• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.42-51
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to develop a checklist of risk factors for quantitative assessment of musculoskeletal complaints in shipbuilding workers. A key point was to develop comprehensive a checklist including the worker's physical ability, as ergonomic and workload factors. ln the first, through correlation analysis between musculoskeletal complaints and physical abilities in shipbuilding workers, risk factors related to physical abilities were selected. In the second, after the development of a checklist was composed of physical, ergonomic and workload factors, factor analysis was used to test the validity of the developed checklist. Each factors selected finally showed that physical factors were hand grip strength, spinal curvature, and flexibility (sit to reach), ergonomic factors were posture, total exposed time, duration, and force of working, and workload factors were physical and psychological workload perceived by worker. The results showed that musculoskeletal complaints was associated with physical abilities (p<.05). The developed checklist had a reliability of .761 (Cronbach=.761) and a validity and explanation of 54.9%. The criterion of management was classified in 4 stages by relative weights of each factor. It is suggested that active intervention is needed to reduce musculoskeletal complaints in workers with more than a 14.31 score.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.174-183
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• 2021

Background: Toluene diisocyanate (TDI) is a highly reactive chemical that causes sensitization and has also been associated with increased lung cancer. A risk assessment was conducted based on occupational epidemiologic estimates for several health outcomes. Methods: Exposure and outcome details were extracted from published studies and a NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation for new onset asthma, pulmonary function measurements, symptom prevalence, and mortality from lung cancer and respiratory disease. Summary exposure-response estimates were calculated taking into account relative precision and possible survivor selection effects. Attributable incidence of sensitization was estimated as were annual proportional losses of pulmonary function. Excess lifetime risks and benchmark doses were calculated. Results: Respiratory outcomes exhibited strong survivor bias. Asthma/sensitization exposure response decreased with increasing facility-average TDI air concentration as did TDI-associated pulmonary impairment. In a mortality cohort where mean employment duration was less than 1 year, survivor bias pre-empted estimation of lung cancer and respiratory disease exposure response. Conclusion: Controlling for survivor bias and assuming a linear dose-response with facility-average TDI concentrations, excess lifetime risks exceeding one per thousand occurred at about 2 ppt TDI for sensitization and respiratory impairment. Under alternate assumptions regarding stationary and cumulative effects, one per thousand excess risks were estimated at TDI concentrations of 10 - 30 ppt. The unexplained reported excess mortality from lung cancer and other lung diseases, if attributable to TDI or associated emissions, could represent a lifetime risk comparable to that of sensitization.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.283-288
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• 2024

Purpose: Given the growing use of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans, this study assessed radiation exposure from these scans in the context of national guidelines and recommended dose limits. Materials and Methods: The current literature was reviewed to quantify the benefit of opportunistic diagnosis of carotid artery calcification relative to the potential risk of radiation-induced cancer. Results: The average radiation from CBCT at its largest field of view and highest resolution possible amounts to a reasonable but still low ionizing radiation exposure. This exposure is comparable to 22 days of background radiation and is notably lower than the radiation exposure from medical CT scans. According to the risk assessment analysis, the risk of stroke events involving internal and external carotid artery calcification (CAC) was 202 and 67 per 100,000 individuals, respectively. In contrast, the estimated risk of radiation-induced cancer associated with CBCT was notably lower, at 0.6 per 100,000. Conclusion: The present study advocates for a comprehensive assessment of CBCT scans encompassing the areas of the internal and external carotid arteries by a knowledgeable professional, given the potential advantages of early detection of vascular abnormalities. Dental professionals who take scans involving these areas need to be mindful of reporting these findings and refer patients to their primary care physician for further investigation.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.107-122
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• 2010

Functional safety is the part of the overall safety of a system that depends on the system or equipment operating correctly in response to its inputs, including the safe management of likely operator errors, hardware failures, systematic failures, and environmental changes. One of the essential concepts of functional safety is Safety Integrity Level(SIL). It is defined as a relative level of risk-reduction provided by a safety function, or to specify a target level of risk reduction. In this paper, each element of SIL assessment will be defined. Based on each element, specific process of SIL selection will be established by using flowchart. The flowchart provides a SIL assessment guideline for functional safety engineers. The proposed theory will be verified by applying to a oil refining plant for SIL assessment.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.515-525
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• 2019

A karst collapse, as a natural hazard, is totally different to a normal collapse. In recent years, karst collapses have caused substantial economic losses and even threatened human safety. A risk assessment model for karst collapse was developed based on the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) and grey relational analysis (GRA), which is a simple and effective mathematical algorithm. An evaluation index played an important role in the process of completing the risk assessment model. In this study, the proposed model was applied to Jiaobai village in southwest China. First, the main controlling factors were summarized as an evaluation index of the model based on an investigation and statistical analysis of the natural formation law of karst collapse. Second, the FAHP was used to determine the relative weights and GRA was used to calculate the grey relational coefficient among the indices. Finally, the relational sequence of evaluation objects was established by calculating the grey weighted relational degree. According to the maximum relational rule, the greater the relational degree the better the relational degree with the hierarchy set. The results showed that the model accurately simulated the field condition. It is also demonstrated the contribution of various control factors to the process of karst collapse and the degree of collapse in the study area.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.137-154
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• 2019

