• Title/Summary/Keyword: improvement of working conditions

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A Study on the Musculoskeletal Disorders in Petrochemical Industry (석유화학산업의 근골격계질환 실태에 관한 연구)

  • Park, Jung-Sik
    • Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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    • v.8 no.3
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    • pp.77-86
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    • 2006
  • After conducting an investigation of a specific workplace, 372 labor workers, who are employed at a certain domestic petrochemical company valve operating and maintenance processing section, were personally questioned about specific work-related ailments. According to the results, 57% of workers who were working in the petrochemical industry have suffered from pain-related musculoskeletal disorders in, at least, more than 1 body part. Specifically, there are more than 28% of workers suffering from pain in more than two body parts. Among the total work population, 18.8 % of workers are assumed to have a high probability of being diagnosed with musculoskeletal disorder. Also, according to the RULA checklist which evaluates environmental improvement conditions of the workplace, 76.7% of workplaces among the inspected areas have high hazardous work factors that are related to musculoskeletal disorder and needs to be improved upon and observed right away or in the foreseeable future. The prior factor has a high correlation and pain rate which is due to an improper work posture. Originally, this improper work posture is caused mostly by ergonomically incorrect facility design. Furthermore, the structure of the workplace does not consider the worker's individual build.

Performance Simulation of a R744-R717 Cascade Refrigeration System According to Operating Conditions (R744-R717 캐스케이드 냉동시스템에서 운전조건 변화에 따른 성능 해석)

  • Ryu, Jiho;Cho, Honghyun
    • Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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    • v.27 no.10
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    • pp.497-505
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    • 2015
  • The evaporating temperature range required for the low temperature freezing system is from $-50^{\circ}C$ to $-30^{\circ}C$. Since it is difficult to keep the required capacity in a cabinet, it is advantageous to design the system using a cascade refrigeration system. Use of carbon dioxide and ammonia would be advantageous since ammonia is an environment-friendly working fluid and has a high capacity for performance improvement. To investigate the performance characteristics of the R744-R717 cascade refrigeration system, a theoretical model was developed and performance was analyzed according to cascade heat exchanger operating temperature. The optimal cascade R744 condensing temperature was $-5^{\circ}C$, and maximum COP was 1.13 when the temperature difference of the cascade heat exchanger was $5^{\circ}C$. In addition, the total system COP increased by 1.17 when the cascade temperature gap was $3^{\circ}C$ at the middle temperature of $-7.5^{\circ}C$.

A Study on a Resorption Beat Pump Using Methanol-Glycerine (메탄올-글리세린을 이용한 재흡수 열펌프의 열역학적 모사 연구)

  • Min, Byong-Hun
    • Journal of Energy Engineering
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    • v.15 no.4 s.48
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    • pp.284-290
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    • 2006
  • The improvement of energy recovery is mandatory to decrease consumption of fossil fuels and to minimize negative impacts on the environment which originates from large cooling and heating demand. The absorption heat pump technology has a large potential for energy saving in this respect. Absorption heat pump is a means to upgrade waste heat without addition of extra thermal energy. In this study, resorption heat pump for energy recovery has been investigated using methanol-glycerine. The simulated calculation of theoretical thermal efficiency was performed based on the thermodynamic properties of the working fluid over various operating conditions. The thermal efficiency of higher than 0.4 was obtained by raising industrial waste heat, $70{\sim}80^{\circ}C$, by $40^{\circ}C$ in this system.

The effect of lubricant containing diamond nano-powder on performance (나노다이아몬드 첨가 윤활제가 디젤엔진의 성능에 미치는 영향)

  • Son, Kwun;Lee, Jung-Seok;Park, Tae-Hee;Park, Kweon-Ha
    • Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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    • v.38 no.9
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    • pp.1039-1044
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    • 2014
  • Many research works have been conducted to improve a lubrication performance on diesel engines working in severe conditions. In this study the lubricant containing diamond nano-powder is applied on a diesel engine, and the engine performance is analyzed. The concentration of nano-diamond lubricant fabricated by the matrix synthesis dispersion method is varied. The test results with the nano lubricants are compared with the base oil. The result shows the improvement of efficiency with friction reduction and exhaust emissions reduction of CO, smoke and so on.

