• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.136-138
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• 2021

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is a newly emerging infectious disease worldwide, can be categorized as an occupational disease, because employees, particularly in the healthcare system, can be infected at the workplace. As of December 15, 2020, we summarized the occupational safety and health practices in selected countries on the recognition of COVID-19 as one of the occupational risks. The situation has differed among countries, including the recognition status and whether a specific regulation existed. International organizations, namely the International Labour Organization, World Health Organization, and European Union, should plan and conduct studies on the work-relatedness of COVID-19, propose criteria for recognition, and add the infection to the occupational disease list to provide a basis for specific country regulations. Stakeholders should also act to adjust country-level legislation.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.477-488
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate career competency, tasks, and job satisfaction of public servants, public institutions, and researchers. Methods: The survey was conducted about career competency, job satisfaction, and satisfaction on work life. Next, they interviewed on the characteristics of each job by two or three dimensions. The following conclusions were obtained from July to August 2017. Results: Career competencies were GPA with 3.87, 818 points of TOEIC score, and ITQ certification. Public servants required the information on literacy skills for employment and job performance, while civil servants need more than one year of clinical experience in the dental hospital. The non-commissioned officer needed a written test and fitness training. The health insurance review and assessment center required more than one year of experience from general hospital or medical institutions. Researchers required a research career, language skill, and professors required research and teaching experiences with clinical experience more than three years. The main job tasks were as follows; for public servants, they were official document processing and community projects. For the civilian workers and military/noncommissioned officers, they were medical assistant and administrative works. The employees of the health insurance review and assessment service are examining the medical expenses and the medical examination, the researchers are experimenting, researching and writing articles, and the teaching staff are lecturing and conducting individual research. Conclusions: The results of job satisfaction survey showed that occupational satisfaction was the highest in civil servants, researchers, and teaching professions. Job security was the highest in health workers and health inspectors' evaluation centers, and time vacancy was the highest in civilian workers and military/noncommissioned officers. If you want to work in such an institution, you should prepare elements that match your basic literacy and job specific characteristics. And we should try to increase the satisfaction of work even after work.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.315-324
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• 2005

Objectives : The aim of this study was to examined the mediating role of empowerment in relations to job and organizational factors, and job satisfaction and organizational commitment in hospital organizations. Methods : Job variety, clarity, significance, and fitness were examined as the job factors, and security, reward justice, and organizational support as the organizational factors. Data were collected from 8 national university hospitals with 1,289 data points used for the final analysis. Results : All the job factors were found to positively influence empowerment, as were all the organizational factors, with the exception of reward justice . As hypothesized, empowerment had significant effects on both job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and was the most influential variable of all those examined. Conclusions : In the relations to job satisfaction, empowerment completely mediated job significance, security and organizational support, and partially mediated all other variables, with the exception of reward justice. In the relations to organizational commitment, empowerment completely mediated job variety and job fitness, and partially mediated all other variables, with the exception of reward justice. The theoretical and practical implications of these results have been discussed.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 2011

In accordance with the analysis results on the questionnaires about the awareness of employees according to positions and educational backgrounds in a public health organization, this thesis suggests the basic data on the purpose of the efficient operation and improvement of working environment in a public health organization. Two answers of the questions that "there is a possibility for promotion in the organization" and "the unit section in organization which I work for has a well-designed structure of organization" showed respectively high points in the questionnaire. On the other hand, three questions like there is a resonable way to bind the organization up, completed mission and rewards are connected, and my salary is fit for the current mission showed high points among the questions about the awareness on the organization according to the positions.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.334-348
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• 2017

Objectives: We investigated the impacts of indoor plants on indoor air quality and occupational health, focusing on allergic rhinconjunctivitis and stress among employees in new office buildings. Methods: A total of 34 employees working at new public office buildings were enrolled as subjects (n=17, with indoor plants) and as a control (n=17) group. Before and after introducing indoor plants for three months, indoor air quality measurements including VOCs and aldehydes and questionnaires on sick building syndrome, AR symptoms (ARIA based), stress (DASS 42, KOSS, and SACL), and indoor characteristics were performed and statistically analysed. Results: Among the 34 enrolled subjects, 19 were included in the probable AR subject group (subjects with indoor plants, n=8, control n=11) and completed all questionnaires. Statistical analyses were done for total, AR subject groups, and controls. As a result, it was confirmed that major indoor air pollutants decreased after the introduction of indoor plants (p<0.5). Among major symptoms of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, watery rhinorrhea, nasal stuffiness, and nasal itching indexes decreased (p<0.5, respectively). A decrease was noted in some areas of work-related stress indexes (mainly KOSS) among the subject group (total and AR) and a decrease of indoor environmental attractiveness among the control group (total and AR) (p<0.5, for all). Conclusions: Indoor plants may help reduce indoor air pollutants and decrease AR symptoms and work-related stress of employees in newly built office buildings. Various further follow-up studies on the mechanism of environmental, physical, and emotional influences and utilization of indoor plants in association with allergic diseases will be needed.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.429-439
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• 2011

