• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.184-188
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• 2002

According to a recent report, Korea first reached aging society in 2000 and it is forecasted that the number of aged people over 65 years old will increase form 7.13%(2000) to 14% or more of total population in Korea in 2022. As many aged peoples are employed as day labor under the financial circumstances after Korean Financial Crisis, it is critical that we should take safety control measures for them. Thus, this study focused on analyzing aged accidents in terms of their characteristics, based on the actual trend of industrial accidents from 1996 to 2001 and the applications of medical treatment for the affected or wounded in Busan metropolitan area for recent 3 years (1999 to 2001) in order to analyze accident characteristics to cope with emergent aging period. As a result of analyzing the above data by job type, it was found that the construction work amounted to 38% of total job type. This result implies that accidents of the aged often occurs in 3D jobs including construction works without reasonable automation, which requires us to establish some preventive policies against those accidents. Moreover, it is found that rapid increasing accidents such as upset or occupational diseases or damages are typically attributed to those in the aged, mainly because the aged employees over 55 years old often have disadvantageous physical conditions such as relatively degraded balance and muscular control ability comparing to the younger. Therefore, it recommended that we should make effective safety policies for the aged and actively apply those policies to them. Moreover, it is required that we should encourage them to actively participate in safety compliance through corresponding trainings.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.26-35
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• 2023

Sparks cause most fire and explosion accidents in the manufacturing industry during hot work, which ignites surrounding combustible materials. Such incidents lead to high casualties due to suffocation from toxic gases and lack of evacuation. Therefore, the government recently enacted and revised 'The Occupational Safety and Health Act' to prevent fires and explosions at work sites, incorporating legal standards for fire observers, which are important in preventing accidents and the spread of fire during hot work. However, there are notable shortcomings in conducting professional cause analysis of these accidents and in aligning them with advanced foreign legal standards. Additionally, there is a lack of literature review reflecting the manufacturing industry characteristics. Despite the recent enactment and revision of legal standards, gathering sufficient opinions and professional reviews remains insufficient. To address these gaps, interviews were conducted with safety and health workers, analyzing recent fire and explosion causes in domestic manufacturing industries, and reviewing both domestic and international legal standards. Conclusively, proposed improvement measures were centered on the professionalization of fire observer education, enhancing their roles and authority realistically, and improving fire observer placement and operation standards. Consequently, additional 'Occupational Safety and Health Act' standards are necessary for fire observer education and defining the government's role. Second, precise legal standards outlining the role and authority of fire observers are required. Third tailored fire observer arrangements and management standards appropriate for varying work characteristics and company sizes are required. This study emphasizes the importance of supplementing relevant legal standards to prevent fire accidents in the manufacturing industry.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.24 no.1 s.33
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• pp.45-56
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• 1991

The history of occupational health in Korea s covered the era of the Republic of Korea after the Liberation from the Japanese colonialism. But the number of Korean workers exceeded about 2 millions at the times of liberation in 1945, so that it is expected that many occupational health problems inflicted Korean workers under the Japanese colonialism. The authors reviewed medical literatures, administrative documents, and other available data which were published under the colonial state, and collected things which had reference to the health status of Korean workers. The results were as follows : 1. Nutritional status of Korean workers was supposed to be inferior to that of general population, some students, and poor inhabitants in a remote mountain villages. 2. It was supposed that the constitution of Korean workers was near lower limit of average build of contemporary Koreans. 3. The accidents rate in mines was significantly high but decreasing year after year, and the most important cause of accidents was the fall of roof in the mine. The medical facilities and equipments for miners were supposed to be not sufficient in the mines and workshops. 4. Some occupational disease including silicosis, noise-induced hearing impairment, and decompression disease were known. But, overall incidence or prevalence of these diseases could not be identified. 5. On the whole, the fatalities of acute infectious diseases of Korean workers were higher than those of Japanese inhabitants in Korea and Korean inhabitants. The prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis of Korean workers was increasing with every passing year. 6. The medical personnels and facilities were so deficient that most Korean workers were out of adequate medical use. We discussed only a part of the health status of Korean workers under the Japanese colonialism, so it would be necessary to have a better grasp of details of occupational health policy and health status in the era of afflicting.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.208-220
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• 2019

Purpose: This study aimed to determine health problems experienced by workers in special employment relationships (WSER) and identify coping strategies used when such problems occur. Methods: This qualitative study used the focus group interview method. Thirteen study participants included five home-visit tutors, five insurance salespersons, and three credit card recruiters. The interviews were conducted from November 2018 through January 2019, with each occupational group interview lasting about 2 hours. Analysis based on phenomenological research was independently performed by two researchers. Results: Most participants had common health problems involving vocal cord symptoms, and stress related to emotional labor and traffic accidents. The unique health problems included cystitis, musculoskeletal, and digestive symptoms in home-visit tutors; reduced vision and hearing in insurance salespersons; and mental distress in credit card recruiters. There was no protection system for their health coverage, and the company emphasized their self-employed status to avoid taking responsibility for them. Twelve participants did not purchase occupational accident insurance owing to both not having adequate information and economic burden concerning premium status. Conclusion: WSER experienced both physical and mental health problems. These problems were caused by their unstable employment status, and the social security system for their coverage being non-functioning.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.333-342
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• 2022

