• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.22-27
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• 2024

The purpose of this study is to explore the trend in insulation resistance values according to temperature and overcurrent by conducting an investigation on the actual condition and experiments on the electrical wiring during the melting furnace process. In addition, the Arrhenius equation is used to determine whether temperatures in the furnace operating process can be applied to the actual field. In the investigation of the actual condition, the insulation resistance started to decrease seven years after replacement, even though cables in oil pump A were replaced in 2010. Both the experimental and theoretical values of the insulation resistance obtained using the Arrhenius equation decreased with an increase in temperature. Errors in insulation resistance (MΩ) values between tests and the Arrhenius equation ranged from ±2 to ±10, demonstrating a high similarity. Results revealed that when the insulation resistance cannot be measured in a manufacturing workplace (quarterly analysis), it can be estimated by partially applying the Arrhenius equation.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.34
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• pp.12.1-12.11
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• 2022

Background: Gender equality in the workplace remains a challenge. This study aimed to investigate the gender gap of human resources in the field of occupational safety and health (OSH) in Korea. Methods: Several national statistical data that can confirm the gender distribution of personnel in the OSH sector were reviewed. The gender distribution of industrial technical manpower statistics, professional certificate holders in the OSH field, and the status of the appointment of safety and health managers by industry was analyzed. Results: The distribution of professionals in the OSH sector in Korea had a large gender gap with a small number of women. In particular, the proportion of women in the safety field was lower than that in the health field. In the younger age group, while the proportion of women is increasing, the gender gap tends to decrease. Conclusions: Few data are available to understand the gender-related aspects of OSH professions. Nevertheless, our results provide basic information for initiating a discussion on the necessity of establishing gender-sensitive culture and policies in the OSH sector.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.18-26
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• 2000

Since the regulation of MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) had started from July 1996, employers were required to furnish MSDS for the chemicals in use in their workplace. However, many MSDS did not contain upright information for the chemicals, and they were not updated regularly, and were not written in the standard format required by the Industrial Safety and Health Act (ISHA). The purposes of this study were 1) to examine the reliability of MSDS for mixed solvents, 2) to provide reliable MSDS to employers or employees, 3) to find out any difficulties in implementing MSDS after the initiation, and 4) to promote regular MSDS updating and to ensure the reliability of MSDS for chemical manufacturers. To check the reliability of MSDS of mixed chemicals, 21 samples of mostly degreasing solvents were collected along with their MSDS from the work place. The samples were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass selective detector(GC-MSD). Their components were classified as saturated hydrocarbon, cyclic hydrocarbon, aromatics, and halogen containing hydrocarbon, and the amount of each class were measured. Manufacture's MSDS were compared with the actual composition of the collected samples, and further examined the reliability by checking whether the chemicals analyzed were included in the MSDS correctly. Finally, each item of MSDS was evaluated whether the MSDS correspond to the regulation required by ISHA. The results were following: 1) most of the degreasing solvents in MSDS were incorrect in their composition and contents, 2) the information in the MSDS including hazard classification, exposure level, toxicity, regulatory information were incorrectly provided, and 3) some MSDS did not disclose carcinogens in their MSDS. Continuous monitoring of MSDS was required to ensure reliability of MSDS. The Chemicals containing hydrocarbons from C10-C15 need to be tested to provide toxicity data. In addition, governmental support for providing correct MSDS was recommended to ensure reliability of MSDS. The MSDS regulation relating to the confidential business information may need to be revised to ensure reliability of MSDS.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.806-814
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• 2023

Purpose: According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, in order to prevent industrial accidents, the right to stop work must be exercised in the event of an imminent danger. This study conducted a fact-finding survey on whether employers fulfilled the right to suspend work in the workplace when an imminent danger, such as a typhoon, was encountered. Method: For two days from August 9 to October, when the impact of Typhoon Khanun No. 6 was significant, it was confirmed by wire whether or not the work suspension was carried out at the workplace, and the subjects of the survey were 1,649 construction sites, 830 manufacturing sites, and 278 other industries, for a total of 2,757 sites. Result: As a result of the fact-finding survey, 56% (1,555 locations) on August 9th and 77% (2,142 locations) on August 10th carried out full or partial work suspension. In particular, on August 10, when the typhoon landed, 40% of all workplaces completely stopped work. Conclusion: Through this study, it was confirmed that the right to suspend work by employers is being used in actual workplaces. In the future, when there is an imminent danger, in addition to the right to suspend work, flexible and telecommuting, working hour adjustments, etc. must be actively used to ensure the safety of workers and protect their lives.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.384-390
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• 2010

Since many accidents have been constantly occurring in the workplace, requirements of Industrial Safety Management have also been increasing. In order to meet the needs and prevent the problems in advance, we designed wireless sensor network system based on PLC. This system is set with amain node including PLC Modem and Zigbee in the every workplace and each wireless sensor node is attached to every worker in the workplace. The main node is supposed to transmit and receive sensor data, and the data which is from a wireless sensor node to the main node is delivered to monitoring PC through PLC. In this paper, it is expected that, by perceiving the realtime situation of the work place through this system, we could prevent the problems in advance and reduce damages by accidents.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.23-28
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• 2018

