Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health is part of the
Health Sciences Research Group within the School of Community Based Medicine
Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health

Postgraduate taught (MSc): abstracts and papers

Abstracts

Since April 1996, the distance learning course in Occupational Medicine has been offered as an MSc by the University of Manchester and in October 1999 the MSc in Occupational Hygiene was also launched.

A number of students have successfully completed an MSc dissertation, which will probably be one of the most important achievements in their professional development. To reflect this, and to aid prospective MSc students, many students have kindly given us permission to publish the abstracts of their dissertations:

Occupational Medicine

Author Title
Richard Archer Assessment of the WEST monofilament nerve tester for staging the sensorineural component of HAVS. (PDF, 32KB)
Shaun Austin Biological monitoring of TDI derived amines in polyurethane foam production. (PDF, 35KB)
Laurence Boakye Stress in non-clinical general practice staff: a study to determine the prevalence of stress related symptoms, measure job satisfaction and identify possible work-related stressors in non-clinical general practice staff. (PDF, 40KB)

Pam Collins

Stress in police officers: a study of the origins, prevalence and severity of stress related symptoms within a county police force. (PDF, 36KB)
Steven Forman The attribution of work by dermatologists to a diagnosis of skin neoplasia. (PDF, 37KB)
Sam Flynn A survey of the pre-entry OH assessment process for undergraduate medical, nursing and midwifery students in England, Scotland and Wales. (PDF, 36KB)
David Fyfe Sleep apnoea: prevalence of risk factors and symptoms of daytime sleepiness in bus company employees. (PDF, 33KB)
Michael Greyling An investigation of tests and protocols used to assess colour vision in firefighters. (PDF, 37KB)

Paul Grime

An open, randomised study, to compare the effects of a computerised cognitive behavioural therapy programme ('Beating The Blues') plus conventional care, vs conventional care alone, on absence from work due to anxiety, depression or stress. (PDF, 38KB)
Susan Harvey How useful are mental health declarations in student nurses? (PDF, 30KB)
Ali Hashtroudi Relationship between blood lead concentration and zinc protoporphyrin in workers exposed to inorganic lead in the north east of England (PDF, 74KB)

Ewan Hutchison

The effect of an occupational health service training course on managers' referral behaviour for long-term sickness absence. (PDF, 35KB)
Susan Hutton The development of a coding system for causes of mental ill health reported to the SOSMI surveillance programme and an estimation of the validity and reliability of that coding system. (PDF, 30KB)
Sarah Jackson The effects of occupational stress on the risk of overuse lower limb injuries in Army recruits. (PDF, 37KB)
Grace Judge A study on the impact of frequency of overall changes on the dermal absorption of polycyclic aromatic hydro carbons on the coke oven worker. (PDF, 38KB)
Ian King A pilot study to compare some effects on health and safety in full time nursing staff who choose to work 8-hour or 12-hour shift patterns. (PDF, 36KB)
Mike Laggan Surveillance of work-related mental ill health: do general practitioners' decisions on diagnostic categorisation differ from those of occupational physicians and psychiatrists and does training in occupational medicine influence opinions on the work-relatedness of a case? (PDF, 38KB)
Massoud Mansouri Blood transmission through glove materials associated with simulated needlestick injury. (PDF, 34KB)
Antony Mawson What information do occupational physicians use in assessing an employee with common mental health problems? (PDF, 37KB)
Dr Mawson also presented a poster on his research at the Society of Occupational Medicine’s Annual Scientific Meeting in June 2011. SOM ASM Poster (PDF, 60KB)
Benita McCarthy Determination of a period prevalence rate of blood and body fluid exposures in NHS general dental practioners. (PDF, 38KB)
Dr McCarthy also won a poster prize at the Society of Occupational Medicine’s Annual Scientific Meeting in June 2010 for her work. SOM ASM Poster (PDF, 670KB)
Philip McIlroy Renal failure mortality and occupational silica exposure. (PDF, 34KB)
David Mills The determinants of the incidence of ill health retirement in the Civil Service with particular reference to work-related ill health. (PDF, 36KB)
Steve Nimmo The prevalence of hand-arm vibration syndrome in male dentists. (PDF, 38KB)
Lanre Ogunyemi Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder amongst forensic psychiatry nurses. (PDF, 35KB)
Ivor Owen An investigation into the possibility of an excess in cardiovascular mortality amongst aerospace workers exposed to aero-engine noise. (PDF, 42KB)
Jonathan Peters A study to assess the knowledge of occupational health issues amongst the medical profession. (PDF, 40KB)
Richard M Roope Sickness certification matters. (PDF, 36KB)
Mark Rosso Development and validation of a questionnaire to help determine the prevalence of noise induced hearing loss in Malta. (PDF, 36KB)
Sean M Ryan An evaluation of the predictive capacity of a declared musculoskeletal disorder at pre-employment on subsequent work capability in airport security staff. (PDF, 33KB)
Tom Scade A cross sectional observational study of the prevalence of psychological distress in secondary school teachers working for a large Scottish education authority, and of the help seeking behaviour and factors affecting that behaviour, in teachers reporting psychological distress (PDF, 39KB)
Kevin Smith Health advice for occupational travel (PDF, 34KB)
Neil A Smith Management of hepatitis B immunisations and blood exposure incidents in primary care - is an occupational health service required? (PDF, 41KB)
Alex Swan Control of exposures to blood and body fluids: a survey in NHS acute trusts in England. (PDF, 37KB)
Euan Thompson Retiring natures: medical aspects of ill health retiral in firefighters in Grampian. (PDF, 31KB)
Charles Vivian Belt and braces? Back pain and the effect of a new harness versus traditional utility equipment for police officers. (PDF, 36KB)
Clyde B Webb Do employees deliberately under-report symptoms of respiratory sensitisation in screening questionnaires? (PDF, 39KB)

