• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.375-383
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• 2023

Background: Working despite feeling ill - presenteeism - is a widespread behavioral phenomenon. Previous research has shown that presenteeism is influenced by various work-related and personal factors. It's an illness behavior leading to a range of negative but also positive consequences. Due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, remote work has become the "new normal" for many employees. But so far, little is known about presenteeism in remote work. This study aims to investigate presenteeism in remote work by looking at the extent of remote presenteeism, differences to presenteeism in on-site work, and associated factors. Methods: A nationwide cross-sectional online survey was conducted in Germany with N = 233 participants. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, and correlation analysis. Results: The results reveal that presenteeism is prevalent in remote work x = 4.13 days (Md = 3; D = 2; s = 4.95). A low ability to detach from work (r = -.17; p = .005) and low supervisor support (r = -.14; p = .02) is associated with more remote presenteeism days. Remote working conditions seem to facilitate presenteeism. Conclusion: This study provides empirical insights into a subject area of great societal relevance. The results show that awareness should be raised for presenteeism in remote work. It should be regarded as a behavior that can be functional or dysfunctional, depending on the individual situation. Supervisor support and detachment should be fostered to help reduce dysfunctional presenteeism. Promotion of health literacy might help remote workers to decide on a health-oriented illness behavior. Further research is vital to analyze to what extent and under which circumstances presenteeism in remote work is (dys)functional and to derive clear recommendations.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.151-155
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• 2015

The study was designed to identify any trends of injury type as it relates to the age and trade of construction workers. The participants for this study included any individual who, while working on a heavy and highway construction project in the Midwestern United States, sustained an injury during the specified time frame of when the data were collected. During this period, 143 injury reports were collected. The four trade/occupation groups with the highest injury rates were laborers, carpenters, iron workers, and operators. Data pertaining to injuries sustained by body part in each age group showed that younger workers generally suffered from finger/hand/wrist injuries due to cuts/lacerations and contusion, whereas older workers had increased sprains/strains injuries to the ankle/foot/toes, knees/lower legs, and multiple body parts caused by falls from a higher level or overexertion. Understanding these trade-related tasks can help present a more accurate depiction of the incident and identify trends and intervention methods to meet the needs of the aging workforce in the industry.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.76-83
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• 2010

As one of crucial industries, the service industry occupies a large part of economy in Korea poor in natural resources. However, prevention of industrial disasters has been promoted mainly in manufacturing and construction industries where the frequencies of such disasters and victims are high. Research on the evaluation of workplace safety climate has been conducted centering on traditional industries like manufacturing and construction, and few studies have been made for service businesses. The objective of this study was to evaluate workplace safety climate perceived in the field by workers engaged in service businesses and to contribute to the establishment of industrial safety and health policies in consideration of the characteristics of each business category. Using research variables safety knowledge, safety attitude, safety motivation, safety participation, safety compliance, and safeness of work environment, we evaluated comprehensive workplace safety climate based on the causal relations among the variables. In the results of analyzing data from a questionnaire survey of service business employees, statistically significant effect relations among the variables were identified, and the fitness of the model with approved reliability and validity was verified.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.20-27
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• 2021

Background: Incentive and penalty (I/P) programs are commonly used to increase employees' safety outcomes, but its influence on employees' safety outcomes is under-investigated. Moreover, under developed economies lack safety culture and there is dearth of literature focusing on empirical studies over there [1]. Based on these gaps, this study attempts to see the impact of I/P programs on safety outcomes in a developing country. Methods: The study was carried out in three stages, where Stage I revealed that selected 45 organizations were deficit of safety culture and practices, while only three firms were found good at safety practices. At Stage II, these three firms were divided in two clusters (groups), and were probed further at Stage III. At this stage group, one was manipulated by providing incentives (experimental group) and employees' responses in terms of safety motivation and performance were noticed. Results: It was observed that the experimental group's safety motivation and performance had improved (both for immediate and 1-month later performance). The results were further probed at Phase 3 (after 3 months), where it was found that the benefits of I/P programs were not long lasting and started replenishing. Conclusion: Findings of the study helped researchers conclude that safety incentives have only short-term influence on safety outcomes, while a long-term and permanent solution should be found.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.409-420
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• 2018

