• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.21-26
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• 2019

Objective: The aim of this study is to analyze an excess trend for domestic permissible exposure limit of trichloroethylene based on previous literature review. Materials and Methods: The research object is a trichloroethylene among 13 chemical substances regulated with PEL(Permissible Exposure Limit) in Occupational Safety and Health Act. The information utilized from this study is the work environment measurement data from 2004 to 2013. The highest level among concentration data measured at various workplaces was selected as a representative value through data process. N.D. (Not Detected) data was considered as 1/2 of LOD(Limit Of Detection). Results: Among work environment measurement data between 2004 and 2013, the highest number of excess workplace and excess rate(24 sites & 1.15%) was observed in 2008's data when applying the PEL(50 ppm) of trichloroethylene. When they are compared with the ACGIH's TLV-TWA(10 ppm), 2008's data showed the highest number of excess workplace and excess rate(175 sites & 8.37%). The number of excess workplace and excess rate related to PEL of trichloroethylene showed increase trend in 2005 but tended to decrease after 2008. Conclusions: Based on the results obtained from this study, the exposure level of trichloroethylene in case of domestic workers is not considered as a safe phase regardless of the year of work environment measurement year. Thus, a strictly preventive management in workplace should be provided for reducing exposure level of trichloroethylene.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.125-146
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• 2023

The aims of this study was to investigate the effect of workplace support and access to workplace counseling on the depression level of employees who are workplace bullying victims and then find cross-level interaction effects between individual and group factors. A multi-level analysis was conducted using data from 642 individuals who reported experiencing workplace bullying in the 2017 National Human Rights Commission survey. The findings indicate that a worker's perceived safety of their workplace is negatively associated with depression levels. Additionally, higher perceived workplace support and access to workplace counseling were associated with lower depression levels. Lastly, a positive interaction effect was observed between access to workplace counseling and perceived workplace support in relation to depression levels. That is, higher access to workplace counseling increases the negative effect of workplace support on depression levels of employees. These results highlight the importance of creating protective factors such as a safe and supportive organizational culture to combat workplace bullying of coworkers or supervisors, and implementation of counseling and support services to assist victims in coping with workplace bullying and reducing depression symptoms.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.112-118
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• 2016

The labor force has moved to services industry. An industrial accidents of service industry is three people on 10 persons in 2013. This research conducted questionnaire surveys of 1:1 directly person interviews with a structured questionnaire intended for 150 service workplaces, in order to improve occupational safety and health in very small service workplace with less than 5 employee. The survey contents is employment type, safety and health management system, safety and health training, activities. In the results, working with non-regular(informal) workers is two people on 10 persons 27.1% and female workers is about five people on 10 persons with 58.1%, and that 67.9% of non-regular workers who are mainly engaged in the production line appeared. And the work-related injury and accident experience was 3.3% and the occupational injury rate was 1.02%, especially occupational injury rate of female workers was 0.88%. Workplace risk assessment carried out in response that it was very low as 10.0% of the total. Also the safety & health education and activities was very low. Thus the safety consciousness and education is urgently required in order to prevent the industrial accidents.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.529-535
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• 2022

In order to minimize occupational accidents at worksites, the government is proposing and operating various safety and health policies. The safety and health management capabilities of domestic workplaces vary greatly depending on the size of the workplace, and in particular, safety management is difficult in workplaces with fewer than 50 employees, resulting in a relatively high accident rate. Therefore, the government is operating the safety and health technical support project for small business sites to establish safety and health in small business. In this regard, this study provided a plan for substantiating the safety and health technical support project. through the condition survey of the workplace.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.765-774
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• 2023

The Ministry of Employment and Labor implemented the process safety management(PSM) system from 1996 to prevent major industrial accidents caused by chemical substances, but the number of accidents did not drastically decrease. Even in workplaces with excellent PSM ratings, large-scale chemical accidents still occur due to non-compliance with safety work procedures and insufficient safety measures during maintenance and other work. Accordingly, the chemical accident risk warning system was introduced in 2014 to supplement the PSM system and prevent accidents that may occur during regular or unexpected maintenance and repair work. In the meantime, changes in the safety management system have been checked since the introduction of the chemical accident risk warning system at chemical handling workplaces, and based on the results, a plan for upgrading this system has been proposed. The effect of the CARW system was found to directly prevent accidents through wired and on-site consulting and post-management at the workplace and indirectly contribute to the establishment of a safety and health management system at the workplace, such as improving safety culture awareness.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.267-271
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• 2023

