Prevalence, pattern and predictors of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among oil workers in Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) account for a loss of GDP in most countries. The oil sector is the largest and most economically relevant industry in Nigeria, yet the impact of WMSD on workers in this industry is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence, pattern and predictors of WMSD among oil workers in Nigeria. METHODS: This exploratory study was conducted in oil producing companies in Nigeria. Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire was used to assess WMSD, while risk factors and demographic variables were obtained through an interview. Obtained data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square and logistic regression at α=0.05 RESULTS: A total of 198 (138 male, 60 female) oil workers aged 40.3±10.1 years participated in this study. The prevalence of WMSD was 88.8%, and was most common around the low-back (51.5%), and neck (44.4%) regions. There was a significant association between WMSD and each of duration of service (X2 = 45.44, p = 0.020), awkward neck postures at work (X2 = 12.46, p = 0.006), inadequate training on injury prevention (X2 = 11.98, p = 0.007), and continuing to work while feeling discomfort (X2 = 10.83, p = 0.013). Post-hoc analysis revealed that being a male oil worker (OR = 1.17, p = 0.037) and continuing to work while feeling discomfort or pain (OR = 2.23, p = 0.048) were the significant predictors of WMSD. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately nine in every ten oil workers in Nigeria have a WMSD. Male gender and work persistence amidst discomfort or pain are the predictors of WMSD among oil workers in Nigeria. Ergonomics training and evaluation programme is recommended for workers in this industry.

On the prevention of the harmful effect of the noise of centrifugal pumps on the nervous system and hearing in oil workers

The level of noise intensity in the pumping rooms, where centrifugal pumps of the 8-ND, 10-MS, etc. types worked, ranges from 88 to PO dB.

Research on the Effects of Occupational Stress and the DRD2 Gene on the Psychological Health of Workers in the Xinjiang Desert Oil Field

Background: This study investigated the relationship between occupational stress and the mental health of people working in oil fields in the arid desert environment of Xinjiang, and revealed the causal relationship between occupational stress and psychological disorders, while furthermore exploring the relationship between psychological disorders and genetic levels.Methods: The participants of this study included oil field company workers from the Xinjiang Petroleum Administration of Karamay City, Xinjiang, who underwent occupational health examinations. The Occupational Stress Inventory Revised Edition (OSI-R) was used to measure the occupational stress of the oil workers. The mental health status of oil workers was evaluated using the Symptoms Checklist-90.Results: Occupational tasks: The total scores of the personal strain and mental health questionnaires were positively correlated with somatization, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, terror, paranoia, and psychosis (P < 0.05). Individual coping resources and the mental health total score was negatively correlated with somatization, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety, hostility, terror, paranoia, and psychosis. The following factors were identified as mental health risk factors: female gender; age 45 and above (relative to ≤30 years old); high scores on the personal strain questionnaire; occupational stress; external effort; internal investment; and high effort-low return. The following factors were identified as protective factors for mental health: Han nationality; oil transportation (relative to drilling); individual resilience; and work returns. In respect to the abnormal psychological group and the normal psychological group, statistically significant differences were found in the distribution of genotypes and allele frequencies at the rs1800497 locus (P < 0.05). The depression and paranoia scores observed between different genotype groups at the rs1800497 locus were statistically significant (P < 0.05).Conclusions: This study shows that occupational stress and the D2 dopamine receptor (DRD2) gene have an impact on the mental health of oil field workers in the arid desert environment of Xinjiang. Effort-reward imbalance and occupational stress were identified as risk factors for mental health, while rewards for work were protective factors. Higher levels of occupational stress may lead to depression and other psychological disorders, adversely affecting mental health. In oil field operators in the arid desert environment of Xinjiang, the AA genotype of the DRD2 gene in the rs1800497 locus was identified as a genotype specific to susceptibility to mental health problems, and a correlation was found between the A allele and an increased risk of psychological problems. Therefore, it is necessary to devise relevant measures to alleviate occupational stress among oil workers and increase their job rewards, so as to improve their mental health.

