• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.24 no.3 s.35
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• pp.339-355
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• 1991

The concept of workers' participation in occupational health was introduced to Korea recently in relation to primary health care in occupational health. But there is confusion and debate about workers' participation concept. The purpose of this study was to review the concepts of workers' participation and to conduct evaluation the workers' participation status in occupational health and safety, 394 workers and 54 employers (5.6%) in north area of Kyunggi-Do, were selected and interviewed with a questionnaire by a trained interviewer from August to September 1990. In general, the concept of workers' participation is based on industrial domocratisation and Declaration of Human Rights which had been powerful ideologies in labor movement. Contrary to workers' participation, community participation is rooted in the Health Rights. So, it is necessary to consider concept of workers' participation to improve participation. The results of survey were as follows. 1. Most of companies (71.75) carried out occupational health education to workers in study area. 2. The Occupational Safety and Health Committee (OSHC) were set up in 24.1% among the study companies, and 72.7% of workers among respondents thought that OSHC was helpful to workers health. 3. The workers signed his name to personal health report in 43.1% and the rate of participation in occupational environment examination was 54.9%. 4. The workers prefer the OSHC (39.3%), owner (35.1%) and union (25.8%) as a occupation health organisation, but owners prefer OSHC (54.5%), manager (43.2%) and union (2.3%). 5. Among the factors of the general characteristics, the existence of labor union was a major determinant of workers' attitude and level of workers' participation. As we have seen, most levels of workers' participation are low in occupational health. The variable of existence of labor union among the factors was a ma determinant of workers attitude and level of workers' participation. Therefore, in order to promote workers health, it is necessary to ponder long deeply on occupational health care system under the viewpoint of workers' participation.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.180-188
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the health status between foreign workers and native workers and to examine the influencing factors of health status of foreign and native workers. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of the data collected from the 3rd (2011) Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS). The sample included 101 foreign workers and 101 native workers matched by age and gender. Results: The difference in health status between foreign workers and native workers was not statistically significant. The most commonly complained health problem of foreign workers was muscle pain of the upper limbs. Among foreign workers, hazard exposure, coworker support and supervisor support were significant predictors of health status. Among native workers, income level and obesity were significant predictors of health status. Conclusion: For health management and health promotion of foreign workers, employers and health providers need to establish coworker supporting systems in workplace and improvement strategies of work environment. Particularly, they must pay closer attention to management of foreign workers' musculoskeletal disorder.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.410-412
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• 2017

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious problem not only among workers who experience industrial accidents but also among workers who witness such accidents. Early intervention is needed to prevent prolonged psychological problems. There has been no study conducted regarding the psychological problems of and interventions for bystander workers in Korea. This study introduces the experience of intervention on psychological problems at the Busan Workers' Health Center workers who witnessed their colleagues' death. An investigation and an intervention were conducted according to the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) Guide. In total, 21 individuals including indirect observers showed statistical differences on scores of the Impact Event Scale Revised and the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 after the intervention. Future interventions and research involving a larger sample size over a longer period are needed. The KOSHA Guide could be a useful tool for urgent psychological intervention in the event of major workplace disasters.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.859-869
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• 2014

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the subjective oral health awareness, oral health knowledge, oral health behavior and OHIP-14 in industrial workers. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was filled out by 243 workers in Jeonbuk May 7 to June 10, 2014. Except incomplete answers, 230 data were analyzed. The questionnaire consisted of general characteristics of the subjects(sex, age, career, marital status, abd family), oral health recognition characteristics(oral health attention, subjective oral health status, and oral health concern), oral health knowledge, oral health behavior, and oral health related quality of life. The instrument was 14 questions od OHIP-14 including functional restriction(2 questions), physical pain(2 questions), psychological discomfort(2 questions), physical ability decease(2 questions), psychological function decease(2 questions), social activity decrease (2 questions), and social discomfort(2 questions). Cronbach's alpha was 0.949 in this study and it was reliable. Results: Oral health interests showed that 57.8% of the workers had concern for oral health interests and 50.4% perceived that their subjective oral health was moderate status. 55.6% of the workers answered that their oral health status was very worried. Women had more knowledge about the oral health. Those who were in fifties tended to have more knowledge of oral health than the other age groups. Those who had more concern for oral health included female workers, married workers, and workers above 21 years. The concern for oral health made the workers keep good oral health. Higher score of OHIP-14 means good oral health. Conclusions: Good oral health-related quality of life is proportional to continuous management of oral health and subjective oral health status. It is necessary to develop the tailored oral health education program for the workers.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.155-161
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• 1998

This study reviewed on the occupational health status of female workers in China, where the half of female population are workers in occupational settings and realizes the importance of occupational health among them, to establish the occupational health management system in Korea as Korean female workers have been increasing for the last few decades. Results of the study were as follows. 1. The proportion of female workers in total workers have increased from 7.5% in 1949 up to 37.6% in 1990. As for the distribution of female workers by industry, manufacturing part has the highest proportion of female workers in total and out of total female workers, the rank was health social welfare (53.2%), community personal service(45.4%) and agriculture forestry fishing(44.1%). 2. The system of occupational health management for female workers was related to superior organization well by administrative district & work place and professionals were distributed to one per ten thousand persons or more, depending on each region's conditions. 3. The regulations of occupational health management for female workers are defined in a variety of fields. Considering the physiological characteristics of female workers, government has tried to minimize the loss due to menstruation, pregnancy, delivery and lactation and has let them have vacations, guaranteeing the health facilities at the same time. Also government has defined the scope of prohibited work to protect legal right of them.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.159-174
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• 2015