In this work, we developed a platform that can monitor status and manage events of factory workplaces by providing events and data collected from various types of multi-touch technology based sensors installed in the workplace. By using the image recognition technology, faces of the people in the factory workplace are recognized and the customized contents for each worker are provided, and security of contents is enhanced by the authenticating an individual worker through face recognition. Contents control function through gesture recognition is constructed, so that workers can easily search documents. Also, it is possible to provide contents for workers by implementing face recognition function in mobile devices. The result of this work can be used to improve workplace safety, convenience of workers, contents security and can be utilized as a base technology for future smart factory construction.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2013

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to calculate the worker-DNEL (Derived No Effect Level) values using the REACH guidance and compare the calculated DNELs with existing Korea occupational exposure limits (KOELs) for evaluation of the applicability of the worker-DNELs as provisional occupational exposure limits for chemicals that are not established KOELs in the workplace. Methods: The worker-DNELs for 46 chemicals among 113 hazardous substance requiring management were calculated using the REACH guidance, and a paired t-test was performed to see if there is any statistical difference between two lists (worker-DNELs vs KOELs). The ratios of KOELs over worker-DNELs were also calculated to compare the overall levels of two lists using the geometric means method. Results: The calculated worker-DNELs for 46 chemicals ranged from 0.001 to $329mg/m^3$ (GM= 6.9, GSD = 10.8), and appeared to be a significant difference between the worker-DNELs and the KOELs (p < 0.01). In addition, the ratios of KOELs over worker-DNELs ranged from 0.3 to 394 times (GM = 10.2, GSD = 3.9), indicating that the worker-DNELs were, on average, 27 times lower than the KOELs. Conclusions: Therefore, the study results show that the calculated worker-DNELs can be applied and used as provisional occupational exposure limits in the workplace in order to reduce worker exposures to chemicals and health risks, and manage potential worker exposures based on the precautionary principle through comprehensive chemical risk assessment.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.12
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• pp.459-466
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• 2018

This study investigated a systematic literature review on local and international literatures focusing on Participatory Action Research(PAR), Community Based Participatory Research(CBPR) in workplace and community. Eighty percent of the 10 studies reviewed included research involving health professionals, community networks, workers, and university researchers. Health promotion programs varied from health and safety awareness, smoking cessation, diabetes management, physical activity, self-efficacy enhancement, cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disorders and mental health. PAR, CBPR are required to participate actively in research through community collaboration to promote health. We can solve problems at the community level. And identified sustainable effects when developing and implementing a health promotion program. PAR and CBPR are expected to continuously pursue change by adjusting the scope of individuals, organizations, communities, and institutional dimensions. They are also expected to be implemented for workers in the various workplace.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.72-82
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• 2007

The purpose of this study is to put forward revitalization of the Honorary Industrial Safety Inspector System by using the survey(2006.05) of the Honorary Industrial Safety Inspector in the Construction Industry. It can be summarized to develop the system as the following: 1) If there are neither labor union nor representative of workers in a company, workers must elect the representative of workers at first and then recommendation of the honorary industrial safety inspector by the representative of workers, 2) It should regulated in the industrial safety and health act about the tenure of the representative of workers and the process of election, 3) Prohibition the honorary industrial safety inspector as the employer members in the Industrial Safety and Health Committee and exclusion of both main office supervisor and subcontract-company supervisor from the appointment of the honorary industrial safety inspector, 4) Measures to realize the prohibitive regulation of unfavorable treatment on the grounds that the inspector has performed legitimate activities as an Honorary Industrial Safety Inspector, 5) Statutory regulation of the educations' hours(primary education & professional education), 6) Specification of the professional education and increase of the frequency, 7) Support of the government(the Ministry of Labor) to revitalize the honorary industrial safety inspector system, 8) Put in a statutory form the regular hours to carry out the work of the honorary industrial safety inspector in the workplace.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.278-286
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• 2012

Objectives: Authors investigated the pattern of the rate of occupational injuries and illnesses (ROII) at the level of enterprises in order to build a network for exchange of experience and knowledge, which would contribute to workers' safety and health through safety climate of workplace. Methods: Occupational accidents were analyzed at the manufacturing work site unit. A two step clustering process for the past patterns regarding the ROII from 2001 to 2009 was investigated. The ROII patterns were categorized based on regression analysis and the patterns were further divided according to the subtle changes with Mahalanobis distance and Ward's linkage. Results: The first clustering of ROII through regression analysis showed 5 different functions; 29 work sites of the linear function, 50 sites of the quadratic function, 95 sites of the logarithm function, 62 sites of the exponential function, and 54 sites of the sine function. Fourteen clusters were created in the second clustering. There were 3 clusters in each function categorized in the first clustering except for sine function. Each cluster consisted of the work sites with similar ROII patterns, which had unique characteristics. Conclusion: The five different patterns of ROII suggest that tailored management activities should be applied to every work site. Based on these differences, the authors selected exemplary work sites and built a network to help the work sites to share information on safety climate and accident prevention measures. The causes of different patterns of ROII, building network and evaluation of this management model should be evaluated as future researches.