Objectives: Ethylene oxide (EtO) is classified as a human carcinogen, but EtO is still widely used to sterilize heat-sensitive materials in hospitals. Employees working around sterilizers are exposed to EtO after sterilization. The aim of the present study was to assess the exposure of EtO level, coupled with occupationally induced micronuclei from hospital workers. The influence of genetic polymorphisms of detoxifying genes (GSTT1 and GSTM1) and DNA repair genes (XRCC1 and XRCC3) on the frequencies of micronuclei in relation to exposure of EtO was also investigated. Methods: The study population was composed of 35 occupationally exposed workers to EtO, 18 student controls and 44 unexposed hospital controls in Korea. Exposure to EtO is measured by passive personal samplers. We analyzed the frequencies of micronuclei by performing cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay (CBMN assay) and GSTM1, GSTT1, XRCC1, and XRCC3 were also genotyped by performing polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Results: The frequencies of micronuclei in EtO exposure group, student controls and hospital controls were $18.00{\pm}7.73$, $10.47{\pm}7.96$ and $13.86{\pm}6.35$ respectively and their differences were statistically significant, but no significant differences according to the level of EtO were observed. There was a dose-response relationship between the frequencies of micronuclei and cumulative dose of EtO, but no significantly differences were observed. We also investigated the influence of genetic polymorphisms (GSTM1, GSTT1, XRCC1, and XRCC3) on the frequencies of micronuclei, but there were no differences in the frequencies of micronuclei by genetic polymorphisms. Conclusions: The frequencies of micronuclei in EtO exposure group was significantly higher than control groups. A dose-response relationship was found between the level of EtO exposure and the frequencies of micronuclei, but no statistically differences were observed. We also found that the frequencies of micronuclei were increased according to cumulative EtO level. There was no association of the genetic GSTM1, GSTT1, XRCC1, and XRCC3 state with the frequency of micronuclei induced by EtO exposure.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.61-67
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• 2012

The Korean diet, including breakfast, is becoming more Western, which could increase the risk of metabolic syndrome. Our aim was to assess whether breakfast patterns are associated with risk for metabolic syndrome in Korean adults. The study subjects (n=371; 103 men, 268 women) were employees of Jaesang Hospital in Korea and their acquaintances, and all subjects were between 30 and 50 years old. The data collected from each subject included anthropometric measurements, three-day food intake, blood pressure (BP) and blood analyses. The three breakfast patterns identified by factor analysis were "Rice, Kimchi and Vegetables", "Potatoes, Fruits and Nuts" and "Eggs, Breads and Processed meat". The "Rice, Kimchi and Vegetables" pattern scores were positively correlated with systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) measurements in men (P<0.05) and with serum triglyceride (TG) levels in women (P<0.05). The "Eggs, Breads and Processed meat" pattern scores correlated positively with weight, body mass index (P<0.05) and serum TGs (P<0.01) in men. The "Potatoes, Fruits and Nuts" pattern was associated with lower risk of elevated BP (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.28-0.88) and fasting glucose levels (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.26-1.00). In contrast, the "Eggs, Breads and Processed meat" pattern was associated with increased risk of elevated TGs (OR 2.06, 95% CI 1.06-3.98). Our results indicate that reducing the consumption of eggs, western grains and processed meat while increasing fruit, nut and vegetable intake for breakfast could have beneficial effects on decreasing metabolic syndrome risk in Korean adults.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.123-133
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• 2009

