Selection of Employees for Performing Work Activities in Currently Used Ventilation Systems in Hard Coal Mining

The way in which rescue actions are carried out in a hard coal mine is conditioned by a number of factors, including the type, scale, and location of the hazard; location of employees at the danger and level of their endangerment; and the ventilation system used in the impacted area. In this article, the importance and necessity to take into account a human factor, specifically the propensity for risky behavior, alongside the selection of rescuers for rescue action is pointed out. As an introduction to the key research studies presented in this article, main ventilation systems used in hard coal mines are described and three real cases of natural hazard occurrences in hard coal mines are discussed. An analysis of these events has shown that the degree of difficulty of a rescue action depends, among other aspects, on the ventilation system applied. Next, a study covering a synthetic assessment of 25 mining rescuers taking into account the ‘risky behavior’ parameter is presented. The results were interpreted considering the—described earlier—cases of hazard occurrence in coal mines and ventilation systems applied there. For the research sample, a selection of rescuers to carry out actions in particular types of ventilation systems, taking as a criterion the mark they obtained in the synthetic assessment, is proposed.

The Current Situation of Social Work Activities in Hospitals in Vietnam

Since the Prime Minister signed the decision approving the project 32/2010 on March, 25, 2010 “Development of Social Work Profession in Vietnam in the period of 2010 – 2020”, social work has strongly developed in many different areas including the medical field. Specifically, the Ministry of Health approved the project “Development of the Social Work profession in the health sector from 2011 through 2020” and the Circular 43/2015 on “The social work activities in the hospitals and the organizational form to perform the social work activities in hospitals”. These documents are fundamental to carry out social work activities in hospitals. However, this is a new field so the implementation of these activities is still difficult and lacks detailed supporting guidelines. This study was conducted to assess the status of the five main activities of social workers in hospitals regulated under Circular 43/2015, thereby providing solutions to improve the effectiveness of social work activities.

Financial Technology Ecosystem in Promoting a Healthy Lifestyle

Financial technology (FinTech) is new innovation to create a better financial ecosystem for both consumers and business. The research proposes a modeling framework on how to connect public and business to promote social work activities and at the same time financially reward through a FinTech as a platform. The study deployed a mixed methods to assess public perspectives on FinTech's ecosystem in promoting a healthy lifestyle. It is expected to encourage people who are physically active to participate in raising funds for social work activities and at the same time generate income for the participants. The ecosystem provides people more meaning to collect their distance in kilometers by either walking, running, or cycling that will impact physically, socially, and financially to promote a healthy society.

Sustainability in farming sector and physical comfort in work place to reduce Mental- stress of Farmers

Musculoskeletal discomforts and disorders cause serious health related problems that affect the mental well-being of farmers reducing their work efficiency and thus, hindering to achieve a sustainable agriculture. The objective of this study was to evaluate the discomfort levels of farmers in Indian agriculture leading to mental stresses, and for this, the discomfort questionnaire has been applied after carrying out a detailed literature review. With the help of discomfort questionnaire and “Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21)”, the farmers discomfort levels and their mental stress levels were evaluated. Further by the application of ANFIS, an effort has been made to predict the mental stress of farmers during their work activities in hot-climatic conditions based on the associated parameters like “kcal burnt, Pulse rate, High BP, Low BP, and Temperature”, respectively.

Digital Labour: Digital Capitalism and the Alienation of YouTube Content Creators

YouTube is a digital platform that allows content creators to stream their videos in exchange for money earned through the YouTube Partner Program mechanism, motivates many people to join YouTube. However, what they do not realize is the hidden effect YouTube brings in the form of alienation experienced by YouTube content creators as digital labour. This article discusses this phenomenon of alienation experienced by digital labours. Using a qualitative approach with a descriptive research design, it offers a narrative research strategy to examine the narrative and discourse of alienation of content creators on YouTube. The unit of analysis of the study is the content of YouTube creators as digital labour. The findings show that YouTube is mainly a vehicle used by digital capitalism for the sake of profit accumulated by exploiting content creators from the videos they make. Content creators receive disproportionate or even no financial compensation from YouTube for the videos they produce for YouTube. As a result, YouTube content creators as digital labour experienced alienation from their work, their work activities, from themselves as a human species and from other humans.

The Impacts of Obesity Related to the Stressors of Nurses

In the era of globalization, the distribution of work activities, increased competitiveness in the labor market and fear of unemployment end up inducing workers to submit to terrible working conditions, with low wages, moral and sexual harassment, accumulation of functions, load excessive hours, among others. These factors can contribute to an imbalance in the emotional state, eating pattern, physical activity routine, sleep and, thus, leading to the emergence of psychological and metabolic diseases [1].

The Carcinogenic Effects of Formaldehyde Occupational Exposure: A Systematic Review

Background: Formaldehyde, classified as a carcinogen in 2004, as of today is widely used in many work activities. From its classification, further studies were performed to evaluate its carcinogenicity. The aim of the systematic review is to update the evidence on occupational exposure to formaldehyde and cancer onset. Methods: The review, in accordance with the PRISMA statement, includes articles in English reporting original results of studies conducted on workers exposed to formaldehyde, considering all types of cancer, published from 1 January 2000 to 30 July 2021 and selected from the Pubmed and Scopus databases. The studies’ quality was assessed by the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Results: A total of 21 articles were included, conducted in different European, American, and Asian countries. The most investigated occupational areas are those characterized by a deliberate use of formaldehyde. Some studies evaluated all types of cancer, whereas others focused on specific sites such as thyroid and respiratory, lymphohematopoietic, or central nervous systems. The results showed weak associations with lung cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, leukemia, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Conclusions: The results demonstrate the need for further original studies carried out on representative samples of workers exposed to measured levels of FA. These studies should be designed to reduce the bias due to co-exposure to other carcinogens.

EXPRESS: Playful Work Design: Conceptualization, Measurement, and Validity

Drawing on the play and work design literatures, we conceptualize and validate an instrument to measure playful work design (PWD) – the proactive cognitive-behavioral orientation that employees engage in to incorporate play into their work activities to promote fun and challenge. Across three studies (N=1006), we developed a reliable scale with a two-dimensional factor structure. In Study 1, we utilized expert-ratings and iterative exploratory factor analyses to develop an instrument that measures (1) designing fun and (2) designing competition. Additionally, Study 1 evidences the divergent and convergent validity of the subscales as well as their distinctiveness. Specifically, PWD was indicative of proactivity as well as play, and designing fun especially correlated with ludic traits (i.e., traits focused on deriving fun; e.g., humor), whereas designing competition particularly correlated with agonistic traits (i.e., traits focused on deriving challenge; e.g., competitiveness). Study 2 cross-validated the two-factor structure, further investigated the nomological net of PWD, and revealed that PWD is distinct from job crafting. Finally, Study 3 examined the predictive and incremental validity of the PWD instrument with self- and colleague-ratings two weeks apart. Taken together, the results suggest that the instrument may advance our understanding of play initiated by employees during work.