• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.367-373
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• 2013

Objectives: Employee exposure record refers to a record containing information about environmental (workplace) monitoring or measuring of a toxic substance or harmful physical agent. The aims of this study were to examine problems related to exposure records and provide some amendments to the Korean Industrial Safety & Health Act for the effective management of chemical substances under the law. Methods: This study performed a literature search and review on legal provisions related to exposure records of a number of different countries, including Korea, the USA, Japan, EU, Germany, and the UK. They were compared and investigated and the amendment of articles was suggested. Results: The results of this study were provided as suggested amendments to the related act. There were a variety of ways of improvement, including a 30-year retention period and the introduction of new access methods, contents, transfer, and maintenance methods. All exposure data elements have to be standardized, including reference to a similar exposure group (SEG), sampling strategy, and circumstances of exposure (e.g., date, shift length, use of personal protective equipment, etc.). The SEGs are described by process, job, task, and environmental agent. Conclusions: This study is expected to provide for the amendment of the related act in order to ensure effective management of exposure records and is helpful for solving the cause and result of occupational disease by keeping exposure records according to the Industrial Safety & Health Act.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute Of Construction Engineering and Management
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.552-555
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• 2004

As the scale of building construction is larger and more complex, accident is increasing on the steel structure work process. But Safety-Inspection has been carried out through many other checklists in the workplace, it hasn't been used actively. Because checklist wasn't written at the level of specific work and applied scope is Insufficient. So, we must grasp accidental cause about detailed work for making safety management checklist accurately. For this study, we are confining a range to steel structure work of all the building construction. We will classify steel structure process into the detailed work for preventing accident. And we will grasp accidental cause about detailed work for developing the checklist in the future.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.67-77
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• 2007

Purpose: To provide concretely for support system to occupational health management grasped the present condition about the private support organizations for the migrant workers. Method: The subjects were 30 organizations to support migrant workers with the healthy and medical problem. The organizations were investigated by the internet search, and the visiting and telephone interview. Then a expert advisory conference and researchers' regular meeting were held. Result: The support organizations for the migrant workers played multiple activities, but the medical treatment and education regarding the occupational safety & health were scarcely accomplished. The government constructs a network between the organizations. A health problem of a worker should be requested to the medical centers which cooperated with the private support organizations, it makes business expand to the existing organizations which take charge of the health business of a small-scale workplace rather than it constitutes new organizations. The organizations which can manage which build the online network which can grasp all the information concerning the migrant worker from whom the government became a principal axis. Conclusion: Support system on the occupational safety and health for migrant workers that it will be help to the occupational disease prevention and occupational safety and health management, is needed.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.120-129
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• 2017

This study assessed the safety of raw oysters Crassostrea gigas for consumption during processing in a processing plant. Bacterial contamination (e.g., viable cell counts, coliform groups, Escherichia. coli and pathogenic bacteria) and chemical contamination (e.g., heavy metals and shellfish toxins) were measured on raw oysters, a processing equipment, employees and work areas. No total mercury, lead, paralytic shellfish poison, diarrheic shellfish poison or norovirus was detected in any post-harvested oyster samples. However, the cadmium level ranged from 0.1-0.2 mg/kg. The viable cell count, E. coli and coliform group levels in post-harvested oysters ranged from 4.00-4.54 log CFU/g, ND-210 MPN/100 g and 110-410 MPN/100 g, respectively. The viable contaminating cell counts on employees, equipment and work areas were in the range of $0.90-3.46log\;CFU/100cm^2$. Airborne bacteria in the work areas ranged from 0.60 to 1.81 log CFU/plate/15 min. Thus, no significant health risks were detected in the processing plant.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.222-229
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• 2018

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate gas concentrations such as oxygen in ginger storage tunnels, which are the causes of asphyxiation in confined spaces and suggest directions for safety and health management at ginger farms. Methods: Five farms in the Seosan and Taean areas which use underground ginger storage tunnels were chosen and examined with a walk-through survey and direct reading device for oxygen, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and carbon monoxide. Results: The oxygen concentration in the storage tunnels with no ventilation was found to be under 18% in summer, which may cause health effects. The concentration in those with ventilation was about 19%. The difference in temperature by measurement day had little effect on the concentration of oxygen. Conclusions: Even though some of farms had used compulsory ventilation systems, none of the farms visited possessed any direct reading device for oxygen. Warning systems using a direct reading device can be more effective, helpful, and required compared to ventilation, considering the difficulty and expense of periodical maintenance of ventilation systems and the fact that a farmer can be placed in danger when unaware of the malfunction of the ventilation system. In addition, a warning system may make farmers more cognitive of agricultural safety and health actions while a ventilation system can cause them to become passive and ignorant of workplace hazards.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.35-38
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• 2015

