious employment conditions. Despite growing interest in positive organizational psychology, little is known about how organizational culture impacts perceptions and experiences of seasonal workers in Italy. This study explores the role of positive organizational culture in promoting well-being among seasonal workers in the tourism sector, examining their direct perspectives on organizational climate, work challenges, and individual and organizational resources. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with seasonal workers employed in the hospitality industry in Italy. Data were analyzed through an integrated mixed-method approach combining Grounded Theory methodology with quantitative lexical analysis using T-LAB software, ensuring both analytical rigor and interpretive depth. Five macro-categories emerged inductively from the data: trust and relations, coping strategies and emotions, perceived justice, teamwork, and meaning of work. These were integrated into a core category defined as flourishing at work, interpreted through the lens of Seligman’s PERMA model. These findings suggest that well-being in seasonal work is an active and relational achievement, sustained by emotional self-regulation, perceived fairness, and collective identity. The results carry direct implications for organizational policies and psychosocial risk prevention strategies in precarious work contexts. In particular, positive organizational culture and environments can act as protective factors against psychosocial risks, with direct implications for organizational policies, psychosocial risk prevention, and evidence-based workplace interventions. The specificity of the analysis method offers an original contribution by integrating qualitative and quantitative textual analysis to investigate psychosocial well-being in an under-explored population: Italian seasonal workers. Full article

Industrial systems such as lean practices, quality systems, workplace safety, and organisational culture are often managed as separate systems; however, in practice, they are interdependent. This study presents a preliminary survey instrument (CiE II) to assess organisational conditions commonly associated with effectiveness in manufacturing systems. A multi-stage refinement process was applied to an initial 107-item survey using pilot data (n = 127) collected from engineering students with work-integrated industry experience. The methodology combined exploratory factor analysis, item response theory, and thematic analysis to improve both statistical and conceptual coherence. The resulting instrument comprised 28 items, making it more suitable for industrial deployment. Analysis of responses (N = 127) identified three common facets that support lean, quality, safety, and culture. These are (i) Integrated Quality and Workflow Management (α = 0.960), referring to workers perceptions that quality standards exist and that they are resourced to meet them; (ii) Safe and Collaborative Work Culture (α = 0.901), referring to perceptions of behavioural norms and that workers will be treated fairly within the team; (iii) Supportive Leadership and Professional Growth (α = 0.852), referring to perceptions that management supports workers’ ongoing professional development. The potential benefit is the provision of a candidate survey that economically covers four key domains of relevance for manufacturing organisations. This has the potential to allow cross-domain correlations and larger-span regression models that integrate the four domains. Full article

The traditional manual method of removing dried coconut kernels from shells is labor-intensive, time-consuming, and poses a risk of injury to workers. To address these challenges, this study developed an Oscillator-Based Coconut Dried Kernel Scraper to enhance efficiency, safety, and productivity in the coconut processing industry. The device utilizes an oscillatory mechanism driven by an electric motor to produce a controlled scraping motion, facilitating the effective detachment of the dried kernel from the shell with minimal physical effort. Key components of the prototype include a motor-driven oscillating blade, a kernel-holding fixture, and a safety enclosure. The design emphasizes the use of locally available materials and user-friendly operation. Preliminary testing demonstrated a significant reduction in processing time and operator fatigue compared to manual scraping methods. Furthermore, the researchers conducted a comparative performance evaluation between manual and mechanized scraping, with participants indicating a strong preference for the oscillator-based scraper. The product achieved the highest scores for efficiency and user satisfaction, particularly among small- to medium-scale coconut farmers. Based on these findings, it is recommended that future improvements include enhancements in design and the integration of a capacitive sensor to automate and further refine the control system. Full article

Back-support exoskeletons are emerging as a promising solution to enhance workers’ safety, performance, and well-being in logistics environments. In warehouses, order picking and palletizing tasks impose substantial physical loads on workers and are associated with an increased risk of developing low back pain. However, evidence on exoskeleton evaluation in real industrial settings with actual workers remains limited. This study presents a pilot field test assessing the XoTrunk active back-support exoskeleton in a logistics warehouse involving six workers. To assist workers in palletizing, exoskeleton torques were modulated by a novel control strategy that integrates acceleration-based intention detection with muscle-activity-based torque modulation that scales with the handled load. The aim was to evaluate the workers’ perceptions of the exoskeleton in terms of assistance, comfort, usability, and acceptance and to assess the reduction in metabolic cost previously observed in laboratory studies. Results showed a non-significant decrease of 7.6% in average metabolic cost when using the exoskeleton compared to working without it (t(5) = 1.6, $p>$ 0.05). Nonetheless, some drawbacks emerged during field use: comfort issues and movement hindrance were frequently reported, affecting overall user acceptance. These findings highlight the importance of user-centered field tests to assess exoskeleton performance, support companies in making evidence-based decisions, and enhance workers’ awareness and acceptance to ultimately improve industrial ergonomics and safety. Full article

