• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.454-468
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• 2014

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the actual condition of the farm work environment and personal protective equipment as part of the effort to improve livestock work for the safety and health of poultry farmers and provide basic data for establishing plans to improve and develop personal protective equipment. Methods: For this purpose, a questionnaire survey on general information about stables, the poultry work environment, accidents, the wearing of work clothes and personal protective equipment, and the level of awareness related to personal protective equipment was conducted among 148 poultry farmers. Results: As a result, it was found that poultry workplace environment was exposed to such risks as fine dusts; organic dusts; poisonous gases; odorous substances; chicken excrement; contact with chickens, bacteria or viruses; and accidents related to machine operation. Thirteen percent of respondents suffered severe respiratory diseases, and the most frequently injured sites due to accidents were the hands (25.7%), knees (23.8%), arms (17.3%), and head (10.9%). The most frequent type of accident was collisions between the body and obstacles or machinery during movement (36.4%), followed by erroneous machine operation such as feeders and electric shocks (8.5%). Regarding the wearing of work clothes and personal protective equipment, 51.7% of the respondents wore worn-out clothing or everyday clothes, whereas only 32.0% wore work clothes. The percentage of farmers who wore proper protective equipment for the work environment during poultry work was 48.4%. The most frequently used type of protective equipment was boots (38.9%), followed by mask (36.7%), gloves (36.3%), appropriate work clothes (22.6%), quarantine clothes (17.6%), helmets (13.4%), and goggles (12.6%). The rate of wearing goggles was low because they were considered inconvenient and lowered work efficiency. Furthermore, they purchased everyday products available on the market for their personal protective equipment which were not appropriate for maintaining safety in an actual harmful environment and its consequent risks. As a result of the survey of the awareness level related to personal protective equipment, their levels of awareness of accidents and attitude proved to be average or higher, but the practice of wearing protective equipment and the level of knowledge and management of personal protective equipment were lower. Conclusion: This survey found that the wearing status of personal protective equipment among poultry farmers was insufficient even though they were exposed to risks. Most respondents were aware of the necessity of wearing personal protective equipment and of the potential for accidents, but they did not wear proper protective equipment. Their wearing rate was low due to a lack of knowledge about protective equipment, as well as the inconvenience of wearing it. Therefore there is a need to improve and develop specialized personal protective equipment for respiration, hands, and eyes, as well as work clothes that can protect farmers from major harmful matter that is generated in the poultry workplace. Based on the results of this investigation, we will conduct further studies on the required performance and design directions of personal protective equipment while collecting more objective data through field-oriented assessments.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.223-234
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• 2001

The community consciousness used to be the core of the social capital in rural Korea, and there used to be a long tradition of mutual trust and cooperation in rural village community in Korea. However, recent trends in rapid urbanization or de-ruralization may affected community consciousness and social capital in rural society in Korea. The social capital has been existed in terms of mutual trust, commonly shared norms, and cooperative behavior in farm work and daily life of rural people. Commonly shared norms and networks have accelerated social effectiveness and promoted cooperative work as well as moral and spiritual aspects of rural society. Social capital in terms of community consciousness, participation of village work, visit and invitation of the neighborhood, and participation in various village group and networks were suveyed in JanggogRi, Jori Myun, Paju city, Gyeonggi province. The data collected from 65 persons, and the major findings of the study were as follow; The respondents responded that the community consciousness of de-rural area decreased in general with a few exception in the groups of alumni, family, religion and voluntary society. Social capital in terms of participation of village work, visiting the neighbors and voting increased slightly. Further research on social capital should be conducted to strengthen community consciousness, and various measures to increase the social capital should be adopted for livable community development.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.68-75
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• 2010

This study was conducted to evaluate the differences in symptoms of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) between vinylhouse farmers and non-vinylhouse farmers. The study included 118 residents who lived in a rural community. All subjects were assigned to the vinylhouse farmers group (N=58) and the non-vinylhouse farmers group (N=60) according to main agricultural work type. All respondents were interviewed by means of a structured questionnaire. WMSDs symptoms were measured by a self- assessed questionnaire on symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders, and HRQoL was measured by SF-36. Vinylhouse farmers had significant more symptoms of WMSDs in each regional parts of musculoskeletal system, and had significant poor total health status in SF-36. Symptoms of WMSDs were most reliable risk factor for HRQoL. Various health promotion interventions are needed to prevent WMSDs in all farmers and especially vinylhouse workers.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.891-906
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• 2016

