• Title/Summary/Keyword: Fatalities

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A Study on Setting Up National Railway Safety Target (국가철도안전목표 설정방안 연구)

  • Kwak, Sang-Log
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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    • v.14 no.3
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    • pp.295-299
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    • 2011
  • According to the national railway safety plan 1 billion US$ have been invested in railway industry every year. As a result, railway accident rate has been reduce to half recent 6 years. Currently, Korea has 3 kinds of national railway safety target, which are accident fatalities, train accident rate, and passenger fatality per passenger kilometer. Increase of railway passengers and train operating companies force to set up new safety target. Current safety target cannot reflect train operator's safety activities because they include suicide and trespass related accidents, which are hard to be controlled by the operators. In order to reflect to the national railway safety plan, new safety targets are proposed in this study.

Automated Systems and Trust: Mineworkers' Trust in Proximity Detection Systems for Mobile Machines

  • Swanson, LaTasha R.;Bellanca, Jennica L.;Helton, Justin
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.10 no.4
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    • pp.461-469
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    • 2019
  • Background: Collisions involving workers and mobile machines continue to be a major concern in underground coal mines. Over the last 30 years, these collisions have resulted in numerous injuries and fatalities. Recently, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) proposed a rule that would require mines to equip mobile machines with proximity detection systems (PDSs) (systems designed for automated collision avoidance). Even though this regulation has not been enacted, some mines have installed PDSs on their scoops and hauling machines. However, early implementation of PDSs has introduced a variety of safety concerns. Past findings show that workers' trust can affect technology integration and influence unsafe use of automated technologies. Methods: Using a mixed-methods approach, the present study explores the effect that factors such as mine of employment, age, experience, and system type have on workers' trust in PDSs for mobile machines. The study also explores how workers are trained on PDSs and how this training influences trust. Results: The study resulted in three major findings. First, the mine of employment had a significant influence on workers' trust in mobile PDSs. Second, hands-on and classroom training was the most common types of training. Finally, over 70% of workers are trained on the system by the mine compared with 36% trained by the system manufacturer. Conclusion: The influence of workers' mine of employment on trust in PDSs may indicate that practitioners and researchers may need to give the organizational and physical characteristics of each mine careful consideration to ensure safe integration of automated systems.

Traffic Accident Prediction Model by Freeway Geometric Types (고속도로 선형조건별 교통사고 위험도 평가모형 개발 (호남고속도로를 중심으로))

  • 강정규;이성관
    • Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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    • v.20 no.4
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    • pp.163-175
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    • 2002
  • Fatalities from traffic accidents constitute one of the major health issues as well as safety ones in Korea. It has been reported that traffic accident is affected by the combined effects of road. vehicle. and human factors. Over the past few decades, a number of studies have been conducted to find the impact of road geometric factors on traffic safety. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of road geometric factors on traffic safety on Korean expressways. Detailed geometric design data were available from Korea Highway Corporation. Five-year traffic accident data on Honam expressway were collected and analyzed. It was found that following geometric factors influence traffic safety on expressways : radius of curve, curve length, and length of straight section. Furthermore, the existence of I.C. turned out to have a significant impact on traffic safety level. Based on the data analysis several multiple regression forms that relate traffic accident frequencies and geometric factors on expressways are developed.

Risk free zone study for cylindrical objects dropped into the water

  • Xiang, Gong;Birk, Lothar;Li, Linxiong;Yu, Xiaochuan;Luo, Yong
    • Ocean Systems Engineering
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    • v.6 no.4
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    • pp.377-400
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    • 2016
  • Dropped objects are among the top ten causes of fatalities and serious injuries in the oil and gas industry (DORIS, 2016). Objects may accidentally fall down from platforms or vessels during lifting or any other offshore operation. Proper planning of lifting operations requires the knowledge of the risk-free zone on the sea bed to protect underwater structures and equipment. To this end a three-dimensional (3D) theory of dynamic motion of dropped cylindrical object is expanded to also consider ocean currents. The expanded theory is integrated into the authors' Dropped Objects Simulator (DROBS). DROBS is utilized to simulate the trajectories of dropped cylinders falling through uniform currents originating from different directions (incoming angle at $0^{\circ}$, $90^{\circ}$, $180^{\circ}$, and $270^{\circ}$). It is found that trajectories and landing points of dropped cylinders are greatly influenced by the direction of current. The initial conditions after the cylinders have fallen into the water are treated as random variables. It is assumed that the corresponding parameters orientation angle, translational velocity, and rotational velocity follow normal distributions. The paper presents results of DROBS simulations for the case of a dropped cylinder with initial drop angle at $60^{\circ}$ through air-water columns without current. Then the Monte Carlo simulations are used for predicting the landing point distributions of dropped cylinders with varying drop angles under current. The resulting landing point distribution plots may be used to identify risk free zones for offshore lifting operations.

