Journal of Health and Safety at Work

---

Introduction: Nosocomial infection (NI) is an infection occurring in a patient after 48 hours of hospitalization or up to 72 hours after discharge from the hospital, which was not present or incubating at the time of admission.  Hospital accreditation standards have a significant impact on the prevention and control of NI. Nevertheless, Iran’s hospital accreditation standards face challenges. The aim of this study was to compare the accreditation standards of NI prevention and control in Iran and leading countries.
Material and Methods: This research was conducted using the comparative review method in 2020. Hospital infection prevention and control (IPC) standards of Iran Hospital Accreditation Program was compared with those of international accreditation programs in the United States, Canada and Australia. Thematic analysis method was used to analyze the qualitative data.
Results: Iran and the United States had the highest share of nosocomial IPC standards. The Iranian Hospital IPC standards approximately comply with 62.1%, 46.6% and 49.9% of Hospital IPC standards of the United States, Canada and Australia, respectively. A hospital infection management system including constructs of NI leadership and management, NI planning, NI education, employee management, patient management, resource management, process management and outcomes is necessary for IPC. Iran Hospital Accreditation Program places great emphasis on process and resource management and less importance to leadership and management, planning, employee management, patient management and outcomes.
Conclusion: The Iranian Hospital Accreditation Program is progressing. However, its IPC standards need to be reviewed and updated. Using a systems approach including structures, processes and results in the development of hospital accreditation standards, leads to the optimal use of hospital resources and achieving better results.

---

Introduction: Strategic management involves determining the organization’s direction, preparing a strategic vision and mission statement, and providing the basis for growth, profitability, and production. It also includes the inclusion of employee safety and health programs throughout the organization. The existence of a strategic plan for the scientific and practical strengthening of occupational health and safety is one of the country’s academic and industrial priorities. The purpose of this study is to present a strategic plan for developing the specialized field of occupational health and safety engineering in Iran.
Material and Methods: The current study is a collaborative action research study that was conducted in 2021. The strategic planning committee consisted of 20 professors, experts, and doctoral students. Over the course of 14 weeks, they held regular weekly meetings, collected information from inside and outside the organization, analyzed the organization’s internal and external environment, and identified its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Based on this analysis, the committee determined the organization’s mission, perspective, values, and general and specific goals for 2021-2024. They also identified the necessary measures to achieve these goals and developed an operational plan to improve the performance of the specialized field of occupational health and safety.
Results: Conducting this applied research led to the strategy of internal and external analysis of the specialized OHS field, determining the direction of the basic strategy, mission, perspective, values, and general goals. Finally, seven specific goals and 286 actions were determined to improve the performance of OHS. The SWOT analysis of OHS’s internal and external environment identified 27 strengths, seven weaknesses, 26 opportunities, and 12 threats. According to the results of the SWOT matrix, the strategic position of the OHS field is to implement preventive strategies and maintain existing conditions.
Conclusion: This plan aligns with the 4-year OHS plan. In developing the program, attention has been paid to the documents and policies of upstream organizations. The strategic position of occupational health and safety engineering is a prudent strategy. In this situation, strategies for maintaining existing conditions can be applied. Therefore, it is suggested to reduce the weaknesses of OHS as much as possible and increase its strategic capabilities by focusing on prudent strategies. From the second year of implementing the strategic plan, the OHS field can gradually focus on developing activities.

---

Introduction: The purpose of occupational health is to maintain and improve the health of employees and improve their physical, mental and social well-being through the prevention, control and elimination of occupational hazards. It is necessary to integrate educational, research and health service activities to prevent and control potential occupational health hazards in the community. This study aimed to develop a Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA) for occupational health at Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS).
Material and Methods: In this participatory action research, a strategic planning committee was established, whose members were professors of the occupational health department in the school of public health and managers of the occupational health department in the health deputy of TUMS. The strategic planning committee carried out a strategic evaluation of the internal and external environments of both occupational health deprtments of TUMS and identified the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Then, the strategic direction of JCPOA including the vision, mission, values, goals and objectives was determined. Also, the strategies and actions to achieve the goals and objectives were identified. Finally, the action plan to achieve these objectives was developed.
Results: This applied research led to the strategic evaluation of the internal and external environments of the occupational health depratment of the School of Public Health and the occupational health depratment of the Health deputy of TUMS, determining the strategic direction, and finally, developing an action plan to achieve the goals and objectives.
Conclusion: The JCPOA for occupational health was developed using a collaborative and systemic approach. The proper implementation of this plan can lead to the improvement of occupational health indicators in the community. Cooperation between university and industry is necessary for the sustainable development of society.