Affiliations: [a] Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| [b] Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: Seyed Abolfazl Zakerian. Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: zakerian@tums.ac.ir.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Iran has a variety of climates which support agriculture in different seasons. Hence, a significant proportion of people, especially in rural areas, are engaged in farming. Agriculture is considered one of the most insecure job sectors in developing and developed countries. OBJECTIVE:Since there is no comprehensive study on safety, health, and ergonomics issues in Iran’s agriculture, it is necessary to use checkpoints to assess occupational safety, health, and ergonomics issues in Iran’s agriculture. METHODS:In this study, 430 villages from seven provinces of Iran were selected to study safety, health, and ergonomics in agriculture using ergonomic checkpoints. The checkpoints were collected with the help of rural health centers. RESULTS:The results of the study showed that the villages of Kurdistan Province had the best safety, health, and working conditions (66.12%); and Khuzestan province villages had the worst safety, health, and working conditions (38.16%). Among the ergonomic checkpoints in agriculture, the control of hazardous chemicals (CHC) index with 71.41% and work organization and work schedule (WOWS) index with 35.25% represented the best and worst ergonomic conditions of the study villages, respectively. Furthermore, the general index of ergonomics in agriculture for the study villages was 53.64%. Therefore, Khuzestan Province and the WOWS index top the priorities for corrective actions to improve the safety, health and working conditions in agriculture. CONCLUSIONS:The ergonomics indices in Iranian agriculture are important, and should be prioritized for corrective actions.
