• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.19-26
• /
• 2012

This study is aimed to measure the cause and effect relationship on observation on KS evaluation by surveys related to KS certification, opinions and satisfaction on KS certification, expected effect through KS certification, profitability performance, financial performance, and productivity performance based on department heads and acting chiefs working on KS certification, to SMEs which have acquired KS certification mark in Korea. This study also aims to examine how KS certification is impacting on companies' expected effects, management performance and development by examining the realistic effects of KS certification in various aspects and expected effects on companies.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.115-122
• /
• 2017

This study analyzed that the standard of school supplies affects the satisfaction of certification. Safety requirements of school supplies in the Republic of Korea is enforced by court duty certification. Therefore, a test was conducted to compare the safety requirements of the United States and Europe and the survey was conducted to know how much manufacturers and importers are satisfied with the certification. To prepare management measures for harmful substances contained in children's product, XRF(X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry) is utilized to analyze lead(Pb) and cadmium(Cd) in PA(paint), SP(sheet) and PVC(Poly Vinyl Chloride). The results of comparative analysis of ICP(inductively coupled plasma) is analyzed statistically with measured values.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.39-52
• /
• 2017

The scope of this study is the construction conformity assessment system according to the new paradigm of construction management To minimize the differences between domestic and international state, construction Conformity Assessment is subdivided into system certification and product certification. For the former, WASCON(Worldwide Assessment System of Construction Quality Maturity Stage) is applied. For the latter, AQUA(Advanced Quality Assessment System) was developed and adopted to model project for demonstration. Both systems are designed to enable quantified rating, integrated into PQCS(Project Quality Certification), which is an advanced project quality certification system. The construction work observing PQCS will gain quality score on its own quality certificate(Quality mark on construction itself or facilities is also available, if needed or preferred by customers). This Quality Rating System will inspire and encourage any related parties. PQCS score would let supplier/constructor recognize how much themselves are operating effectively and efficiently, offering them the opportunity of redeeming their weaknesses.

• International Journal of Quality Innovation
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.23-33
• /
• 2004

In Japan, where ISO14001 certifications have passed the 10,000 mark, the need for environmental management has taken firm root among companies. However, in the small-and medium-enterprise sector, and among tiny businesses, there are firms not obtaining ISO certification due to their concern about human resources and increased work load. On the other hand, among businesses that have already succeeded in gaining ISO certification. one does not sense any growth with regard to the continual improvement. Voices from certain quarters indicate there is a lack of incentive to keep on improving. With this background, we herewith present a new system to evaluate the level of environmental management in a company by means of a 5-step system.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.177-189
• /
• 2010

This study investigates the perceptual differences on geographical indications among consumers, producers, and government employees. First, in terms of the recognition of the geographical indication certification mark, approximately 56% of consumers showed no experience to recognize the mark, indicating their low level of recognition. Besides, some respondents among producers and government employees indicated no experience or no recollection on the certification mark. In terms of the vitalization of geographical indications, consumers and government employees showed positive responses while producers were negative on it. Consumers and government employees attributed the reasons for the low level of vatalization of geographical indications to the low level of consumer recognition. On the other band, producers indicated that the complicated registration procedure and incidental expenses were the main reasons for this issue. Lastly, this study examined if there were significant differences on the perceived consumer preferences on the domestic and imported agricultural and processed products among the three groups. The results found that producers and government employees perceived that consumers preferred the imported products to the domestic products than customers actually did, indicating the lack of understanding of these two groups on consumer preferences on agricultural and processed products.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
• /
• v.39 no.6
• /
• pp.924-937
• /
• 2015

This study surveyed the recognition and credibility of infant's organic cotton apparel and examined the current quality of children's organic cotton clothes available in the market. This study contributes to improve fabric certification programs and safety standards by understanding customer opinions and actual quality. A customer survey revealed that customers believe that organic cotton products should not include chemicals such as pesticides, fluorescent whitening agents and chemical colors; in addition, customers have high expectations for safety as well as worries about the products' validity. Children's underwear was the most purchased item category among organic cotton products. Current organic cotton certification programs are voluntary with multiple organizations that provide various certification standards. A total of 34.2% of children's organic cotton clothes sold at online and offline stores were not certified, and 10.5% had invalid certification information. This may substantially lower the credibility of organic cotton products and requires immediate change. Examination of organic cotton products showed that products do not meet customer expectations for quality and safety: 3 out of 8 products used accessories (buttons and wappens) that include harmful chemicals such as lead, phthalate and formaldehyde, 6 products used fluorescent whitening agents, and 4 products used other fabrics such as rayon, polyurethane and polyester. GOTS mark is the most recognized organic certification, but it still allows the usage of fluorescent whitening agents, which indicates a gap between customer opinions and actual certification standards. Managing national-level mandatory certification programs like food and setting quality standards that meets customer expectations are required to enhance the credibility of organic cotton products.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.46 no.4
• /
• pp.369-381
• /
• 2013

