• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.30 no.9
• /
• pp.2021-2026
• /
• 2009

Toluene, xylene and styrene are volatile organic solvents that are commonly used in mixtures in many industries. Because these solvents are metabolized and then excreted in urine, their urinary metabolites are thought to be biomarkers of occupational exposure to these solvents. Therefore, a simple, rapid, and yet reliable analytical method for determining the metabolites is required for accurate biological monitoring. In the present study, a simple and rapid HPLC-UV method was developed for the simultaneous determination of eight major metabolites of toluene, xylene and styrene: hippuric acid (HA), mandelic acid (MA), o-, m- and p-methylhippuric acids (o-, m- and p-MHAs), and o-, m- and p-cresols. A monolithic column was employed as the stationary phase and several conditions, including flow rate, composition of mobile phase and column temperature, were variables for the optimization of the chromatographic resolution. All eight metabolites were successfully resolved within 5 minutes in 10% aqueous ethanol containing 0.3% acetic acid and 1.6% $\beta$-cyclodextrin, using a flow rate gradient of 1.0 - 5.0 mL/min at 25 ${^{\circ}C}$. The performance of this method was validated by linearity, intra- and inter-day accuracy, and precision. The linearity was observed with correlation coefficients of 0.9998 for HA, 0.9999 for MA, 0.9989 for o-MHA, 0.9998 for m-MHA, 0.9991 for p-MHA, 0.9997 for o-cresol, 0.9998 for m-cresol, and 0.9986 for p-cresol. The intra- and inter-day precision of the method were less than 5.89% (CV) and the accuracy ranged from 92.95 to 106.62%. The validity was further confirmed by analysis of reference samples that were prepared by the inter-laboratory quality assurance program of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA, Seoul, Korea). All measured concentrations of the analytes agreed with the certified values.

• Analytical Science and Technology
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.433-440
• /
• 2006

A HPLC/UV method was developed and validated for the rapid and simultaneous determination of urinary metabolites of organic solvents, mandelic acid, hippuric acid, phenylglyoxylic acid, ortho-, meta- and para-methylhippuric acid, using a monolithic column. The mobile phase was composed of tetrabutylammonium bromide as ion-pairing reagent with a flow rate of 2.4 mL/min. The total run time was less than 2.5 min for all six analytes. Good linearities were obtained for all the metabolites with correlation coefficients above 0.9993. Intra-day precision, accuracy and inter-day precision was 0.01~7.32%, 83.9~116.3% and 0.01~7.16%, respectively. The method was validated and confirmed by quantification of the quality assurance samples of Industrial Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency.

• Industry Promotion Research
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.37-46
• /
• 2023

Due to the aging, advancement, and complexity of chemical facilities, non-routine work such as facility inspection, repair, or maintenance work is increasing. Of the 1,483 accidents that occurred over the past 10 years at chemical product manufacturing sites subject to PSM, accidents that occurred during non-routine work accounted for 56% (932 Cases) of the total. It can be seen that more accidents occur during non-routine work than during routine work. In particular, in order to improve the economy and efficiency of factory operation, there are cases where some facilities are stopped without stopping the entire factory and then inspection, repair, or maintenance work is performed while isolated from the operating facilities. Therefore, first, a safe isolation method must be selected by establishing an isolation standard (Baseline Isolation Standard) based on the chemicals handled, operating conditions, and risk level of the equipment in the chemical plant. Second, since current domestic laws and standards do not suggest the need for specific quarantine standards, it is necessary to institutionalize the preparation of quarantine standards. Technical and institutional improvements are needed to prevent fires, explosions, and poisoning accidents caused by leaks of chemical substances.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.442-453
• /
• 2021

Purpose: The objective of this study is to suggest desirable direction of Korean accident investigation organization by analyzing the operation status and way of overseas developed countries' investigation agency. Method: To accomplish the objective of this study, we were examined four main characteristics of accident investigation agencies of the U.S., Japan, and Sweden, focusing on (1); the background of the establishment, (2);organizational structure, (3);major tasks and functions, (4); accident investigation procedures. Result: First, the purpose of its establishment and task is to prevent recurrence of disasters and accidents, at the same time, administrating and researching duties such as legal system, policy, recommending improvement and conducting scientific disaster-cause analysis to contribute safety for the government. Second, it is operated as an independent organization under the president, not belonging to the ministry, in order to enable fair investigation in an impartial position. Third, it has the authority to be recognized for its expertise in the results of investigation. In other words, it is operated as a permanent organization with professional personnel, and secures authority through the accident research with indepth investigation and high-quality recommendations. Conclusion: The overseas investigation agencies rapidly manage and coordinate their operational practices in order to resolve national requirements and social conflicts with fairness, accuracy and expertise in accident investigations. In order to prevent the recurrence of similar events, Korea needs to efficiently reconstruct its investigative functions distributed by each government department. In addition, institutional improvement is needed to make general adjustments at the national level, organize and operate control tower for when the accident has happened.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.487-499
• /
• 2021

