• 한국환경보건학회지
• /
• 제42권6호
• /
• pp.419-429
• /
• 2016

Objectives: According to the new Chemical Control Act from the Korean Ministry of Environment (2014-259), workers handling hazardous chemicals should wear personal protective equipment (PPE). However the act simply states in basic phrases that every worker handling one or more of the 69 listed chemicals should wear PPE and does not consider the unique hazard characteristics of chemicals and work types. The main purpose of this study is to provide basic data to revise the act to suit particular work processes and situations. Methods: The hazard rank of the substances was classified based on hazardous characteristics such as LC50 and vapor pressure using matrix analysis. The workplace exposure risk of the substances was also determined through a matrix analysis based on the previously determined hazard ranks and the demands of manual handling together with the likelihood of accident frequency of the operation combined with the exposure of workers during spill accidents. Results: To meet the demands for developing subsequent guidelines for the risk-based application of PPE in hazardous workplaces, this study sorted the 69 listed chemicals into five hazardous categories based on their LC50 and vapor pressures, and also assigned exposure categories according to exposure vulnerability for various types of work which are frequently performed throughout the life cycle of the chemicals. Conclusion: In the next study, an exposure risk matrix will be produced using the hazard rank of chemicals and workplace exposure risk, and then PPE will be selected to suit the categories of the exposure risk matrix.

• 한국산업보건학회지
• /
• 제16권2호
• /
• pp.110-122
• /
• 2006

Objective : This study was conducted to quantify chronic lead exposure from various media(ie. working environment, food, ambient air), and to certify the usefulness of exposure assessment using Monte-Carlo simulation in the fields of occupational health. Methods : Data were obtained from Korean Industrial Health Association, Korea Food and Drug Administration, and the Ministry of Environment. Then lead worker's exposure was estimated indirectly from various media and parameters (ie. volume inhaled, body weight, dietary intake, etc.). Uncertainty was analyzed by Monte Carlo simulation with Crystal Ball software. Exposure doses and hazard indices were simulated with various hypothetical scenarios including weekly working hours and respiratory protective equipment. Results : Without respiratory protective equipment, the total exposure dose per kilogram of body weight of lead workers was estimated as $5.45{\times}10^{-3}mg/kg/day$, and hazard index was estimated as 2.26, and exposure contributions were calculated as follows : working environment(82.42 %); foods(17.57 %); and ambient air(0.01 %). But, if working condition has changed - reduction of working hours and using respiratory protective equipment, the total exposure dose per kilogram of body weight was estimated between $1.34{\times}10^{-3}-1.49{\times}10^{-3}mg/kg/day$, and hazard index was estimated between 0.56 - 0.62. Conclusions : This study suggested that occurrence of hazardous impact(ie. increased blood pressure) through lifetime lead exposure would be expected, and that the Monte-Carlo simulation was useful for the fields of occupational health.

• 방사선산업학회지
• /
• 제18권2호
• /
• pp.117-126
• /
• 2024

This study aims to identify high exposure tasks among the tasks performed in domestic nuclear power plants as a basis for developing training programs to improve the efficiency of workers' work. To this end, we first analyzed the exposure status of radiation work in domestic nuclear power plants. Radiation tasks in nuclear power plants were categorized, collective doses were investigated, and the collective doses were calculated based on the collective doses, and representative high exposure tasks were identified. We found that the collective and individual doses in domestic nuclear power plants are continuously decreasing, but there is an imbalance of exposure among workers. In terms of work classification, nuclear power plants are managed in 236 work codes based on light water reactors and 181 work codes based on heavy water reactors, depending on the work equipment and location. Among the total work codes, 23 codes have an annual average dose exceeding 10 μSv, and based on this, 10 representative high exposure tasks were derived. The representative high exposure tasks were selected as S/G nozzle dam work, S/G debris removal work, nuclear instrumentation system, S/G eddy current detection work, and insulation work. The results of this study are expected to serve as an important basis for reducing the exposure of workers in nuclear power plants and improving work efficiency.