The Implementation of Offshore Safety Program OSP in Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry- A Performance Assessment

The Offshore Safety Permit (OSP) Program is the Personnel Accountability System, being utilized by the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Regulator, in line with global best practices to manage the details of over 40,000 oil workers registered to work on offshore and swamp facilities and track their movements to-and-fro such facilities. The Program was introduced in 2012 to standardize requirement for personnel travel to offshore and swamp locations and to eliminate issues such as: non-compliance with mandatory competency and safety training; non-compliance with medical fitness to work requirement; unauthorized extended stay on facilities at offshore/remote location; inaccurate documentation of personnel movement to-and-fro facilities at offshore/remote location leading to delayed/wrong incident reporting. This paper examines, through the review of the OSP policy, Guidelines and database, the value addition of the program since its inception., detailed and insightful discussions are made on the importance and potentials of the OSP program as a simple but integral policy and planning tool in managing risks, enhancing collaboration and improving safety and emergency services in Nigeria's oil and gas industry.

Suicide postvention in the oil industry: innovation in mental health and care with life in the world of work

Background Within the oil industry work process, risk, technology, confinement and changes in sociability are implied, variables for mental health actions, complexed in the psychosocial coping of the COVID-19 pandemic, involving workers and their families. Attempts or death by suicide, challenge mental health actions, require specialized practices within organizations. This study aims to describe an innovative initiative in occupational health in the oil industry in Brazil, addressing Suicide Postvention in the Workplace. Methods Using an epistemological basis of ‘working with groups’; ‘psychology in emergencies and disasters’; ‘mourning elaboration’, an attempt was made to systematize the specialized intervention in mental health within suicide assistance, workplace adapted. It relates an intervention-action in 5 occurrences during the year 2020, with the participation of an interdisciplinary health team including social workers, psychologists, physicians and nurses. Individual care, group approaches, leaders’ advice and family members’ support, was provided. Results An average of 20 individual consultations were carried out for each occurrence, 7 interventions with groups. In 4 of the cases, direct approaches from the interdisciplinary team with family members were necessary. The implantation allowed to structure the intervention in suicide emergencies; methodological legitimation; ensuring innovation in emergency mental health practice; prevention of contagious suicide; monitoring of critical cases; and continuity of support in mental health through internal and external network. Conclusions The results of the study will serve as input for the construction of a specialized intervention protocol for suicide postvention, constituting an innovation in the care and prevention of mental health problems for oil workers and their families.

Association of sleep duration and sleep quality with hypertension in oil workers in Xinjiang

Objective The aim of this study is to explore sleep status and hypertension among oil workers in Xinjiang, China. It may provide new ideas and basis for the precise prevention and treatment of hypertension in occupational population. Methods Sleep status and hypertension were investigated in 3,040 workers by a multi-stage cluster sampling method in six oil field bases in Karamay City, Xinjiang. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to evaluate the sleep status of workers. Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between sleep duration and sleep quality, and hypertension. Stratified analysis was also performed. Results Our results show: 1. Insufficient sleep duration (OR = 1.51, 95% CI [1.19–1.90]) and poor sleep quality (OR = 1.78, 95% CI [1.33–2.38] were positively associated with hypertension. 2. Stratified analysis indicated insufficient sleep duration was associated with increased risk of hypertension in females (OR = 1.54, 95% CI [1.16–2.04]) than males (OR = 1.49, 95% CI [1.00–2.23]), and the risk of hypertension in the group <30 years old (OR = 9.03, 95% CI [2.32–35.15]) was higher than that in the group of 30–45 years old (OR = 1.59, 95% CI [1.14–2.20]). However, in the group > 45 years old, sleeping > 8 h was associated with increased risk of hypertension (OR = 3.36, 95% CI [1.42–7.91]). Oil workers doing shift work had a higher risk of hypertension (OR = 1.55, 95% CI [1.16–2.07]) to no shift work (OR = 1.48, 95% CI [1.02–2.15]). The risk of hypertension in the group with < 10 years of service (OR = 4.08, 95% CI [1.92–8.83]) was higher than that in the group with length of service of 10–20 years (OR = 2.79, 95% CI [1.59–4.86]). Poor sleep quality was associated with risk for hypertension in females (OR = 1.78, 95% CI [1.26–2.49]), those doing shift work (OR = 1.70, 95% CI [1.17–2.47]), those with length of service of > 20 years (OR = 1.64, 95% CI [1.18–2.27]). The risk of hypertension in the group 30–45 years old is higher than that in the group > 45 years old (OR 30–45 years old = 1.71, 95% CI [1.10–2.66]; OR > 45 years old = 1.60, 95% CI [1.09–2.34]). Conclusion Insufficient sleep duration and poor sleep quality are the potential factors affecting hypertension in Xinjiang oil workers.