This study examined the working site environment of Korean native cattle raising farmers and their actual condition of wearing personal protective equipment as part of preventing disasters during agricultural work. To this end, 160 Korean cattle raising farmers were surveyed and a site visit was performed on 10 farms. According to an examination of the cattle breeding environment, the major harmful factors were in the following order: fine dust (12.8%), organic feed dust (10.3%), contact with cattle (9.7%), manure (8.2%), germs and viruses (8.1%), harmful gases (7.4), contact with obstacles (6.7), and temperature (6.6%). The current status of the rate of wearing protection was in the order of gloves (20.9%), working hats (19.7%), boots (19.6%), masks (10.9%), protective clothing (8.9%), and specialized working clothing (6.6%). Nevertheless, most Korean cattle raising farmers recognized the risks when they did not wear protective equipment and the need for wearing protectors, but they mostly did not wear personal protective equipment due to a lack of knowledge on the selection of appropriate personal protective equipment and the discomfort they experience when they put on protectors. Even when they put on protective equipment, 38% was inappropriate for the farming work environment. Given the research results, improvements on and the development of specialized working clothing and personal protective equipment to protect farmers from harmful and dangerous materials from the cattle nurturing environment is necessary. Overall, based on the study data, objectified data collection, a determination of the necessary performance elements of personal protective equipment, and R&D will be needed through an on-site current status investigation.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.255-267
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• 2022

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors affecting work-related musculoskeletal symptoms in farmers. Methods: In order to examine the factors affecting the musculoskeletal symptoms among farmers, data of 'Occupational Disease Survey for Farmers' was performed by the RDA(Rural Development Administration). Results: The odds ratio of work-related musculoskeletal symptoms among female farmers were 1.42(1.30-1.56) times higher than male farmers. The older aging and longer the agricultural work period, the higher odds ratio of musculoskeletal symptoms was shown. By major crops, all crop farmers showed higher odds ratio of musculoskeletal symptoms compared to rice crop farmers. As a result of examining the effective factors on the odds ratio of musculoskeletal symptoms by body parts, female farmers had higher odds ratio of musculoskeletal symptoms than male farmers by 1.38(1.26-1.51) times in waist, 1.58(1.44-1.74) times in knee, 1.32(1.05-0.67) times in hand/wrist, and 1.30(1.06-1.59) times in foot/ankle. By crops, animal husbandry farmers had higher odds ratio of musculoskeletal symptoms than rice crop farmers by 1.44(0.89-2.35) times in waist, and field crop farmers were 1.37(1.07-1.77) times higher in knee. Compared with rice crop farmers, odds ratio of the shoulder part the shoulder parts were 1.19(0.81-1.76) times higher in greenhouse crop farmers and 1.16(0.97-1.38) times higher in dry field crop farmers. Odds ratio of the hands/wrist parts were higher odds ratio of musculoskeletal symptoms than rice crop farmers by 1.69(1.00-2.87) times in greenhouse crop farmers. Conclusions: The results of this study would help to select the group that needs to be managed first, and could be used as basic data for the development of customized musculoskeletal disorders prevention programs.

• Advances in robotics research
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.201-217
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• 2018

Agriculture production is a critical human intensive task, which takes place in all regions of the world. The process to grow and harvest crops is labor intensive in many countries due to the lack of automation and advanced technology. Much of the difficult, dangerous and dirty labor of crop production can be automated with intelligent and robotic platforms. We propose an intelligent, agent-oriented robotic team, which can enable the process of harvesting, gathering and collecting crops and fruits, of many types, from agricultural fields. This paper describes a novel robotic organization enabling humans, robots and agents to work together for automation of gathering and collection functions. The focus of the research is a model, called HARMS, which can enable Humans, software Agents, Robots, Machines and Sensors to work together indistinguishably. With this model, any capability-based human-like organization can be conceived and modeled, such as in manufacturing or agriculture. In this research, we model, design and implement a technology application of knowledge-based robot-to-robot and human-to-robot collaboration for an agricultural gathering and collection function. The gathering and collection functions were chosen as they are some of the most labor intensive and least automated processes in the process acquisition of agricultural products. The use of robotic organizations can reduce human labor and increase efficiency allowing people to focus on higher level tasks and minimizing the backbreaking tasks of agricultural production in the future. In this work, the HARMS model was applied to three different robotic instances and an integrated test was completed with satisfactory results that show the basic promise of this research.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.111-120
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• 2021

