• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.199-206
• /
• 2020

Background: In a wide range of industries, noise-induced hearing loss remains one of the most prevalent occupational problems. This study aimed to assess the noise exposure level and associated factors of hearing loss among textile workers in Yangon Region, Myanmar. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at a Textile mill (Thamine), Yangon Region, from April to December 2018. In total, 226 workers who were randomly selected from 3 weaving sections participated in face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire. A digital sound level meter and pure-tone audiometer were used for the assessment of noise exposure level and hearing loss, respectively. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the associated factors of hearing loss. Results: In total workers, 66.4% were exposed to ≥85 dB(A) of noise exposure, and the prevalence of hearing loss was 25.7%. Age ≥35 years, below high school education, hearing difficulty, tinnitus, hypertension, > 9 years of service duration in a textile mill were positively associated with hearing loss. After adjusting confounding factors, age ≥35 years (adjusted odds ratio = 6.90, 95% confidence interval = 3.45-13.82) and tinnitus (adjusted odds ratio = 2.88, 95% confidence interval = 1.13-7.37) were persistently associated with hearing loss. Conclusion: Providing occupational hazard education and enforcement of occupational safety regulations should be taken to decrease the noise exposure level. The regular audiometry test should be conducted for assessment of hearing threshold shift. The employer needs to implement a hearing conservation program in workplace when noise exposure reaches or exceeds 85 dB(A) for 8 hours.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.226-235
• /
• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there were differences in manufacturing industry worker's health issues depending on job stress, fatigue, and health and safety services. Methods: The purpose of the questionnaire survey and its contents were explained to manufacturing industry health personnel, and the questionnaires were collected from 666 workers from 17 manufacturing workplaces. Questionnaires with missing data were excluded from the analysis so a total of 632 questionnaires were included. Results: Overall, 74.1% of the respondents had experienced health issues during the preceding month. The factors affecting worker health were number of workers(OR=1.000034, p=.013), job demand(OR=1.82, p=.009), MFS(OR=1.85, p=.003), provision of safety & health information(OR=1.85, p=.048), wearing protector(OR=2.58, p=.021). Conclusion: It is necessary to strengthen the safety and health education to mitigate hazardous and risk factors. Employers should provide health managers in charge of safety and health education to control workplace risk factors. In case of small businesses, it may be necessary to strengthen safety and health education in existing worker health centers and government support projects.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.440-450
• /
• 2021

Objectives: This study aims to investigate whether working environment measurement institutions(WEMIs) are conducting safety and health education, risk assessment, and oversight of special management materials, and whether working environment measurement and special medical examinations are being conducted as prescribed in the Occupational Safety and Health Act(OSHA). Methods: In of February 2021, a questionnaire was prepared and distributed to 33 WMEIs registered with the Ministry of Employment and Labor(MoEL) in Busan and Gyeongsangnam-do Province. The responses were collected and then analyzed. Results: The findings show that 5 WEMIs(15%) complied fully with OSHA. Risk assessment was conducted by 13 WMEIs(39%) and safety education by 11 WMEIs(33%). Eighteen WMEIs(55%) conducted working environment measurement, and 29 WMEIs(88%) conducted special medical examinations. The implementation rate of the risk assessment in the health industry(85%) was higher than the one in the special technology industry(11%)(p<0.05). The implementation rate of the special medical examination in the examiners(54%) was not as high as the one in the analysts(91%)(p<0.05). Conclusions: The MoEL needs to check whether basic OSHA requirements are being observed during regular inspections by WEMIs. These findings indicate that it is necessary to prepare a plan to improve the rate of compliance with OSHA regulations.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.144-148
• /
• 2018