Influence of a community of buildings on tornadic wind fields

  • Li, Zhi;Honerkamp, Ryan;Yan, Guirong;Feng, Ruoqiang
    • Wind and Structures
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    • v.30 no.2
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    • pp.165-180
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    • 2020
  • To determine tornadic wind loads, the wind pressure, forces and moments induced by tornadoes on civil structures have been studied. However, in most previous studies, only the individual building of interest was included in the wind field, which may be suitable to simulate the case where a tornado strikes rural areas. The statistical data has indicated that tornadoes induce more significant fatalities and property loss when they attack densely populated areas. To simulate this case, all buildings in the community of interest should be included in the wind field. However, this has been rarely studied. To bridge this research gap, this study will systematically investigate the influence of a community of buildings on tornadic wind fields by modeling all buildings in the community into the wind field (designated as "the Community case under tornadic winds"). For comparison, the case in which only a single building is included in the tornadic wind field (designated as "the Single-building case under tornadic winds") and the case where a community of buildings are included in the equivalent straight-line wind field (designated as "the Community case under straight-line winds") are also simulated. The results demonstrate that the presence of a number of buildings completely destroys the pattern of regular circular strips in the distribution of tangential velocity and pressure on horizontal planes. Above the roof height, the maximum tangential velocity is lower in the Community case under tornadic winds than that in the Single-building case under tornadic winds because of the higher surface friction in the Community case; below the roof height, greater tangential velocity and pressure are observed in the Community case under tornadic wind fields, and more unfavorable conditions are observed in the Community case under tornadic winds than under the equivalent straight-line winds.

Pesticide Poisoning Deaths Detected at the National Forensic Service Headquarters in Seoul of Korea: A Five-Year Survey (2005-2009)

  • Lee, Sang-Ki;Rhee, Jong-Sook;Jung, Jin-Mi;Lee, Han-Sun
    • Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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    • v.25 no.4
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    • pp.263-271
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    • 2010
  • Objectives : The records of 447 pesticide poisoning deaths from the National Forensic Service (NFS) headquarters located in Seoul of Korea from 2005 to 2009 were retrospectively reviewed. Methods : The data of each case were analyzed by using the SPSS program. Results : The mean age was $57.8{\pm}14.8$ years and the range was 16-92 years. The numbers of deaths of males and females were 301 and 134, respectively. The largest number of cases occurred in people aged 50-59 years (n=92, 20.6%) followed by the age groups 40-49 years (n=91, 20.4%), 60-69 years (n=88, 19.7%), and 70-79 years (n=75, 16.8%). The total number of deaths among other age groups (10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 80-89, and 90-99 years) was 73, representing only 16.3%. Of all pesticide poisoning deaths, 96.2% were due to suicide, and 28.4% of the total number who died received medical treatment. The mostfrequent site of ingestion was the person's own residence (n=279, 62.4%). The most common classes of pesticide were bipyridylium herbicide (paraquat, 31.1%), organophosphate insecticide (21.7%), and carbamate insecticide (15.4%). The major pesticides having a high proportion of fatalities were paraquat (31.1%), methomyl (11.4%), glyphosate (9.1%), dichlorvos (5.6%), phosphamidon (4.6%), and methidathion (4.0%). Conclusions : This study showed that poisoning deaths due to pesticides are one of the major public health problems in Korea. Enforcement of regulations and safety education to prevent pesticide poisoning should be carried out by the government.