A tractor is an agricultural machine that performs farm work, such as cultivation, soil preparation, loading, bailing, and transporting, through attached working implements. Farm work must be carried out on time per the growing season of crops. As a result, the reliability of a tractor's transmission is vital. Ideally, the transmission's design should reflect the actual load during agricultural work; however, configuring such a measurement system is time- and cost-intensive. The design and analysis of a transmission are, therefore, mainly performed by empirical methods. In this study, a tractor with a measurement system was used to measure the actual working load in the field. Its hydro-mechanical transmission was then analyzed using the measured load. It was found that the velocity factor, load distribution factor, lubrication factor, roughness factor, relative notch sensitivity factor, and life factor affect the gear strength of the transmission. Also, loading conditions have a significant influence on the reliability of the transmission. It is believed that transmission reliability can be enhanced by analyzing the actual load on the transmission, as performed in this study.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 2000.11c
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• pp.623-631
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• 2000

Advanced Life Support Systems (ALSS) are being studied to support human life during long-duration space missions. ALSS can be categorized into four subsystems: Crew, Biomass Production, Food Processing and Nutrition, Waste Processing and Resource Recovery. The System Studies and Modeling (SSM) team of New Jersey-NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training (NJ-NSCORT) has facilitated and conducted analyses of ALSS to address systems level issues. The underlying concept of the SSM work is to enable the effective utilization of information to aid in planning, analysis, design, management, and operation of ALSS and their components. Analytical tools and computer models for ALSS analyses have been developed and implemented for value-added information processing. The results of analyses have been delivered through the Internet for effective communication within the advanced life support (ALS) community. Several modeling paradigms have been explored by developing tools for use in systems analysis. They include object-oriented approach for top-level models, procedural approach for process-level models, and application of commercially available modeling tools such as MATLAB$\^$(R)//Simulink$\^$(R)/. Every paradigm has its particular applicability for the purpose of modeling work. An overview is presented of the systems studies and modeling work conducted by the NJ-NSCORT SSM team in its efforts to provide systems analysis capabilities to the ALS community. The experience gained and the analytical tools developed from this work can be extended to solving problems encountered in general agriculture.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.5-17
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• 2009

The objective of this study was to analyze the factors regarding work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in fruit-growers and offer the fundamental data for work improvement. The 587 fruit-growers (409 males and 178 females) working with 5 kinds of fruit: apple, pear, peach, grape, and mandarin participated in a questionnaire survey regarding MSDs and health condition in 2004 and 2005. The results are as follows: 1. Smoking rate was highest in apple growers. 2. Drinking rates were highest in male peach growers and in female grape growers. 3. Regular exercise rates were higher in pear and mandarin growers. 4. Physical and mental fatigue was higher in females than in males in most cases. 5. The prevalence rate of medically diagnosed diseases was highest for osteoarthritis (16.4%), herniated nucleus pulposus (HNP, 13.5%), and chronic gastritis/gastric ulcer (10.5%). As well as, the prevalence of dermatosis was higher in pear and mandarin growers. 6. The prevalence rate of musculoskeletal symptoms among the various pain areas was highest for lower back, shoulders, and knees. The prevalence rate was also high for lower back, shoulder, and knee pain in apple and grape growers. 7. The significant indexes used determining the musculoskeletal symptoms were BMI, working period, and regular exercise. These results can be practically used for work improvement for the fruit-growers to prevent MSDs.

• Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.41-49
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• 2001

Advanced Life Support Systems(ALSS) are being studied to support human life during long-duration space missions. ALSS can be categorized into four subsystems: Crew, Biomass Production, Food Processing and Nutrition, Waste Processing and Resource Recovery. The System Studies and Modeling (SSM) team of New Jersey-NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training (NJ-NSCORT) has facilitated and conducted analyses of ALSS to address systems level issues. The underlying concept of the SSM work is to enable the effective utilization of information to aid in planning, analysis, design, management, and operation of ALSS and their components. Analytical tools and computer models for ALSS analyses have been developed and implemented for value-added information processing. The results of analyses heave been delivered through the internet for effective communication within the advanced life support (ALS) community. Several modeling paradigms have been explored by developing tools for use in systems analysis. they include objected-oriented approach for top-level models, procedureal approach for process-level models, and application of commercially available modeling tools such as $MATLAB^{R}$/$Simulink^{R}$. Every paradigm has its particular applicability for the purpose of modeling work. an overview is presented of the systems studies and modeling work conducted by the NJ-NSCORT SSM team in its efforts to provide systems analysis capabilities to the ALS community. The experience gained and the analytical tools developed from this work can be extended to solving problems encountered in general agriculture.