Iran Occupational Health

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 Background and aims: Ergonomics is the science of refining workplaces, equipment and jobs and adapting them to human capabilities and limitations. Human resources are the largest assets of a country. Since our country has a young population, investing and educating this group is a necessity. In the psychology of development, the best and most appropriate course for the formation of a true human personality is childhood and adolescence. Children and adolescents play a vital role in the rebirth of each generation, and human development is impossible without the child's growth and education. The school is regarded as a safe place for human development and plays a vital role in providing a healthy and happy life and training people with healthy behavior. The health and safety of schools is important in that individuals spend an important period of their lives in school at the same time as their mental and physical development. Safety and health of schools is one of the basic principles of school health and is undoubtedly one of the components that have an inevitable impact on children's education. An average child spends about 1,100 hours per year in the classroom, so students are also in a very critical time of life, in addition to having students spend a relatively long time at school. This sensitivity can be discussed in various aspects of education, health, environment, etc. Educational centers such as schools are considered as a safe place for human development. Attention to physical, health and safety issues and factors is the most important factor in the physical and mental development of students. Educational centers, such as schools, are considered a safe place for human development. Attention to physical, health and safety issues and factors is the most important factor in the physical and mental development of students. Important reductions in environment, safety and ergonomics in schools include: inadequate per capita educational space, schools proximity to unsafe and unsafe places, outdated school buildings, unsanitary and safe classrooms and classrooms, power outages Cramps and fires are inadequate first aid facilities, inadequate boards, desks and benches for students. Using the mathematical model, it is estimated that approximately seventy percent of diseases in the general population in high-prevalence communities can only be prevented by treatment of school students. In most countries of the world, school periods are considered as the best and most effective time for education because of the importance of the golden age of children and adolescents for learning. Iran is one of the youngest countries in the region and the world with more than 18 million students, accounting for nearly a quarter of the country's population. Therefore, the need to pay more attention to this segment of society is one of the requirements. The aim of this study was to evaluate the school textbooks of Iranian educational system from primary to secondary in different field of study based on the reference to ergonomic issues.
 Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. At first a checklist was originally designed based on ergonomic topics and then the initial checklist was sent to ten occupational health and ergonomics experts. After reviewing the experts, the amendments were implemented. Finally, according to the checklist, all school curriculum books were evaluated in all field of study. Data was analyzed by SPSS 16.
 
Results: In total, three hundred books were studied in the three elementary, first, and second grades. All data were categorized into five categories as follows: (a) Subject (b) Degree (Elementary, First & Secondary school,), (c) Type of presentation (Including: Presentation as sentence, Presentation to Image form or both) d) Quality (Including: Poor, Medium, Good and Excellent) and e) Degree (This section only covers Secondary School: Experimental, Mathematical, Professional Technical, Art, the literature). 449 ergonomics educational topic were found in the all reviewed literature. 73 titles (16.3%) in elementary school, 38 titles (8.5%) in first grade secondary school and 338 titles (75.3%) in secondary schools were found. Out of ten issues, the awkward posture , with 183 titles (40.8%), manual material  handling with 82 titles (18.3%), and Product ergonomics with 57 titles (12.7%), were the most mentioned in the books. Almost half of the items were classified as poor in quality. There were 144 case reports (31.1%), 163 images (36.3%) and 142 for both (31.6%). Of the ten subjects, 183 (40.8%) had prolonged inappropriate physical condition, 82 (18.3%) had manual displacement, and 57 (12.7%) had ergonomics in the product. Among the five field of study in the second secondary school, 332 topics (73.9%) were related to technical field study and only 6 topics (1.3%) were related to the experimental and mathematical fields study. There were no items in the arts and literature.
Conclusion: The distribution of ergonomic education materials in various disciplines and levels of education in schools is inappropriate. Also the topics mentioned in the textbooks are not designed to meet the real needs of the community.School age is a good time to encourage students to develop good habits and improve harmful habits. School health education is not only an educational unit but also a place where the student grows up. The creation of health-conscious attitudes and behaviors in them guarantees the health of the next generation of the country that pursues the sustainability of development goals. Students are one of the most vulnerable groups in the society who are exposed to many diseases and disorders due to their specific physiological conditions so that special attention and care is needed to maintain and improve their health. One of the problems that is widespread in this influential era and will have lasting irreparable impacts is the growth disorders that are nowadays referred to as national and international epidemics.Whereas previous studies have shown that problem solving and project-based approach to training occupational health and ergonomics are more effective, it is recommended that ergonomics training be incorporated into these textbooks.  Lack of control of the research group in different languages ​​of the world and lack of access to educational textbooks in different countries was one of the limitations of this study which did not allow comparing the position of ergonomic education in Iranian educational system with other countries. There is little reference to ergonomic issues before the secondary school. Also subjects of ergonomics in the second secondary school are more related to technical field study. So revision of the book and more attention to the topic of ergonomics and its impact on the child and adolescents is recommended.
 

Keywords: Ergonomics, school textbooks, Iranian educational system

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