• 대한안전경영과학회지
• /
• 제5권3호
• /
• pp.99-106
• /
• 2003

This study concerns with an ergonomic approach for improving the workplace of an air-conditioner factory. If work tasks and equipments do not include ergonomic principles in their design, workers may have exposure to undue physical stress, strain, and overexertion, including awkward postures, forceful exertions, repetitive motion, and heavy lifting. The purpose of this study is to improve the safety, comfort, and efficiency of the workplace. Adapting tasks, work stations, tools, and equipments to fit the worker can help reduce physical stress on a worker's body and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of workplace.

• 산업공학
• /
• 제14권1호
• /
• pp.106-110
• /
• 2001

The importance of development of occupational safety index is truly great. It will contribute to the wise direction of safety program. In present, frequency and severity ratios were the standard measure. These terms express the incidence of major injuries and severity of the major injuries experience, each with relation to the employee-hours of work exposure during the period that is measured. But these measure don't expressed the dangerous feeling degree of worker. In this study, Effective Industrial Safety Index(EISI) was developed using dangerous feeling degree of worker, frequency of injuries, and severity of injury. EISI can be used as an aid for effective safety management in workplace.

• 한국환경보건학회지
• /
• 제44권5호
• /
• pp.460-467
• /
• 2018

Objectives: The objectives of this study are to estimate the inhalation exposure level of benzene for workers using Tier 1 exposure models ECETOC TRA (European Center for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals Target Risk Assessment) and Stoffenmanager, and to investigate their reliability for exposure assessment in K-REACH. Methods: Two exposure scenarios, 'manufacture of benzene' and 'use as solvents,' were developed for assessment of workers' exposure to benzene. The Process Category (PROC) for ECETOC TRA was collected from the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) registration dossier, and the Activity for Stoffenmanager was converted from PROC using translation of exposure models (TREXMO). The information related to exposure, such as working duration, Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE), Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV), and Risk Management Measure (RMM) were classified into high, medium, and low exposure conditions. The risk was determined by the ratio of the estimated exposure and occupational exposure limits of benzene. Results: Under high exposure conditions, the worker exposure level calculated from all PROCs and Activities exceeded the risk level, with the exception of PROC 1 and Activity 1. In the medium exposure condition, PROC 8a, 8b, and 9 and Activity 3, 7, and 8 all exceeded the risk, whereas in the low condition, all PROCs and Activities were determined to be safe. As a result, action corresponding with the low exposure condition is required to reduce the risk of exposure among workers in workplaces where benzene is manufactured or used as a solvent. In addition, the predicted exposure levels derived from the exposure models were lower than measured levels. The exposure levels estimated from Stoffenmanager were more conservative than those from ECETOC TRA. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the feasibility of exposure models for exposure assessment through the example of occupational inhalation exposure assessment for benzene. For more active utilization of exposure models in K-REACH, the exact application of collected information and accurate interpretation of obtained results are necessary.

• 한국산업보건학회지
• /
• 제19권3호
• /
• pp.195-201
• /
• 2009

To identify relationship between the airborne concentrations of formaldehyde and the causal factors in the endoscope unit of hospitals, a total of 48 workers selected from 4 hospitals (3 university hospitals and 1 national hospital) were investigated. Airborne formaldehyde samples were collected using passive samplers and subsequently analyzed by HPLC according to the OSHA method 1007. The geometric mean(GM) of airborne formaldehyde concentrations was 0.056 ppm (range: 0.003~0.923 ppm). The rates of exceeding exposure limits of OSHA PEL-TWA and NIOSH REL-TWA were 4.2 % and 83.3%, respectively. The STEL GM concentration was 1.428 ppm(range: 0.103~14.773 ppm). Ventilation condition (p=0.001) and temperature (p=0.017) were statistically significant causal factors for the airborne exposure concentration of formaldehyde in the endoscope unit of hospitals. In conclusion, the workers in the endoscope unit of hospitals were highly exposed to formaldehyde, and adequate controls such as appropriate management of ventilation and temperature are recommended to reduce over exposure to formaldehyde.

