• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.105-115
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• 2020

With the decrease of the agricultural population in Korea, the workers who is vulnerable to labor are increasing in agricultural industry because of aging, feminization of population. They are exposed in poor working environment with higher temperature and concentrations of dust, gas. Higher concentration of harmful gas and dust can cause chronic and acute disease to workers depending on exposure intensity and frequency. In order to improve the working environment in the livestock facilities, It is important to secure monitoring data of the thermal environment and the concentration of harmful gases and fine dust. Multi-point measurement was performed to analyze the regional environmental conditions in the pig rooms. When analyzing the working environment, video monitoring was conducted to analyze the concentration changes of ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and fine dust according to worker movement and work type. Ammonia and hydrogen sulfide monitoring result showed 1.5~2 times higher concentrations than other work when working in the pigs living zone, and 2~4 times higher than other work when working to increase the activity of pigs. In the case of fine dust, the result was 1.3 times higher than the worker's exposure standard in a specific work. The concentrations of gases and dusts from pig farms are not of concern for acute poisoning in normal work, but there is a risk of chronic respiratory disease if they are continuously exposed. Accordingly, there is a need for development of work environment monitoring device tailored to workers and preparation of alternatives.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.476-482
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• 2023

Introduction: There is a growing global interest in the issue of precarious employment. We aimed to analyze the characteristics and socio-demographic distribution of precarious employment using a summative score approach. Methods: To operationalize precarious employment, we utilized data from the Korean Working Conditions Survey and focused on three distinct dimensions: employment insecurity, income inadequacy, and a lack of rights and protections. By constructing a summative scale ranging from -16 to 2, with lower scores indicating higher precariousness, we measured employment precariousness among Korean wage workers. To compare employment precariousness according to survey participant characteristics, we employed the Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test. Results: We analyzed a weighted number of 38,432 workers. The overall sample showed a median (Q1, Q3) summative scale score of -3 (-6, -1). The median summative score was lower for women compared to men (men: -2; women: -5; p < 0.001), as well as for young or older workers compared to middle-aged workers (young: -4; middle-aged: -2; older: -5; p < 0.001). Similarly, workers with lower educational levels (middle school or below: -8; high school: -5; college or above: -2; p < 0.001) and non-white collar workers (blue collar: -5; service/sales worker: -6; white collar: -2; p < 0.001) experienced higher levels of employment precariousness. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that certain vulnerable groups, such as women, young or older adults, workers with low educational attainment, and caregiving or low-skilled elementary workers, are disproportionately exposed to high employment precariousness. Active policy interventions are needed to improve the employment quality of vulnerable groups.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.10.1-10.10
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• 2023

The purpose of this paper was to review the problems relating to Korea's occupational health services and suggest ways to improve them. Korea can be classified as a welfare state type of conservative corporatism partially interwoven with liberalism. While experiencing compressed economic growth, the economic sectors of developed (excess areas) and developing (deficient areas) countries are interwoven. Therefore, it is necessary to perfect conservative corporatism along with a complementary reinforcement of liberal contents and to apply a multilayered approach focusing on complementing the deficient areas. It is essential to form a national representative indicator related to occupational health, and a strategy for selection and concentration is needed. The proposed central indicator is the occupational health coverage rate (OHCR), which is the number of workers who have applied for mandatory occupational health services under the Occupational Safety and Health Act in the numerator with the total working population in the denominator. This paper proposes ways to raise the OHCR, which is currently at the level of 25%-40%, to 70%-80%, which is the level of Japan, Germany, and France. To achieve this target, it is necessary to focus on small businesses and vulnerable workers. This is an area of market failure and requires the active input of community-oriented public resources. For access to larger workplaces, the marketability of services should be strengthened and personal intervention using digital health resources should be actively attempted. Taking a national perspective, work environment improvement committees with tripartite (labor, management, and government) participation for improvement of the working environment need to be established at the center and in the regions. Through this, prevention funds linked to industrial accident compensation and prevention could be used efficiently. A national chemical substance management system must be established to monitor the health of workers and the general public.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.35-46
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• 2015

Improvement in domestic poultry production has a positive effect on the export competitiveness of the poultry industry. However, overproduction and enlargement of facilities to assure a supply increase a stocking density which make a poor environment in the broiler house. In particular, an intensive rearing environment is vulnerable to dust control that causes respiratory diseases, such as asthma, bronchitis, etc., to farmers and broilers. However, monitoring data and research for environment control are not adequate, and there are no air quality regulations in broiler houses in Korea. In this study, TSP, PM10, inhalable dust and respirable dust concentration were monitored according to season, age of broiler and broiler's activities. Air quality assessment was also performed in accordance with the threshold limit value by Donham et al. (2000). The TSP concentrations were 77.5 %, 219.7 % higher and PM10 concentrations were 121.2 %, 303.8 % higher when change of season and winter respectively than summer. There were significantly different concentrations according to season and age of broiler. Inhalable and respirable dust concentration were also clearly different according to the season and age of broiler. A high dust concentration was observed, specifically exceeding the threshold limit by 119 % in the winter. In the case of the broiler's motion was activity according to worker's access into the broiler house, concentration level was 769.6 % higher than broiler's motion was stable and exceeded the threshold limit. These results suggest that the worker should put on protective equipment to protect there's respiratory health in the broiler house.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.287-301
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• 2022