Background: The objective of this study is to find temporal trends in the associations between cardiovascular disease and occupational risk factors in the context of the Canadian population. Methods: Population data were analyzed from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) collected between 2001 and 2014 for trends over time between heart disease and various occupational risk factors: hours worked, physical exertion at work, and occupation type (management/arts/education, business/finance, sales/services, trades/transportations, and primary industry/processing). Results: We found no significant difference in the average number of hours worked/wk between individuals who report having heart disease in all years of data except in 2011 ($F_{1,96}=7.02$, p = 0.009) and 2012 ($F_{1,96}=8.86$, p = 0.004). We also found a significant difference in the degree of physical exertion at work in 2001 ($F_{1,79}=7.45$, p = 0.008). There were statistically significant results of occupation type on self-reported heart disease from 2003 to 2014. Conclusion: Canadian data from the CCHS do not exhibit a trend toward an association between heart disease and the number of hours worked/wk. There is an association between heart disease and physical exertion at work, but the trend is inconsistent. The data indicate a trend toward an association between heart disease and occupation type, but further analysis is required to determine which occupation type may be associated with heart disease.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
• /
• v.24 no.69
• /
• pp.87-92
• /
• 2001

A significant number of all reported accidents in Korea involved education and training Based on the Labor Ministry data, statistics, show the education cause was directly involved in 38% of major accidents, Since safety managers have in charge of safety education at the factory, occupational safety curriculum must be studied to train safety manager effectively. In this study an analysis on relative importance of industrial safety curriculum for a good safety manager was performed by Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP) The results showed that relative importance of industrial safety curriculum by AHP was safety management(w=0.240) ergonomics and system safety(w=0.201) construction safety(w=0.182) mechanic safety(w=0.139) electronic safety(w=0.134) and chemical safety(w=0.104) in order. The results could be used for industrial safety curriculum planning in university and safety organization such as Korea Occupational safety and Health Agency.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.192-200
• /
• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study aimed to investigate job stress levels of occupational health managers and whether job stress levels were affected by various factors such as size and types of company and work-related characteristics of occupational health managers. Methods: The study was conducted from May to September 2011 in the chemicals manufacturing factories in Korea and total subjects were 59 occupational health managers. We measured job stress levels of occupational health managers using Korean occupational stress scale (KOSS) questionnaires and the information of company characteristics was obtained using a self-reported questionnaire. Results: The characteristics of company such as type, size and industries and job characteristics of occupational health managers were significant factors in job stress. Job demand, job control, job insecurity, organizational system and occupational environment scores were significantly associated with type, size and industries of company. In multiple regression analyses, we found that job demand was significantly associated with occupational position and type of company, and job insecurity was significantly associated with working hour. Also, we found that lack of reward was significantly associated with education level, speciality, duration of work and hour and type of company. Conclusion: These results indicate that job stress of occupational health managers is significantly associated with work-related characteristics and company's characteristics.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.139-142
• /
• 2015

Background: Healthcare workers' practices regarding hepatitis B have an important effect on the control of this problem in workplaces. Methods: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was used to investigate the role of knowledge, cues to action, and risk perceptions as predictors of preventive behavioral intentions for hepatitis B among healthcare works in Broujen, Iran (n = 150). History of hepatitis B vaccination, hepatitis B surface antigen test, and demographic characteristics were investigated. The psychometric properties of the questionnaire were established. Results: Those who had a history of hepatitis B surface antigen test had a statistically significant higher level of risk perceptions ($30.89{\pm}4.08$ vs. $28.41{\pm}3.93$, p < 0.01) and preventive behavioral intentions ($5.05{\pm}1.43$ vs. $4.45{\pm}1.29$, p < 0.01). The mean score of cues to action was significantly correlated with age and work history (r = 0.20, p = 0.02 and r = 0.19, p = 0.02). Preventive behavioral intentions were significantly correlated with cues to action and risk perceptions but not with knowledge level. Cognitional factors were responsible for a 17% change in observed variance of preventive behavioral intentions, which was statistically significant. Conclusion: Risk perceptions were the most important determinant of preventive behavioral intentions for hepatitis B among health personnel; thus, emphasizing risk perceptions is recommended in educational programs aimed at increasing health personnel's practices regarding hepatitis B.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.53-63
• /
• 2012

