• 한국직업건강간호학회지
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.5-15
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• 2005

Purpose: The purpose of this study are to identify the influencing factors on work-related musculoskeletal disorders of women workers. Method: Data were collected by questionnaires from 616 women workers from in such industries as electronics, food product, garment product and analyzed using descriptive statistics, multiple logistic regression. Result: As its result, 71.3% of female manufacturing workers had musculoskeletal symptom. When Multiple logistic regression analysis on factors relating to musculoskeletal symptoms was carried out, age, work posture, job demand, type of industry, working hour, type of work, family support were statistically significant variables. Conclusion: In conclusion, this study identifies that age, work posture, job demand, type of industry, working hour, type of work, family support are important factors affecting WMSDs.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제29권4호
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• pp.168-171
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• 2014

The job stress is rising as a social issue in all industries. So many manufacturing companies have been trying to prevent the job stress. Recently, the job stress is the important cause which lead to WMSDs, depressive disorder, anxiety disorder and sleep disturbance. However, the cause of the job stress is very variety. So management is very difficult. The purpose of this study is to investigate the group of the job stress by Karasek model from workers in auto part manufacturing company. The survey was using Karasek job stress model and was administered to 181 workers of auto part manufacturing company. Job demand median and job decision median was in 30.0 and 50.0. From this study, following results were obtained. 1) The gender of workers according to the groups of job stress was statistically significant(p<0.05). 2) The duration of working of workers according to the groups of job stress was statistically significant(p<0.05). 3) The intensity of work of workers according to the groups of job stress was statistically significant(p<0.01). The result of this study will help to identify the group of job stress and improve personal coping ability, systematic measure of company.

• 대한안전경영과학회지
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.87-92
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• 2024

This study aims to compare six observational methods for assessing arm- and hand-intensive tasks, based on literature review. The comparison was conducted in viewpoints of body regions, force/external load, motion repetition, other factors including static posture, coupling, duration/break, pace, temperature, precision task, and final risk or exposure level. The number of risk factors assessed was more, and assessment procedure was more complex than the observational methods for assessing whole-body postural loads such as Ovako Working Posture Analysis System(OWAS), Rapid Upper Limb Assessment(RULA), and Rapid Entire Body Assessment(REBA). Due to these, the intra- and inter-reliabilities were not high. A past study showed that while Hand Arm Risk Assessment Method(HARM) identified the smallest proportion of the work tasks as high risk, Strain Index(SI) and Quick Exposure Check(QEC) hand/wrist were the most rigorous with classifying most work tasks as high risk. This study showed that depending on the observational technique compared, the evaluation factors, risk or exposure level, and evaluation results were different, making it necessary to select a technique appropriate for the characteristics of the work being assessed.

• 한국시뮬레이션학회논문지
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.93-101
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• 2006

근래에 작업자의 근골격계 질환이 산업현장의 주요한 논제로 등장하였다. 이러한 문제를 줄이기 위하여 다양한 방법들이 사용되고 있는데 그 중의 하나가 제품설계, 치구설계, 작업장 설계를 할 때 작업자의 안전을 최대한 확보하도록 설계단계에서 개선을 하는 것이다. 최근에 급속히 발전하고 있는 3D 시뮬레이션 기술을 사용하면 작업장을 설계하는 단계에서 제품 및 치구의 3D 도면을 이용하여 가상의 작업공간을 구축한 후 작업자의 작업 자세를 사전에 검증해 볼 수 있기 때문에 작업장 구축 후 발생할 수 있는 많은 문제점들을 사전에 검증하여 설계실패비용을 최소화할 수 있다. 본 논문은 3D 작업자 시뮬레이션을 이용하여 굴삭기 공장의 특정한 공정을 대상으로 개선 및 최적화를 하기위한 연구다. 먼저 CATIA를 이용하여 제품과 치구 등 작업장 구축을 위한 3D 모델을 개발하였다. 그리고 IGRIP, DPM. Human 등의 개발도구를 복합적으로 이용하여 작업장에서의 작업내용을 시뮬레이션 할 수 있는 모델을 개발한 후 작업 자세에 대한 분석을 수행하였다. 분석결과는 작업장을 개선하는데 이용하였다.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.183-192
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• 2006

Predicting energy expenditure (EE) is important to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). The problem to predict EE is that the standard of EE is based on western data. The authors checked average EE by job categories to provide basic data for suggesting proper work intensity for Korean workers. This study was conducted from 2003 to 2005. Study subjects were recruited from 4 car parts assembly plant, 2 car assembly plant, 2 Heavy machine manufacturing plant and 2 shipyards. Total study subjects were 515 male workers. To estimate VO2max, sub-maximal test was conducted to measure VO275%max by bicycle ergometer (Combi Co, Aerobike 75XL II). Heartbeats were recorded with heartbeat recorder (Polar Electro Co, Finland, S810) during work. EE of work was calculated by recorded heartbeat and individual regression equation which was derived from sub-maximal test. Subjects were classified into 4 industry and 8 work posture, 23 job task categories. Mean EEs (S.D.) according to industry classification (kcal/min) were 4.9 (0.7), 4.8 (0.7), 4.9 (0.7), 5.0 (0.9), and 4.0 (0.5) for Car Part manufacture, Car Assembly, Ship Building, Heavy Machinery Manufacture, and Hospital Office, respectively. The results suggest that Korean male workers of exceeding to the NIOSH criteria will be needed to plan for job rescheduling to maintain $worker^{\circ}$Øs health. Further study to establish Korean work intensity standard would be needed.

