The individual’s perception of health, when health is understood to include many dimensions of life, is considered the basis for any improvement in health status. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of the Persian version of the Perceived Wellness Scale (PWS) by applying it to employees of the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 180 staff members of the university selected by convenience sampling. The study instrument was a Persian version of the PWS prepared through a translation and back-translation process. The reliability and validity of the instrument were assessed by using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. A total of 180 employees participated in the study. The mean age of the participants was 32.29 years (SD = 7.39) and 78.1% of the participants were women. The results showed that the Persian version of the PWS is acceptable. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.87 for the whole scale, ranging from 0.68 to 0.85 on different dimensions of the scale. The results of split-half reliability and CFA indicated that the reliability and validity of the PWS are acceptable. The PWS is therefore an effective tool for evaluating the different dimensions of perceived wellness in the Iranian population.

BACKGROUND: The present study was carried out to assess the relationship between sickness absence and occupational stress, sleep quality, and amplitude and stability of circadian rhythm as well as to determine contributing factors of sickness absence. METHODS: This cross sectional study was conducted on 400 randomly selected employees of an Iranian gas company. The data were collected using Pittsburgh sleep quality index, Karolinska sleepiness scale, circadian type inventory, and Osipow occupational stress questionnaires. RESULTS: The mean age and job tenure of the participants were 33.18 ± 5.64 years and 6.06 ± 4.99 years, respectively. Also, the participants had been absent from work on average 2.16 days a year. According to the results, 209 participants had no absences, 129 participants had short-term absences, and 62 participants had long-term absences. The results showed a significant relationship between short-term absenteeism and amplitude of circadian rhythm [odds ratio (OR) = 6.13], sleep quality (OR = 14.46), sleepiness (OR = 2.08), role boundary (OR = 6.45), and responsibility (OR = 5.23). Long-term absenteeism was also significantly associated with amplitude of circadian rhythm (OR = 2.42), sleep quality (OR = 21.56), sleepiness (OR = 6.44), role overload (OR = 4.84), role boundary (OR = 4.27), and responsibility (OR = 3.72). CONCLUSION: The results revealed that poor sleep quality, amplitude of circadian rhythm, and occupational stress were the contributing factors for sickness absence in the study population.
Absenteeism ; Circadian Rhythm* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Iran*

BACKGROUND: A permit to work (PTW) is a formal written system to control certain types of work which are identified as potentially hazardous. However, human error in PTW processes can lead to an accident. METHODS: This cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted to estimate the probability of human errors in PTW processes in a chemical plant in Iran. In the first stage, through interviewing the personnel and studying the procedure in the plant, the PTW process was analyzed using the hierarchical task analysis technique. In doing so, PTW was considered as a goal and detailed tasks to achieve the goal were analyzed. In the next step, the standardized plant analysis risk-human (SPAR-H) reliability analysis method was applied for estimation of human error probability. RESULTS: The mean probability of human error in the PTW system was estimated to be 0.11. The highest probability of human error in the PTW process was related to flammable gas testing (50.7%). CONCLUSION: The SPAR-H method applied in this study could analyze and quantify the potential human errors and extract the required measures for reducing the error probabilities in PTW system. Some suggestions to reduce the likelihood of errors, especially in the field of modifying the performance shaping factors and dependencies among tasks are provided.
Humans* ; Iran ; Plants*

BACKGROUND: Job stress and job satisfaction are important factors affecting workforce productivity. This study was carried out to investigate the job stress, job satisfaction, and workforce productivity levels, to examine the effects of job stress and job satisfaction on workforce productivity, and to identify factors associated with productivity decrement among employees of an Iranian petrochemical industry. METHODS: In this study, 125 randomly selected employees of an Iranian petrochemical company participated. The data were collected using the demographic questionnaire, Osipow occupational stress questionnaire to investigate the level of job stress, Job Descriptive Index to examine job satisfaction, and Hersey and Goldsmith questionnaire to investigate productivity in the study population. RESULTS: The levels of employees' perceived job stress and job satisfaction were moderate-high and moderate, respectively. Also, their productivity was evaluated as moderate. Although the relationship between job stress and productivity indices was not statistically significant, the positive correlation between job satisfaction and productivity indices was statistically significant. The regression modeling demonstrated that productivity was significantly associated with shift schedule, the second and the third dimensions of job stress (role insufficiency and role ambiguity), and the second dimension of job satisfaction (supervision). CONCLUSION: Corrective measures are necessary to improve the shift work system. “Role insufficiency” and “role ambiguity” should be improved and supervisor support must be increased to reduce job stress and increase job satisfaction and productivity.
Appointments and Schedules ; Efficiency* ; Job Satisfaction*

BACKGROUND: The Nordic Safety Climate Questionnaire-50 (NOSACQ-50) was developed by a team of Nordic occupational safety researchers based on safety climate and psychological theories. The aim of this study was to develop and validate the Persian version of NOSACQ-50 and assess the score of safety climate on a group of workers in a steel company in Iran. METHODS: The Persian version of NOSACQ-50 was distributed among 661 employees of a steel company in Qazvin Province (Iran). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis were used to determine the dimensions of the questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using Cronbach α coefficient. Pearson correlation test was applied to investigate the correlation between different dimensions. RESULTS: The results of EFA showed that the Persian version of NOSACQ-50 consisted of six dimensions. The Cronbach α coefficient of the questionnaire was 0.94. The mean score of safety climate in all dimensions was 2.89 (standard deviation 0.60). CONCLUSION: The Persian version of NOSACQ-50 had a satisfactory validity for measuring safety climate in the studied Iranian population.
Climate* ; Iran ; Occupational Health ; Psychological Theory ; Steel*