Objectives : A survey was conducted to investigate oral health belief and education awareness of oral health of workers in the workplace and to obtain the basic data necessary to promote their oral health and design an oral health education program. Methods : This study conducted a self-administered survey. Results : The following conclusion was made. For oral health beliefs based on the type of work that the workers did, workers in production and technical services had more benefits than those in other fields(security, guard, etc.), and workers on night duty had more oral health hygiene problems than that of regular day-time workers. The longer the period of service was, the more sensitive and serious the workers were and the less beneficial the work was; workers working for eight hours or less had higher levels of importance than those working for ten hours. They were well aware of the need for oral health education but were less aware of the need for an oral health room. Conclusions : It is necessary to emphasize oral health beliefs when developing an oral health education program that promotes oral health for workers in the workplace. If an oral health education program attempts to reflect the concerns of workers in the workplace and provides preferred contents and methods on oral health education, the program is expected to promote the active and positive participation of the workers.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.16-32
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• 1994

Health Education is very important not only in school or community fields but also in industrial fields. And health education is most fundamental and enthusiastic area in industrial health. The purpose of this study was to analyze the workers' health education needs and the factors which could affect them. The subjects for this study was 855 workers selected from 57 factories in Inchon. The results were as follows: 1. For demographic variables, sex, age, educational level, and income of the workers were investigated. Most of the workers were males (80.2%). Of the respondents, 30∼39 years old were 41.3%. Approximately 62% of the workers were high school graduates. In additions, those who reported they earned 500,000∼800,000 won monthly were 41.9%. 2. Behavioral characteristics of the workers investigated in this study included smoking, drinking and physical activities. Of the respondents, 55.9% were smoking cigarettes, and 26.8% of the workers reported they drank alcohol once or twice a week. The workers who were taking any form of exercise regularly were 31.6%. 3. Occupational characteristics of the workers included working period working hours a day, medical examination, and so on. About 37.6% of the workers had worked 1∼5 years and 53.6% of the respondents were working less than 8 hours a day. More than half of the workers in this study were taking special medical examination(59.3%) and 59.6% of the respondents were working at the production line in the factories. And most of the respondents (69.0%) were mere members of the staffs. 4. For perceived health status of the respondents, 41.1% answered they were healthy. And for the level of health status, health grade 20.4% of the workers were unhealthy. 5. Health education areas the workers in this study wanted to learn were as follows: 1) Mental health 2) Worksite environment 3) Safety control 4) Disease contol. 6. Those who reported having ever received health education in the factories were 20.9%. 7. Women had more health education needs in personal health care, disease control and family health areas than men. Each age group had different health education needs in all health areas and the differences were significant statistically. 8. The workers who had received special medical examination had more health education needs in worksite environment, safety control, and disease control areas than those who had received general medical examination. The lower the satisfaction of the work and the working environment was, the higher the health education needs of worksite environment area were. 9. For the levels of health status healthy workers were more likely than unhealthy workers to have health education needs in all health areas.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.472-481
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study were to compare working condition, socioeconomic status, and health status between elderly and non-elderly workers and to examine the influencing factors of health status according to age groups. Methods: This study is a secondary analysis of data extracted from the 2014 Korean Working Conditions Survey. For the present analysis, 15,980 elderly workers over the age of 55 and 32,037 non-elderly workers under the age of 55 were selected. Results: The prevalence of subjective unhealthy status and poor mental health were significantly higher among the elderly workers than the non-elderly workers. The elderly workers were more likely to have lower level of education and income than the non-elderly workers. They also reported less support from colleagues and managers, however, have more decision authority. Among the elderly workers, long working hours, awkward posture, physical environmental risks, quantitative demand, decision authority, social support, age discrimination, education level, and income level were significant predictors of subjective health status or mental health. Conclusion: For keeping elderly workers healthy and productive, work environment needs to become more age-friendly. An age-friendly workplace may include: accommodative support, workers' participation, minimization of environment risk, etc.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.363-371
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• 2020

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of information regarding health and safety risks on the subjective health status of workers using data from the Fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey. Methods: Among the survey respondents, 30,094 people classified as salaried workers, of which 8,513 (28.3%) used protective equipment. Results: Although the majority of workers using protective equipment reported being well-informed about safety and health risks, 15% of them were still insufficiently informed. Multivariate analyses have shown that the subjective health status of workers using protective equipment was significantly better if they received sufficient information. When the workers using protective equipment were classified by the kinds of hazards they were exposed to, the satisfaction of information was also significantly beneficial for the subjective health status of all groups. However, in workers who did not use protective equipment, information satisfaction did not appear to be a significant factor. Conclusion: These results suggest that when providing information on safety and health risks, it is necessary to focus on workers using protective equipment, for whom the effects of the policy are clearly expected.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.21-32
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• 2018

Purpose: This study attempted to identify regional disparities of self-rated health among Korean wage workers and to investigate the influencing factors on them. Methods: The study subjects were 25,069 workers in 16 regions who were extracted from the 2014 Korean Working Condition Survey (KWCS). A multilevel analysis was conducted by building hierarchical data at individual and regional level. Results: In this study, 'financial autonomy rate' and 'current smoking rate' were identified as regional factors influencing the workers' self-rated health. When the socio-demographic and occupational factors of the workers were controlled, 'current smoking rate', a health policy factor, explained the regional disparity of workers' health status. Conclusion: We found that the health status of workers can be affected by the health behavior level of the whole population in their residential area. In order to improve the health status of working population and to alleviate their regional health inequalities, it is necessary to strengthen macro and structural level interventions.