• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.699-708
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• 2015

This study was performed to identify the state of the exposure and characteristics of pollutants by each process at 4 casting sites located in Gyeongsang-do from April to November 2013. The concentrations of methanol, crystallized silica glass, formaldehyde and phenol were analyzed by different process - casting process, molding process, core process, and shakeout & finishing process. The highest concentration of methanol was found in casting and molding process, whereas the highest concentration of crystalline quartz(Silica) was observed in core process. The most oxidized steel dusts and the highest concentration of fume were found in shakeout & finishing process. As a result of this study, those labors working at the casting site were found to be constantly exposed to various forms of hazardous chemicals; therefore, it is considered that this is the time to manage and plan how to reduce them. In addition, it is required to thoroughly manage the local exhauster, and improve the process and working environment to reduce various forms of hazardous chemicals.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.267-275
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• 2017

Background: The mining industry is known worldwide for its highly risky and hazardous working environment. Technological advancement in ore extraction techniques for proliferation of production levels has caused further concern for safety in this industry. Research so far in the area of safety has revealed that the majority of incidents in hazardous industry take place because of human error, the control of which would enhance safety levels in working sites to a considerable extent. Methods: The present work focuses upon the analysis of human factors such as unsafe acts, preconditions for unsafe acts, unsafe leadership, and organizational influences. A modified human factor analysis and classification system (HFACS) was adopted and an accident predictive fuzzy reasoning approach (FRA)-based system was developed to predict the likelihood of accidents for manganese mines in India, using analysis of factors such as age, experience of worker, shift of work, etc. Results: The outcome of the analysis indicated that skill-based errors are most critical and require immediate attention for mitigation. The FRA-based accident prediction system developed gives an outcome as an indicative risk score associated with the identified accident-prone situation, based upon which a suitable plan for mitigation can be developed. Conclusion: Unsafe acts of the worker are the most critical human factors identified to be controlled on priority basis. A significant association of factors (namely age, experience of the worker, and shift of work) with unsafe acts performed by the operator is identified based upon which the FRA-based accident prediction model is proposed.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.165-174
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• 2023

This study used Korean work environment surveys data to confirm the relationship between exposure to harmful and risk factors and absenteeism of manufacturing workers according to the survey period. Accordingly, 8,318 workers in the manufacturing industry were analyzed for the same questions of harmful and risk factors in 2011 (3rd), 2017 (5th), and 2020 (6th). Work-related hazards and risks, vibration, noise, high temperature, dust inhalation, vapor inhalation, chemical handling, and infectious material handling were found to affect absenteeism more than 3/4 of the time of exposure in 2020 compared to 2011. In conclusion, it was found that non-exposure to work-related hazards and risk factors increased one survey after another, and that the time of exposure to work-related hazards and risk factors affected absenteeism.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2020.12a
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• pp.188-197
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• 2020

Due to hazardous working environments at complex, unstructured, and dynamic construction sites, workers frequently face potential safety and health risks throughout the construction process. In this regard, addressing safety challenges remains one of the top priorities. Construction workers' ability to identify and assess risks is acquired through training, which is one of the primary key factors to determine their safety and wellbeing in hazardous working environments. As such, safety managers constantly focus on the effectiveness of the training materials provided to the workers. However, the construction workers are considerably at greater risk of injuries and fatalities compared to the workers in other industries. In this regard, further studies are required to build up a body of knowledge on the conventional safety training approaches as well as their evaluation techniques in order to boost up the adoption by the practitioners in a widespread manner. This paper provides a systematic review of the current safety training approaches and the various techniques for measuring their effectiveness. The attributes of the current safety training methods for construction workers and their evaluation techniques are identified and analyzed. Results indicated that: 1) immersive environment-based training methods are effective than the traditional safety training methods; 2) this effectiveness can be empirically supported by evaluation strategies, but the current techniques are subjective, intrusive, and error-prone. This research offers fresh opportunities to investigate the training strategies by objectively monitoring the physiological responses of construction crews. The results of this study can be used by researchers and practitioners to identify and determine optimal safety training programs that could potentially become ubiquitous in the construction industry.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.272-280
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• 2014

