• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.184-191
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• 2018

Background: Due to an increasing number of workers aged 50 years and above, the number of those employed is also on the rise, and those workers aged 50 and over has exceeded 50% of the total fatal occupational injuries. Therefore, it is necessary to implement the selection and concentration by identifying the characteristics of high-risk groups necessary for an effective prevention against and reduction of fatal occupational injuries. Methods: This study analyzed the characteristics of high-risk groups and the occupational injury fatality rate per 10,000 workers among the workers aged 50 and over through a multi-dimensional analysis by sex, employment status of workers, industry and occupation by targeting 4,079 persons who died in fatal occupational injuries from January 2007 to December 12. Results: The share of the workers aged 50 years and above is increasing every year in the total fatal occupational injuries occurrence, and the high-risk groups include 'male workers' by sex, 'daily workers' by worker's status, 'craft and related-trades workers' by occupation, and 'mining' by industry. Conclusion: The most frequent causal objects of fatal occupational injuries of the workers aged 50 years and above are found out to be 'installment and dismantlement of temporary equipment and material on work platforms including scaffold' in the construction industry and 'mobile crane, conveyor belt and fork lifts' in the manufacturing industry.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제6권2호
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• pp.151-155
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• 2015

The study was designed to identify any trends of injury type as it relates to the age and trade of construction workers. The participants for this study included any individual who, while working on a heavy and highway construction project in the Midwestern United States, sustained an injury during the specified time frame of when the data were collected. During this period, 143 injury reports were collected. The four trade/occupation groups with the highest injury rates were laborers, carpenters, iron workers, and operators. Data pertaining to injuries sustained by body part in each age group showed that younger workers generally suffered from finger/hand/wrist injuries due to cuts/lacerations and contusion, whereas older workers had increased sprains/strains injuries to the ankle/foot/toes, knees/lower legs, and multiple body parts caused by falls from a higher level or overexertion. Understanding these trade-related tasks can help present a more accurate depiction of the incident and identify trends and intervention methods to meet the needs of the aging workforce in the industry.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.165-172
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• 2020

Background: To gain a better understanding of nonfatal injuries in Alaska, underutilized data sources such as workers' compensation claims must be analyzed. The purpose of the current study was to utilize workers' compensation claims data to estimate the risk of nonfatal, work-related injuries among occupations in Alaska, characterize injury patterns, and prioritize future research. Methods: A dataset with information on all submitted claims during 2014-2015 was provided for analysis. Claims were manually reviewed and coded. For inclusion in this study, claims had to represent incidents that resulted in a nonfatal acute traumatic injury, occurred in Alaska during 2014-2015, and were approved for compensation. Results: Construction workers had the highest number of injuries (2,220), but a rate lower than the overall rate (34 per 1,000 construction workers, compared to 40 per 1,000 workers overall). Fire fighters had the highest rate of injuries on the job, with 162 injuries per 1,000 workers, followed by law enforcement officers with 121 injuries per 1,000 workers. The most common types of injuries across all occupations were sprains/strains/tears, contusions, and lacerations. Conclusion: The successful use of Alaska workers' compensation data demonstrates that the information provided in the claims dataset is meaningful for epidemiologic research. The predominance of sprains, strains, and tears among all occupations in Alaska indicates that ergonomic interventions to prevent overexertion are needed. These findings will be used to promote and guide future injury prevention research and interventions.

• 대한안전경영과학회지
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• 제15권4호
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• pp.7-16
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• 2013

As workplace incidents has been being declining in Korea, there is criticism of the effectiveness of occupational safety policy implementation. It is unknown that which policy target group needs to be targeted to yield effective injuries prevention. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and reveal the policy intervention group with a high priority in terms of industrial incident prevention and the related investment cost. A Policy Priority Model(PPM) is composed of 6 indicators regarding influences of both the incident reduction and the cost reduction. Z-score analyses are used to confirm the high policy priority area or policy target group. Overall, workplace with worker below 50 persons, construction site with the sales of more than a hundred million won, workplace with relatively small percentage of female employees and relatively higher percentage of older worker should be prioritized to reduce workplace injuries. This paper provides an analytic way that can be used to decide the policy priority workplace in order not only to reduce work-related injuries&illnesses and the related investment cost but to further lessen the related societal costs.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.113-120
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• 1988

