• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.119-129
• /
• 2011

Purpose: This study firstly examined the pattern and prevalence of drinking. Secondly, we investigated the association between various psychosocial work environment and problem drinking among Korean male workers in different age groups. Methods: The study sample was a weighted population of 3,289 (3,289 survey samples) men aged 20 to 64 years who responded to the 2006 Korean Working Condition Survey. Social support from colleague and supervisor, work autonomy, psychological wellbeing at work, and intellectual and emotional work demand were assessed. Results: After considering sociodemographic factors, smoking, occupational characteristics and other psychosocial work environment factors, problem drinking was associated with "intellectual work demand" for the 20~34 year old group. Social support from colleague and supervisor was significantly associated with problem drinking in the 35~49 year old group. For the 50~64 year old group, problem drinking was associated with 'work autonomy'. Conclusion: The present study clarified that certain psychosocial work environmental factors relate to problem drinking, and the association varies among different age groups.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.1-5
• /
• 2016

Background: Several studies have investigated the relationship between specific occupations and suicide mortality, as suicide rates differ by profession. The aim of this study was to investigate suicide mortality ratios across broad occupational groups in Greece for both sexes in the period 2000-2009. Methods: Data of suicide deaths were retrieved from the Hellenic Statistical Authority and comparative mortality ratios were calculated. Occupational classification was based on the International Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88) and the coding for Intentional self-harm (X60-X84) was based on the international classification of diseases (ICD-10). Results: Male dominant occupations, mainly armed forces, skilled farmers and elementary workers, and female high-skilled occupations were seen as high risk groups for suicide in a period of 10 years. The age-productive group of 30-39 years in Greek male elementary workers and the 50-59 age-productive group of Greek professional women proved to have the most elevated number of suicide deaths. Conclusion: Further research is needed into the work-related stressors of occupations with high suicide mortality risk and focused suicide prevention strategies should be applied within vulnerable working age populations.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.25 no.4 s.40
• /
• pp.374-385
• /
• 1992

Some circadian rhythms can become disorgnized due to rotating shift work. This lack of organization, termed desynchronization, can produce a group of symptoms such as insomnia, GI disturbance and fatigue among many rotating shift workers. The magnitude of these symptoms are influenced by personal and environmental factors and the patterns of shift work. This study was carried out to investigate the subjective symptoms related to rotational schedules of shift work after personal and environmental factors adjusted. 182 male workers in rapidly rotating shift system and 86 male workers in weekly rotating shift system were conducted the questionnaire on personal factors and subjective sleep, GI and fatigue symptoms. Major findings obtained from this study are as follows: 1. The symptoms of 'feeling tired at work' and 'being irritable' were more frequent in weekly rotating shift workers (P<0.05), and the mean of symptom score was significantly higher in weekly rotating shift workers(P<0.01). 2. According to 6 hours of sleeping which is a definite elevation point of fatigue, there was not a significant difference between two groups in sleeping hours. Among workers in rapidly rotating shift system, the mean of symptom score was significatly higher in workers of less than 6 hours of sleeping(P<0.05), but it was not different among weekly rotating shift workers. 3. The symptoms of GI disturbance were more frequent in weekly rotating shift workers but statistically not significant. 4. The positive rate of mental and physical fatigue symptoms were significantly higher in weekly rotating shift workers(P<0.01) and mental and physical fatigue symptoms were more frequent in them (P<0.01). 5. After the effect of the factors that were significantly different between two groups by $X^2-test$ were controlled, the mean score of sleep disturbance was significantly higher in weekly rotating shift workers (P<0.01) and mental physical fatigue symptoms were more frequent in them (P<0.01). Based on these study results, subjective symptoms were more common in the weekly rotating shift workers. In future, medical examination and laboratory test will be also administered to evaluate a more accurate health outcomes and the review of current shift schedules will be required.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.81-97
• /
• 1993

