• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.284-291
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• 2024

Background: This study aimed to identify the prevalence of workplace hazards and organizational protection resources according to the size of the enterprise in the manufacturing industry of the Republic of Korea. Methods: We analyzed data of waged workers (weighted N = 5,879) from the Fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey (2017). Enterprise sizes were categorized as "micro enterprises" (less than five employees), "small enterprises" (5-49 employees) and "medium-large enterprises" (50 or more employees). Self-reported exposure to 18 physical, chemical, ergonomic, and psychological hazards were measured. The presence of organizational protection resources such as a labor union, a safety delegate working at the company, designated spaces to deal with safety, and the provision of health and safety information was evaluated. Results: Compared to workers in medium-large enterprises, those in micro enterprises showed a higher proportion of exposure to most of physical, chemical, ergonomic, and psychological hazards, except for exposure to solvents, prolonged sitting, and experiencing a state of emotional unrest. On the other hand, workers in micro enterprises had the lowest proportion of access to organizational protection resources. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that manufacturing workers at the micro enterprise in the Republic of Korea are exposed to the most hazardous work environment and yet have access to the fewest organizational protection resources.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.144-152
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• 2006

Purpose: This study was conducted to understand the effects of daily hassle stress on the psycho-social health of male workers in manufacturing industry. Methods: Daily hassle stress and psycho-social health in manufacturing industry workers were estimated by using the Daily Hassles Scale for Korea Workers (DHS-KW) and general health questionnaire (GHQ), respectively. Results: The subjects were 553 male workers who had never been occupationally exposed to hazardous chemicals, were mean age 39.6 years and mean work duration was 15.66 years. DHS-KW total mean score had significantly higher in young ages (twenties and thirties ages), office workers, managers and daytime workers than other groups. GHQ total mean scores were significantly higher in un-married, daytime and overtime workers than others. DHS-KW and GHQ score correlated that they were negative correlation with age and working years, but was positive correlation with working hours and overtime work. The significant correlation between DHS-KW and GHQ were observed almost variables of DHS-KW and GHQ except a domestic and daily problem in DHS-KW variables. Domestic and daily problems were only significantly correlated with anxiety and insomnia of GHQ variables. Conclusion: This study indicated that physical health was associated with work condition and psychsocial health was mainly associated with domestic and daily problems of DHS-KW variables. Thus, the study on Daily Hassles stress and related with work stress should be further investigated for the comprehensive health program including stress management and coping behavior.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.327-337
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• 2024

Background: As the tremendous impact of extreme workloads, arduous working conditions, and disorganization disrupt humane job definitions in some industries, the need for workplace re-articulation was interfered to ameliorate psycho-social factors and suggest organizational intervention strategies. Especially for colossally wounded health-care (HC) systems, today it is now even more unrealizable to retain workforce resilience considering the immense impact of overwhelming working conditions. Methods: This study introduces employment of concurrent engineering tools to re-design humane workplaces annihilating abatement over devoured resources. The study handles HC-workforce resilience in a pioneering motive to introduce transformation of well-known motivators and proposes solutions for retention and resilience issues grounding on HC workers' own voice. Results: The proposed adjustable approach introduces integral use of focus group studies, SWARA, and QFD methods, and was practiced on a real-world case regarding Turkish HC workforce. The paper also presents widespread effects of findings by tendering generalized psycho-social rehabilitation strategies. Results confirmed the modifications of the most potent incessant motivators. Conclusion: "Burn out issues" and "Challenging work" were found as the most important motivator and satisfier, respectively, to be exigently fulfilled. Corrective interventions, required resolutions, and workplace articulation connotations were arbitrated in terms of entire outcomes on four dimensions in three different planning periods considering the current status, repercussions of pandemic, and contingency of similar catastrophes. Descriptive illustrations were additionally presented to support deducted interpretations.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.183-191
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• 2010

Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate the distribution patterns and exposure concentrations of bioaerosols in industries suspected to have high levels of bioaerosol exposure. Methods: We selected 11 plants including 3 livestock feed plants (LF industry), 3 metal working fluids handling plants (MWFs industry), and 5 sawmills and measured total airborne bacteria, fungi, endotoxins, as well as dust. Airborne bacteria and fungi were measured with one stage impactor, six stage cascade impactor, and gelatin filters. Endotoxins were measured with polycarbonate filters. Results: The geometric means (GM) of the airborne concentrations of bacteria, fungi, and endotoxins were 1,864, $2,252\;CFU/m^3$, and $31.5\;EU/m^3$, respectively at the sawmills, followed by the LF industry (535, $585\;CFU/m^3$, and $22.0\;EU/m^3$) and MWFs industry (258, $331\;CFU/m^3$, and $8.7\;EU/m^3$). These concentrations by industry type were significantly statistically different (p < 0.01). The ratio of indoor to outdoor concentration was 6.2, 1.9, 3.2, and 3.2 for bacteria, fungi, endotoxins, and dust in the LF industry, 5.0, 0.9, 2.3, and 12.5 in the MWFs industry, and 3.7, 4.1, 3.3, and 9.7 in sawmills. The respiratory fractions of bioaerosols were differentiated by bioaerosol types and industry types: the respiratory fraction of bacteria in the LF industry, MWF industry, and sawmills was 59.4%, 72.0%, and 57.7%, respectively, and that of fungi was 77.3%, 89.5%, and 83.7% in the same order. Conclusion: We found that bioaerosol concentration was the highest in sawmills, followed by LF industry facilities and MWFs industry facilities. The indoor/outdoor ratio of microorganisms was larger than 1 and respiratory fraction of microorganisms was more than 50% of the total microorganism concentrations which might penetrate respiratory tract easily. All these findings suggest that bioaerosol in the surveyed industries should be controlled to prevent worker respiratory diseases.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.81-92
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• 2013