Literature Review of Studies on South Korean Nurses' Depressive Symptoms (국내 간호사의 우울 관련 문헌분석)

  • Park, Young Sook;Kim, Jeong-Hee
    • Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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    • v.28 no.3
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    • pp.125-137
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    • 2019
  • Purpose: The purpose was to investigate the literature on depression among South Korean nurses in order to identify overall trends regarding depression. Methods: Forty-five papers published between 1998 and 2017 in three Korean databases-RISS4U, DBPIA, and KISS-were analyzed. Results: Depression showed significant positive associations with job stress, burnout, intent to leave, and somatic symptoms such as fatigue and trouble sleeping. Poor work environments such as staff shortage, work overload, and shift work were also positively associated with depression. Higher job satisfaction, resilience, self-efficacy, self-esteem, and social support were negatively correlated with and acted as significant buffers against depression. Conclusion: These results indicate that healthcare policymakers must pay more attention to the management and prevention of nurses' depression. In order to effectively do so, poor work conditions, which involve long working hours, high patient-to-nurse ratios, and extreme workloads, should be improved. Simultaneously, nursing managers should implement initiatives such as counseling and competency improvement programs, and stress management to reduce and prevent depression among nurses and strengthen their positive competency. Also, further research is required to clarify the prevalence of depression in South Korean nurses, with more meta-analyses also required to identify variations in depression rates owing to various factors.

Some Suggestions to Reduce Environmental Hazards from Open Pit Mining and to Revise Related Regulations for Limestone Mines (석회석 자원의 노천채굴에 따른 환경 오염원의 저감 및 관련 제도의 개선방안)

  • 임한욱;백환조
    • Tunnel and Underground Space
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    • v.9 no.3
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    • pp.230-237
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    • 1999
  • Production of limestone for cement in Kangwon and Chungbuk areas reaches over 80 million tonnes per year. However, many regulatory activities for preservation of the environment against potential hazardous impacts from the open pit mining make it difficult for the industry. With recent improvement of the mining methods and working conditions, the regulations related to the quarrying of limestone may need to be revised. Methods for reducing environmental hazards are proposed in this paper, with some suggestions concerning the revision of related regulations. This study is expected to serve as a practical solution for the cement industry in balance of preservation and development.

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<Field action report> Development and Application of Participatory Action Oriented Training(PAOT) for Improvement of Agricultural Working Environment in Korea (<사례보고> 농작업 환경개선을 위한 한국형 참여형 개선활동 교육(PAOT)의 개발과 실제 적용 사례)

  • Kim, J.S.;Woo, K.H.;Min, Y.S.;Kim, B.K.;Choi, K.S.;Park, K.S.
    • Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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    • v.35 no.4
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    • pp.417-427
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    • 2010
  • Objectives: This study was conducted to develop a Korean version of the Participatory Action Oriented Training (PAOT) program and training materials for improvement of agricultural working environments. Methods: The PAOT manual and checklist were developed on the basis of the original English version of the training materials, a questionnaire survey of agricultural health and safety professionals, and a brainstorming conference. Good example pictures were collected through visits to agricultural workers' houses, and an easily understandable picture was drawn by an animation specialist. A PAOT action manual and five types of action checklists were developed for use in different agricultural environments. Each action checklist contained six categories and 38 items of agricultural health and safety principles; the six categories were material storage and handling, work stations and tools, machine safety, physical environment, working schedule and organization, and basic health and safety management. Incorporating these training materials, a one-day Korean PAOT program was developed. Results: Among 307 candidate agricultural workers from four rural Korean villages, 94 workers (59 males, 35 females) participated in a PAOT from July 2007 to Oct 2008. The PAOT program was successful and the mean self-estimated satisfaction score of the participants was greater than 90%. Conclusions: A Korean PAOT program and training materials were successfully developed and applied to Korean agricultural workers. Although more studies are needed, it is expected that PAOT will greatly contribute to the improvement of agricultural working conditions and health and safety through the use of agricultural workers' self initiatives.