Objectives: This study compared the characteristics of the work environment between agricultural and general workers and analyzed the effects of agricultural working characteristics on work-related health problems. Methods: The participants of this study were 2,347 agricultural workers and 48,042 general workers who were selected by applying standardized weights to the raw data of 50,538 respondents from the 6th Korean Working Condition Survey (KWCS). Variables applicable to both worker groups and related to exposure to hazardous risk factors in the working environment, working hours and intensity of work, health problems and work-related status, and satisfaction with the work environment were selected. Chi-square tests and independent sample t-tests were performed to evaluate the differences in the variables between the two groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to analyze the effects of work environment characteristics on work-related health problems. Results: Compared to general workers, agricultural workers were more exposed to hazardous environments, irregular work patterns such as working on Saturday/Sunday, and short repetitive tasks. They reported more work-related and general health problems, including back pain, upper extremity muscle pain, lower extremity muscle pain, and general fatigue. Agricultural workers showed lower satisfaction with their work environment than general workers. Factors affecting one or more work-related health problems included gender, working years, hazardous factors, irregular work pattern, working hours, and labor intensity. Conclusions: Our findings showed that agricultural workers were relatively more vulnerable to safety issues compared to other occupational groups. Therefore, it is necessary to establish standardized safety and health standards and strengthen systematic safety and health management policies and services for agriculture.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.78-82
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to review the labor force partitpation rate and work environment characteristics of female workers to provide basic information for establishment and implementation of effective policies related to accident prevention and workers health protection for female workers. It was analyzed employment status, work environment and injuries and illnesses based on economic activity census results, compensation of industrial injury and the second working condition survey. According to economic activity census results, female labor force participation rate has been steadily increased, whereas male labor force participation rate has been decreased since 1970. Industrial accident rate has been declined in male workers but that in female workers has been steadily increased even though male workers were higher accident rate than female workers. It was evaluated that female workers are vulnerable to industrial injuries and illnesses in the aspect of their working environment and employment status. Also, Substantial differences between female and male workers in occupational exposure patterns, occupational disease and occupational environments were observed. Therefore it was recommended that special care programs for female workers such as a specialized monitoring and management program should be introduced in the near future.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.14
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• pp.5607-5611
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• 2015

Thousands of people die each year from cancer due to occupational causes. To reduce cancer in workers, preventive strategies should be used in the high-risk workplace. The effective prevention of occupational cancer requires knowledge of carcinogen agents. Like other areas of healthcare industry, occupational health has been affected by information technology solutions to improve prevention, early detection, treatment and finally the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the healthcare system. Information technology solutions are thus an important issue in the healthcare field. Information about occupational cancer in information systems is important for policy makers, managers, physicians, patients and researchers; because examples that include high quality data about occupational cancer patients and occupational cancer causes are able to determine the worker groups which require special attention. As a result exposed workers who are vulnerable can undergo screening and be considered for preventive interventions.

• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.1243-1255
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• 2014

This study is aimed at developing an index and indicator in the light of social factors by analyzing the basic materials on Korean working conditions survey to make it possible to grasp various working environment factors consequent on business type and to judge the industrial safety & health policy of the related area. For the purpose of developing an index, this study was conducted by benchmarking the OECD-suggested index development guidelines and overseas cases of index development. This study suggested indexes related to health by benchmarking OECD's press-state-response model. The press-state health-related indexes specified in Korean working condtions survey were found to consist of physical risk environment, working hours, business environment, and social environment, and its consequent 'state' items were comprised of mental health, physical health, absence from work due to health problems and work satisfaction as health-related items. As a result, it was found that the 'press-state index' for wage worker, regular employee, manager, clerks, expert & related personnel involved, and workers aged under 50 was relatively good; in contrast, the 'press-state index' for people aged over 50, owner-operator, daily job, skilled position in agriculture & fisheries, simple labor service, and apparatus & machines assembly worker was found to be relatively vulnerable.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.68 no.4
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• pp.97-118
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• 2016

The primary goal of this study was to investigate factors affecting job satisfaction of injured workers who returned to work. There are two types of injured workers' returning to work returning to pre-injury job and getting a new job. After separating the two types of workers we conducted the multiple regression analysis on the data from the Workers'Compensation Insurance Panel of the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service Corporation(2014). The sample consisted of 1,333 occupationally injured workers who were finished with medical treatment(693 workers returned to previous work place, and 640 workers found new work places). Main results are as follows. First, injured workers who got new jobs were vulnerable to sustainability to job, work status, average monthly wage as well as job satisfaction compared with injured workers who returned to pre-injury job. Second, gender, educational level, skill fitness, average monthly wage, welfare benefits, family income/leisure life/residential environment/social relation satisfaction, and maintenance of relation with business owner during medical care were related to job satisfaction of injured workers who returned to pre-injury job. Third, gender, work status, skill fitness, continuous work possibility, average monthly wage, family income/leisure life/social relation satisfaction, substitute worker for assigned task during medical care and maintenance of relation with business owner during medical care affected on job satisfaction of injured workers who got new jobs. Based on these findings implications for policy and interventions were discussed in regards to job satisfaction of injured workers.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.139-149
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze the impact of self-leadership by worker in social enterprises and profit enterprise. For this purpose, 36 social enterprises and commercial enterprises in Chungcheongnam-do and 303 workers were surveyed. Main results are as follows. First, the workers in social enterprises and profit enterprises have many different characteristics. The workers who work in social enterprise is more women, less educated and were the elderly than profit enterprise. This is the reason that social enterprises are employing women, elderly and vulnerable groups by the government's social work support policy. Second, self leadership and all organizational Performance areas in social enterprises is higher than that of profit companies. Third, self-leadership in social enterprise and profit enterprise has positive effect on organizational performance. Therefore, in order to improve the organizational performance of social enterprises must share organizational vision and goals for the workers. It will increase the organizational competitiveness. The Journal of Digital Policy & Management. This space is for the abstract of your study in English.