Purpose:The purpose of the paper is to review the problems of performance enhancement of safety certification standards and to suggest directions for improvement in order to rationalize safety certification standards for future industrial development and environmental changes. Method: The problems and limitations of the safety certification system are summarized through literature review and interview with manager, and the status of safety certification standards is classified into design standards, performance standards, and detailed standards, and the status analysis is performed. In addition, by synthesizing the results of the investigation and analysis, improvements are suggested to improve the performance of the safety certification standards. Result: Through the survey, the problems and limitations of safety certification could be grouped into six categories: government-led certification system operation, standardized certification standards, long time required to improve certification, poor certification standards preparation system, and lack of reflection of industry opinions. And, as a result of analyzing the certification standards by dividing them into performance and design standards, in the case of machinery, equipment, and protection devices, the design standards were high at 69.7% and 64.9%, whereas in the case of protective equipment, the performance standards were high at 61.1%. In order to improve the performance of safety certification standards centered on design standards, it is necessary to determine the possibility of performance enhancement of the certification standards and determine the feasibility of the inspection test method. In order to improve performance, it was reviewed that it was necessary to establish a systemic foundation and infrastructure, such as strengthening the Product Liability Act, systematizing market monitoring, etc., distributing certification test tasks, and participating in the preparation of certification standards by the private sector. Conclusion: Through this study, the problems and limitations of Korea's safety certification system were summarized and the necessity for performance improvement was reviewed. Performance improvement of safety certification standards is a matter that requires preparatory work, such as legislative revision and infrastructure construction, and requires mid-to-long-term promotion. In addition, rather than improving the overall safety certification standards, the performance requirements for each item subject to certification should be reviewed and promoted, and details should be specified through additional research.

• Fire Science and Engineering
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.86-93
• /
• 2020

This study aims to maintain the safety of an outdoor storage tank through the fundamental case analysis of explosion and fire accidents in the storage tank. We consider an accident caused by the explosion of fire inside the tank, as a result of the gradual spreading of the residual fire generated by wind lamps flying off a workplace in the storage tank yard. To determine the cause of the accident, atmospheric diffusion conditions were derived through CCTV image analysis, and the wind direction was analyzed using computational fluid dynamics. Additionally, the amount of oil vapor inside the tank when the floating roof was at the lowest position, and the behavior of the vapor inside the tank when the floating roof was at the highest position were investigated. If the cause of the explosion in the storage tank is identified and the level of the storage tank is maintained below the internal floating roof, dangerous liquid fills the storage tank, and the vapor in the space may stagnate on the internal floating roof. We intend to improve the operation procedure such that the level of the storage tank is not under the Pontoon support, as well as provide measures to prevent flames from entering the storage tank by installing a flame arrester in the open vent of the tank.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.445-453
• /
• 2012

The aim of this paper was to prove that if the risk level in combined tasks was improved through evaluation of postural load of liquid weight measurement process, the workload level and ratio of exposure time would be changed, and the time of process would be seen concurrently. Background: According to results of epidemiological studies conducted by Korea Occupational Safety & Health Agency, 122 musculoskeletal disorders occurred during 1992 to 2008, in which manufacturing industry covers 96(78.7%) of total. However, this is an insufficient level and only occupies 39% based on the South Korea's manufacturing standard industrial classification(246 industries). Method: Firstly, the number of batches weighed on one day(460min) was investigated based on the work performed and Weight measured weekly. VCR recording was taken based on the level of liquid ingredients prescribed for 1batch using the Camcorder. After dividing a 356 sec video into 1 sec using the screen capture function in Gom player, the job classification was performed by analyzing the change of working postures, which revealed 148 working postures. Time measurement was decided by time of the postures was being maintained. Then, the REBA analysis was performed for the working postures. The ratio of Exposure time was calculated based on the measurement time and REBA Score. In addition, the recommendations were designed and implementation was carried out for the working postures with REBA Score higher than 3. Finally, after the intervention, REBA measurement, time measurement, and ratio of exposure time were calculated for the comparison of works before and after improvement. Results: The number of work elements was decreased by 30.4% from 148 to 103 after improvement. The results of time measurement showed that the time was reduced by 46.3% from 356 sec to 191 sec. And the ratio of exposure time was also improved by 52.1% from 0% to 52.1% after improvement. Conclusion: The reduction of time was found to improve the productivity of management. Furthermore, because the reduction of ratio of exposure time and the improvement of workload level are the improvement of discomfort, it would contribute to the improvement of the worker's psychological working posture. Application: These results would contribute to musculoskeletal disease prevention and management performance. Further studies for other industries would be needed based on this case study.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.342-352
• /
• 2020

