• Title/Summary/Keyword: Workplace Environment

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A Brief Review of the Legal Definition of Chemical Accident under the Current Chemical Substances Control Act (화학물질관리법상 화학사고 정의에 관한 소고)

  • Jihoon Park;Seon-Oh Park;Hyojin Park;Hye-Ok Kwon
    • Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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    • v.49 no.4
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    • pp.179-182
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    • 2023
  • The Chemical Substances Control Act has been legislated to counter the risks posed by chemical substances to public health and the environment, but a number of small- and large-scaled incidents related to hazardous chemicals continue to occur every year. The Korean Ministry of Environment takes legal responsibility for prevention, preparedness, and response to nationwide chemical accidents under the Chemical Substances Control Act. The determination of chemical accidents that occur during hazardous chemical handling processes is based on the Article 2 (Definitions) of the law and the administrative criteria for judgement of chemical accidents. However, there are certain ambiguities in the scientific basis for determining chemical accidents under the current regulations. Whether or not a chemical accident has a direct influence on penalties and administrative measures for a workplace where an accident occurred, it is necessary to find reasonable criteria for determining chemical accident based on legal and scientific evidence.

Effect of Nursing Work Environment and Social Support on Reality Shock Experienced by New Graduate Nurses (신규간호사의 간호근무환경과 사회적 지지가 현실충격에 미치는 영향)

  • Kim, Ji Hye;Noh, Yoon Goo
    • Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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    • v.33 no.2
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    • pp.55-63
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    • 2024
  • Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of nursing work environment and social support on the reality shock of new graduate nurses in university hospitals. Methods: The subjects were 153 new graduate nurses with less than 12 months of clinical experience at two university hospitals in the G province, and data were collected from September 15 to October 7, 2020. Data were analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 26.0 program for frequency, average, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, multiple regression. Results: Factors influencing reality shock were nursing work environment (β=-.39, p<.001) and social support (β=-.25, p=.002), and gender (female) (β=.20, p=.001), and the explanatory power was 44.8% (F=9.99, p=.002). Conclusion: Our study shows that nursing work environment and social support play an important role in the reality shock of new graduate nurses. It is important to strengthen nursing work environment and social support to alleviate the reality shock of new graduate nurses. The findings of this study may serve as a basis for developing strategies for mitigating the reality shock of new graduate nurses.

A Study on the Comparison of Emission Factor Method and CEMS (Continuous Emission Monitoring System) (배출계수법과 연속자동측정법에 의한 배출량 비교 연구)

  • Jang, Kee-Won;Lee, Ju-Hyoung;Jung, Sung-Woon;Kang, Kyoung-Hee;Hong, Ji-Hyung
    • Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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    • v.25 no.5
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    • pp.410-419
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    • 2009
  • Generally, air pollutant emission at workplace is estimated by two methods: indirect methods using emission factors and direct methods based on CEMS (Continuous Emission Monitoring System). CAPSS (Clean Air Policy Support System) is a representative indirect method and the national air pollutant database of Korea. However, characteristics of some workplaces may create a gap between CAPSS and CEMS data. For improving of emission data accuracy, emission data of CEMS (named CleanSYS) equipped at 138 target workplaces were compared with those of CAPSS. As a result, $SO_x$ and $PM_{10}$ emission levels obtained by CAPSS were lower than those of CleanSYS. $SO_x$ and $PM_{10}$emission ratios were 61.5% and 71.2% lower respectively, showing the biggest gaps. On the other hand, $NO_x$ emission of CAPSS was higher by 10.4%. $SO_x$ showed the biggest difference in 'Energy industry combustion' and $NO_x$ did in 'Production Process' within the SCC category. $PM_{10}$ presented a large gap in 'Manufacturing industry combustion.' The differences in $SO_x$ between the two systems occurred because some large-size facilities lack pollution controllers or efficient pollution controllers. Based on this study, CAPSS emission database of Korea will improve accuracy through adopting CEMS emission system, which enables more efficient national atmospheric policies and workplace management.