Background: Organizational changes that involve healthcare hospital departments and care services of health districts, and ongoing technological innovations and developments in society increasingly expose healthcare workers (HCWs) to work-related stress (WRS). Minimizing occupational exposure to stress requires effective risk stress assessment and management programs. Methods: The authors conducted an integrated analysis of stress sentinel indicators, an integrated analysis of objective stress factors of occupational context and content areas, and an integrated analysis between nurses and physicians of hospital departments and care services of health districts in accordance with a multidimensional validated tool developed in Italy by the National Network for the Prevention of Work-Related Psychosocial Disorders. The purpose of this retrospective observational study was to detect and analyze in different work settings the level of WRS resulting from organizational changes implemented by hospital healthcare departments and care services of health districts in a sample of their employees. Results: The findings of the study showed that hospital HCWs seemed to incur a medium level risk of WRS that was principally the result of work context factors. The implementation of improvement interventions focused on team development, safety training programs, and adopting an ethics code for HCWs, and it effectively and significantly reduced the level of WRS risk in the workplace. Conclusion: In this study HCW resulted to be exposed to occupational stress factors susceptible to reduction. Stress management programs aimed to improve work context factors associated with occupational stress are required to minimize the impact of WRS on workers.

• 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.7 no.1
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• pp.18-31
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• 2016

Background: A job-specific Worker's Health Surveillance (WHS) for hospital physicians is a preventive occupational health strategy aiming at early detection of their diminished work-related health in order to improve or maintain physician's health and quality of care. This study addresses what steps should be taken to determine the content of a job-specific WHS for hospital physicians and outlines that content. Methods: Based on four questions, decision trees were developed for physical and psychological job demands and for biological, chemical, and physical exposures to decide whether or not to include work-related health effects related to occupational exposures or aspects of health reflecting insufficient job requirements. Information was gathered locally through self-reporting and systematic observations at the workplace and from evidence in international publications. Results: Information from the decision trees on the prevalence and impact of the health- or work-functioning effect led to inclusion of occupational exposures (e.g., biological agents, emotionally demanding situations), job requirements (e.g., sufficient vision, judging ability), or health effects (e.g., depressive symptoms, neck complaints). Additionally, following the Dutch guideline for occupational physicians and based on specific job demands, screening for cardiovascular diseases, work ability, drug use, and alcohol consumption was included. Targeted interventions were selected when a health or work functioning problem existed and were chosen based on evidence for effectiveness. Conclusion: The process of developing a job-specific WHS for hospital physicians was described and the content presented, which might serve as an example for other jobs. Before implementation, it must first be tested for feasibility and acceptability.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.124-129
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• 2016

Background: Work-related fatigue has a strong impact on performance and safety but so far, no agreed upon method exists to detect and quantify it. It has been suggested that work-related fatigue cannot be quantified with just one test alone, possibly because fatigue is not a uniform construct. The purpose of this study is therefore to measure work-related fatigue with multiple tests and then to determine the underlying factorial structure. Methods: Twenty-eight employees (mean: 36.11; standard deviation 13.17) participated in five common fatigue tests, namely, posturography, heart rate variability, distributed attention, simple reaction time, and subjective fatigue before and after work. To evaluate changes from morning to afternoon, t tests were conducted. For further data analysis, the differences between afternoon and morning scores for each outcome measure and participant (${\Delta}$ scores) were submitted to factor analysis with varimax rotation and each factor with the highest-loading outcome measure was selected. The ${\Delta}$ scores from tests with single and multiple outcome measures were submitted for a further factor analysis with varimax rotation. Results: The statistical analysis of the multiple tests determine a factorial structure with three factors: The first factor is best represented by center of pressure (COP) path length, COP confidence area, and simple reaction time. The second factor is associated with root mean square of successive difference and useful field of view (UFOV). The third factor is represented by the single ${\Delta}$ score of subjective fatigue. Conclusion: Work-related fatigue is a multidimensional phenomenon that should be assessed by multiple tests. Based on data structure and practicability, we recommend carrying out further studies to assess work-related fatigue with manual reaction time and UFOV Subtest 2.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.205-212
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• 2019

Background: Workforce health is one of the primary and most challenging issues, particularly in industrialized countries. This article aims at modeling the major factors affecting accidents in the workplace, including general health, work-family conflict, effort-reward imbalance, and internal and external locus of control. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Esfahan Steel Company in Iran. A total of 450 participants were divided into two groups-control and case-and the questionnaires were distributed among them. Data were collected through a 7-part questionnaire. Finally, the results were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 and Amos software. Results: All the studied variables had a significant relationship with the accident proneness. In the case group, general health with a coefficient of -0.37, worke-family conflict with 0.10, effort-reward imbalance with 0.10, internal locus of control with -0.07, and external locus of control with 0.40 had a direct effect on occupational stress. Occupational stress also had a positive direct effect on accident proneness with a coefficient of 0.47. In addition, fitness indices of control group showed general health (-0.35), worke-family conflict (0.36), effort-reward imbalance (0.13), internal locus of control (-0.15), and external locus of control (0.12) have a direct effect on occupational stress. Besides, occupational stress with a coefficient of 0.09 had a direct effect on accident proneness. Conclusion: It can be concluded that although previous studies and the present study showed the effect of stress on accident and accident proneness, some hidden and external factors such as work-family conflict, effort-reward imbalance, and external locus of control that affect stress should also be considered. It helps industries face less occupational stress and, consequently, less occurrence rates of accidents.