• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.55-62
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• 2023

Public institutions have a responsibility to ensure the safety of their employees and the public. One way to do this is to implement a systematic safety inspection system based on risk assessments and continuous improvements. This study developed a systematic safety inspection system for public institutions that are ordered construction projects. The proposed system in this study consists of a three-step process: (1) developing safety grade evaluation tables, (2) preparing and conducting safety inspections, and (3) evaluating and improving safety management grades. The first step is to develop safety grade evaluation tables by analysis and diagnosis of the construction site's work type, disaster statistics, and related laws. The second step is to conduct safety inspections using the developed evaluation tables. The third step is to determine the safety management grade based on the results of the safety inspection, and to improve risk factors found during the safety evaluation. The proposed system was implemented in highway construction projects carried out by public institutions. The results showed that the proposed system has two major effects: (1) reducing accident-related deaths and injuries, (2) improving safety management levels by continuous evaluation and improvement. The proposed system can be utilized in construction projects ordered by public institutions to improve the level of occupational safety and health.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.71-80
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• 2016

Background: Functional capacity evaluations (FCEs) are designed to systematically assess the capacity to perform work-related tasks and to determine worker's ability to return to the previous job following work-related injuries. These evaluations may be rated either by clinician or worker. There has been a lack of consensus between the two scoring methods. Objects: This study aimed: 1) to confirm if the data are fit to the Rasch rating scale model and 2) to investigate the item-level concordance rate between the ratings of clinician and injured worker of the FCE. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample (n=124) of a rehabilitation program with the Occupational Rehabilitation Data Base for workers with low back pain. The functional capacity evaluation at admission and discharge was administered to clinicians and workers. The data were analyzed using both classical test theory-based Pearson's r and intra-class coefficient followed by item-level analysis with Rasch rating scale model. Results: All items of the FCE, except sitting items rated by clinician at admission and handling items rated by both clinician and worker throughout admission and discharge, were acceptable fit statistics with minor out of ranges for a misfit criterion. This may indicate that the items of the FCE overall fit to the Rasch rating scale model. Few problematic items responding differently to clinician and worker both at admission and discharge were detected with the differential item functioning analysis despite the excellent concordance rate using the two conventional statistics-sitting and handling items at admission and handling item at discharge. Conclusion: The item-level speculations using Rasch analysis of the FCE demonstrate that the ratings of clinician and self ratings of worker were psychometrically acceptable though there was an apparent discrepancy between the raters both at admission and discharge.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.394-400
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• 2022

Background: Impacts of exposure are generally monitored and recorded after injuries or illness occur. Yet, absence of conventional after-the-effect impacts (i.e., lagging indicators), tend to focus on physical health and injuries, and fail to inform if workers are not exposed to safety and health hazards. In contrast to lagging indicators, leading indicators are proactive, preventive, and predictive indexes that offer insights how effective safety and health. The present study is to validate an extended Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) that consists of six leading indicators. Methods: Questionnaires were distributed to 13 organizations (response rate = 93.1%, 1,439 responses) in Taiwan. Cronbach α, multiple linear regression and canonical correlation were used to test the reliability of the extended Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) which consists of six leading indicators (safe climate, transformational leadership, organizational justice, organizational support, hazard prevention and control, and training). Criteria-related validation strategy was applied to examine relationships of six leading indicators with six criteria (perceived health, burnout, depression, job satisfaction, job performance, and life satisfaction). Results: The results showed that the Cronbach's α of six leading indicators ranged from 0.87 to 0.92. The canonical correlation analysis indicated a positive correlation between the six leading indicators and criteria (1st canonical function: correlation = 0.647, square correlation = 0.419, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The present study validates the extended VPP framework that focuses on promoting safety and physical and mental health. Results further provides applications of the extended VPP framework to promote workers' safety and health.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Navigation
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.57-68
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• 1993