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of worker exposure to hazardous chemical substances and propose the direction of work environment management for protecting worker's health in the semiconductor assembly process. Methods: Four assembly lines at two semiconductor manufacturing companies were selected for this study. We investigated the types of chemicals that were used and generated during the assembly process, and evaluated the workers' exposure levels to hazardous chemicals such as benzene and formaldehyde and the current work environment management in the semiconductor assembly process. Results: Most of the chemicals used at the assembly process are complex mixtures with high molecular weight such as adhesives and epoxy molding compounds(EMCs). These complex mixtures are stable when they are used at room temperature. However workers can be exposed to volatile organic compounds(VOCs) such as benzene and formaldehyde when they are used at high temperature over $100^{\circ}C$. The concentration levels of benzene and formaldehyde in chip molding process were higher than other processes. The reason was that by-products were generated during the mold process due to thermal decomposition of EMC and machine cleaner at the process temperature($180^{\circ}C$). Conclusions: Most of the employees working at semiconductor assembly process are exposed directly or indirectly to various chemicals. Although the concentration levels are very lower than occupational exposure limits, workers can be exposed to carcinogens such as benzene and formaldehyde. Therefore, workers employed in the semiconductor assembly process should be informed of these exposure characteristics.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.891-906
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• 2016

This study examined the working site environment of Korean native cattle raising farmers and their actual condition of wearing personal protective equipment as part of preventing disasters during agricultural work. To this end, 160 Korean cattle raising farmers were surveyed and a site visit was performed on 10 farms. According to an examination of the cattle breeding environment, the major harmful factors were in the following order: fine dust (12.8%), organic feed dust (10.3%), contact with cattle (9.7%), manure (8.2%), germs and viruses (8.1%), harmful gases (7.4), contact with obstacles (6.7), and temperature (6.6%). The current status of the rate of wearing protection was in the order of gloves (20.9%), working hats (19.7%), boots (19.6%), masks (10.9%), protective clothing (8.9%), and specialized working clothing (6.6%). Nevertheless, most Korean cattle raising farmers recognized the risks when they did not wear protective equipment and the need for wearing protectors, but they mostly did not wear personal protective equipment due to a lack of knowledge on the selection of appropriate personal protective equipment and the discomfort they experience when they put on protectors. Even when they put on protective equipment, 38% was inappropriate for the farming work environment. Given the research results, improvements on and the development of specialized working clothing and personal protective equipment to protect farmers from harmful and dangerous materials from the cattle nurturing environment is necessary. Overall, based on the study data, objectified data collection, a determination of the necessary performance elements of personal protective equipment, and R&D will be needed through an on-site current status investigation.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.272-282
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• 2004

Stress is a primary health promotion issue in worksite research because psychological distress is closely related not only to workers　 health status but also to their job performance. This study identified the work environment and work condition factors affecting workers　 stress symptoms among the Korean manufacturing factory workers. A total of 7,818 factory workers employed in 1,562 manufacturing companies participated in the Korean nation-wide occupational health survey conducted by the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency in 2003. Participants were selected by the stratified proportional sampling process by standardized industry classification, company size, and locations. Trained interviewers visited the target companies and interviewed the factory workers randomly selected in each company. Work environments included physical work environments (temperature, noise, hazardous organic compounds, and so on) and psychological work environments (job demands, job control, and social support at work), and work conditions included daily working hour, rest time, and so on. Men were 71.5% and the mean age was 34.0 years old. The average working period in the present company was 6.9 years. The average stress score was 26.2 under the perfect score, 50, which means the moderate level of stress. Perceived stress had significant correlations with young age, poor physical work environment, high fatigue, bad perceived health status, and high job demands in Pearson's simple correlation analysis. Perceived health status and perceived fatigue explained 21% variance of stress symptoms and the work environment factor explained 4.8% of that; however, work condition did not have the sufficient effect. In particular, psychosocial work environment variables (job demand, job control, and social support at work) had a clear effect on stress symptoms rather than the physical work environments. Poor perceived health status, severe perceived fatigue, poor physical work environment, high job demands, low social support, heavy alcohol consumption and little exercise were significantly related to high stress symptoms in the Korean manufacturing workers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.300-306
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• 2009