A Study on Analysis of Component and the States of Measurement of Airborne Organic Solvents in Korea (우리나라의 공기중 유기용제 측정실태 및 성분분석에 관한 연구)

  • 원정일;신창섭
    • Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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    • v.14 no.3
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    • pp.139-149
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    • 1999
  • This study was performed to investigate components of organic solvents and present statues of environmental measurements with official records of working environmental measurements of 4,181 workplaces in 3,280 workshops used airborne organic solvents. 1. The mean working hour of 4,181 workplace producing airborne organic solvents in 3,280 workshops was 437±28.7min, but the mean sampling time for measurement of airborne organic solvents was identified to be 254±28.8min. In 73.0% of 4,181 samples the sampling frequencys were Full-period, single sample measurement. 2. The total 54 components of organic solvents were measured in total airborne samples of 4,181 workplace in 3,280 workshops in both of first and second half-year. These were divided into 38 components, Group 1 substances (5 components), Group 2 substances (31 components) and Group 3 substances (2 components), regulated by the Industrial Safety and Health Law, and other 16 components without legal duty of working environment measurement. The most common component in each half-year was Toluene (84.8%, 88.2%), which was followed by Xylene (464.4%, 51.7%), Methyl ethyl ketone (31.1%, 34.4%), n-Hexane (22.7%, 27.8%) and Benzene (20.4%, 21.5%) in frequency. Of legal duty free components, Ethyl benzen, Trimethyl benzene and Pentane were frequently detected. In conclusion, these results show that the present legal classification system of organic solvents needs to revise. Also these results suggest that it must be necessary to analyze the component of airborne organic solvents mixture and to evaluate their effects on workers' health for the effective management of working environment in workshops treating with organic solvents.

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The Comparision of Mother′s Perception of the Importance of Selected Quality Criteria when Choosing a Day Care Center in Urban and Rural Community (도시ㆍ농촌 지역 어머니의 보육시설 질적 기준에 대한 인식 비교)

  • 박인전;안지연
    • Korean Journal of Rural Living Science
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    • v.6 no.2
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    • pp.121-136
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    • 1995
  • The purposes of this research are to find out the standards which mothers consider seriously when choosing a day care center and mother's perception for the quality criteria of day care center, and to estimate the differences of these according to region. The sample consisted of 568 mothers with children using day care center located at the city of Taegu and Dalsung Gun. Collected data were analyzed by frequency, Percentage, chi-square, t-test, chronbach's $\alpha$. The results are summerized as follows : 1. In mother's perception for the quality criteria of day care center, the mothers living in the large city perceived more importantly in staff qualifications, administration - evaluation, staff- parent/staff- child interaction, curriculum, staffing, physical environment nutrition, health and safty than mothers in rural community. 2. In the importance classified by domains of the quality criteria of day care center, there were statistically significant differences according to the variable of region in staff qualifications, staff-parent/staff-child interaction, curriculum, staffing, physical environment 3. Given the present situations (income, transportation, location of workplace, etc.), when mothers choose a day care center, generally, staff-parent/staff-child interaction was the most important factor. And according to region, the distance to workplace or home was the most important factor in the case of mothers living in the large city, on the other hand, staff-parent/staff-chad interaction was the most important factor in the case of mothers living in rural community when mothers choose an ideal day care center, generally staff-parent/staff-chad interaction was the most important selection standard, and there were not remarkable differences according to region.

