• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.11-19
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• 2013

Backgrounds: Occupations are grouped on the basis of similarity in tasks and duties performed. Standard occupational classification (SOC) is a tool for organizing all professions into a clearly defined set of groups according to the tasks and duties undertaken in the respective jobs. Objectives: The major objective of this study is to comprehensively review how a SOC system is used in occupational and safety fields such as surveillance, exposure monitoring, occupational epidemiological study, management of carcinogens and analysis of occupational accidents. Methods: We summarized the cases, policies and regulations used in SOC systems in advanced countries and as they appear in articles Results: We found that SOC systems have been widely used in various areas of occupational safety and health in the US, the UK, Finland, and the EU. In general, it is highly common to use SOC in the analysis of occupational accidents and diseases and to identify factors causing those accidents. The SOC system is also used not only for surveillance of exposure to hazardous agents and occupational health, but to manage carcinogens. In order to adjust the effects of a particular job, SOC is used in the general population health area. The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) has never used or introduced an SOC system. There have been no cases of the application of a SOC system to either the occupational safety and health field or to health surveillance for the general population in Korea. Conclusions: We suggested a need to introduce an SOC system in several occupational safety and health activities, such as work environment measurement, analysis of occupational accidents, specific physical examination and surveillance systems, etc.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.21-31
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• 2024

This study provides the underlying data on the inclusion of medical technologists in the category of medical personnel. Medical personnel are defined in the Medical Service Act as physicians, dentists, oriental medicine doctors, midwives, and nurses. In the act, medical technologists shall be classified into clinical laboratory technologists (clinical pathology technologists in the Korean language), radiological technologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, dental technologists, and dental hygienists. Although South Korea's medical personnel do not include medical technologists, Japan and Taiwan define them as medical personnel. Various standard occupational classification such as International Standard Classification of Occupations 2008, Korean Standard Classification of Occupations 2017, Japan Standard Occupational Classification 2009, Taiwan Standard Occupational Classification 2010, and USA Standard Occupational Classification 2018 were compared. The education system for medical health technologists was explained to include 4-year university and 3-year junior college programs. The roles of medical technologists in medical practice, therapy, and medical assistance were outlined. These basic materials incorporate the need for discussions about the meaning of including medical technologists in the type of medical personnel. These discussions will contribute to the legalization of medical technologists' professionality with regard to their inclusion in the type of medical personnel.