Performance Analysis and Improvement of National Fire Safety Code elements of Sprinkler System (스프링클러설비의 화재안전기준 요소의 성능분석 및 개선방안)

  • Oh, Taekhum;Lee, Jungil
    • Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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    • v.9 no.4
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    • pp.413-422
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    • 2013
  • This study evaluated the fire safety code elements through analyze the loss of life when the fire occurred in the facility sprinklers installed evaluated. And through comparison with national fire safety code elements and standards of NFPA 13 in the United States, Was looking for ways to improve for Life and property damage. In the United States, in some cases, if you do not install the sprinkler are installed as per the fire death rate compared to 83 % lower. By contrast, If the domestic rate of 280 % fatalities were 3.37 times than the United States. This lack of fire performance were analyzed uniform occupancy classification, the amount of source of water supply, live not consider the density according to the standard number and the horizontal distance that causes the installation of sprinkler facilities were analyzed.

The Effects of Driving Behavior Determinants on Dangerous Driving and Traffic Accidents in the Reckless Drivers Group: A Path Analysis Study (사고 및 음주운전자들의 운전행동결정요인 특성이 위험행동 및 교통사고에 미치는 영향: 경로분석 연구)

  • O, Ju-Seok;Lee, Sun-Cheol
    • Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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    • v.25 no.2 s.95
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    • pp.95-105
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    • 2007
  • Speeding and drunken driving make drivers fail to detect hazards and cope with various driving situations. These behaviors also raise the possibility of being involved in traffic accidents and tend to increase the number of fatalities. The authors compared the driving behavior determinants of a rockless drivers group, consisting of individuals who have committed traffic accidents or offended regulations through drunken driving, with a normal drivers group. In the results, the reckless drivers group showed high scores of 'speeding' and 'drunken driving', and they also stated that they had more experiences of speeding, drunken driving and traffic accidents. In the path analysis study, it was found that the impacts of the rockless drivers group's 'risk sensitivity' and 'situational adaptability' on traffic accidents were stronger than those of normal drivers. This means 'risk sensitivity' and 'situational adaptability' can explain the origins of traffic accidents better in the reckless drivers group than accidents of the normal drivers group.

A Literature Review on the Health Status of Korean Workers under the Japanese Colonialism (일제하 근로자의 건강상태에 관한 문헌고찰)

  • Kim, Chang-Yeop;Moon, Ok-Ryun
    • 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.

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A Review on the Classification of Skin Toxicity Hazards Due to Skin Contact with Chemical Substances (화학물질 피부접촉에 의한 피부독성 유해성 분류에 관한 고찰)

  • Kwon, Buhyun;Jo, Jihoon;Lee, Dohee
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.28 no.2
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    • pp.175-189
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    • 2018
  • Objectives: In this study, we analyze statistics on industrial accidents caused by chemical skin contact and provide skin toxicity hazard information on the related domestic system and circulation volumes. Methods and Results: We analyzed occupational fatalities and skin diseases caused by chemical leaks and contact from 2007 to 2016(10 years) and surveyed data on occupational skin diseases using the 2014 work environment survey data. The NIOSH Skin Notation Profiles for 57 chemical substances, which are provided to prevent occupational skin diseases, were searched and hazard information on skin contact with chemical substances was classified. In order to identify skin toxicity information among domestically distributed and legally regulated substances and to investigate skin-toxic substances, MSDS basic data on 19,740 chemical substances provided on the homepage of Korea Occupational Safety & Health Agency were searched. Acute toxicity(dermal) category 1-4 substances totaled 1,020, and the number of chemical substances classified as category 1 and 2 substances were 135 and 137, respectively. In the chemical substances prescribed by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, 173 substances were classified into acute toxicity(dermal) categories 1-4, 58 of which correspond to category 1 or 2. Conclusions: Within the present range of industrial accidents, the proportion of skin diseases due to contact with chemicals is not high. However, there is always a risk of occupational skin diseases due to increasing chemicals and due to the use of new chemicals. It is hoped that this information will be used by workplace safety and health officials and health and safety experts to prevent acute toxity(dermal) due to chemical skin contact.