Work-Related and Behavioral Risk Factors of Diseases of the Circulatory System in Oil Industry Workers

Introduction: In terms of the prevalence and severity of complications, diseases of the circulatory system rank high in the structure of general morbidity among the causes of disability and premature mortality of the working-age population. The main reasons for the increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases are considered to be such behavioral risk factors as smoking, alcohol consumption, poor nutrition, hypertriglyceridemia, overweight, and physical inactivity. By now, contribution of adverse work-related and occupational factors in the development of cardiovascular disorders has been proven as well. Our objective was to study the relationship between work-related and behavioral risk factors and diseases of the circulatory system in oil workers. Methods: We conducted an assessment of working conditions and health status of oil industry workers that included a questionnaire-based survey to identify unmodified and modifiable cardiovascular risk factors, anthropometry, blood pressure measurements, the analysis of lipid metabolism indicators, and examination by a cardiologist. We established that the working conditions of oil production and refinery workers belong to hazard class 3 and may contribute to increased rates of chronic non-communicable diseases including diseases of the circulatory system. The main work-related risk factors for oilmen include vibration, noise, workplace air pollution with saturated hydrocarbons and hydrogen sulfide, as well as the severity of the labor process. Strong interrelationships of the main risk factors were revealed. The proportion of workers with a high risk of developing cardiovascular disorders was about 30 % of the total number of employees. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate the role of work-related and non-occupational risk factors in the development of diseases of the circulatory system in oil workers and indicate the need to develop appropriate preventive measures.

“Everybody Is an Oil-industry Worker Here”: Discursive-Symbolic Production and Contestation of Intra-city Inequality in а NorthernSingle-industryTown

The article analyzes the phenomenon of intra-city inequality under the rule of city-forming enterprises in the northern single-industry (oil) town by employing R. Brubaker’s cognitive-linguistic version of social constructivism. The “capital” of the LUKOIL Oil Company — Kogalym (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug — Yugra) — was chosen as a research focus. The mechanisms of production and contestation of intra-city inequality in Kogalym are analyzed based on complex historical-field research data. The corporate imageineering (Ch. Rutheiser’s term) of Kogalym, ritual aspects of the town culture, as well as various discursive frameworks of the town’s selfpresentation are considered. We focus our attention on the complex social antagonism between oil workers and non-oil workers; we investigate its causes and dynamics, specifically, through the case of the transformation of the Kogalym Day celebration. We conclude that — in the context of a single-industry town — the cultural hegemony of the dominant group is ensured through closely related practices: the corporate unification of the cultural landscape of the town, consolidation of the dominant group’s point of view in the local historical narrative, reframing of the professional holiday of the dominant group as town-wide, official holiday commemorations, and gift rituals. The grassroot frustration on the part of the excluded is manifested in the form of a folklore reaction to the symbols of the “dominant” group, the creation of a historical narrative and places of memory alternative to the official canon. At the same time, the specific life cycle of the northern single-industry town’s population considerably diminishes its cultural diversity.