The economy of Korea has grown up significantly in its scale. It has, therefore, become imperative to develop countermeasures to prevent work related injuries and occupational illnesses resultining from haza-rdous working conditions and handling harmful substances. A lot of cargo handling accident in port have occurred due to the characteristics of poor working environment, diversity of working place and method, fluctuation of the amount of cargo and handling of heavy, long, harmful and dangerous cargo, etc. According to '91 industrial accident analysis carried out by the ministry of labour, the number of the stevedores injured by cargo handling accident in port were 1, 432 persons (the death accident : 22 per-sons), the amount of industrial accident compensation in port was 6.7 billion won (the amount of economic loss : 33.6 billion won), and the injury occurance rate of the stevedoring industry was higher than that of the whole industry. This paper, therefore, aims to the actual status of the stevedoring industry and to extract the main cau-ses of the accidents related to cargo handling in port through factor analysis using the data of the accide-nts in the whole habour from 1990 to 1992, and to suggest the countermeasures to prevent such accident. The main causes of the accident and countermeasures are found to be as follows through the factor analy-sis : Factor1, factor2, and factor3 related to a defect of human being and management, a defect of state and environment, and an insufficiency of education and law are extracted. The short-term countermeasures to prevent these accidents are 1) to consolidate the safety and health organization in the working spot, 2) to secure a safe condition in working spot before dock work, 3) to strengthen a dock worker's safety educa-tion. The long-term countermeasures are 1) to promote a decasualisation of dock workers, 2) to modernize the cargo working methods through constructing exclusive pier and introducing exclusive cargo handling equipment, 3) to establish a exclusive dock accident prevention organization and the dock workers law. Factor 4, factor5, factor6, and factor7 related to an unfitness, a deficiency of technical knowledge, a nonfu-lfilment of safety measures, and a bad arrangement are extracted. The countermeasures to prevent these accidents are 1) to perform a complete safety inspection of cargo handling equipments and tools and to carry out the dock work according to a working plan, 2) to publish and supply technical safety books, safety instruction book, safety check list, etc., 3) to strengthen the safety patrol at the working spot in habour and to activate a safety fund, 4) to maintain always a clean workshop with the safety consciousness in which the good arragement of the working spot is considered to be the beginning of safety.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.1561-1572
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• 2016

The ability to handle materials from one location to another, whether during transit or at the worksite is vital to all segments of industry. To varying degrees, many personnel in numerous workplaces take part in materials handling. Consequently, some employees are injured. In fact, rigging & slinging is a dangerous work using a crane and sling equipment to carry a cargo and the mishandling of materials is the single largest cause of accidents and injuries in the workplace. The majority of accidents associated with cranes and other lifting appliances are caused by faulty slinging, overloading, unbalanced loads, etc. which result in the load falling or tipping out of control, causing injury to people, damage to plant, machinery and the load. Therefore, recognizing the dangers of the works, there are much technical support including skill training in various institutes to minimize accidents during works on land. Although rigging work at sea is much dangerous than on land work because it needs to take account of the movements of the ships and waves, etc. in addition to land based rigging hazards, it is insufficient in appropriate actions that can improve the safety of the workers at sea. Therefore, this study suggested a rigging and slinging course for seafarers to improve their safety at sea by researching hazards and risk of rigging works and related skill training conducted on land.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2024

Background: The present study aimed to analyze several aspects of the working conditions and health status of platform workers in the Republic of Korea, such as ergonomic and emotional hazards. We also compared the health status of the platform workers with that of the general population. Methods: A total of 1,000 platform workers participated in this survey from August 7 to August 17, 2022. The participants included 400 designated drivers, 400 food-delivery drivers, and 200 housekeeping managers. A face-to-face survey with a structured questionnaire was conducted by researchers who had received specific instructions. The focus of the survey extended to the work environment, encompassing factors such as workplace violence, as well as physical, chemical, and ergonomic hazards. Health-related data for the previous year were also collected, covering a range of issues such as hearing problems, skin problems, musculoskeletal symptoms, headaches, injuries, mental health issues, and digestive problems. Subsequently, we compared the health symptom data of the responders with those of the general population in the Republic of Korea. Results: Platform workers, including designated drivers, food-delivery drivers, and housekeeping managers, existed in the blind spot of social insurance, facing frequent exposure to physical and chemical hazards, ergonomic risk factors, and direct or indirect violence. The prevalence of health problems, including musculoskeletal symptoms, general fatigue, and depressive symptoms, in each occupational group was statistically higher than that in the general population after standardization for age and gender. Conclusion: The results revealed unfavorable working environment and inferior occupational health of platform workers compared with those of the general population.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.167-181
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• 2012

This study analyzed consumer's harsh complaining behaviors and firm's reactions toward consumers' harsh complaining behavior, and investigated the differences in the firms' reactions according to the characteristics of counselors and customer service centers. In addition, this study attempted to find a strategy and provide guidance regarding consumer's harsh complaining behaviors. The results of this study are discussed below. First, consumer's harsh complaining attitudes were expressed by crude language, violent language, threats, personal attacks, and claims of a high-ranking social position. Consumer's directive, complaining behaviors were repeated on the telephone, and threats of prosecution or disclosure to the public, exposure of habitual product returns, and requests for interviews with superiorsat the representative firm were made. Second, a firm typologies according to its reaction style toward a consumer's harsh complaining behaviors were as follows: Group 1, having a neutral attitude toward consumers and preparation thoroughly regarding their demands; Group 2, having a negative attitude toward consumers and some degree of preparation toward consumers' demands; and finally, Group 3, having a positive attitude toward consumers but offering insufficient reparation regarding consumers' demands. Third, female counselors, counselors having a certified counselor's license, and those much experience working in labor work were more likely to be in Group 3. Male counselors, part-time counselors, and those having experience of many years were more likely to be in Group 2. Group 1 were more likely to have large number of workers at customer service centers, male counselors, and to have large numbers of educational training programs related to the reactions of consumers in the form of dissatisfaction, complaints, how to offer compensation for injuries to consumers, and issues related to PL(product liability). In addition, Group 1 also had more firm level welfare policies related to hight stress levels of consumer counselors and extra types of support regarding harsh consumers. However, Group 2 members were more likely to provide excessive compensation and rewards to harsh consumers. Finally, to react to consumer's harsh complaint efficiently, it was suggested that firms should not treat consumers as harsh consumers, should react to consumers' complaints sincerely, and should take precautionary management efforts as regards consumer dissatisfaction based on better quality control of products. In addition, it was deemed necessary to formulate a management strategy to train competent consumer counselors with a high quality of counselor skill, having standardized and consistent reaction guidance toward consumer complaints and thorough knowledge of compensation rules for consumer injuries and subsequent guidance.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.325-341
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• 2017

