• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.405-422
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• 2010

Occupational musculoskeletal disorders currently account for the largest proportion of the occupational illnesses in Korea. In this research, status of musculoskeletal disorders among the occupational illnesses was examined through workers' compensation claims data. Types and characteristics of musculoskeletal disorders were looked at other data set as well. The data sets included epidemiological investigation data reported by Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, and data collected from occupational disease surveillance reports and Korean occupational health-related scientific journals. Number of cases, incidence rate and insurance benefits for occupational musculoskeletal disorders in Korea are increasing every year. In addition, musculoskeletal disorders occurrence is shifted from large enterprises group to small-and-medium group, from manufacturing to service sector, and from production workers to office and professional workers. Although low back pain is still most common, its occurrence characteristics is gradually shifted from traumatic to cumulative while musculoskeletal disorders are somewhat seemingly moved from lumbar to upper limb body part. Musculoskeletal disorders were observed to be more diverse and prevalent in epidemiological investigations or surveillance data rather in workers' compensation claims data. Musculoskeletal disorders occurrence is related to demographic factors, occupational psychosocial factors, and ergonomic risk factors at workplace for which appropriate preventive measures needed to be made accordingly.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.83-89
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• 2012

In order for start-up establishment to enter the business market, it has to get over the first mover advantage of the existing establishment. As a result, its working condition deteriorates and a great deal of occupational accidents take place. Based on 2009 standard, the occupational accident rate of start-up establishment is 1.28%, which is two times higher than existing establishment and the gap between manufacturing and service industry has been getting wide. For the characteristic of injured person in start-up establishment, it is showed that the occupancy rate of women and people with less than 30 age starting out in a career is high and the occupancy rate of occupational accident for holiday and night work is high. Therefore, the act for occupational accident prevention is needed in the early period of business and underprivileged group for occupational accident.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.184-191
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• 2018

Background: Due to an increasing number of workers aged 50 years and above, the number of those employed is also on the rise, and those workers aged 50 and over has exceeded 50% of the total fatal occupational injuries. Therefore, it is necessary to implement the selection and concentration by identifying the characteristics of high-risk groups necessary for an effective prevention against and reduction of fatal occupational injuries. Methods: This study analyzed the characteristics of high-risk groups and the occupational injury fatality rate per 10,000 workers among the workers aged 50 and over through a multi-dimensional analysis by sex, employment status of workers, industry and occupation by targeting 4,079 persons who died in fatal occupational injuries from January 2007 to December 12. Results: The share of the workers aged 50 years and above is increasing every year in the total fatal occupational injuries occurrence, and the high-risk groups include 'male workers' by sex, 'daily workers' by worker's status, 'craft and related-trades workers' by occupation, and 'mining' by industry. Conclusion: The most frequent causal objects of fatal occupational injuries of the workers aged 50 years and above are found out to be 'installment and dismantlement of temporary equipment and material on work platforms including scaffold' in the construction industry and 'mobile crane, conveyor belt and fork lifts' in the manufacturing industry.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.39-46
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• 2022

This study has found the socio-economic factors that affect occupational accidents and measured the influence quantitatively. We built the panel data of 4 countries (Japan, Germany, the U.S., and the U.K.) and the analysis model counted on the fixed effect model to reflect the countries' differences. The fatal occupational injury rates in the analyzed countries had a statistically significant relationship with the level of per capita GDP, the proportion of the construction industry, the rate of male workers, annual average working hours, the rate of workers in manufacturing and construction industries, etc. The annual average working hours have a positive correlation with the fatal occupational injury rate. To reduce occupational accidents effectively, we should be monitoring and researching various factors that can affect the occurrence of occupational accidents such as worker characteristics, changing industrial structure, and changes in working hours.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.245-253
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• 2014

Purpose: School foodservice employees (SFEs) could be exposed to the risk of musculoskeletal disease and of job stress due to their job characteristics. This study was to evaluate the level of job stress and the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal symptoms (WRMS) in Seoul city's SFEs, and to determine associations between job stress and WRMS. Methods: The study design was cross-sectional, and 975 SFEs were recruited. Self-administered questionnaire included the 'Korean occupational stress scale-short form' and the 'KOSHA GUIDE H-9-2012' instrument to evaluate the job stress and WRMS, respectively. SFEs' medians of job stress were compared to the reference values of published study in Korean workers. Results: The participants reported greater levels of job demand and physical environment than the general Korean population. WRMS were reported in 89.0% of participants at any body part, and 41.1% were presumed to need for medical intervention. High levels of job demand and of physical environment were significantly associated with WRMS. Conclusion: Subscales of job demand and physical environment were relatively high in SFEs and those were related to the occurrence of WRMS. To reduce the WRMS prevalence, a job stress management program focused on job demand and physical environment may be required.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.20 no.1 s.21
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• pp.158-164
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• 1987

The purpose of this study is to analyze occupational history of coal miners with pneumoconiosis. In this study, occupational characteristics of 49 coal miners with pneumoconiosis were compared with those of 45 coal miners without pneumoconiosis but in similar age category($43{\sim}52$ years of age) based on interview survey. Various indices on occupational characteristics were developed for the following areas: duration of employment, perception of working condition, working density, dust concentration, temperature, humidity, and experience of respirator wearings. Perception of working condition were measured in 5 points scales but experiences of respirator wearing was measured in 3 points scale. Each index was multiplied by duration of employment. From the analysis, only the experience of respirator wearing showed statistically significant difference between the two groups. Therefore, respirator wearing seemed to be effective in reducing occurrence of pneumoconiosis.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.465-472
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• 2016

