• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.421-426
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• 2018

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of shift work on occupational safety in various industrial sectors. The study analyzes the effects of shift work on the health of workers by considering factors such as the workplace environment and welfare. Methods: Focusing on the $4^{th}$ Korean Working Conditions Survey, this study used an ordinary least-square multiple regression analysis. The dependent variable was the annual frequency of injuries reported by workers. Independent variables were categorized as demographic, shift work, workplace environment, and welfare variables. The analysis was conducted on two levels: 1) Shift work and nonshift work groups were compared, and 2) Shift work was compared with fixed and rotating shifts. Results: For the entire group, age, a low level of education, work hours, and daily and dispatch work negatively impacted the frequency of injuries. Shift work was negatively affected by workplace environment and welfare factors. In the shift group, the frequency of injuries was lower than that of regular workers, and the higher the autonomy in the choice of work hours, the lower the frequency of injuries. Furthermore, shift workers in Korea have more extended work hours (49.25 h/week) than other workers (46.34 h/week). Conclusion: Overall, welfare factors such as workplace satisfaction and worke-life balance reduced the frequency of injuries. The effect of shift work was limited, but it was confirmed that shift worker autonomy could reduce the frequency of injuries.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.207-227
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• 2007

본 연구는 오늘날 범지구적 차원에서 심각한 수준에 있는 생태계 파괴에 대한 사회학적 함의를 정립하는 데 목적이 있다. 이를 위해 먼저 생태계의 개념과 구조를 살펴보고, 다음으로 인간활동으로 인한 생태계 파괴의 메커니즘을 분석하고, 마지막으로 그 메커니즘에 기초하여 생태계 파괴에 대한 사회학적 함의를 정립하였다. 생태계로서의 자연은 인간 없이 존재할 수 있지만 인간은 자연 없이는 생존할 수 없다. 따라서 생계위기는 곧 인간의 위기다. 그럼에도 불구하고 18세기 산업혁명 이후 풍요성과 편리성 추구를 위한 인간의 활동 결과 지구는 점용환경용량을 2.5배 초과되었다. 이것은 인간이 범한 모순이다. 이 모순을 해결하면서 사회발전을 추진하자는 이념으로 1987년 지속가능발전이 제창되었고, 지속가능발전은 1990년대 중반에 지속가능사회로 대치되었고, 2000년대에 와서는 지속가능사회가 생태적 근대화로 대체되었다. 18세기 산업혁명 이후 풍요성과 편리성 증대를 위한 인간의 활동으로 생태계가 파괴되기 시작한 후, 생태계를 보전하면서 사회발전을 추진하자는 생태적 근대화 이념이 출현까지의 역사적 과정은 정(正)-반(反)-합(合)의 변증법 과정으로 이론화될 수 있다. 산업혁명 이전의 농업사회 때는 인간의 활동이 점용환경용량 범위 안에서 이루어졌기 때문에 환경문제가 없었다. 이 시대는 생태적 지속가능성이 유지되었기 때문에 생태적 합(合)의 상태라고 할 수 있다. 산업혁명 이후 인간의 활동이 생태계의 점용환경용량을 초월시킨 것은 생태계에 반(反)이 작용한 것이다. 따라서 범지구적 차원에서 환경문제의 심각성을 인식하고 지속가능발전을 위한 정책이 도입되기 이전까지 생태계는 정(正)과 반(反)이 대립상태에서 공존하였다. 1990년대 이후 생태적 지속가능성을 위한 각종 지속가능발전정책의 도입은 정(正)과 반(反)의 대립을 통해 다시 생태학적 합(合)의 상태를 지향하는 과정이라고 할 수 있다.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.258-266
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• 2017

Background: Welders are exposed to many known and suspected carcinogens. An excess lung cancer risk among welders is well established, but whether this is attributable to welding fumes is unclear. Excess risks of other cancers have been suggested, but not established. We investigated welding cancer risks in the population-based Canadian Census Health and Environmental Cohort. Methods: Among 1.1 million male workers, 12,845 welders were identified using Standard Occupational Classification codes and followed through retrospective linkage of 1991 Canadian Long Form Census and Canadian Cancer Registry (1992-2010) records. Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated using Cox proportional hazards models based on estimated risks of lung cancer, mesothelioma, and nasal, brain, stomach, kidney, and bladder cancers, and ocular melanoma. Lung cancer histological subtypes and risks by industry group and for occasional welders were examined. Some analyses restricted comparisons to blue-collar workers to minimize effects of potential confounders. Results: Among welders, elevated risks were observed for lung cancer [HR: 1.16, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03-1.31], mesothelioma (HR: 1.78, 95% CI: 1.01-3.18), bladder cancer (HR: 1.40, 95% CI: 1.15-1.70), and kidney cancer (HR: 1.30, 95% CI: 1.01-1.67). When restricted to blue-collar workers, lung cancer and mesothelioma risks were attenuated, while bladder and kidney cancer risks increased. Conclusion: Excess risks of lung cancer and mesothelioma may be partly attributable to factors including smoking and asbestos. Welding-specific exposures may increase bladder and kidney cancer risks, and particular sources of exposure should be investigated. Studies that are able to disentangle welding effects from smoking and asbestos exposure are needed.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.585-600
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• 2011

