• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.322-334
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• 2007

This study covers the investigation of the actual condition in the workplace to produce plastics products using synthetic resins and the investigation on the trends amount of the domestic production of thermoplastic resins. To analyze the monomers included in thermoplastic resins frequently used in the workplace, we analyzed thermal characteristics for test compounds using thermogravimetric analysis and did the qualitative analysis using Pyrolyzer GC-MSD & TDS GC-MSD. And then we classified the health hazard of monomers based on GHS classification criteria using information toxicity & carcinogenicity. The number of the workplace to produce plastics products among all domestic manufacturers of 73,884 was 4,391 (5.94%). The number of workers to produce plastics products among all workers of 2,522,750 in all domestic manufacturers was 104,971 (4.16%). The amount of production per year for thermoplastic resins is in the order of PP, HDPE, LDPE, PVC, ABS, PS and such compounds was producing over 1 Million ton per year each. The classification result based on GHS classification criteria for 22 main compounds included thermoplastic resins says 2 compounds of acrylonitrile, naphthalene are in Acute oral category 3 and benzene is in Acute dermal category 1. The classification results of health hazard of carcinogenicity based on IARC & ACGIH carcinogen classification says 2 compounds of benzene, vinyl chloride are in category 1A (known to be human carcinogens).

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.109-123
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• 2000

Inhaled halogen compound was examined through micronucleus tests and toxicity tests using SD (Sprague-Dawley) rats with repeated dosages for six hours a day, five days a week, during four weeks. In four-week repeated exposure, no specific sign caused by the $CF_3I$ compound was observed on the clinical symptoms, body weight variation, feed consumption, and urinalysis data in the testing groups with reference to the control group. In hematological and biochemical blood tests of the testing groups, the significant, but in their normal ranges, value dependencies of glucose, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and etc., on the halogen carbohydride concentration was observed. In histo-pathological tests, no specific lesion or concentration dependent change due to the $CF_3I$ compound dosage was observed in both sexes of the female and male in the tested animals. But, micronucleus tests on marrow cells extracted from the tested animals which were repeatedly exposed in the $CF_3I$ compound during four weeks, the frequencies of micronuclei were significantly increased dose-dependently compared to the control groups.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.290-295
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• 2017

Background: Safety climate and occupational stress are related with occupational accident. The present study tried to identify the differences in safety climate and occupational stress according to occupational accidents experience and employment type (e.g., direct workers and subcontract workers). Methods: In this study, we conducted a survey using safety climate scale and Korean Occupational Stress Scale and classified the participants into four groups: direct workers working for accident-free departments, direct workers working for accident departments, subcontract workers working for accident-free departments, and subcontract workers working for accident departments for 2 years within the same workplace in the shipbuilding industry. Results: The direct workers and subcontract workers showed diverse results in subscales of safety climate and occupational stress. This result is supported by existing studies; however, further study is necessary for more supporting evidence and elaborative methodological approach. Conclusion: The necessity of management for safety climate and psychosocial factor such as occupational stress for both direct workers and subcontract workers as a whole is suggested by this study.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.464-470
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• 2023

Objectives: This study evaluated occupational exposures to noise and heat stress during routine non-outage works in three coal-fired power plants in the Republic of Korea. Methods: The data were collected during the summer of 2020. Full shift noise exposure of 52 workers were measured using noise dosimeters. Heat stress of 16 worksites were measured for 70 minutes using wet-bulb globe temperature monitors. Results: The noise dosimetry results revealed time-weighted averages that ranged from 47.5 to 88.9 dBA. 2 out of 52 noise measurements exceeded 85 dBA. Based on the arithmetic mean, the coal service group showed the highest level at 80.2 dBA by job tasks. Noise exposures exceeding 85 dBA were measured in the coal service and plant operator group. Heat stress index measurements ranged from 20.3℃ to 37.2℃. 1 out of 9 indices measured in coal facilities and 4 out of 7 indices measured in boiler house exceeded 1 hour TWA during moderate work. Heat stress indices measured from boiler houses were significantly higher than those measured from coal equipment. Conclusions: The results show that overexposure to noise and heat stress may be encountered during routine non-outage work activities in coal-fired power plants. Appropriate actions should be taken to reduce future health outcome from occupational exposure to noise and heat stress in the industry.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.587-612
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• 2014

Objectives: There is requirement to select candidate materials for chronic inhalation/carcinogenicity testing, so we would like to set the priority of candidate materials. Methods and Results: We recommend the priorities for candidate materials based on the chemicals stipulated in the Occupational Safety and Health Act(OSHAct) and the Toxic Chemicals Control Act(TCCA) in Korea. Conclusions: We presented candidate chemicals consisting of solids(powders), gases and liquids(Such as organic solvents) with priorities.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.278-286
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• 2012