Background: The objective of this study is to identify the working conditions and health status of Vietnamese male migrant workers in Republic of Korea, in comparison to the Korean general population. Methods: We conducted our survey through the Migrant People Center, and we received completed questionnaires from 87 male Vietnamese migrant workers. The questionnaire employed was identical to those used in the Korean Working Conditions Survey and the 2020 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The collected data from the Vietnamese migrant workers was then compared with the Korean reference population using indirect age-standardization. Results: Vietnamese male workers demonstrated a higher prevalence of health problems including hearing problems (age-standardized prevalence ratio (aSPR) 13.22, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.07-20.4), skin problems (aSPR 13.49, 95% CI: 8.07-20.4), and low back pain (aSPR 8.40, 95% CI: 6.50-10.69). Elevated exposure to workplace hazards such as chemicals (aSPR 2.36, 95% CI: 1.51-3.51), organic solvents (aSPR 2.22, 95% CI: 1.44-3.28), handling of heavy objects (aSPR 1.67, 95% CI: 1.24-2.21), and high temperatures (aSPR 1.96, 95% CI: 1.46-2.57) was observed among them. Additionally, they faced a higher risk of no personal protective equipment (aSPR 2.53, 95% CI: 1.26-4.52) and a greater prevalence of unmet medical needs (aSPR 7.14, 95% CI: 4.74-10.32). Conclusion: Our findings highlight the elevated workplace hazards, health problems, and unmet medical needs among Vietnamese male workers compared to the Korean reference population. These findings underscores the urgency for enhanced scrutiny over working conditions and protective equipment provision, coupled with efforts to improve healthcare accessibility and worker education.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.103-108
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• 2020

Background: Presenteeism has emerged as an important health-related issue and has been studied in a variety of occupation groups. This study examines the relationship between emotional labor and presenteeism in nurses in Republic of Korea. Methods: As a cross-sectional study, our study was conducted on 328 female nurses participating in the fourth Korean Working Conditions Survey (2015). Nurses were identified by the Korean Industry Classification Code. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the association between emotional labor and presenteeism. Results: Female nurses who always or sometimes hide their emotions in the workplace were found to have a high risk for presenteeism compared with female nurses who rarely hide their emotions in the workplace {odds ratio [OR] = 2.40 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04-5.54]; OR = 4.12 [95% CI 1.72-9.84], respectively}. Furthermore, the risk of presenteeism was higher in nurses who sometimes engaged with complaining customers compared with nurses who rarely did so, but it lacked statistical significance. Conclusion: Presenteeism in nurses can cause various negative secondary effects; therefore, an alternative should be sought to mediate nurses' emotional labor to prevent presenteeism.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.167-174
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• 2010

Objectives: Intimate partner violence (IPV), commonly known as domestic violence is a problem throughout the world. An estimated 36% to 75% of employed abused woman are monitored, harassed and physically assaulted by their partners or ex-partners while trying to get to work and while at work. The objective of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of interactive training to increase knowledge, change perceptions and develop an intention to address domestic violence that spills over into the workplace. Methods: Community-based participatory research approaches were employed to develop and evaluate an interactive computer-based training (CBT) intervention, aimed to teach supervisors how to create supportive and safe workplaces for victims of IPV. Results: The CBT intervention was administered to 53 supervisors. All participants reacted positively to the training, and there was a significant improvement in knowledge between pre- and post-training test performance (72% versus 96% correct), effect size (d) = 3.56. Feedback from focus groups was more productive than written feedback solicited from the same participants at the end of the training. Conclusion: Effective training on the impacts of IPV can improve knowledge, achieving a large effect size, and produce changes in perspective about domestic violence and motivation to address domestic violence in the workplace, based on questionnaire responses.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.32-41
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• 2012

Objectives: Information of chemical in electronics industry has not been known enough, although workers' health hazards by chemicals in this industry have been regarded serious. The who always contribute to reveal and control the health hazards and risks in electronics industry have not been the industry but the occupational or environmental victims and grassroot organizations. The similar phenomena can be observed in Korea. Methods: The experiences of individual workers on the occuapational safety and health in semiconductor factory were heard separately and integrated with related literatures. Results:: The first part of this article is largely based on the memories and experiences of individual workers of semiconductor factories, mainly from S semiconductor. Common features of those experiences can be a good resource for detail understanding of the workplace, especially under the situation without any transparent disclosure of information by the governments or the companies. The second part of this article deals with several factors to be considered for control of exposure in workplace; characteristics of workplace and workforce, types of chemicals used, and the way of using the chemicals. Then the current social issues on work-relatedness of cancers of S semiconductor workers are presented briefly. Conclusions: As a conclusion, current OSH situations and issues in Korean electronics industry raise the need of changes in OSH culture. General adaptation of precautionary principle, internalization of costs, and extended responsibility of producers are needed urgently. The OSH professionals both in public and private sectors should support these agendas under their social obligation to protect workers' health.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.143-149
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• 2016

Background: The industrial revolution that took place in the United Kingdom (UK) between 1760 and 1830 led to profound social change. Occupational medicine was concerned with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of occupational diseases, that is, diseases directly caused by exposure to workplace hazards. A similar pattern of development has occurred globally. Methods: A review of relevant literature. Results: The international conceptualization and development of occupational health occurred during the 20th century. A new paradigm for occupational health has emerged that extends the classical focus on what might be termed "health risk management" that is, the focus on workplace hazards and risk to health to include the medical aspects of sickness absence and rehabilitation, the support and management of chronic noncommunicable diseases, and workplace health promotion. Conclusion: The future strategic direction for occupational health will be informed by a needs analysis and a consideration of where it should be positioned within future healthcare provision. What are the occupational health workforce implications of the vision for occupational health provision? New challenges and new ways of working will necessitate a review of the competence and capacity of the occupational health workforce, with implications for future workforce planning.