• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.36-43
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• 2006

The principal aim of this field study was to determine the concentrations and emissions of gaseous contaminants such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide in the different types of pig buildings in Korea and allow objective comparison between Korea and the other countries in terms of pig housing types. This field study was performed from May to June and from September to October in 2002. Pig buildings investigated in this research were selected in terms of three criteria; manure removal system, ventilation mode and growth stage of pig. Measurements of concentration and emission of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide in the pig buildings were done in 5 housing types and the visited farms were 15 sites per each housing type. Concentrations of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide were measured at three locations of the central alley in the pig building and emission rates of them were estimated by multiplying the average concentration($mg/m^3$) measured near the air outlet by the mean ventilation rate($m^3/h$) and expressed either per pig of liveweight 75kg(mg/h/pig) or per area($mg/h/m^2$). Concentrations of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide in the pig buildings were averaged to 7.5 ppm and 286.5 ppb and ranged from 0.8 to 21.4 ppm and from 45.8 to 1,235 ppb, respectively. The highest concentrations of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide were found in the mechanically ventilated buildings with slats; 12.1 ppm and 612.8 ppb, while the lowest concentrations of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide were found in the pig buildings with deep-litter bed system(2.2 ppm) and the naturally ventilated pig buildings with manure removal system by scraper(115.2 ppb), respectively(p<0.05). All the pig buildings were investigated not to exceed the threshold limit values(TLVs) of ammonia(25 ppm) and hydrogen sulfide(10 ppm). The mean emissions of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide per pig(75kg in terms of liveweight) and area($m^2$) from pig buildings were 250.2 mg/h/pig and 37.8 mg/h/pig and $336.3mg/h/m^2$ and $50.9mg/h/m^2$, respectively. The pig buildings with deep-litter bed system showed the lowest emissions of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide(p<0.05). However, the emissions of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide from the other pig buildings were not significantly different(p>0.05). Concentrations and emissions of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide were relatively higher in the pig buildings managed with deep-pit manure system with slats and mechanical ventilation mode than the different pig housing types. In order to prevent pig farm workers from adverse health effect caused by exposure to ammonia and hydrogen sulfide in pig buildings, they should wear the respirators during shift and be educated sustainably for the guideline related to occupational safety.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.90-102
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• 1993

A study on the factors affecting subjective symptoms of labor working in textile industries was carried out from June I to 30 in 1991. A total of 870 laborers were selected from the textile industries at Taegu, Kyungbuk in Korea. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors affecting subjective symptoms and improve the health condition of the labor in the industries. The results of this study can be summarized as follows: 1. 72.5% of the respondents were females and 27.5% were males. 45% of them were in the age group of between 20 and 29 years old, 25.7% were between 10 and 19 years old and 14.4% were between 30 and 39 years old. 57.6% finished high school level education, 70.6% were single, 31.2% had religion of Buddhism and 57.3% lived in the dormitory. Financially, 45% of them partially supported their family members. 2. 34.5% of the respondants were working in the administrative areas and the rest were working in the production areas. The period of working was 1~4 years. 64.7% of them owned their houses. 72.9% worked for a shift. 15.9% were satisfied with their job and 17.1% were not satisfied with their job. 3. 44.0% of the respondants complained about eye problems and more females than males complained about problems. 4. The laborers in the age group of between 40 and 49 years old complained about serious headache and younger laborers complained about respiratory problems. 5. 50% of unmarried laborers complained about eye problems, 40% of night workers felt aches in their empty stomach. 6. 54.4% of the respondents working in manufacturing department complained about eye problems, 29.5% of working in processing department complained about headache and 43.4% of the respondents working in spinning department complained about shoulder ache. 7. Most laborers went to the drug stores for their health. 8. 60.7% of teen ages complained about their irregular menstruation. 51.7% of the in twenties complained about pain during the period. 45.8% of the respondents in thirties complained about nervous system. The women working nights show 74.1% in all three and highest complaint rate. According to the conclusion of this study, it is recommended that more money should be spent on better health education for the laborers in textile industries. Also it is recommended that the policies and supports for them should be strengthened.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.73-85
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• 2021