Objective: The purpose of this study is to suggest the guidelines of operation phases to minimize injuries and musculoskeletal disorders in manual material handling (MMH) tasks through literature reviews. The guidelines are presented as the preparing phase, lifting phase, carrying phase, and lowering phase. Also, we summarized the non-numerical general guidelines for MMH tasks. Background: Manual material handling is still a main cause to musculoskeletal disorders. Method: Procedures of a literature review are classified into database selection, keyword search, title review, abstract review related to literature selection, guideline review and arrangement. A total 48 papers and books were analyzed in detail by title and abstract reviews. Results: In the preparing phase, we suggested the basic conditions in MMH, preparing procedure, clothing and protective equipment, and education. In the lifting and carrying phases, we recommended maximal acceptable weight by frequency and body posture. In the lowering phase, we suggested the lowest weight and safety body postures. Finally, we recommended general guidelines and guideline items for MMH. General guidelines are presented to suggest worker selection, technical education, and work design parts. Conclusion: We suggested the guidelines on the four operation phases of MMH tasks such as preparing, lifting, carrying, and lowering phases. Application: The findings of this study can be utilized as guidelines for proactive recommendations according to workers in MMH tasks.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.207-214
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• 2023

Background: Occupational safety issues related to food delivery riders emerge with evidence of an increase in associated traffic accidents and injuries along with the rapid growth of the online food delivery business. This paper focuses on food delivery riders' job stress and investigates its relationships with both antecedents and risky riding outcomes. Method: Survey data were collected from 279 Taiwanese food delivery motorcycle riders and analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis. Results: The results show that job overload and time pressure positively impact riders' job stress, while self-efficacy slightly reduces job stress. Job stress positively leads to risky driving behavior and distraction. In addition, time pressure can strengthen the impact of job overload on job stress. Riders' risky riding attitude can also strengthen the impacts of job stress on risky riding behaviors and distraction. Conclusion: This paper advances the literature on online food delivery as well as the occupational safety improvement of food delivery riders. Specifically, this study provides insights into the job stress of food delivery motorcycle riders and the effects of job characteristics and risky behavioral consequences.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.545-557
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• 2017

Objective: The aim of this study was to find risk factors in cultivating ginseng based on risk assessments and suggest safety measures for main risks. Background: Safety education and training is one of the practical and effective methods to prevent occupational accidents and injuries. In agricultural sector, there are few contents of safety education as compared to other industries. Especially, farm work has different cultivation characteristics according to the crops, so it needs special education materials for each crop. Among the various types of crops, ginseng contains various risk factors due to its long cultivating period and unique environment. Therefore, safety education material specified for ginseng is necessary to improve ginseng farmers' safety. Method: Risk assessment for cultivating tasks of ginseng was carried out through data obtained from various methods (site survey, interview, literature survey). To improve objectivity, the risk assessment was applied with 3-criteria (researcher estimate, interview, previous research results). Finally, the three high-risk tasks were selected and safety measures for those tasks were provided. Results: Three tasks, such as 'Mounting, maintenance and removing supports', 'Pest control' and 'Harvest', were selected as risky tasks among total tasks. (1) In 'Mounting' and maintenance and removing supports', the farmers found to be exposed to the risks of musculoskeletal disorders and accidents related to operating the tablet machine. (2) In 'Pest control', agrichemical poisoning, musculoskeletal disorders and hyperthermia were main risks. Finally, (3) In 'Harvest', the farmers are mainly exposed to the possibility of accidents of agricultural machines and risks of musculoskeletal disorders. Thus, it needs to apply appropriate safety measures to those risky tasks, such as safety guidelines, convenience equipment, protective kit, and so on. Conclusion: This study can be used as basic data for agricultural safety and expected that it would be useful for further study. In addition, the results of the research will be produced in the form of animation, which will enhance the safety consciousness for aged farmers. Application: The result of this study can be used in developing safety education materials for ginseng farmers which is essential to prevent occupational accidents and injuries among ginseng farmers.