This study was carried out to analyze the factors of the perieved symptoms of fatigue of the industrial workers, to examine the inter-relatisnship of the above factors with their general charactenstics and the environments of working area for the examination of their health status and the effective health management of them. This study was undertaken from December 1 to December 20, 1990. The subjets were 495 workers who had worked at the Industrial complex located in Chonbuk Province. The result of this study were as follows: 1. The worker's percieved symptoms of fatigue were classified to the following seven factors; A) Musculo-Skeletal Symptoms, B) Neuro-Psychial Symptoms, C) Optical Symptoms, D) Heart Symptoms, E) Head Symptoms, F) Respiratory Symptoms, G) Genital Symptoms 2. Analysis of the inter-relationship of their percieved symptoms of fatigue with general characteristics; 1) The difference of distribution to their percieved symptoms of fatigue according to sexuality was significant; Female were higher than Male $(p{\leqq}0.001$, p<0.005) 2) The difference of distribution to their percieved symptoms of fatigue according to age was significant; Age group under 24 years of age were higher than the other's group (p<0.001). 3) The difference of distribution to their percieved symptoms of fatigue according to the level of education was significant; Workers who stand on a low intellectual were higher than workers on a high intellectual level. 4) The difference of distribution to their percieved symptoms of fatigue for a week was the highest when worked at sunday. 5) The difference of distribution to their percieved symptoms of fatigue for seasons was high at spring. 3. Analysis of the inter-relationship of their percieved symptoms of fatigue with the environments of working area. 1) The difference of distribution of their percieved symptoms of fatigue according to the working department was significant; Production workers were higher than office workers. 2) The difference of distribution of their percieved symptoms of fatigue related with working posture was significant; Sitting: Musculo-Skeletal symptoms (p<0.05), Optical symptoms (p<0.005) 3) The more dissatisfied with their's own duty they were, the higher became the distribution of their percieved symptoms of fatigue (p<0.001. p<0.005, p<0.05) 4) The more dissatisfied with their working condition they were, the higher became the degree of their percieved symptoms of fatigue (p<0.001. P<0.05) 5) The difference of distribution of their percieved symptoms of fatigue according to kinds of job was significant: Workers who has handled heavy materials were higher than who had not handled $(p{\leqq}0.001$, p<0.05). Workers who has handled chemical materials: Optical, symptoms $(p{\leqq}0.001)$. Workers who has handled dusty materials: Respiratory symptoms (p<0.01) 6) The environment of working area was significantly affected to the distribution of their percieved symptoms of fatigue: Workers complains of a illumination problem; Optical symptoms (p<0.005), Heart symptoms (p<0.005) Workers complains of a ventilation problem: Heart symptoms (p<0.05), Optical symptoms, Heart symptoms (p<0.01) Musculo-skeletal symptoms ($p{\leqq}0.001$)

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.15-24
• /
• 2016

The purpose of this converged study was to examine the influencing factors on occupational stress in Korean workers. Data were collected with a convenience sample of 207 male workers living in Jeollanam-do region. The structured questionnaires measured the general and job-related factors, social support, and occupational stress. The results were as follows. (1) About half of participants had higher scores in occupational stress. (2) The annual income, supervisors' support, and coworkers' support were statistically significant variables predicting the level of occupational stress among Korean workers, accounting for 36% of the variability. The results of the study indicate that it is necessary to establish strategic workforce planning for workers to reduce occupational stress.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.117-130
• /
• 1993

There has been a rapid growth in Korea since 1962 because of the success of the 5-year Economic Plan. The number of industrial work and workers has also made had a rapid increase. Consequently, the management of occupational health for the purpose of promoting health in industrial workers is needed especially in the health examination program. The purpose of this study was to analyze the Knowledge, and Attitude among industrial workers of health examination programs. The target population was 402 industrial workers from 4 factories in Kangwon province. A survey was conducted to collect data by a self administered questionnaire from October 29 to November 5. A sixty four item questionnaire was designed to collect data concerning Knowledge, and Attitude of health examination of industrial workers. The data was analyzed by means of percentage, mean, T-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient. The major findings were as follows : 1. The respondents presented the following picture : The male population was 88%. 57% of respondents were age 25-34 years old. 69.4% of respondents were married. 73.4% of respondents were high school graduates. 80.8% of the respondents were working over 48 hours per week. The respondents with over 10 years on the job were 31.9% of the respondents. Health examination were given to the respondents as: pre-employment health examination 90.5%, general health examination 91.5%, and special health examination 31.5%. 2. The Knowledge level was different in health examination items. 80.5% of respondents had knowledge about hearing test, body weight, visually, chest X-ray like simple things. Below 50% of respondents had knowledge of urine test, liver function test, and career history. 3. Attitude status about health examination showed an average score 36.5(median 33) of satisfaction, 26.93(median 21) of importance, 13.84 (median 21) of content, 10.46(median 12 of reliability on health examination results. 4. The level of Attitude on health examination was significantly different than the Knowledge level. 5. The relationship among stated variables such as satisfaction, the perceptions of importance on health, health examination, the result and follow up after health examination were shown to reflect neither positively nor negatively on each other.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.29 no.2 s.53
• /
• pp.187-198
• /
• 1996