South Korean central government has launched the first comprehensive climate change policies in 1999, and they have been renewed every three year. The third policies ended in 2007. However, it is quite rare to analyze whether the climate change policies are effective against climate change. In this context, this paper aims at analyzing the effectiveness of climate change policy which was launched for seven years from 1999 to 2007 in South Korea. The effectiveness analysis of policy can be done in terms of the individual policy and/or all policies being synthesized as a comprehensive unit. Employing the latter methodology, this paper analyzed the effectiveness on the basis of economic growth as independent variable, greenhouse gas emission as dependent variable, and energy use and its process as intervening variable. Seven analytic indicators covering the three variables were selected on the basis of two points in time before and after climate change policy having been launched. The seven indicators were analyzed in terms of three aspects. They were the change in the state of each indicator, the effectiveness of climate change policy from 1999 to 2007, and the effectiveness process from 1999 to 2007. The effectiveness process was analyzed in terms of the relational context and its flow processing path. Economic growth was advanced remarkably with increase in the total consumption of energy. As a result, greenhouse gas emission increased. However, energy efficiency increased with significant decrease in energy intensity, carbon intensity, and energy elasticity. The expansion of new and renewable energy over total energy supply was not effective significantly on the decrease in greenhouse gas emission. The processing path of climate change policy being effective advanced toward increase in energy efficiency through energy intensity rather than toward sustainable development. Such a way of the effectiveness of climate change policy implies that most policies focused on adaptation rather than on mitigation.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.55-72
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• 2003

The term sustainable development is being used widely since WCED suggested it in 1987. This paper aims at catching up its sociological implications. For doing this, the paper examined some major existing researches on sustainable development. It was found that sustainable development has been defined as an economic development with the preservation of nature as an environment of human life. In this sense, the existing concept of sustainable development is an economic perspective. Sustainable development as an economic perspective is faced with some limitations and/or problems. They are summarized as follows. The human-made environment is excluded from the concept of sustainable development. Its ideology is anthroponcentric in that the sustainability of nature is a necessary condition for economic development. The objective reference which can measure whether the current state of nature is sustainable or not is not proposed. Consequently, sustainable development results in merely a survivability of economy, a new form of economic utility and/or a successful economy. In terms of sociological perspective, economy and nature can not be sustainable without other social factors being sustainable, because all social factors including economy and nature exist in a causal mechanism. This means that sustainable development should be approached from a multi-dimensional perspective. The multi-dimensional approach can be a framework of sustainable development in terms of whole society, then can be termed sustainable society which implies not a sustainable development, but a societal development. The factors which should be included in the sustainable society are, at least, nature, economy, population as an aggregate, mode of living existence of people as a cultural actor, technology, and social structure.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.134-142
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• 2021

Background: From 2018 to 2020, the Expert Study on Public Understanding after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident (the Expert Study Group) identified and analyzed activities designed to promote public understanding of science and radiation since the Fukushima accident, and held discussions on how to achieve public understanding in the situation where public confidence has been lost, and how experts should prepare for dealing with the public. This panel session was held at the 53^rd meeting of the Japan Health Physics Society on June 30, 2020. Materials and Methods: First, three subgroup (SG) leaders reported their research methods and results. Then, two designated speakers, who participated as observers of the Expert Study Group, commented on the activities. Next, the five speakers held a panel discussion. Finally, the rapporteur summarized. Results and Discussion: SG leaders presented reports from researchers and practitioners in health physics and environmental risks who provided information after the Fukushima accident. During the discussion, experts in sociology and ethics discussed the issues, focusing on the overall goals of the three groups, local (personal) and mass communication, and ethical values. Many of the activities instituted by the experts after the accident were aimed at public understanding of science (that is, to provide knowledge to residents), but by taking into account interactions with residents and their ethical norms, the experts shifted to supporting the residents' decision-making through public engagement. The need to consider both content and channels is well known in the field of health communication, and overlaps with the above discussion. Conclusion: How to implement and promote the public engagement in society was discussed in both the floor and designated discussions. Cooperation between local communities and organizations that have already gained trust is also necessary in order to develop relationships with local residents in normal times, to establish an information transmission system, and to make it work effectively.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.139-147
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• 2024