• 한국컴퓨터정보학회논문지
• /
• 제22권6호
• /
• pp.149-156
• /
• 2017

In this paper, we propose to enhance a Physical working conditions to decrease absence from work. we demonstrated the correlation of worker's absence with various environmental factors in workplace by surveying 6,962 workers. As result, first, concerning exposure to physical work factors, most of them complained of vibration, and concerning exposure to improper working posture, most of them complained of repetitive arm and hand motions. Second, the absence experience had correlations with age, monthly income, smoking, number of employees, long term working, and shift work, and of the physical factors, hand vibration, noise, high temperature, low temperature and improper working posture had correlations with physical pain posture, movement of people and carrying heavy materials. Third, experience of exposure to hand vibration, noise and low temperature of the physical factors had impact on absence, and of the improper working posture, physical pain posture and carrying heavy stuff had impacts on absence. Through this study, it was found that of the work factors of Korean workers, physical factors and improper working posture had impacts on absence. The results of this study confirmed that physical factors and inappropriate working posture among work factors influenced the absenteeism. Therefore, it is required to improve the work environment regarding physical risk factors and prepare a systematic management plan.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
• /
• 제20권4호
• /
• pp.511-521
• /
• 2022

Decommissioning of nuclear power plants generates a large amount of radioactive waste in a short period. Moreover, Radioactive waste has various forms including a large volumes of metal, concrete, and solid waste. The disposal of decommissioning waste using 200 L drums is inefficient in terms of economics, work efficiency, and radiation safety. Therefore, The Korea Radioactive Waste Agency is developing large containers for the packaging, transportation, and disposal of decommissioning waste. Assessing disposability considering the characteristics of the radioactive waste and facility, convenience of operation, and safety of workers is necessary. In this study, the exposure dose rate of workers during the disposal of new containers was evaluated using Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport code. Six normal and four abnormal scenarios were derived for the assessment of the dose rate in a near surface disposal facility operation. The results showed that the calculated dose rates in all normal scenarios were lower than the direct exposure dose limitation of workers in the safety analysis report. In abnormal scenarios, the work hours with dose rates below 20 mSv·y^-1 were calculated. The results of this study will be useful in establishing the optimal radiation work conditions.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제43권4호
• /
• pp.143-153
• /
• 2018

Background: The determination of the amount of radionuclides and internal dose for the worker who may have intake of radionuclides results in a variation due to uncertainty of measurement data and ingestion information. As a result of this, it is possible that for the same internal exposure scenario assessors could make considerably different estimation of internal dose. In order to reduce this difference, internal exposure scenarios for nuclear facilities were developed, and intercomparison were made to determine the harmonization of dose assessment results among the assessors. Materials and Methods: Seven cases on internal exposures incidents that have occurred or may occur were prepared by referring to the intercomparison excercise scenario that NRC and IAEA have carried out. Based on this, 16 nuclear facilities concerned with internal exposure in Korea were asked to evaluate the scenarios. Each result was statistically determined according to the harmonization discrimination criteria developed by IDEAS/IAEA. Results and Discussion: The results were evaluated as having no outliers in all 7 cases. However, the distribution of the results was spread by various causes. They can be divided into two wide categories. The first one is the distribution of the results according to the assumption of the intake factors and the evaluation factors. The second one is distribution due to misapplication of calculation method and factors related to internal exposure. Conclusion: In order to satisfy the harmonization criteria and accuracy of the internal exposure dose evaluation, it is necessary that exact guidelines should be set on low dose, and various intercomparison cases also be needed including high dose exposure as well as the specialized education. The aim of the blind test is to make harmonization evaluation, but it will also contribute to securing the expertise and high quality of dose evaluation data through the discussion among the participants.