• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.53-58
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• 2018

Background: Since the Republic of Korea became a labor-force-importing country, the number of foreign workers has increased gradually, especially in the construction industry. The main objective of this study was to examine the differences in safety perception between domestic and foreign workers at Korean construction sites. Methods: A total of 891 Korean and foreign workers were surveyed: 140 foreign and 751 Korean workers. The general characteristics and 25 factors influencing safety perception were considered in the questionnaire. Regression and correlation analyses were conducted to examine the variables of workers' safety perception. Results: Differences of nationality (F = 7.379, p < 0.001) and workplace accidents were statistically significant for both domestic (F = 1.503, p < 0.05) and foreign workers (F = 7.868, p < 0.05). In contrast, age, education, and Korean language level were significant variables only for foreign workers. Correlation coefficients of $0.428^{**}$ for Korean and 0.148 for foreign workers between two items - namely, "management's commitment to safety" and "blaming staff when they make mistakes" - support the conclusion that foreign workers do not trust management's commitment to safety, while Korean workers have confidence in these commitments. Conclusion: Foreign workers' level of safety perception should rise to the same level as Korean workers, especially in terms of obeying safety rules, safety education performance, and safety beliefs. Therefore, an improvement plan for the Korean construction industry is suggested in order to have a better safety level at construction sites with foreign workers.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.437-444
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• 2019

Background: Headache/eyestrain symptoms are common health problems that people experience in daily life. Various studies have examined risk factors contributing to headache/eyestrains, and physicochemical exposure was found to be a leading risk factor in causing such symptoms. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of headache/eyestrain symptoms with physicochemical exposure among Korean construction workers depended on worksite. Methods: This study used data from the 4th Korean Workers Conditions Survey and selected 1,945 Korean construction workers as participants. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine the relationship. Results: Exposure to vibrations among all construction workers affected the moderate exposure group [odds ratio (OR) 1.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-2.32], the high exposure group (OR 1.77 95%CI 1.17-2.67), and the indoor high exposure group (OR 1.61, 95%CI 1.02-2.55) and among outdoor construction workers, the moderate group (OR 6.61, 95%CI 15.4-28.48) and the high group (OR 6.61, 95%CI 1.56-27.98). When exposed to mist, dust, and fumes, the indoor high exposure group was significantly affected (OR 1.63, 95%CI 1.07-2.47). All construction workers exposed to organic solvents were affected, high exposure group (OR 1.69, 95%CI 1.15-2.49) and indoor high exposure group (OR 1.77, 95%CI 1.08-2.89). The high exposure group in all construction worker (OR 1.70, 95%CI 1.20-2.42) and the indoor high exposure group (OR 1.83, 95%CI 1.17-2.89) also were affected by secondhand smoking exposure. Conclusion: Many physicochemical exposure factors affect headache/eyestrain symptoms among construction workers, especially indoor construction workers, suggesting a deficiency in occupational hygiene and health environments at indoor construction worksites.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2015.10a
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• pp.142-146
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• 2015

Human resources development is considered a critical issue for improving productivity of workers in construction industry. The aim of this study is to identify and rank the key motivating factors that impact skilled workers productivity according to their relative importance. A total of 27 factors were identified through a literature review, which were categorized into 2 group financial and un-financial motivators. A questionnaire instrument was adopted in this study. The study revealed that the most significant group which affected skilled workers' productivity in construction projects was financial group with the recognition of the un-financial group importance. The results emphasized that the financial group has an edge over the un-financial group which reflect the priority of need for the respondents. The results indicated that the un-financial group represents a backbone in its importance after the financial group which reflects that un-financial factors can improve productivity. The findings showed that the provision of companies to safety conditions factor such as protective safety clothing and protective equipment was ranked very low by the respondents. This is due to the dominant culture of the workers as well as the lack of their awareness regarding their own safety and lack of companies' interest in safety and health for workers. Construction companies are advised to take the key motivating factors obtained from the results of this study into serious consideration in order to improve the satisfaction of their workers and improve their productivity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2014.11a
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• pp.102-103
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• 2014

Today, the potential safety risk is increased due to a construction industry is high-rised, mechanized, and complexed. Most workers injured in accident caused by lack of safety awareness. Therefore the safety education is focused in construction site, but it can not get workers' interest and has many problems to reduce construction accident. This study investigated the effects of education used BIM intended for workers in construction site to verify the objective effectiveness in future.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.568-578
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• 2021