The construction industry is considered to be a fatal accident industry, accounting for 28.5% of the total industrial accidents in 2017, as the number of industrial accidents in the construction industry has steadily increased over the past decade. So it is necessary to consider introducing Resilience Engineering, which is actively applied to risky industries around the world, to drastically reduce construction accidents. Although Resilience Engineering, which has emerged as the next-generation safety management centered on Hollnagel since the 2000s, claims the importance of strengthening Resilience abilities considering organizational structure and culture, most studies focus only on developing evaluation indicators. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of an organization's safety culture on its Resilience abilities in the construction industry. Specifically, it conducted empirical analysis on the impact of safety culture consisting of 'communication, leadership and safety systems' on the Resilience abilities(responding ability, monitoring ability, learning ability, anticipating ability), and the mediation relationship between leadership, communication, and safety system. The survey was conducted on construction workers, and an empirical analysis was conducted on the final 154 responses using SPSS 25 and Smart PLS 3. The results showed that the safety system had a significant impact on all Resilience Abilities, and communication had a significant impact on the remaining three except for anticipating ability among Resilience Abilities. On the other hand, leadership has been shown to have a significant impact on anticipating ability only. In the verifying of the mediation relationship between leadership, communication and safety systems, it was found that leadership affects all Resilience abilities by means of safety systems, but communication can only affect responding ability. This study has practical significance in that it suggests the need for policy-level efforts to introduce and apply Resilience Engineering and then expanded the effective safety management assessment of the construction industry in the future. Moreover, the academic implications are important in that the study attempted to expand the academic scope for a paradigm shift in the future as the safety culture has identified its impact on the Resilience abilities.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.29-59
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• 2018

This paper examines the achievements and limitations of the Moon Jae-In administration's first-year policies on non-standard employment in the public sector of Korea. The most remarkable achievement was that the transition rate of non-standard to standard positions reached the highest historical level of 42.1 percent, mainly by including for the first time temporary agency workers as a target of those policies. There also have been many steps taken to relax the qualification for transition, reduce the number of exception clauses, and expand union participation. In contrast, policy measures to address problems of low wages and inequality were very limited and not significantly different from those of previous administrations. As a result, the success of the policy paradigm shift pursued by Moon's administration will be determined by how aggressive measures are being taken in the next policy steps to improve such problems of low wages and inequality.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.558-565
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• 2021

The Republic of Korea Navy has deployed naval fleets in the East, West, and South seas to effectively respond to threats from North Korea and its neighbors. However, it is difficult to allocate proper missions due to high uncertainties, such as the year of introduction for the ship, the number of mission days completed, arms capabilities, crew shift times, and the failure rate of the ship. For this reason, there is an increasing proportion of expenses, or mission alerts with high fatigue in the number of workers and traps. In this paper, we present a simulation model that can optimize the assignment of naval vessels' missions by using a continuous time absorbing Markov chain that is easy to model and that can analyze complex phenomena with varying event rates over time. A numerical analysis model allows us to determine the optimal mission durations and warship quantities to maintain the target operating rates, and we find that allocating optimal warships for each mission reduces unnecessary alerts and reduces crew fatigue and failures. This model is significant in that it can be expanded to various fields, not only for assignment of duties but also for calculation of appropriate requirements and for inventory analysis.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.139-169
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• 2022

This study derived determinants of 'Decent Work' in the logistics industry and aims to use the analysis results as basic data for policymaking related to labor in the logistics industry and to prepare policies suitable for the characteristics of the logistics industry. As the dependent variable of the model, the Decent Job derived from the first study was used, and the target model was derived from panel data of whole industries to understand the unique characteristics of logistics industry jobs and applied to the logistics industry model. This study found that in the logistics industry, developing the expertise of the logistics industry through "vocational training" compared to whole industries is an important factor rather than raising the "academic level" through the regular curriculum. This seems to reflect the characteristics of the logistics industry as specialized vocational training is required in the case of "railway transportation", "inland water and port transportation", and "air cargo transportation", which have a high proportion of decent job workers among the detailed logistics industries analyzed in this study. Therefore, developing job expertise through additional manpower training programs such as vocational training as well as academic fields learned through regular curriculum is a very important factor in engaging in "Decent Work" not only in the logistics industry but also in other industries.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.50.1-50.11
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• 2023