This study investigates the relationship between toxic workplace culture and voluntary employee turnover, undermining workforce sustainability in Ghana’s construction industry. While some previous research has found a relationship between a toxic working environment and employee withdrawal habits, few studies have investigated the psychological processes between the toxic work culture and employee turnover in Global South construction companies. Based on the theories of Conservation of Resources and Social Exchange, this research examines the possible mediating factors between the toxic work culture and employee turnover: employee burnout, psychological safety, and job dissatisfaction. Structured questionnaires were used to design a quantitative cross-sectional survey, which was administered to 174 construction workers in Ghana. The data were analysed using mediation regression models based on Ordinary Least Squares (OLS). The findings show that a hostile work environment and a lack of organisational support were the two highest dimensions of work culture assessed as negatively impacting employee burnout, psychological safety, and attrition intentions. Employee burnout was the only significant predictor for voluntary employee attrition (β = 0.3628, p < 0.001), and psychological safety had a significant protective effect (β = −0.1785, p = 0.016). Mediation accounted for 67.4% of the variance in attrition outcomes. This paper shows how a negative organisational climate can undermine the stability of human resources, psychological well-being, and the social dimension of sustainability in construction companies. The results indicate that organisational support, leadership accountability and psychologically safe working environments are important for increasing employee retention and long-term organisational resilience. Full article

Industrial new towns have become important spatial instruments for regional economic development in China, yet many continue to struggle to attract and retain a stable workforce, support long-term settlement, and provide a complete urban living environment. Taking the Chenglingji New Port Area in central China as a case study, this paper applies the Industry–People–City analytical framework to examine the relationship among industrial development, residents’ everyday behaviours, and public service provision. The study combines field investigations, activity-diary interviews with 60 local residents, semi-structured interviews with 12 enterprise managers, and point-of-interest data on public service facilities. These materials are used for a primarily qualitative analysis supported by GIS-based spatial evidence. The findings show that the Chenglingji New Port Area has developed a clear basis of industrial agglomeration and four functional sectors, but public service provision remains mismatched with the everyday needs of different population groups. Managerial personnel and some technical workers continue to rely heavily on Yueyang’s main urban area for residence, consumption, leisure, and higher-order services, while locally based residents face combined deficits in commerce, transport, healthcare, education, cultural and recreational services, and public open spaces. The contribution of this study is twofold. First, it provides an empirically grounded assessment of the living conditions of labour and related residential groups in a resource-constrained inland industrial new town. Second, it demonstrates how the Industry–People–City analytical framework can be used to diagnose structural imbalances among industrial growth, population behaviour, and urban service provision. The study argues that improving the livability of industrial new towns should not depend solely on industrial expansion or one-off investment in high-standard facilities. Instead, phased, sector-specific, and user-oriented public service provision is needed to help industrial new towns gradually transform from mono-functional production-oriented growth poles into more complete and sustainable urban living nodes. Full article

Achieving the EU’s climate goals by 2050 requires a rapid transition to a resource-efficient and circular economy. The electrification of transport increases the demand for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LiBs), where lithium–nickel–cobalt–manganese (Li-NMC) is the predominant cathode technology in the European automotive sector. Large-scale facilities for LiB production and recycling are emerging worldwide, bringing not only technical challenges but also challenges regarding healthy and safe working environments. Current knowledge on occupational exposure and health risks in the LiB industry is limited and largely based on evidence from other occupational settings. However, the LiB industry involves legacy and new combinations of metals and chemicals in novel contexts. Some of these substances have well-known adverse health effects, and combined exposure may increase their absorption and toxicity. Although processes are often highly specialised and automated, manual handling tasks remain, which put workers at risk of exposure. Important knowledge gaps remain regarding exposure levels, exposure pathways, dermal and systemic uptake, combined exposures, and potential health effects among workers. This perspective paper discusses current exposure scenarios and health risks in LiB production and recycling, identifies key knowledge gaps, and highlights future research needs to support evidence-based occupational risk management. To address several of these challenges, the GreenWorkLiB initiative applies a multidisciplinary approach combining exposure assessment, biomonitoring, and occupational medicine. The initiative investigates exposure pathways via air and skin, internal dose through biomonitoring, and potential health effects among workers in LiB production and recycling. The results can support the assessment of human health and safety within the EU’s Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework and contribute to safe and sustainable working environments in the LiB industry. Full article