Purpose: TThis study seeks to understand the provisions of the Industrial Safety and Health Act and the Construction Technology Promotion Act and to propose measures to prevent serious industrial accidents by seeking to promote safety and health of workers through improvement of safety management at construction sites. Method: A survey was conducted on construction sites with more than 50 permanent workers (5 billion won in construction amount). The analysis of the data was conducted using the JAMOVI statistics program and based on objective data. Result: Multiple regression analysis was conducted to verify the hypothesis of this study, and the results of the analysis. The participation of workers in safety and health activities has the highest impact on the promotion of safety and health of workers. Conclusion: In order to promote safety and health of workers at construction sites, compliance with safety and health rules of workers is required and improvements should be made to allow workers to participate in safety and health activities.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.9-18
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• 2011

Daily workers in construction sites rarely receive the benefit of systematic safety and health training as they are required to move from one construction site to another in response to the start, completion, and repetition of construction works. Also, small- to medium-sized construction sites often lack the capacity to train their workers. Therefore, as in the advanced countries, basic OSH training sheme for construction workers should be conducted in the industrial-level, rather than in individual workplace-level, to make the training more effective. By doing so, only workers with the basic safety training will be able to engage in construction works. Consequently, accidents in the construction industry will decrease, as workers themselves who are at the forefront of the construction worksites are empowered to play the central role in accident prevention activities.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2020.11a
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• pp.63-64
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to find out how construction sites workers experience adaptation processes in relation to the prevention of safety accidents in the workplace through the method of grounded theory. In order to understand the experience of preventing safety accidents of workers at construction sites, a grounded theory analysis method was chosen. In order to achieve the purpose of this study, the first questionnaire was sent to 17 people working in the construction site by e-mail, and the participants of the study were met one by one for in-depth interviews. As a result of this study, the paradigm model of the experience of preventing safety accidents of workers at construction sites was classified into causal conditions, contextual conditions, central phenomena, intervening conditions, action/interactions, and outcomes. The conclusions of this study are as follows. First, forming a safety culture that can improve the safety awareness of construction sites is a priority. Second, it is necessary to improve self-management capabilities so that construction workers can accurately diagnose their current state such as their own body, emotion, and cognition and provide appropriate safety education. Third, providing safety education for construction workers with negative thoughts or distorted beliefs about safety accidents needs to include psychological treatment and counseling, such as methods of emotional purification, methods of relieving and managing stress, and methods of removing trauma.

• Proceedings of the Safety Management and Science Conference
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.81-91
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• 2010

Daily workers in construction sites rarely receive the benefit of systematic safety and health training as they are required to move from one construction site to another in response to the start, completion, and repetition of construction works. Also, small- to medium-sized construction sites often lack the capacity to train their workers. Therefore, as in the advanced countries, basic safety training system for construction workers should be conducted in the industrial-level, rather than in individual workplace-level, to make the training more effective. By doing so, only workers with the basic safety training will be able to engage in construction works. Consequently, accidents in the construction industry will decrease, as workers themselves who are at the forefront of the construction worksites are empowered to play the central role in accident prevention activities.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.1237-1241
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• 2009

With the average life expectancy increasing thanks to better standards of living and medical technology, the number of elderly construction workers in construction sites rises every year to surpass the 450 thousand people in the construction industry (24.7% of all employees in the construction industry). Similarly, the percentage of fatal accidents involving elderly workers has stood at 41~46 percent for the past five years; note that this is significantly higher than the other age groups, making safety measures for dealing with this issue a matter of urgency. This study sought to propose appropriate safety guidelines for elderly construction workers aged 50 years and over by examining the changes in their physical and psychological functions and through the subsequent analysis of the current status and causes of fatal accidents involving them. The guidelines targeted ferroconcrete construction where accidents occur quite often; construction was classified into mold construction, reinforcing rod construction, and concrete construction. Mold construction was further classified into preparation, carry-in, processing, assembly, and disassembly, and reinforcing rod construction, into preparation/transport and processing/assembly. Safety guidelines for each process were presented by dividing them into three aspects considering the changes in the physical and psychological functions according to their ages and type of accident causes: work environment improvement, machinery and equipment improvement, and work method improvement.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.50-59
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• 2009

Korea reached an aging society in 2000, and it is progressed quickly now. Government forecasts that the number of aged people over 65 years old will increase from 7.2%(2000) to above 14.3% among total population in 2018. Workers over fifty years old are increasing in construction field every year. These aged workers are exposed to various construction accidents, and also their accident rate is very high because of physical and psychological changes by aging. Specially, a disaster of aged workers more than 50 years old is fronted at the serious situation in the construction industry which has variable working environment. Thus, the purpose of this study is to suggest the precaution by analysing disaster characteristics of aged construction workers. Also, this study aims to present a basic counter-plan according to important safety management list which is abstracted from the work, aged construction workers' accident rate is high.