Background: The rise in telecommuting or non-face-to-face work owing to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has fueled conversations regarding the "right to disconnect." Although evidence suggests that receiving work-related communications through telecommunication devices outside of work hours may lead to various symptoms and illnesses, limited research has been undertaken on these symptoms. This study therefore aims to investigate the correlation between receiving work communications through telecommunication devices after work hours and the occurrence of work-related headaches and eyestrain in full-time, non-shift white-collar workers. Methods: This study used data from the 6th Korean Working Conditions Survey. The frequency of using telecommunication devices for work purposes outside of working hours was divided into five categories: "Every day," "Several times a week," "Several times a month," "Rarely," and "Never." Work-related headaches and eyestrain were categorized based on a "yes" or "no" response to the survey questions. Descriptive statistics, χ² tests, and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed using SPSS 27.0. Results: After adjusting for sex, age, income level, education, occupation, workplace size, work hours, and sleep disorders, the odds ratio (OR) of work-related headaches and eyestrain based on frequency of telecommunication device usage were as follows: "rarely" (OR: 1.292; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.111-1.503), "several times a month" (OR: 1.551; 95% CI: 1.249-1.926), "several times a week" (OR: 1.474; 95% CI: 1.217-1.784), and "every day" (OR: 1.548; 95% CI: 1.321-1.813). Conclusions: Employees who use telecommunication devices for work after regular hours are more susceptible to experiencing work-related headaches and eyestrain compared to those who do not. However, there is a dearth of research examining the physical and mental health impacts of using telecommunication devices for after-hours work. Furthermore, the existing preventative measures in Korea are insufficient. Consequently, it is imperative to develop effective measures and conduct additional research to address this issue.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.93-99
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• 2003

Objectives：Sleep loss and excessive daytime sleepiness may have serious consequences, including traffic and industrial accidents, decreased productivity, learning disabilities and interpersonal problems. Yet despite these adverse effects, there are few epidemiological studies on sleep loss and daytime sleepiness in the general population of Korea. This study investigates the number of people who suffer from sleep insufficiency, how much recovery sleep occurs on weekends, and the relationship between the amount of recovery sleep and daytime sleepiness. Methods：A total 164 volunteers, aged 20 and over, were recruited by advertisement. The subjects were workers and college students living in Seoul, Korea. Subjects were excluded if they were aged over 60；if they had medical, neurological, psychiatric or sleep disorders that could cause insomnia or daytime sleepiness；if they were not following a regular sleep schedule；if they traveled abroad during the study；or if they did not leave home to work or were shift workers. They were interviewed and given a sleep log to complete on each of 14 consecutive mornings. They also completed the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) at noontime on the last day of the second week. All statistical data were analyzed by t-test, $X^2$-test or ANOVA, using SPSS/PC+. Results：The results showed that the subjects woke up at 6：50 (${\pm}1$：16) on weekdays, 7：09 (${\pm}1$：29) on Saturdays, and 8：12 (${\pm}1$：39) on Sundays and holidays. They took more frequent and longer naps on Sundays than on weekdays and Saturdays. The mean sleep duration was 6h 35 min. on week nights, with a mean increase of about 1h on weekends. Only 9.1% of the subjects spent more than 8h in bed on week nights, with 67% spending less than 7h, and 49.4% reported recovery sleep of more than 1h on Sundays. The subjects who reported recovery sleep of more than 2h on Sundays, showed significantly more excessive daytime sleepiness than those who reported less than 30 min (F=2.62, p<.05). Conclusions：These findings suggest that sleep insufficiency and excessive daytime sleepiness are relatively common in Korea, and that the people who get insufficient sleep on weekdays try to compensate for sleep loss with oversleeping and daytime napping on Sundays and holidays. It appeared that daily sleep insufficiency had a cumulative effect and increased daytime sleepiness.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.392-398
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• 2009