Objectives: The characteristics of research workers are different from those working in the manufacturing industry. Furthermore, the reagents used change according to the research due to the characteristics of the laboratory, and the amounts used vary. In addition, since the working time changes almost every day, it is difficult to adjust the time according to exposure standards. There are also difficulties in setting standards as in the manufacturing industry since laboratory environments and the types of experiments performed are all different. For these reasons, the measurement of the working environment of research workers is not realistically carried out within the legal framework, there is a concern that the accuracy of measurement results may be degraded, and there are difficulties in securing data. The exposure evaluation based on an eight-hour time-weighted average used for measuring the working environment to be studied in this study may not be appropriate, but it was judged and consequently applied as the most suitable method among the recognized test methods. Methods: The investigation of the use of chemical substances in the research laboratory, which is the subject of this study, was conducted in the order of carrying out work environment measurement, sample analysis, and result analysis. In the case of the use of chemical substances, after organizing the substances to be measured in the working environment, the research workers were asked to write down the status, frequency, and period of use. Work environment measurement and sample analysis were conducted by a recognized test method, and the results were compared with the exposure standards (TWA: time weighted average value) for chemical substances and physical factors. Results: For the substances subject to work environment measurement, the department of chemical engineering was the most exposed, followed by the department of chemistry. This can lead to exposure to a variety of chemicals in departmental laboratories that primarily deal with chemicals, including acetone, hydrogen peroxide, nitric acid, sodium hydroxide, and normal hexane. Hydrogen chloride was measured higher than the average level of domestic work environment measurements. This can suggest that researchers in research activities should also be managed within the work environment measurement system. As a result of a comparison between the professional science and technology service industry and the education service industry, which are the most similar business types to university research laboratories among the domestic work environment measurements provided by the Korea Safety and Health Agency, acetone, dichloromethane, hydrogen peroxide, sodium hydroxide, nitric acid, normal hexane, and hydrogen chloride are items that appear higher than the average level. This can also be expressed as a basis for supporting management within the work environment measurement system. Conclusions: In the case of research activity workers' work environment measurement and management, specific details can be presented as follows. When changing projects and research, work environment measurement is carried out, and work environment measurement targets and methods are determined by the measurement and analysis method determined by the Ministry of Employment and Labor. The measurement results and exposure standards apply exposure standards for chemical substances and physical factors by the Ministry of Employment and Labor. Implementation costs include safety management expenses and submission of improvement plans when exposure standards are exceeded. The results of this study were presented only for the measurement of the working environment among the minimum health management measures for research workers, but it is necessary to prepare a system to improve the level of safety and health.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
• /
• v.7 no.2 s.19
• /
• pp.33-41
• /
• 2003

There exists high hazard when transporting LPG as well as using, storing, and producing. For small scale LPG consumer, retailers deliver LPG to customers via a truck loading many LPG cylinders. Suppose there occurred a accident during LPG cylinder transfer, this could result in serious damages to the life and properties in the near or neighbor of the accident spot. In this regard, we made a quantitative risk analysis to estimate the possible damages and the probability through the identification of accidents causes and the simulation of the possible scenario. In this study, we made the Excel & Visual Basic computer program to perform quantitative LPG accident analysis. The simulation showed the following results. In case of UVCE(Unconfined Vapor Cloud Explosion), the effect within l0m of the accident spot showed very severe structural damages and even the accident can break the window glasses of the area of 150 m apart from accident spot. In case of TNT corresponding probit analysis, after 10 minutes LPG leaking, $75\%$ window glasses of 40 m distance was expected to be broken. And $16\%$ frames of 20m distance, $10\%$ frames of 40m distance was expected to be collapsed.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2013

Purpose: This study is conducted to evaluate the job stressors for opticians in Ulsan city. Methods: We investigated job stress of 180 opticians working in Ulsan. The results of this study from The Korean standard job stressors assessment tool developed by Korea occupational safety and health agency (KOSHA) was compared with Korean reference value. The questionnaire on the social, demographic characteristics of opticians was also used to find the factors affecting to job stressors by using multiple linear regression analysis. Results: Among the eight fields of stressors, the interpersonal conflict (the median value; 33.4, the measurements; men; 38.8, women; 41.5) and company culture (the median; 41.7, the measurements; men; 47.4, women; 49.3) were higher than the median value of the Korean workers. By multiple linear regression analysis, the significant factors to the interpersonal conflict were the duty, working hours, unmarried, average salary. In terms of the company culture, last school, rest day of month, job career, average salary and working hours were significantly associated to the score of company culture. Conclusions: Based on the results, important factor in the formation of a positive organizational culture through to improve treatment of opticians investigation and mutual horizontal communication systems in the workplace for the manage on interpersonal conflict and company culture.