Objective: The introduction of government support programs for small businesses in 1993 aimed to enhance awareness and capabilities in industrial health management among small business proprietors, marking a continuous expansion over the past three decades. Despite this growth, there has been a conspicuous absence of comprehensive evaluations regarding the efficacy of these initiatives. In response, this study endeavors to conduct a thorough policy evaluation. Method: Through a meticulous approach, we conducted an analysis of in-depth interviews with eight individuals possessing expertise in the administration of government support programs for small businesses. These interviews were sourced from personnel affiliated with government ministries and public agencies. Results: In the analysis, it was found that small-scale business government support programs operate primarily based on quantity rather than receiving support from business owners regarding their necessity or utility. Consequently, these programs have failed to yield substantial effects on altering the perception of business owners or improving the working environment within the businesses. Conclusion: This study assumes significance in its capacity to discern intricate procedural challenges in program implementation, which often elude quantitative scrutiny. Furthermore, it provides pivotal insights for enhancing government support programs.

• Journal of Service Research and Studies
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.27-40
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• 2017

Humanity's sustainability issues have long been discussed, and the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) in 1987 proposed the concept of sustainable development and became a global issue. In September 2015, we announced the latest goals for sustainable development at the UN's 70th General Assembly to address social problems and achieve mature economic growth. In order to achieve social, economic and environmental sustainability goals, parallel development of various disciplines is required. However, existing disciplines are limited in supporting sustainable development due to inherent nature. This study proposes to revitalize service science research as a way to overcome limitations of existing studies, and suggests that sustainable development goals can be achieved through convergence with service science and existing disciplines. Modern economic societies need the evolutionary development of individual disciplines because the paradigm shifts from the existing tangible environment to the intangible environment, the boundary between industries is dismantled, and the boundaries between disciplines disappear. In particular, sustainable development goals require a convergent approach, so convergence service science research is useful. In this study, we analyze economics, business administration, pedagogy, sociology which are representative of related to sustainable development and suggest the necessity of introduction of service science. Through this study, the development of service science and interdisciplinary research in existing academic fields will be activated.

• Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
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• v.9 no.10
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• pp.797-808
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• 2019

In a closed workplace, the management of the workplace is important because the environmental data at the workplace has a great influence on the safety of workers. Today's industrial sites are transformed into data-based factories that collect and analyze data through sensors in those sites, requiring a management system to ensure safety. In general, a safety management system stores and manages data on a central server associated with a database. Since such management system introduces high possibility of forgery and loss of data, workers often suspect the reliability of the information on the management system. In this paper, we present a worker safety management system based on the EOS blockchain which is considered as third-generation blockchain technology. The developed system consists of a set of smart contracts on the EOS blockchain and 3 decentralized applications associated with the blockchain. According to the roles of users, the worker and manager applications respectively perform the process of initiating or terminating tasks as blockchain transactions. The entire transaction history is distributed and stored in all nodes participating in the blockchain network, so forgery and loss of data is practically impossible. The system administrator application assigns the account rights of workers and managers appropriate for performing the functions, and specifies the safety standards of IoT data for ensuring workplace safety. The IoT data received from sensor platforms in workplaces and the information on initiation, termination or approval of tasks assigned to workers, are explicitly stored and managed in the EOS smart contracts.

• Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
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• v.8 no.11
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• pp.109-119
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• 2018

This study investigates the effect of urban and architectural forms on the microclimate in urban areas. It applies urban and architectural elements such as urban form and tissue and building form and characteristics as the main influences on the microclimate within urban area. Among the 23 Automated Weather Stations (AWS) installed within Seoul city by the Korea Meteorological Administration, 6 sites were selected for the analysis, based on their different urban and architectural characteristics, and actual measurements were conducted in August 2017 using individual AWS equipment. Also, the measurements of microclimate and urban and architectural elements within a 500m radius of the AWS measurement points were collected and analyzed. The result of the analysis shows that the microclimate elements, such as wind speed, solar radiation, and temperature, were affected by the direction of the streets, the width, depth, and height of the buildings, the topographic elevation and direction and the traffic volume. This study is expected to contribute to mitigating urban heat island effect and setting the foundation for sustainable cities through development of urban management methods and techniques including the relationship between built environment elements and microclimate.