The aim of this study was to investigate the perception of students, their parents, and nutrition teachers regarding environment-friendly foods (EFF) and the satisfaction with school meals at elementary schools. Questionnaires were sent to nutrition teachers at five elementary schools located in the Jindo area, Jeonnam province, and were distributed to students and their parents. A total of 351 questionnaires from students and 334 from parents were collected from March to April, 2013. In addition, 43 nutrition teachers/dietitians working at elementary schools in the Jindo area responded to questionnaires. Nutrition teachers primarily recognized the classification and certification standards of EFF, and verified the certification mark of EFF when they purchased foods. However, 13.4% of students and 38.6% of parents replied as 'know well' regarding the classification and certification standards of EFF and they verified the mark of EFF less often than the nutrition teachers (p<0.001). Most of the nutrition teachers and parents indicated 'safety' as the main advantage of EFF. The students and parents were satisfied with EFF at home and school meals because of the safety and favorable effect on health. The results showed that EFF compromised 20~40% of monthly food costs for 51.1% of nutrition teachers. The overall score for satisfaction with school meals for students was 3.88 based on a 5-point Likert scale; however, that of the parents was 3.72. The nutrition teachers realized that the parents were more interested in EFF and satisfied with EFF than the students. The major barriers to using EFF in school meals were 'lack of information about EFF' and 'unstable supply.' Therefore, the above results suggested that there should be improvement in the supply of EFF to include more EFF in school meals and efforts should be made to provide students and parents with more information for understanding EFF.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.45 no.5
• /
• pp.443-456
• /
• 2019

Objectives: Children are exposed to various environmental pollutants through contact with children's products. We investigated the KC mark, certification number, and contained substances labeled on children's products through market research and collected the toxicological data on these substances. Methods: The environmentally hazardous substances labeled on children's products (n=6576), including toys (n=2812), personal care products (n=2212), stationary/books (n=1333), and playground equipment (n=219) were examined. For the components that could be identified by CAS number, toxicological data on oral, inhalation, and dermal routes, cancer slope factor, and reference dose were collected. Results: Among the investigated products, KC marks or certification numbers were found for 4557 products (69.3%). Except for cosmetics and cleansers, the material information was labeled on most of the products. The frequency of labeling substance information in toys and stationary/books was low since this information could be omitted if KC certification was obtained. In the target products, 617 substances were identified by CAS number, and polypropylene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, and polyester were the most frequently displayed. Chronic toxicity data was found for only 32.4% of individual components, and information on toxicity through the dermal route was also highly limited. Conclusion: Our study suggested that labeling guidelines should be required to identify the environmentally hazardous substances contained in children's products. In addition, the toxicological data on many ingredients in children's products were insufficient. The data gap for toxicity data should be filled for future risk assessment.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.1-11
• /
• 2015

To address recent environmental pollution, bio plastics such as biodegradable, oxo-biodegradable, and bio-based plastics have attracted much attention in a variety of industrial fields. The critical disadvantages of the weak mechanical strength and expensive product cost were gradually solved by extensive researches. As an alternative for petroleum-based plastics, the bio plastics have been applied to various items. To popularize the bio plastics, certification marks and technical standardization have been developed in the world. This article provide an over view on the recent trend on the commercialization and national certification marks.

• Journal of the FoodService Safety
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.10-21
• /
• 2021

According to the analysis which investigated visitors of HACCP system certified stores and non-visitors of such stores on the awareness of HACCP for livestock products, 77.1% (246 pollees) heard of HACCP certification for livestock products, 67.1% (214 pollees) had seen the HACCP certification mark for livestock products, 62.1% (198 pollees) heard of HACCP certification for livestock products in meet retail shops, and 51.4% (164 pollees) were not aware of the recent TV · subway advertisements regarding HACCP certification for livestock products. For every questionnaire on the awareness of HACCP for livestock products, visitors of HACCP system certified stores showed significantly higher response rate than nonvisitors (p<0.01, p<0.001). The majority of pollees (74.9%, 239 pollees) replied that the word HACCP for livestock products brings up the image of safe livestock products, and 37.0% answered that the term HACCP defines 'Hazard analysis critical control point'. Regarding the questions on HACCP system for livestock products, 38.6% showed that they were most curious in terms of the benefits of such system. The demand analysis on HACCP for livestock products for consumer was also conducted. In the analysis, the demand for support of the policy (4.06 points) was higher than demand for education · public promotion of HACCP (4.03 points) and demand for related application (3.90 points).