Occupational Hygiene

Author Title
Alan A Dickson Real world attenuation of hearing protection in a mature workforce and the effects of education and risk perception. (PDF, 33KB)
Michael Ellwood An evaluation of the deterioration of respirator quantitative fit factors after initial training. (PDF, 38KB)
Jennifer Anne Hopkins An examination of the collection of contextual data with exposure measurements for occupational exposure modelling. (PDF, 35KB)
James Paterson Wheeler Amateur exposure to pesticides resulting from use of liquid and mat insecticide evaporator devices. (PDF, 36KB)

Papers

A number of MSc students have had their papers published in recent years:

Author Paper (in date order)
Mark Rosso Development and validation of a screening questionnaire for noise-induced hearing loss
(Occup Med 2011; 61(6): 416-421). Full text version
Sarah Jackson Occupational stress and the outcome of basic military training
(Occup Med 2011; 61(4): 253-258). Full text version
Massoud Mansouri Comparison of blood transmission through latex and nitrile glove materials
(Occup Med 2010; 60(3): 205-210). Full text version
Richard M Roope General practitioners’ use of sickness certificates
(Occup Med 2009; 59(8): 580-585). Full text version
Sam Phillips Risk factors for work-related stress and health in head teachers
(Occup Med 2008; 58(8): 584-586). Full text version
Shaun Austin Biological monitoring of TDI-derived amines in polyurethane foam production
(Occup Med 2007; 57(6): 444-448). Full text version
Neil Smith Management of hepatitis B immunizations and blood exposure incidents in primary care
(Occup Med 2004; 54(4): 231-237). Full text version
Paul Grime Computerised cognitive behavioural therapy at work: a randomised controlled trial in employees with recent stress-related absenteeism
(Occup Med 2004; 54(5): 353-359). Full text version
Pam Collins Stress in police officers: a study of the origins, prevalence and severity of stress-related symptons within a county police force
(Occup Med 2004; 53(4): 256-264). Full text version
Clyde B Webb Sickness absence certification: time for a rethink?
(Br J Gen Pract 2003; 53(489): 325-326). Full text version

Pedagogic research

Author Paper
Ailsa Donnelly and Raymond Agius The distance learning courses in occupational medicine - 20 years and onwards
Occup Med 2005; 55(4): 319-323; doi:10.1093/occmed/kqi130
Gary Burgess, Anjie Holt and Raymond Agius Preference of distance learning methods among postgraduate occupational physicians and hygienists
Occup Med 2005; 55(4): 312-318; doi:10.1093/occmed/kqi117