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Necessity of Strengthening Small-Scale Wastewater Discharge Facilities Management (소규모 폐수배출시설 관리 강화의 필요성)

  • Park, Jae Hong;Rhew, Doug Hee
    • Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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    • v.34 no.2
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    • pp.226-233
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    • 2018
  • Small-scale wastewater discharge facilities account for 98% of all workplaces, but in the generation and emission of major pollutants, they account for 27.5 % and 23.5 %, respectively. Since the proportion of the emission load of the small-scale workplace is not large, the national environmental policy has been established mainly around large-scale wastewater discharge facilities. However, in the case of specific hazardous substances in water, the amount of the discharge load of the small-scale wastewater discharge facility was 2.4 times higher than that of the generation load. Certain types of specific hazardous substances in water, which have a higher discharge load than large-scale wastewater discharge facilities, account for 24 ~ 32 %. There are also cases in which the discharge load from a small-scale discharge facility is more than four times higher, depending on the specific kind of water pollutant. As a result of inspections, the violation rate of the small-scale wastewater discharge facility among the total violations by facilities is 93.9 ~ 97.5 %. As a result, the ecotoxicity value of small-scale wastewater discharge facilities was high in most industries, and there was a fluctuation in the measured value. This indicates that the ecological integrity of the water system can be largely influenced by small-scale wastewater discharge facilities. Therefore, it is necessary to expand the environmental management of small-scale wastewater discharge facilities, and in some cases, the effect of the improvement in quality may be more significant than in the management of large-scale wastewater discharge facilities.

The Effect of Violent Experience on Burnout among Some Dental Hygienists

  • Jeon, Eun-Jeong;Han, Mi Ah;Park, Jong;Choi, Seong Woo
    • Journal of dental hygiene science
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    • v.17 no.5
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    • pp.413-422
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    • 2017
  • This study investigated the effect of violent experience on burnout among some dental hygienists. The study subjects were 242 dental hygienists working at dental clinics. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaire including information such as demographics, work-related characteristics, working environment, experience of violence, and burnout. The violence was classified as verbal violence, physical threat, or physical violence committed by dentists, patients, or caregivers. Descriptive analysis, t-test, ANOVA, correlation, and multiple linear regression analysis were performed to examine the factors associated with burnout. The levels of verbal violence, physical threat, and physical violence by dentists were $0.53{\pm}1.26$, $1.12{\pm}2.70$, and $0.04{\pm}0.42$, respectively. The levels of verbal violence, physical threat, and physical violence by patients and caregivers were $1.50{\pm}1.89$, $1.41{\pm}2.24$, and $0.24{\pm}1.38$, respectively. The score of burnout was $3.13{\pm}0.43$. Total violence, verbal violence, and physical violence by dentists were positively correlated with burnout. Total violence, verbal violence, and physical threat by patients and caregivers were positively correlated with burnout. In multiple linear regression analysis, the level of physical violence by dentists was positively associated with burnout of dental hygienists (${\beta}=0.95$, p=0.032). The levels of total physical violence (${\beta}=0.28$, p=0.002), verbal violence (${\beta}=0.15$, p<0.001), and physical threat (${\beta}=0.19$, p=0.009) by the patients or caregivers were positively associated with burnout of dental hygienists. This study examined the association between violence and burnout among dental hygienists. The level of violence showed positive correlation with burnout. Environment improvement to protect employees from violence and for management of employees who experienced workplace violence are needed to reduce the burnout.

Health Status and Improvement Measures for Irregular Plant Construction Workers at Yeosu National Industrial Complex (여수지역 비정규직 플랜트 건설 근로자의 안전보건 실태와 개선방안)