Purpose: This study proposes a plan for linking the Severe Accident Punishment Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Management System so that SMEs can meet the requirements of the Severe Accident Punishment Act only by maintaining and implementing the Occupational Health and Safety Management System. Method: Conduct a theoretical approach, such as a literature review. First, as a theoretical approach, the safety and health management system of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act was examined, the requirements of ISO 45001 were analyzed, and the statistics of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from 5 to 49 to which the 2024 Serious Accidents Punishment Act was applied and the number of accident deaths were investigated. Result: No problems were found in linking with the Serious Accident Punishment Act when constructing Occupational health and safety management systems (ISO 45001). Conclusion: It is judged that the establishment of Occupational health and safety management systems (ISO 45001) and management of implementation performance will be able to satisfy the Act on the Punishment of Serious Disasters.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.197-207
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• 2013

OSHA(Occupational Safety and Health Act) generally regulates employer's business principles in the workplace to maintain safety environment. This act has the fundamental purpose to protect employee's safety and health in the workplace by reducing industrial accidents. Authors tried to investigate the correlation between 'occupational injuries and illnesses' and level of regulation compliance using Survey on Current Status of Occupational Safety & Health data by the various statistical methods, such as generalized regression analysis, logistic regression analysis and poison regression analysis in order to compare the results of those methods. The results have shown that the significant affecting compliance factors were different among those statistical methods. This means that specific interpretation should be considered based on each statistical method. In the future, relevant statistical technique will be developed considering the distribution type of occupational injuries.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.24-31
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• 2020

The duty of construction clients in WSH (Workplace Safety and Health) system was included in the amendment of Occupational Safety and Health Act (enforced on 16 January 2020), which was estimated the shift of paradigm in the prevention of construction accidents. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the analysis results of construction clients' role in the construction project, which were performed by authors over the recent years in order to impose the duty on construction clients, and to suggest their role according the plan, design, and construction stage. Utilizing the systematic literature review process based on Meta analysis, the related papers were selected. For the selected papers, related domestic and foreign regulations, and other prominent report, the construction clients' role was analyzed by reflecting the experts' advice. Results show that the construction clients should control the designer and contractor for implementing the WHS system during the whole process of the construction project. They should supply sufficient source and time to ensure the workers' safety. In the plan stage, the key role of construction clients is to identify intensively controlled hazard and risk reduction plan and to transfer the results. In the design stage, their key role is to select the designer with the capacity in WSH and to assist the designer for the safety design. The main key role of construction clients in the costruction stage is to select the contractor with specialty in WSH including a contract reflecting the WSH requirement and to check implementation of WSH plan, WSH cost, WSH education, and accident report. In addition, it is thought that the construction clients' participations in the site WSH activity and adjustment of safety and health problem among contractors can be effect in the prevention of construction accidents.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.31-37
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• 2016

Analyses were performed with Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale. The population was 1,391 Korean workers in total. Subjects who get scores of self-esteem lower than those before the accidents were 539 people(42.34%). On the other hand, subjects who get the same or higher scores of self-esteem than those before the accidents were 802 people(57.66%). The average score of the whole showed 30.09 point that is higher than 29.99 points that were analyzed from primary panel data. The odds ratio of self-esteem is analyzed to find that what is the most important factor for improving self-esteem of the workers group. The result of odds ratio analysis was 1.60 in the not-to-return-to-work group, significantly higher of the score of self-esteem than the return-to-work group. The statistically significant odds ratio of unemployed workers group from the group of workers who return to work prove the academically conventional social norms. This result shows that the workers condition, whether or not they can return to their work, affects the workers' self-esteem. Therefore, the workers' condition for returning to the work should be considered the most important service for Korean workers' compensation and welfare services.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.28-34
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• 2022

Since semiconductor factories are located in densely populated areas, safe handling of hazardous materials handled in the manufacturing process is of utmost importance. In particular, the types of hazardous substances discharged after handling in the semiconductor manufacturing process are very diverse, and the treatment methods such as combustion, absorption and adsorption methods for each material are very complicated. Therefore, in recent semiconductor exhaust treatment processes, two or more treatment methods are applied to one treatment facility, and unexpected accidents occur due to the application of such a complex treatment method. In this study, the cause of accidents in treatment facilities that applied both the scrubber method and the electrostatic precipitation method, which are recent accident cases, are identified, and preventive measures are suggested to find out the points to be noted when applying the complex treatment method.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.115-122
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• 2007

As buildings become higher, larger, and more complex, safety issues for construction workers working at such environments become more important. We analyzed 83 critical accident cases reported to the KOSHA(Korea Occupational Safety & Health Agency) for construction cranes by types of cranes and by patterns of accidents and causes. There are more number of accidents related to mobile cranes than that related to tower cranes, but the numbers of dead were similar in both cases. The most dominant cause of crane accidents was "fall of materials". We also analyzed the cases of crane accidents using the FMEA(Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) in order to set up a priority for safety management and also to prioritize research and development items relating tower cranes. In the process, we tried to eliminate subjective indexes such as an expert group survey and use objective and quantitative indexes. As a result, it was found that critical crane accidents occurs most during the "lifting and translating" activity.