Welding technology is applicable in many kinds of fields, with the help of its advantages such as easy operational procedure and structural simplification. However, in the process of welding, hazardous materials and fumes cause huge fire broke-outs, explosions, and health-conscious problems. Also, as heavy metals in fumes have a harmful effect on the environment, recently, this has emerged as a urgent social issue. This study has been aimed at the recommendation of the most environment-friendly, among materials currently used in plumbing welding, and it has been done at the result of the analysis of amount, ingredient, and size in collected fumes created in the experiment of welding five rods to galvanized steel pipes and steel pipe ones. At the test result, due to the effect of Zn-coating, galvanized steel pipes, when welded to rods, created more fumes than steel pipe ones. In the mean time, when it comes to welding rods, among five, WR-03 produced fumes the least. Therefore, a combination of the test results clearly indicates that the case of welding WR-03 to cast-iron pipes turned out to be the most environment-friendly.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.58-64
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• 2023

Background: A group health service is a system that delegates workplace health management to an entrusted institution. There have been various studies on group health services to date, but recent changes, such as an increase in foreign workers, are rapidly changing industry characteristics. Methods: Satisfaction was assessed using a 27-question survey distributed among 203 workplaces employing health professionals. The survey items consisted of general characteristics, comprehensive satisfaction, requirements for health professionals' work, and satisfaction with work environment management, ergonomic management, and healthcare management. Multiple regression and frequency analyses were performed. Results: The comprehensive satisfaction was 4.08 points on average, out of 5. The comprehensive satisfaction of health professionals in the industry was positively correlated with each factor. Hazardous materials and chemical management (material safety data sheets, MSDSs) were the most common requirements. Conclusion: A low level of satisfaction with work environment management indicates high demand for healthcare management. The working environment should be improved by identifying characteristics of the workplace, examining harmful substances, inspecting equipment, and enhancing worker methods. The shorter the work experience of health professionals, the more dependent they are on group health services. The variables affecting comprehensive satisfaction were the period of work, healthcare management satisfaction, and work environment management satisfaction. Most of the requirements of health professionals in the workplace were practical improvement case presentations, MSDSs, and legal document management.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.13-22
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• 1977

In an attempt to evaluate working conditions and hazardous environmental factors, a survey on health problems was conducted for 721 employees from 18 industrial plants in Young Dung Po and Sung Dong districts of Seoul in the period from May 1975 to Feb, 1976. The questionnaire and survey was inclusive of all illnesses known as most common to industrial workers (according to the report by Korea Industrial Health Association) of this country and envi ronmental factors pointed out by the workers. The results were as following. 1. The over whelming majority of complaints were psychiatric, ear,eye, and digestive disorders. 2. Those whose work time is the longest have a propotionately higer incidence of complaints especially in eye,ear, neuromusculoskeletal, and neurosensory systems. 3. In females whose occupational history is relatively short, a higher incidence of digestive and skin section disorders was noted and this is especially true among those working in night shift. 4. Among machinery industry workers, most complaints were of eye, ear, and neuro musculoskeletal disturbances, and this fact seems to be closely related to physical over works. 5. Dust and noise were pointed out by the largest number of workers as undisirable conditions in work environment. 6. Distribution of complaints are closely related to the type of industry, and in comparison with the result reported by Korea Industrial Health Association in 1972, the prevalence rates of occupational disorder were similar in our study,