The industrial use of MMMF(man-made mineral fibers), has been increasing, particularly since the banning of most asbestos products. Fibrous minerals can cause health abnormalities currently associated with occupational exposure to glass fiber. This study was conducted to evaluate health risks of glass fiber manufactory workers within the country. We examined questionaries, physical examination including auscultation, chest x-ray, pulmonary function test for 488 male workers, to go through their dermal itching symptoms and respiratory evaluation. we had the results as follows. 1. In 45% of the workers itching had been expressed at their entrance. At that time we was investigating, 18.5% had itching, and most of them complained it when they fall asleep and night. The Sequent itching site is waist and groin, upper and lower extremity in order, and it had been expressed mainly during summer and winter. 2. As the results of ventilatory functions test, 6.0% were obstructive type, 1.0% were restrictive type. So, glass fiber exposures should be controlled or elimination by protective devices in the workplace. 3. The means of FVC, $FEV_1,\;FEV_1%$ were in normal range. As the comparison of ventilatory functions by age groups, MMF was decreased significantly for the group, 50 years old and more than other groups. And the comparison by the serving periods at glass fiber producing factory, MMF was decreased for the workers had worked for $11\sim15$ years. Therefore, MMF be more sensitive index in the evaluation of ventilatory impairments caused by glass fiber workers.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.582-589
• /
• 2019

Objectives: Although active pulmonary tuberculosis(active PTB) is manifested as one of the complications of pneumoconiosis, attacks of active PTB among patients with pneumoconiosis is still unexplored. The objective of the present study was to identify the attack rate of active PTB among workers in dusty environments who were diagnosed with pneumoconiosis. Methods: The study was performed using the results of the Pneumoconiosis Examination Council's assessment from the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service(KCOMWEL) database between January 1, 1984 and December 31, 2017. Pneumoconiosis was defined as Category 1 or more in the radiological findings of pneumoconiosis. Active PTB was defined as a positive result for active PTB in the results of the Pneumoconiosis Examination Council's assessment. Results: A total of 37,946 workers in dusty environments who received a health examination for diagnosing pneumoconiosis between January 1, 1984 and December 31, 2017 were selected as study subjects. The attack rate of active TB among subjects who were diagnosed with pneumoconiosis and those who were diagnosed without pneumoconiosis were 8.5% and 1.4%, respectively. In the multivariate logistic analysis including age, sex, radiological findings, complications, male[odds ratio(OR), 2.0; 95% confidence interval(CI), 1.4-3.1] and pneumoconiosis(OR, 6.5; 95% CI, 5.7-7.4) were associated with an increased risk of developing active PTB. Conclusions: The present study determined that dusty workers who were diagnosed with pneumoconiosis had a high rate of active PTB compared to TB patients and patients who were diagnosed with silicosis. Therefore, in addition to silicosis, it is necessary to include pneumoconiosis among the high-risk groups for TB.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.213-225
• /
• 2020

Objectives: In order to prepare measures to enhance construction workers' satisfaction with their working environment, the effects of working conditions and the mediating effects of safety and health information on workers' satisfaction with their working environment in the construction industry have been studied. The results of this study can be used as basic data for further studies in this field. Method: Data on 1,361 male construction workers from the 5th Korea Working Condition Survey (KWCS) were used for this study. The effects of working conditions were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and the mediating effects of health and safety information were analyzed with SPSS PROCESS macro using the bootstrap method. Results: The safety and health management system and the self-determination of break time had a statistically significant positive effect on satisfaction with the working environment. Chemical and ergonomic risk factors had a statistically significant negative effect on satisfaction with the working environment. The provision of safety and health information, the mediating variable, had a statistically significant positive effect on satisfaction with the working environment. Therefore, it had a mediating effect between working conditions and satisfaction with the working environment. Conclusion: In order to enhance construction workers' satisfaction with their working environment, the above results suggest that the safety and health management system should be well established; self-determination of break times should be guaranteed; and chemical and ergonomic risk factors should be controlled. In addition, workers should be provided with necessary health and safety information related to their work. This study will be useful if these findings are used as basic data in further studies in related fields.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.849-857
• /
• 2014

Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the knowledge and attitude toward radiation safety management in dental clinic worker. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was filled out by 294 dental clinic workers in dental hospitals and clinics in Gwangju and Jeonnam from February 17 to March 30, 2014. The questionnaire consisted of general characteristics of radiation safety(8 questions), knowledge of radiation safety(15 questions), and attitudes of radiation safety(16 questions). The survey was done by Likert 5 scale method. Results: In completion of the radiodontia courses, 84.0% of the learners were female workers. 88.0% of the learners took the theoretical and practical courses. Those who work in the university dental hospital accounted for 87.1% and those in dental clinics accounted for 83.2%. Majority of the workers took on Leaden protective clothing in order to protect the thyroid gland. Male workers had more knowledge toward the radiation safety management than the female workers. The attitude toward the radiation safety management revealed the significant differences between age, gender, academic careers, license, clinical careers and the mean number of patients per day(p<0.05). Conclusions: The radiation safety management is very important in dental clinical workers and it is necessary to enhance the attitude toward the radiation safety through continuous education.