Objectives: An outbreak of humidifier disinfectant-related respiratory disease has not only been a massive disaster for end users, but it is also a concern for the workers of the manufacturers. This study presents the results of a questionnaire survey on the health effects among workers involved in the manufacture of humidifier disinfectants. Methods: Seven sites where humidifier disinfectants were manufactured were identified. A questionnaire survey was conducted to assess the physical symptoms experienced by workers related to humidifier disinfectants. Among a total of 177 workers, 42 subjects were available for the survey. Results: Twenty-one of the 42 respondents reported that they experienced respiratory or skin and mucosal irritation symptoms during work. Of the respondents who experienced symptoms, 14 believed that their symptoms were related to the work process and reported that the symptoms were experienced while working. However, no respondents reported ongoing symptoms or sequelae during the investigation period, and this result could not minimize selection bias due to low response rates. We then compared the characteristics of the group who experienced suspicious symptoms with those of the group without any symptoms. There was no statistically significant difference between two groups. Conclusions: We could not find significant health effects related to the humidifier disinfectant manufacturing process, although 21 respondents experienced stimulant symptoms and 14 respondents believed that the symptoms were related to the work process. Due to the long period of time after occupational exposure and the lack of data, there were many limitations to this study. However, this is one of the few follow-up investigations of workers related to this large-scale disaster in South Korea and the limitations of this study highlight the need to follow up with a nationwide database rather than an occasional survey.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2010

This article describes a systematic roadmap master plan for advanced industrial safety and health policy in Korea, with an emphasis on. Since Korean industries had first emergence of industrial safety and health policy in 1953, enormous efforts have been made on upgrading the relevant laws in order to reflect real situation of industrial work environment in accordance with rapid changes of Korean and global business over three decades. Nevertheless, current policy has major defects; too much techniques-based articles, diverged contents in less organization, combined enforcement and punishments and finally enforcing regulations full of commands and control. These deficiencies have make it difficult to accommodate changes of social, industrial and employment environment in customized fashion. The approach to the solution must be generic at the level of paradigm-shift rather than local modifications and enhancement. The basic idea is to establish a new system integrated with a risk assessment scheme, which encourages employers to apply to their work environment under comprehensive responsibility. The risk assessment scheme is designed to enable to inspect employers' compliances afterwards. A project comprises four yearly phases based on applying zones; initially designating and operating a specified risk zone, gradually expanding the special zones during a period of 3 years (2010-2012) and the final zone expanded to entire nation. In each phase, the intermediate version of the system is updated through a process of precise and unbiased validation in terms of its operability, feasibility and sustainability with building relevant infrastructures as needed.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.40-41
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• 2014

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.289-290
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• 1999

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.343-349
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• 2022

Background: In the United States, the dairy product manufacturing industry has consistently had higher rates of work-related nonfatal injuries and illnesses compared to the national average for industries in all sectors. The selection and implementation of appropriate safety performance indicators are important aspect of reducing risk within safety management systems. This study examined the leading safety indicators implemented in the dairy product-manufacturing sector (NAICS 3115) and their perceived effectiveness in reducing work-related injuries. Methods: Perceptions were collected from individuals with safety responsibilities in the dairy product manufacturing facilities. OSHA Incident Rate (OIR) and Days away, restricted and transferred (DART) rates from 2013 to 2018 were analyzed. Results: The perceived most effective leading were safety observations, stop work authority, near miss reporting, safety audits, preventative maintenance, safety inspections, safety training attendance, and job hazard analysis/safety analysis, respectively. The 6-year trend analysis showed that those implementing all eight top indicators had a slightly lower rates than those that did not implement all eight. Production focused mentality, poor training, and lack of management commitment were perceived as the leading causes of injuries in this industry. Conclusion: Collecting leading indicators with the unique interest to meet the regulatory requirements and to document the management system without the actual goal of using them as input to improve the system most probably will not lead to an effective reduction of negative safety outcomes. For leading indicators to be effective, they should be properly selected, executed, periodically evaluated and actions are taken when necessary.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Rural Health Nursing
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.5-18
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate perception of patient safety culture among hospital nurses. Methods: There were four steps in this study; education about patient safety culture, pre-test, nursing activities for patient safety, post-test. A questionnaire was distributed twice to all nurses in one hospital. Pretest data were collected from April 1 to April 20 and posttest from November 15 to November 25, 2013. For the pretest data, 302 data sets were analyzed and for the posttest, 266. SPSS 12.0 was used for descriptive analysis. Results: Overall perception of nurses on patient safety culture was "moderate"(3.27). For general characteristics, there was a significant difference in patient safety culture according to work unit and length of employment. Attitude to leaders was significantly different according to nurses' age, position and work unit. Organizational culture was significantly different according to nurses' age and work unit. System of patient safety was significantly different according to work environment. In the posttest, the mean score improved. Conclusion: Results indicate that patient safety cultural perception is related to safety during nursing activities and systematic strategies to increase perception should be expanded through research and the development of new educational programs on patient safety culture.