Background : The principal diagnosis has been used in many different fields such as hospital statistics, medical research, insurance claim, national health statistics and so on. Some principal diagnoses have a relatively low level of reliability in the medium-sized hospitals. The purpose of this study is to identify the reliability level of principal diagnoses and to suggest ways to improve reliability of the principal diagnosis. Method : Data were collected from a medium-sized hospital located in Pusan. The discharge summaries on 323 patients who were discharged in January, 2008 and the outpatient summaries on 251 patients who visited the hospital on March 28, 2008 were collected, and descriptive analysis was performed using SPSS version 12.0K. Result : The findings are the followings: (1) the diagnostic consistency rate between medical records and doctors' was 92.0%; (2) the diagnostic consistency rate between medical records and insurance claims was 86.1%; (3) the diagnostic consistency rate between doctors' diagnoses and insurance claims was 80.2%. The evidence seems to indicate that some principal diagnoses have reliability problems in the medium-sized hospitals. Conclusion : The results of this study suggest the followings: (1) employees should be trained and supervision of hospital activities are needed; (2) network systems should be constructed for each department; (3) professions need to be fostered (4) doctors' awareness of medical records should be changed.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.80-85
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• 2014

Background: Currently available questionnaires for evaluating the quality of worklife do not fully examine every factor related to worklife in all cultures. A tool in Thai is therefore needed for the direct evaluation of the quality of worklife. Our aim was to translate the Work-related Quality of Life Scale-2 (WRQLS-2) into Thai, to assess the validity and reliability of the Thai-translated version, and to examine the tool's accuracy vis-$\grave{a}$-vis nursing in Thailand. Methods: This was a descriptive correlation study. Forward and backward translations were performed to develop a Thai version of the WRQLS. Six nursing experts participated in assessing content validity and 374 registered nurses (RNs) participated in its testing. After a 2-week interval, 67 RNs were retested. Structural validity was examined using principal components analysis. The Cronbach's alpha values were calculated. The respective independent sample t test and intraclass correlation coefficient were used to analyze known-group validity and test-retest reliability. Multistate sampling was used to select 374 RNs from the In- and Outpatient Department of Srinagarind Hospital of the Khon Kaen University (Khon Kaen, Thailand). Results: The content validity index of the scale was 0.97. Principal components analysis resulted in a seven-factor model, which explains 59% of the total variance. The overall Cronbach's alpha value was 0.925, whereas the subscales ranged between 0.67 and 0.82. In the assessment results, the known-group validity was established for the difference between civil servants and university employees [F (7.982, 0.005) and t (3.351; p < 0.05)]. Civil servants apparently had a better quality worklife, compared to university employees. Good test-retest reliability was observed (r = 0.892, p < 0.05). Conclusion: The Thai version of a WRQLS appears to be well validated and practicable for determining the quality of the work-life among nurses in Thailand.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.123-144
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• 2009

Recently, a long strike by hospital labor union emerged as a serious social issue. During the Worldcup Games in June, 2002, labor strikes broke up at 'C', 'K' and other hospitals, and in 2007, 'Y' hospital suffered much from a strike. Such series of extreme labor disputes have awakened people of importance of a more stable labor-management relationship for the medical institutions responsible for people's health than any other business organization. The purpose of this study was to examine the labor-management disputes at 'Y' hospital in 2007 and 'C' and 'K' hospitals in 2002. The results of this study can be summarized as follows; First, requests of the labor union such as pay raise, reemployment of the irregular workers as regular employees and participation of the labor union in personnel affairs are the long-held or core issues suffered by the medical institutions. Such issues are not independent from each other but complicated with each other surrounding the pay raise. Accordingly, it is not easy to determine the genuine bone of issue for labor-management disputes. Second, the model type of disputes between labor and management at medical institutions may be strike. However, it is conceived that the type of disputes would be subject to change as the essential medical service area system began to be operated since 2008. Third, the common characteristic of the labor strike among the 3 sample hospitals was occupation of the hospital lobby for a sit-in strike to maximize the negative effects of strike. Article 42 (Prohibition of Violence) of Labor Union and Labor Relation Coordination Act prohibits occupation of production or other important business facilities. In addition, since Ministry of Labor interprets that the hospital lobby belongs to the important business facilities enumerated by Article 42 of the above act, occupation of the hospital lobby for a sit-in strike may be too controversial to be admitted as a fair act of labor dispute when its legitimacy should be judged. Fourth, the counter-measures taken by the hospitals against the strike were observance of the principle 'no labor no pay,' closure, legal action, accusation, claim for recovery of damage, provisional seizure, disciplinary punishment, etc., but the principle of 'no labor, no pay' was not applied in a fair manner by 'C' and 'K' hospitals. However, 'Y' hospital applied this principle thoroughly to the strike; the hospital conduced to correction of the wrong labor-management relationship by refusing inclusion in the labor collective agreement of a provision about payment of wage during the period of strike or labor union's request to that effect during a strike. In addition, 'Y' hospital took an effective measure to end the strike earlier by notifying the labor union of cancellation of the collective agreement and banning the unionists from entering the hospital.