Objectives: Authors investigated the pattern of the rate of occupational injuries and illnesses (ROII) at the level of enterprises in order to build a network for exchange of experience and knowledge, which would contribute to workers' safety and health through safety climate of workplace. Methods: Occupational accidents were analyzed at the manufacturing work site unit. A two step clustering process for the past patterns regarding the ROII from 2001 to 2009 was investigated. The ROII patterns were categorized based on regression analysis and the patterns were further divided according to the subtle changes with Mahalanobis distance and Ward's linkage. Results: The first clustering of ROII through regression analysis showed 5 different functions; 29 work sites of the linear function, 50 sites of the quadratic function, 95 sites of the logarithm function, 62 sites of the exponential function, and 54 sites of the sine function. Fourteen clusters were created in the second clustering. There were 3 clusters in each function categorized in the first clustering except for sine function. Each cluster consisted of the work sites with similar ROII patterns, which had unique characteristics. Conclusion: The five different patterns of ROII suggest that tailored management activities should be applied to every work site. Based on these differences, the authors selected exemplary work sites and built a network to help the work sites to share information on safety climate and accident prevention measures. The causes of different patterns of ROII, building network and evaluation of this management model should be evaluated as future researches.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.322-326
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• 2017

In 1992, the quality control program was introduced in Republic of Korea to improve the reliability of the work environment monitoring, which was introduced in the 1980s. The commission entrusted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute has conducted the program for industrial hygiene laboratories including designated monitoring institutions and spontaneously participating agencies. The number of institutions that participated in the program has increased from 30 to 161. The initial conformance ratio in the participants was 43% (organic solvents) and 52% (metals). Thereafter, the conformance ratio increased rapidly and it has remained in a stable state at more than 89% since 1996. As subject materials, 13 kinds of organic solvents and 7 kinds of metals were used. To improve the capability of measurement and analysis of private institutions, educational courses were conducted annually. An assessment at the actual sites of participants was additionally introduced into the program in 2013. Thus, the program turned into a system that administrates the overall process of participants. For the future, the scope of target materials will be extended through additional items. Thus, the reliability of the results of the work environment monitoring is expected to increase accordingly.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.17-25
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• 2009

This study was aimed to analyze of characteristics of Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) based on the industrial accident statistics which were extracted from the Ministry of Labor. In this study all MSDs cases in 2007, 7,723 cases, were investigated. First of all, for the analysis of a wide view point concerning the characteristics of MSDs, We have inspected characteristics of the user population (i.e. age, gender, employed periods, etc.). Secondly, work-related risk factors such as repetitive motions, awkward postures, manual material handling were analyzed in terms of disease code, injured part of body, types of business, etc. Next, characteristics of handling of heavy materials were analyzed according to weight, types of handling, agency of cause, etc. Finally, we have compared and analyzed the features between the period of hospitalization and other variables. In addition to that we also conducted statistics analysis. The study results showed that there were significant characteristics of MSDs that could be used as basis data for the MSDs prevention policy.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.315-317
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• 2017

We present the case of a 45-year-old man with a history of benzene exposure who developed splenic marginal zone lymphoma. For 6 years, he had worked in an enclosed space cleaning instruments with benzene. He was diagnosed with splenic marginal zone lymphoma 19 years after retirement. During his time of working in the laboratory in the 1980s, working environments were not monitored for hazardous materials. We indirectly estimated the cumulative level of past benzene exposure using job-exposure matrices and technical assumptions. Care must be taken in investigating the relevance of occupational benzene exposure in the occurrence of indolent B-cell lymphoma. Because of the long latency period and because occupational measurement data do not exist for the period during the patient's exposure, the epidemiological impact of benzene exposure may be underestimated.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.336-347
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• 2011

Objectives: In Korea, an average of 258 workers claim compensation for their noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) on an annual basis. Indeed, hearing disorder ranks first in the number of diagnoses made by occupational medical check-ups. Against this backdrop, this study analyzed the impact of 19 types of noise-generating machines and equipment on the sound pressure levels in workplaces and NIHL occurrence based on a 2009 national survey on work environments. Methods: Through this analysis, a series of statistical models were built to determine posterior probabilities for each worksite with an aim to present risk ratings for noise levels at work. Results: It was found that air compressors and grinding machines came in first and second, respectively in the number of installed noise-generating machines and equipment. However, there was no direct relationship between workplace noise and NIHL among workers since noise-control equipment and protective gear had been in place. By building a logistic regression model and neural network, statistical models were set to identify the influence of the noise-generating machines and equipment on workplace noise levels and NIHL occurrence. Conclusion: This study offered NIHL prevention measures which are fit for the worksites in each risk grade.