This research was conducted to analyze the perception of the dental hygienists who work in ordinary dental clinics regading patient safety culture and to analyze the related elements. As for the research subjects and methods, 233 dental hygienists who work at the dental clinics located in Daegu, Gyeongbuk and Jeonnam were targeted from February 6, 2012 to March 5, 2012 to administer survey by utilizing patient safety culture recognition tool. Collected data was subjected to the SPSS 18.0 program to calculate average and standard deviation, and to carry out t-test, ANOVA and multiple regression analysis. Dental hygienists' level of perception towards patient safety culture was mid level, and it was demonstrated that there is a correlation with age, work experience at department, title and type of department that affect level of perception towards patient safety culture. In conclusion, Since this research targeted only a limited number of dental hygienists, it is necessary to be cautious about over-interpreting the results. Above anything, it is necessary to carry out repetitive research by targeting medical professionals of diverse jobs.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.147-155
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• 2021

Objective: The purpose of this study was to find ways for strengthening occupational health services through monitoring exposure to health hazards. Methods: About 70,000 workplaces that have conducted the work environment measurement(WEM) over the last three years(2017~2019) were classified according to the Korean Standard Industry Classification(KSIC), and the current status of WEM by industry was analyzed. The authors considered ways to monitor exposure to health hazards in order to strengthen occupational health services and protect workers' health. Results: Based on the KSIC, 934 of the 1,196 total sub-classified industries have conducted WEM in at least one workplace over the last three year(2017~2019). In the case of manufacturing, out of a total of 477 sub-classified industries, 474 have conducted WEM at more than one workplace. However, in some industries, WEM was not conducted or the implementation rate was low, so it was necessary to examine whether WEM should be expanded based on a detailed analysis of the WEM database. To this end, it is necessary to form an exposure monitoring committee in which various experts from different fields can participate. The committee needs to discuss the overall matters necessary for selecting industries that require detailed investigation or research, review the results, and prepare a final recommendation. Conclusion: In conclusion, the government needs to come up with a plan to strengthen occupational health services through surveys and research on the current status of WEM and work environment management models by industry.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.42-48
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• 2017

Background: As one of the most frequently occurring accidents in a chemical plant, a fire accident may occur at any place where transfer or handling of combustible materials is routinely performed. Methods: In particular, a jet fire incident in a chemical plant operated under high pressure may bring severe damage. To review this event numerically, Computational Fluid Dynamics methodology was used to simulate a jet fire at a pipe of a compressor under high pressure. Results: For jet fire simulation, the Kemeleon FireEx Code was used, and results of this simulation showed that a structure and installations located within the shelter of a compressor received serious damage. Conclusion: The results confirmed that a jet fire may create a domino effect that could cause an accident aside from the secondary chemical accident.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.208-212
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• 2024

Background: Traffic accidents involving professional drivers have serious societal repercussions. Unique occupational stressors and health risks exacerbate the likelihood of traffic accidents among professional drivers. This study explores the association between presenteeism-impaired work performance due to working while unwell-and traffic accident risk among professional taxi drivers in Japan. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted from June 2022 to February 2023, involving taxi drivers from a single company in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Presenteeism was assessed using the Work Functioning Impairment Scale (WFun). Primary outcome involved the number of self-reported minor traffic accidents. The incidence rate ratio (IRR) of minor traffic accident occurrences was estimated using a Poisson regression analysis, adjusted for confounders including sex, age, and driving experience. Results: Of 838 targeted drivers, 435 were included in the analysis. Higher baseline work functioning impairment was associated with a significant trend of increasing IRR of minor traffic accidents (p for trend = 0.045). A dose-response relationship was seen between the degree of presenteeism and incidence rate of minor traffic accidents. Conclusion: Higher levels of presenteeism were associated with an increased risk of traffic accidents among taxi drivers. The findings underscore the need for socio-economic support and prioritized health management to mitigate traffic accident risk among professional drivers. This study highlights the importance of managing non-critical health issues alongside serious health conditions for safer driving practices among professional drivers in Japan.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.72-76
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• 2017

Background: Workplace victimization is considered a major social stressor with significant implications for the wellbeing of employees and organizations. The aim of this study was to examine the influences of employees' personality traits and organizational politics on workplace victimization among Ghanaian employees. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, data were collected from 631 employees selected from diverse occupations through convenience sampling. Data collection tools were standardized questionnaires that measured experiences of negative acts at work (victimization), the Big Five personality traits, and organizational politics. Results: The results from hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that among the personality traits neuroticism and conscientiousness had significant, albeit weak relationships with victimization. Organizational politics had a significant positive relationship with workplace victimization beyond employees' personality. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that compared with personal characteristics such as personality traits, work environment factors such as organizational politics have a stronger influence on the occurrence of workplace victimization.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.389-392
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• 2019

When conducting an exposure assessment, the primary goal of the industrial hygienist is to fully characterize the worker's exposure during a work shift to compare it with an occupational exposure limit. This applies regardless of the duration of the work activity as an activity that is relatively short in duration can still present exposure in excess of the occupational exposure limit even when normalized over an 8-hr shift. This goal, however, is often impeded by the specification of a minimum sample volume in the published sampling method, which may prevent the sample from being collected or submitted for analysis. Removing the specification of minimum sample volume (or adjusting it from a requirement to a recommendation), in contrast, allows for a broader assessment of jobs that consist of short-duration and high-exposure activities and also eliminates the unnecessary practice of running sampling pumps in clean air to collect a specified, minimum volume.