Triclosan (TCS) is an antimicrobial compound used in consumer products. The purpose of current study was to examine toxicology and risk assessment of TCS based on available data. Acute toxicities of oral, transdermal and inhalation routes were low, and phototoxicity and neurotoxicity were not observed. Topical treatment of TCS to animal caused mild irritation. TCS did not induce reproductive and developmental toxicity in rodents. In addition, genotoxicity was not considered based on in vitro and in vivo tests of TCS. It is not classified as a carcinogen in international authorities such as International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). No-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) was determined 12 mg/kg bw/day for TCS, based on haematoxicity and reduction of absolute and relative spleen weights in a 104-week oral toxicity study in rats. Percutaneous absorption rate was set as 14%, which was human skin absorption study reported by National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) (2009). The systemic exposure dosage (SED) of TCS has been derived by two scenarios depending on the cosmetics usage of Koreans. The first scenario is the combined use of representative cosmetics and oral care products. The second scenario is the combined use of rinse-off products of cleansing, deodorants, coloring products, and oral care products. SEDs have been calculated as 0.14337 mg/kg bw/day for the first scenario and 0.04733 mg/kg bw/day for the second scenario. As a result, margin of safety (MOS) for the first and second scenarios was estimated to 84 and 253.5, respectively. Based on these results, exposure of TCS contained in rinse-off products, deodorants, and coloring products would not pose a significant health risk when it is used up to 0.3%.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.224-229
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• 2011

Recently, the management of the marine invasive alien species introduced by ballast water has come to the core as an urgent task. Because, hazardous organisms cause harmful effects on the ecosystem. Hazardous organisms also negatively affect fisheries, commercial shipping activities, and marine resources. In this regard, IMO used to operate GloBallast, Ballast Water Risk Assessment System, in order to manage the introduction of invasive species by ballast water. GloBallast is constructed to assess the relative risk due to the movement of ballast water between nations, using the volume and the number of times of ballast water discharge, the environmental similarity between ports, and the abundance of hazardous species as the main factors. According to the results of the demo-operation of GloBallast, it was found out that the environmental similarity factor had affected most highly the results of risk assessment. Therefore, in this study, the correlation between the main factors used in GloBallast risk assessment were re-examined, and some methods were suggested in order to reflect these main factors in the risk assessment more reasonable.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.108-119
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• 2024

Objectives: Abrupt changes in air pollution levels associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak present a unique opportunity to evaluate the effects of air pollution on influenza risk, at a time when emission sources were less active and personal hygiene practices were more rigorous. Methods: This time-series study examined the relationship between influenza cases (n=22 874) and air pollutant concentrations from 2018 to 2021, comparing the timeframes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in and around Thailand's Khon Kaen province. Poisson generalized additive modeling was employed to estimate the relative risk of hospitalization for influenza associated with air pollutant levels. Results: Before the COVID-19 outbreak, both the average daily number of influenza hospitalizations and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 ㎛ or less (PM_2.5) concentration exceeded those later observed during the pandemic (p<0.001). In single-pollutant models, a 10 ㎍/m³ increase in PM_2.5 before COVID-19 was significantly associated with increased influenza risk upon exposure to cumulative-day lags, specifically lags 0-5 and 0-6 (p<0.01). After adjustment for co-pollutants, PM_2.5 demonstrated the strongest effects at lags 0 and 4, with elevated risk found across all cumulative-day lags (0-1, 0-2, 0-3, 0-4, 0-5, and 0-6) and significantly greater risk in the winter and summer at lag 0-5 (p<0.01). However, the PM_2.5 level was not significantly associated with influenza risk during the COVID-19 outbreak. Conclusions: Lockdown measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic could mitigate the risk of PM_2.5-induced influenza. Effective regulatory actions in the context of COVID-19 may decrease PM_2.5 emissions and improve hygiene practices, thereby reducing influenza hospitalizations.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.251-255
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• 2016

Background: Building demolition can lead to emission of dust into the environment. Exposure to silica dust may be considered as an important hazard in these sites. The objectives of this research were to determine the amount of workers' exposure to crystalline silica dust and assess the relative risk of silicosis and the excess lifetime risk of mortality from lung cancer in demolition workers. Methods: Four sites in the Tehran megacity region were selected. Silica dust was collected using the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health method 7601 and determined spectrophotometrically. The Mannetje et al and Rice et al models were chosen to examine the rate of silicosis-related mortality and the excess lifetime risk of mortality from lung cancer, respectively. Results: The amount of demolition workers' exposure was in the range of $0.085-0.185mg/m^3$. The range of relative risk of silicosis related mortality was increased from 1 in the workers with the lowest exposure level to 22.64/1,000 in the employees with high exposure level. The range of the excess lifetime risk of mortality from lung cancer was in the range of 32-60/1,000 exposed workers. Conclusion: Geometric and arithmetic mean of exposure was higher than threshold limit value for silica dust in all demolition sites. The risk of silicosis mortality for many demolition workers was higher than 1/1,000 (unacceptable level of risk). Estimating the lifetime lung cancer mortality showed a higher risk of mortality from lung cancer in building demolition workers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.238-247
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• 2023

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is an attractive fuel for ships considering its current technology and economic viability. However, safety guidelines for LPG-fueled ships are still under development, and there have been no cases of applying LPG propulsion systems to small and medium-sized ships in Korea. The purpose of this study was to perform an objective risk assessment for the first marine LPG engine system and propose safe operational standards. First, hazard and operability (HAZOP) analysis was used to divide the engine system into five nodes, and 58 hazards were identified. To compensate for the subjectivity of qualitative evaluation using HAZOP analysis, fuzzy set theory was used, and additional risk factors, such as detectability and sensitivity, were included to compare the relative weights of the risk factors using a fuzzy analytical hierarchy process. As a result, among the five risk factors, those with a major impact on risk were determined to be the frequency and severity. Finally, the fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) was applied to select the risk rank more precisely by considering the weights of the risk factors. The risk level was divided into 47 groups, and the major hazard during the operation of the engine system was found through the analysis to be gas leakage during maintenance of the LPG supply line. The technique proposed can be applied to various facilities, such as LPG supply systems, and can be utilized as a standard procedure for risk assessment in developing safety standards for LPG-powered ships.