This study identified risk factors of cross-contamination of foodborne pathogens and established a good agricultural practice (GAP) system for an agricultural products processing center (APC) for perilla leaves. All samples were collected before and after a standard work shift at the APC, while perilla leaves were also collected after each step in the APC. In addition, the workers and their surroundings were sampled by swabbing. The total plate count (TPC) and coliform count in the water samples increased significantly (p<0.05) to 3.36 and 1.73 log CFU/mL after work, respectively. However, no Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes were detected. The bacterial populations of the workers and their surroundings did not differ significantly (p${\geq}$0.05) before and after work. However, Staphylococcus aureus (<1.66 log CFU) was detected at a high rate (13-50%) in the basket, packing table, gloves and cloth. Although perilla leaves passed through the washing steps, the TPC and coliform bacterial populations on the final products were higher (p${\geq}$0.05) than those of unwashed perilla leaves, which indicates that the washing system was not functioning properly. Accordingly, a GAP system with a better washing system should be employed at this facility.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.190-197
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• 2001

Noise-induced hearing loss(NIHL) was the highest rate (43.5%~58.5% from 1996 to 1998) of positive findings through specific medical program in Korea. There were much more NIHL at workers of automobile manufacturing factories than other manufacturing factories. The specific aim of the present study was to determine the noise exposure of automobile press lines, according to their job titles, press line types(auto, semiauto), dosimeter parameters setting. There were a total 11 press lines sampled at a automobile manufacturing company. Among those press lines, 10 press lines were autolines with acoustic enclosure, one semiauto press line was no aucostic enclosure Noise exposure data were sampled for an work shift using noise dosimeter, which recorded both time-weighted average(TWA) and 1-min average. The mean OSHA TWA(Korea TWA with threshold 90) was $80.7dB(A){\pm}4.7dB(A)$ for leader, $82.8dB(A{\pm}4.5dB(A)$ for pallette man, $76.7dB(A){\pm}4.3dB(A)$ for press operators, $76.6dB(A){\pm}5.6dB(A)$ for crane operators, $77.1dB(A){\pm}2.8dB(A)$ for forklift drivers, whereas the mean NIOSH TWA was $88.9dB(A){\pm}1.7dB(A)$ for leader, $89.6dB(A){\pm}2.1dB(A)$ for pallette man, $86.7dB(A){\pm}1.8dB(A)$ for press operators, $88.5dB(A){\pm}2.0dB(A)$ for crane operators, $87.7dB(A){\pm}1.0dB(A)$ for forklift drivers. While L10 for NIOSH TWA samples was 84.8 dB(A) ~ 87.3 dB(A), L10 for OSHA TWA samples was 69.5 dB(A) ~ 77.4 dB(A). L10 means that the TWA for 90% of the samples exceeded L10. Among OSHA TWA(Korea TWA with threshold 90) samples for pallette man, 7.7 % exceeded 90 dB(A), the OSHA permissible exposure level, but OSHA TWA samples for the other job titles didn't. Among NIOSH TWA samples, the samples over 85 dB(A), the NIOSH recommended exposure limit, was 100% (leaders), 83.3 %(operators), 97.4%(palletteman), 100%(forklift drivers), 91.7 %(crane operator). The results of One-way random effects analysis of variance models shows that the difference between job titles was significant by OSHA TWA(p<0.05), but not significant by NIOSH TWA(p>0.05). NIOSH TWA samples were significantly higher than OSHA TWA samples(P<0.05). Regression analysis was used to obtain relationships between OSHA TWA samples and NIOSH TWA samples. In this case the coefficient of determination = 0.90, which shows the high degree association between two methods. Regression equation, NIOSH TWA = 0.552 * OSHA TWA + 42.13 dB(A), shows that if OSHA TWA is known, NIOSH TWA can be predicted by the equation. The mean TWA difference between threshold 80 dBA and 90 dBA was significant(p<0.01). While the TWA noise exposures were 7.7% above the Korea(OSHA) PEL, they were more than 83.3% over NIOSH REL. Automobile workers were exposed to noise level that could be potentially damaging to their hearing. It found that there is approximately 25% excess risk of hearing loss even if a worker is protected to the PEL in according to NIOSH study.