• 한국전문물리치료학회지
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.69-79
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• 2012

Importance of the work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) has been increasing in the hospital industry such as health care industry and financial industry. This study investigated in order to identify the factors like general, occupational and ergonomically characteristics of the subjects related to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) of physical therapists (PTs). Ergonomic tools of rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) were used for evaluation workload of the tasks. Prevalence of MSDs were 13 PTs (26.0%) for neck, 31 PTs (62.0%) for shoulder, 9 PTs (18.0%) for arm/elbow, 27 PTs (54.0%) for hand/wrist, 28 PTs (56.0%) for back, 14 PTs (28.0%) for leg/foot. The analysis of the rate of the pain intensity showed that 53.5% subjects experience moderate pain and 14.0% subjects experience severe pain. Factors which were general characteristics, for example, height, ergonomically characteristics such as 'Posture Score A' were related musculoskeletal subjective symptoms in logistic analysis (p<.05). Among physical therapists, action level of RULA were action level 2 (6.0%), action level 3 (52.0%), action level 4 (42.0%). Physical therapists were estimated one of the highest risk factor in this study. This study suggested that the need of preventive education and program for PTs (physical therapists). Comprehensive and systematic management plans should be established to include both ergonomic and sociopsychological aspects.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.49-57
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• 2011

A questionnaire study was carried out to understand the status of performing the risk assessment of work-related musculoskeletal disorders(WMDSs), which is the employers' legal responsibility when the employees are involved in doing tasks with risk factors. Employers or managers from 340 companies and the representative employees from 250 companies participated in the survey. According to the participated employers and employees, 35.0~46.2% of companies had performed the first risk assessment before the end of 2005. However, it is presumed that the real condition might not be as much as the result, because most companies were very reluctant to took part in the survey. It was found that the type of business and size of the company are the main factors affecting the performance of the risk assessment in terms of the performing ratio, method, and so on. The participants were positive in the thought that the assessment would be helpful in preventing msuculoskeletal disorders, while there was a little difference between the employers and employees in the thought that the assessment would be helpful in finding the injuries in the early stage. It was found that it is necessary to modify and improve the definition and criteria of the tasks to be examined in the assessment.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제23권5호
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• pp.119-124
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• 2008

Many automobile assembly workers often do several cycles of tasks continuously, i.e., without breaks, to get a longer break. This is not recommended since the dose of fatigue increases exponetially with time and it takes much longer time to recover. In this study, a laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of work/rest schedules on workload of a repetitive upper-limb task. Eleven male subjects participated in the experiment, in which simulated screw driving tasks were carried out repetitively with 3 different work/rest schedules: standard breaks(1 cycle of work at a time, 60 20-s breaks), medium breaks(5 cycles of work at a time, 12 100-s breaks), and long breaks(10 cycles of work at a time, 6 200-s breaks). The result showed that medium- and long-breaks schedules significantly increased the level of perceived discomfort and %HRR as compared to the standard-break schedule. The subjects' preference was not statistically different among work/rest schedules, which might be caused from the absolutely low level of workload of the experimental tasks. From the results, it is recommended to have frequent and shorter breaks rather than infrequent and longer breaks to decrease the level of physical workload. A more expanded studies, however, should be carried out to provide more practical safety guidelines on the work practice of continuous working without breaks among automobile assembly workers.

• 대한인간공학회지
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• 제30권6호
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• pp.695-703
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• 2011