The purpose of this study is to grasp foreign worker's industrial safety and health state, which find out the improvement to secure the basic safety net for foreign workers. We have investigated 2,050 workers through direct interviews during the period from April 12, 2010 to May 31, 2010. And the result of analysis, foreign worker's daily average working time is 10.6 hours(40.8% workers in total work 10~12 hours), the extent of exposure to harmful and dangerous working environment is 'the position which cause pain in neck, waist, hands, shoulders, legs'(69.3%), 'repetitive hands and arms movement'(66.1%). It showed 'experience of accident damage or disease related work'(27.3%), 'never apply for industrial accident compensation' is revealed high at 73%. As a result of completing a safety health education for a year, it showed 'never educated'(40.2%), 'the institute that foreign workers have used for help and advice is the foreign worker's support center'(61.9%) Thus, hiring foreign workers in the company are small in site, the environment is too harmful and dangerous. In addition, no safety and health managers, legally blind spot located in the health and safety, because it is an urgent meet for these measures to improve.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.176-192
• /
• 1999

The purpose of this study is to analysis change of industrial health and safety before and after economic crisis(1997~1998). The data were obtained through mail interview with health supervisor(occupational health nurses) during February, 1999. The final sample was consisted of 127 respondents, 97 are selected in this study. The major findings were as follows: First, the percent of industries whose empl safe supervisors, physicians and industry hygi decreased in number is 79.4%, 3.8%, 50.0 21.5% in each. Second, man receiving over 1.5 million won as an average wage of health supervisor is 27.5% in 1997, but it decreased to 25.3% in 1998. Man receiving under 100~150 million won is 48.4% in 1997, but this percent decreased to 36.3% in 1998 and 13.6% of health supervisor regularly were transformed to contingent worker in 1998. Third, especially, budgets for health and saf work place decreased to 13.8% in 1998 than 19. Fourth, industrial accident case, unre accident case, occupational disease decreased than 1997, but mortality from industrial a increased in 250%. Fifth, according to the health diagnosis report, number of case with evidence of disease increased in liver disease, tuberculosis and so on, and number of case with evidence of occupational disease increased in noise induced hearing loss, pneumoconiosis. organic solvent poisoning and so on. Sixth, this survey shows that health council, health education in duty of health supervisor was conducted passive in 1998 thin 1997, and percent of hold two or more positions is 47.6% in medical insurance, 10.7% in accountant's business 8.3 in secretory. 7.1% in telephone operator awl 22.6% in etc. Seventh, distress of health supervisor after economic crisis is 30.9% in employment instability, 19.8% in hold two or more positions and decrease of budgets. For subjugation of the trouble, the respond of active policy of government occupied most.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.34-54
• /
• 1995

Occupational health services in Korea have been operated as dual types: one is operated by occupational health care manager and the other is health care agency without their own personnel. The performance of occupational health service should be different due to the variety of characteristics of health care manager and workplace, qualification of health care manager. This study is to analyze performance of occupational health care services with a particular consideration of job, based on comparing those two types of health care management to show on the basic data for the settlement of more qualitative. health care management system at workplace. For this study, total 391 places in Seoul and Inchon city area: 154 places (39.4%) managed by designated. health care manager and 237 places (60.6%) by the agency with their commission are selected as research samples. Tools for data collection are questionnares have been investigated during the period of 20 September 1993-20 December 1993. Those data are compared with percentiles, mean, standard deviation due to the characterstics of each variable and analyzed for impacting factors with relation to the using multiple regression analysis using SPSS PC program, especially using t -test method in order to compare each type of health care management. Conclusions observed from the tests and each comparison could be summerized as follows : 1. Occupational health care have been accomplished at workplaces with designated people than with agencies people, and coverage rate of the occupational health care services has differences, due to management types. The reason of these results is due to visit only one or two times monthly by the agencies, while their own health care manager obsess, at the workplaces all the times. 2. The common sickness management is the most accomplished item in health care area of occupational health care services, while the preventive care and control for the workers who have serious health problems are insufficient in workers health care area. 3. An insufficient accomplishment of overall health education has been shown because it is difficult to perform health education due to almost no chance of the direct introduction at workplaces. Therefore a strong support system for making and supplying the media is necessary in order to activate indirect health education by means of media. 4. Because health care managers and the agencies managers where take the workplaces for this study are almost nurses who have been comparatively high work site rounding rate about an environmental management at the workplaces, that non-profession can also do it, the activities about the professional area not enough. Therefore, an appropriate referral system should be established in order to complement professional area. 5. Two factors which have an effect on the coverage rate of occupational health care services are : one is those from the workplaces such as type of services, the number of workers, the number of harzadous factors and safety & health committee, the other from health care organization about whether there is its own manager or not.