  • Choi, Sangjun;Kim, Shin-Bum
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.19 no.3
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    • pp.182-194
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    • 2009
  • This study was conducted to evaluate health status and to propose health protection measures of irregular plant construction workers in Yoesu National Industrial Complex (YNIC). The status of safety and health management was examined in five areas including safety and health education, work environment monitoring, health examination, health management record, and personal protective equipment (PPE) for plant construction workers. The safety training rate for plant construction workers was reached high at 91%, The training was mostly consisted of safety accident related things, but training on hazardous materials was found to be insufficient. Workplace monitoring results showed that the compliance rate for work environment for irregular construction workers was 54% and workplace monitoring during turnaround (TA) period with high risk of exposure to hazardous agents has not been implemented. While 61.4% of irregular workers received the general health examination but only 36.8% received the special health examination. The special health examination was found to be conducted only upon welders from 2-3 years ago. The issue of health management record upon irregular construction workers was not being implemented. In case of PPE, basic safety protective equipments such as safety shoes, safety belt, safety helmet were being supplied well while the supply rate of respirator for organic vapor was relatively low at 40%. Based on this study, two suggestions to maximize the utilization of the current safety and health program were made while boosting its effectiveness in protecting workers' health. First, the role of owners (petrochemical plant) related to safety and health should be strengthened. Second, in consideration of the characteristics of construction workers who usually engage in short term employment and frequent movement, community based health management organization is suggested that can overcome such structural problem and carry out the implementation of health examination and sustained health management.

Evaluation of the Relationship between Filter Replacement and Filter Performance Change in Particulate Respirators (방진 마스크 필터 교체와 성능 변화의 상관성 조사)

  • Lee, Heonyung;Park, Jihoon;Yoon, Chungsik
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.27 no.4
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    • pp.283-290
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    • 2017
  • Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between filter replacement and filter performance change in particulate filters used in the workplace. Methods: Three types of particulate respirator filters are mainly used in the workplaces. These were tested against the filter performance safety certification standard for dust masks established by the Ministry of Employment and Labor(MoEL). Used filters were collected to test their performance, such as filter pressure drop, efficiency, and quality factors. All these factors were evaluated by a filter tester. To compare filter performance between used and new ones, the same kinds of new filters were also tested together under the same procedures. Results: A total of 270 used filters were collected for testing. The main reasons to replace the filters were difficulty in breathing(46.2%), dirty/odor influx(19.7%), and a combination of factors(26.7%). The pressure drop for two special class groups was significantly different(new filters: $20.72{\pm}3.33mmH_2O$; used filters: $24.70{\pm}5.26mmH_2O$, p<0.0001). In the case of penetration, new filter groups indicated $0.0032{\pm}0.0040%$, while that of the used filters was $0.0596{\pm}0.1187%$. The quality factor for the used filters($0.34{\pm}0.09$) significantly decreased compared to the new filters($0.53{\pm}0.08$) (p<0.0001). Conclusions: Filter performance including pressure drop, penetration, and the quality factor was evaluated and compared between new and used filters in the workplace. The results showed that general filter performance deteriorated more for change of pressure drop, penetration and the quality factor.

A Study on Job Stress of Workers at Distribution Industry (유통업 종사자의 직무 스트레스에 관한 연구)

  • Yoon, Hoon-Yong;Park, Jung-Ju
    • Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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    • v.31 no.4
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    • pp.41-48
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    • 2008
  • The purpose of this study was to investigate the job stress factors that were related to the general characteristics, work characteristics, and health characteristics of the workers at distribution industry. The survey of job stress measurement scale for Korean employee which was developed by KOSHA and OSHRI in 2003 was used for this study. Three hundred and fifty workers at distribution industry participated in this study, and among them 326 responses were analyzed for this study due to the unreliability and insincerity of responses. Eight job stress factors like physical environment, self-control for the job, job unsecure, organization system, workplace culture, compensation for the job, relationship to the superior, and job requirement were analyzed. The results showed that the stress because of self control for the job was relatively higher than that of other industry workers. However, the stress because of physical environment, job requirement, job unsecure, organization system and compensation for the job was relatively lower than that of other industry workers. The female workers felt more stress than male workers in compensation for the job and workplace culture factors at distribution industry. The delivery and carrying job workers were more stressful than those of other jobs at distribution industry because of physical environments and self-control for the job. The non-regular job workers were more stressful than regular job workers in many stress factors like self-control for the job, job unsecure, organization system and compensation for the job.