Objective:This study is on the characteristics of motorcycle accidents occurring in the mail delivery process by skill level. Background: The tendency of delivery postmen's driving in a hurry may become the cause of accidents since there is a constraint that delivery should be completed within a limited time. Method: This study analyzed the traffic accident data of 259 delivery postmen, who had been approved as occupation-related industrial accident victims from 2009 to 2012, by their work experience in view of season, day of the week of an accident occurrence, accident occurrence time, accident cause, collision type, and driving situation. Results: Accident characteristics of delivery postmen show that the ratio of accidents occurring to those who had less than 10 years of work experience was high. There were many motorcycle collisions in winter and summer by season and an unexpected object, along with road condition, took up 70.7% of the accident sources. There were no differences in accident occurrence time, the day of the week, season, accident source, and collision type between the group of delivery postmen with less than 10 years of work experience and those with 10 years or more of work experience. However, there was a difference in distribution of driving condition. Conclusion and Applications: The results of this study can be used to present the policies or guidelines for the accident prevention of delivery postmen since the results show the characteristics of the injured and accident occurrence characteristics in relation with the delivery postmen's motorcycle collisions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.271-281
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• 2008

This study is to characterize the occurrence types and mineralogical characteristics of asbestos for the Kwangcheon areas, Chungnam. The mine areas had been exploited as asbestos mines for several decades since 1930. Host rocks of the asbestos are serpentinites and altered rocks of the ultramafic rocks. Representative samples of the host rocks and minerals were sampled and were examined with microscopes. To confirm for the existences and compositions for the asbestos, the rock samples were analysed with EPMA, XRD and EDS. Chrysotile, tremolite and actinolite were found as asbestos and non-asbestos forms in these areas. Chrysotiles, as non-asbestos forms, occur in the host rocks with mesh and hourglass textures. They, as asbestos forms, are mainly found as the veins. The tremolite and actinolite, as asbestos types, occur as alteration products of the olivine and pyroxene within the host rocks. They, as asbestos types, are also found following the cracks and fractures. Overall results suggest that three types of the asbestos are found in the Kwangcheon and Kaewol mine areas. Based on the occurrence types for the asbestos, additional studies are required for the asbestos in the top soil and air.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.384-389
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• 2021

Background: Social distancing by working-from-home is an effective measure to decrease the spread of COVID-19. However, this new work pattern could also affect the well-being of workers. Therefore, the aim of the study was to study the magnitude of occupational health problems and lifestyle changes among workers who have only recently started working from home. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using online self-administered questionnaires during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in the Bangkok metropolitan area, Thailand. The participants were from any organization that allowed working from home. The demographic data including the analysis of the characteristics of working from home, the occurrence of occupational health problems, and the lifestyle changes caused by working from home were analyzed. Results: A total of 869 workers were included as study participants. The highest prevalence of physical health problems among all workers was identified to be weight gain at a rate of 40.97% (95% confidence interval = 37.69-44.24), and the highest prevalence of psychosocial problems was identified to be cabin fever at a rate of 31.28% (95% confidence interval = 26.66-35.90%) among full-time working-from-home workers. The health effects that were significantly related to the intensity of working from home (p for trends <0.05), either positively or negatively, included body weight changes, ergonomic problems, indoor environmental problems, and psychosocial problems. Meanwhile, the lifestyle changes related to work intensity included eating pattern, sleep habits, and exercise. Conclusions: Working from home can affect workers' well-being in various aspects. Hence, occupational health providers must prepare for risk prevention and health promotion in this "new normal" working life pattern and for future pandemics.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.119-140
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• 2019

Objectives: This study was based on the occurrence of a coffee roasting process-related disorder(bronchiolitis obliterans; published by NIOSH in the US) among workers exposed to chemicals called diacetyl in a coffee processing facility. Flavorings added to coffee contain diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione, all of which are subject to exposure in a number of food manufacturing processes, including coffee roasting, grinding, and packaging. Therefore, this study aims to review the toxicity to workers related to food processing and food additive manufacturing to prevent occupational diseases. Methods: We surveyed the related literature, domestic and international references, and the status of relevant domestic and foreign professional organizations. The present situation of workers was investigated by reviewing literature on the safety and health of workers in the coffee roasting process using domestic and foreign literature and presentations. Expert advisory opinions were reflected, and experts were consulted by participating in domestic and overseas academic conferences. Results: Most of the fragrance materials for coffee were harmful and hazardous substances according to the GHS classification, and research was carried out through a second external consultation. A literature review on the measurement of air pollutant emissions from coffee roasters and the estimation of air pollutant emissions during coffee roasting examined the characteristics of pollutants emitted during coffee roasting. Conclusions: Two chemicals identified as causing bronchiolitis obliterans in the coffee roasting process are believed to explain why the disease is difficult to treat. This information can be used effectively in the future prevention of this disease. Future studies should clearly identify the potential for toxicity of alpha-diketones and the bases of OELs in relation to the occurrence of obstructive bronchiolitis, including measurement of various organic compounds and alpha-diketones from ground coffee, as well as various coffee grinds and coffee bean varieties. In particular, it is necessary to clarify the current understanding of the dose-response relationship between alpha-diketone and lung disease in workers involved in coffee roasting.