Present Situation of Korean Nursing (한국간호의 현재)

  • Choi, Euy-Soon
    • Women's Health Nursing
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    • v.10 no.3
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    • pp.190-199
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    • 2004
  • This thesis explores the actual circumstances of Korean nursing by investigating its present situations. Ultimately, the intent of this study aims to establish a future direction of Korean Nursing. As such, the current conditions of Korean nursing is analyzed in the following categories: education, practice, research, nursing policy, expansion of nursing field, and entrepreneurship. In the final conclusion, an appropriate orientation of the future of Korean nursing is discussed. There are two primary Nursing programs, a three-year(63) and a four-year(53), in Korean Nursing education. Master's programs are available at 32 nursing schools or 32 professional graduate schools. A total of 15 nursing schools have a doctoral program in Korea. The ratio of graduates between the three-year and four year programs is 76:24. Hence, it is highly encouraged to expand four-year nursing programs, because it will help raise the social status of nursing professionals as well as the quality of nursing. In the clinical nursing field, independency and self regulation are critical. As such, organizational change, implementation of a standardized nursing m information system, appropriate workforce, and improvement of the reimbursement system in nursing is recommended. In community nursing, the following should be resolved to provide better nursing services: improvement of working condition and benefits, establishment of a law enforcing the hiring of nurses, and providing continuing education. The number of nursing research has increased and nursing studies are in great quantity. However, research in practices and theories are more in demanded. Hence, research that integrates theories and practices are very significant. Ultimately, it is critical to support nursing studies that will influence nursing policy. The Korean Nurses Association(KNA) is an organization that supervises the nation's nursing policy. The primary focus of KNA is to combine the three and four year undergraduate education systems into 4 years and to establish the Nursing Practice Act. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has adapted a system to educate and certify nurse specialists in 10 nursing areas in 21 nursing graduate schools expecting high-quality nursing services and a decrease of cost. The government also allowed nurses to operate facilities for health management or welfare agencies.

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A Case Study on Productivity Improvement by a Discrete Event-Driven Simulation System (이산사건 시뮬레이션 시스템을 활용한 생산성 개선 사례 연구)

  • Kim, Sangtae;Shin, Moonsoo;Ryu, Kwangyeol;Cho, Yongju
    • Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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    • v.38 no.4
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    • pp.149-158
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    • 2015
  • Up-to-date manufacturing companies have faced a market-driven environment of pull production order. There should be a difference in operating manufacturing resources according to the type, quantity, and delivery time of manufactured products, because the process situation in pull production is changed by customer orders. And it should be taken into account from the stage of preparing for production such as process design and the placement and utilization of manufacturing resources. However, the feasibility of production plans is limited because most of small manufacturing businesses make production/supply plan of the parts and products assuming that equipment abilities in scheduling is sufficient without managing process standard information systemically. In this study, a discrete event simulation system based on BOM (bill of material), that is F-OPIS (online productivity innovation system), is introduced and a case study on application of the system leading to improving productivities is presented. F-OPIS deals with a decision-problem on production management and it is specialized for small-and- medium sized manufacturing companies. The target company of this case study is a typical small-and-medium sized manufacturing company in Korea, that produces various machined parts. The target company adopts make-to-stock production management to prevent tardy delivery because of fluctuations in demand. Therefore, it is required to apply an efficient inventory control solution for improving productivities. In this paper, based on the constraints of working capacity of manufacturing resources, the bottleneck process is analyzed as production conditions are changed. Consequently, an improvement plan is proposed, that eventually enhances overall utilization rates of resources in the bottleneck process and reduces overall production lead-time and inventory level.

Study on the System Improvement for Accident Prevention of Forestry Operations in Korea (산림작업에서 안전사고 예방을 위한 제도적 개선에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Hee-Yul;Park, Chong-Min
    • Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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    • v.103 no.4
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    • pp.574-582
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    • 2014
  • In order to prevent occupational injury in forestry operations, several laws and regulations related to forestry have been enacted. Forestry education and training is overseen by the Forest Training Institute under the Korea Forest Service and three training centers under the National Forestry Cooperative Federation. The latter are managing both common and specialized courses, with safety education and training as an important focus. Improvements to reduce the accident rate are as follows: (1) strengthening of qualifications (via aptitude test) and selection standards of forestry workers (such as age limits); (2) raise of the number of training days and the rate of certified essential forces that compose Units of Forest Craft Workers; (3) revision of regulations to select forestry management engineers (second grade certified engineer); (4) introduction of a qualification renewal system; (5) improvement of working conditions at forestry scenes and systemization of safety education; (6) revision of regulations of individual protection equipment; (7) enforcement of wearing individual protection equipment; (8) supplementation of disaster response for increasing safety perception.