Objective: This study was to investigate the effects of coordinated upper-limb body postures on the subjective discomfort rating, heart rate, and muscle activities. Background: Although generally many checklists such as OWAS, RULA, and REBA were applied to evaluate various body postures, the body postures were might be overestimated or underestimated because each body part(i.e., back, shoulder, and elbow etc.) was evaluated separately, and then added all rates of individual body parts to assess an overall risk level for the body posture in these methodologies. Methods: A total of 20 participants maintained 14 postures which were combinations of back, shoulder, and elbow flexion angles and then muscle activities, subjective discomfort, and heart rates were collected every three minute during a sustained 15 minute and 0.5kg weight holding task. Four muscle groups were investigated: erector spine, anterior deltoid, upper trapezius, triceps brachii. Results: Results showed that subjective discomfort was the lowest when the angle of back and shoulder were both $0^{\circ}s$, while the body posture with $45^{\circ}$ of back angle and $45^{\circ}$ shoulder angle was rated as the most subjective discomfort posture. In general, the subjective discomfort ratings increased as back and shoulder flexion angles increased. It was noted that, however, the subjective discomfort of body posture with a $45^{\circ}$ back angle and $45^{\circ}$ shoulder flexion angle was lower than that of body posture with a $0^{\circ}$ back and $45^{\circ}$ shoulder flexion angle. The research findings of heart rates and muscle activities showed similar results for the analyses of subjective discomfort ratings. Conclusions: The possible limitations of the current ergonomics evaluation techniques which assessing a body posture with summing all body part score after individually analyzed in this study. Based on the analyses of subjective discomfort, heart rate, and muscle activities, it was recommended that a use of effects of coordinated upper-limb body postures would be considered when one evaluates work-load for various working postures. Application: These findings can be used for developing a more accurate assessment checklist for working posture as well as preventing musculoskeletal disorders of workers in workplaces.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제32권1호
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• pp.48-59
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• 1999

본 연구는 Rapid Upper Limb Assessment(RULA)를 이용하여 자동차 조립작 업에 대한 인간공학적 작업평가를 하고, 이 결과와 작업관련 상지 근골격계 질환의 자각증상율 및 작업특성 변수들의 연관성을 분석함으로써, RULA결과가 관련 신체부위의 통증이나 불편함으로 보고되는 근골격계 부하의 좋은 지표가 될 수 있는지, RULA평가체계를 이용하여 작업 위험도가 적합한지 여부를 평가할 수 있는가를 보고자 하였다. 자동차 제조업 작업자 314명을 대상으로 근골격계질환 자각증상설문과 RULA를 이용한 작업평가를 하였으며, 다음과 같은 결과를 얻었다. 1. NIOSH의 작업관련 근골격계 질환의 감시기준(surveillence criteria)에 따라 자각증상을 조사한 결과, 연구대상자 중 목 32.8%, 어깨 26.4%, 팔 10.5%, 손 29.3%, 허리 41.4%였으며, 한가지 이상 의 증상을 보이는 경우는 62.4%의 분포를 보였다. 2. 품질관리부에 비해 조립부서 작업자 틀이 전체 증상과 어깨, 허리, 팔 및 손부 위 증상에서 더 높은 유증상률을 보였다(p<0.05). 3. 부서별 RULA를 이용한 작업평가 결과, 서브/조립반과 의장반의 공정이 높은 위험점수를 보였다. 전체 조립부서에 대한 평가결과 적합한 작업은 3.02%였고, 62.8%가 부적합한 작업으로 작업전환이나 중재조치가 필요한 경우였다. 자각증상과 RULA를 이용한 작업평가 결과를 비교한 결과 RULA점수가 클수록 자각증상율이 높음을 보였다.(p<0.05) 4. RULA평가지표와 자각증상사이의 관련성을 보기 위하여, RULA지표와 기타 작업관련요인들을 독립변수로, 자각증상유무를 종속변수로 하여 다중 로지스틱 회귀분석을 실시하였다. 최종적으로 증상유무를 가장 잘 설명하는 회귀모형에 대한 분석결과는 다음과 같다. 모든 증상군에 대해서는 반복작업(OR 2.183), 진동공구 사용(OR 2.775)과 총 위험도 점수(OR 2.250); 목 부위 증상군에서는 상완의 자세점수(OR 1.786), 상완 및 손부 위의 총점수(OR 1.634) ; 어깨 증상군은 상지의 근사용(OR 3.076), 상완 및 손부 위의 총점수(OR 1.798); 어깨와 목 부위를 합한 증상군은 상완 및 손부위의 총점 수(OR 1.715)와 상지의 근사용 점수(OR 2.057); 팔 증상군에서는 상지의 근사용 점수(OR 10.662) ; 손 부위 증상군에 대해서는 손목의 자세/손목 비틀림 지표 (OR 2.068)와 상지의 근사용 점수(OR 2.215); 허리부위 증상군에서는 하지의 근사용 점수(OR 2.601)가 통계적으로 유의한 지표였다.(p<0.05) 이상의 결과에서 작업관련 상지근골격계 자각증상과 RULA 점수사이에는 연관성이 있음이 관찰되었다. 이는 RULA가 직업성 질환을 유발할 수 있는 근골격계 부하에 폭로된 작업자들을 평가하는, 일차적인 작업 위험도 평가도구(Screening tool)로서 쓰일 수 있음을 말해준다. 다만 향후 RULA 사용에 있어서 상지(upper limb)와 허리부위(back)의 평가를 구분하고, 기타 다른 작업관련 요인들에 대한 평가체계를 보완하는 것이 필요하다.