A total of 181 cases of industrial ocular injuries hospitalized and treated at the St. Mary's Hospital, Seoul during the 5-year period was studied on their epidemiological characteristics. Of these patients 96.7% were males, and 43.6% were in twenties, 49.7% of the cases were injured on left eyes. There were no statistically significant differences in frequencies of study subjects by day of the week and month of the year. Most common injury hour were between 10- <12 AM(13.6%) and between 2- <4 PM(20%). Of the total 101 cases, 37.6% were working less than 6 months, and 73.7%, less than 2 years. Of the total, 42.3% were involved in machinary work and 13.9%, in construction work. According to the American National Standard Method of recording basic facts relating to the nature and occurrence of work injuries, 62%, among all source of injuries was metal item and the most common accident type was struck by flying objects(76.2%). Among 181 cases, only 2 cases were wearing protective equipment when the accidents occurred.

• 한국산업정보학회논문지
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.24-35
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• 2004

본 연구는 단순반복 작업자의 근골격 질환 발생 급증에 따라 이들 발생 원인과 업종간 발생 정도에 대한 차이를 도출하기 위해 기존의 단일 업종 조사에서 벗어나 다양한 업종간 장시간의 단순반복작업에 따른 발생 실태 차이를 도출하기 위해 현장 실태조사를 하였다. 먼저 기초 실태를 조사한 결과 대부분의 근로자들이 근골격계질환을 경험하고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 그러나 병원치료를 받은 경우는 거의 없는 것으로 나타났으며 이러한 결과는 근골격계질환이 작업에서 발생되는 것이기는 하나 그 위험성을 아직 깨닫지 못하고 있기 때문인 것으로 판단할 수 있다. 또한, 담당업무별로도 발생빈도에 있어 근골격계질환자가 발생하는 비율이 직종에 따라 다소 다른 것으로 나타났다. 특히, 성형, 운전, 포장업무에서 많이 발생하고 있는 것으로 나타났는데 이의 예방을 위해서는 각 담당업무별로 근골격계질환 노출 정도에 맞추어 성형업무에서는 자동화기기로의 대체와 작업장 환경 평가결과 제시된 개선계획에 대한 철저한 이행 및 회사차원에서의 지속적인 관심과 정밀 측정 기법을 적용한 지속적 연구가 요구된다.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제25권3호
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• pp.405-417
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• 2015

Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between physical factors, working conditions and occupational injuries among Korean workers. Methods: We used data from the 2nd Korean Working Conditions Survey, conducted in 2010. A total of 7,114 workers over 15 years of age were selected from among 10,019 Korean workers. The participants were interviewed using questionnaires. A multiple logistic regression model was used to analyze the associations among physical factors, working conditions and occupational injuries. Results: After the adjustment of socio-demographic factors, the odds ratio of injuries through physical factors such as vibration (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] 4.037, 95% CI 2.30-7.09), noise (aOR 4.562, 95% CI 2.64-7.89), high temperature (aOR 3.262, 95% CI 1.86-5.73), and low temperature (aOR 3.358, 95% CI 1.76-6.41) were greater in the exposed group than in the non-exposed group. The odds ratios of occupational injury(aOR 5.272, 95% CI 3.19-8.7 for very high speed work, aOR 3.303, 95% CI 1.95-5.60 for tight deadlines, and aOR 3.641, 95% CI 1.72-7.70 for not enough time to work) increased with increased work demands. Conclusions: In this study, physical factors such as vibration, noise, and high and low temperatures were significantly correlated with occupational injuries according to the increase in exposure intensity(p for trend <0.001). Also, working conditions such as high-speed work, tight deadlines and insufficient time to work showed significant associations with occupational injuries(p for trend<0.001).

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제4권1호
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• pp.63-70
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• 2013

Objectives: This study is planned to assess the trend of occupational injuries in Korea from 2001 to 2010. Methods: Ten years of occupational injuries, from 2001 to 2010, were analyzed in order to investigate the changing profiles according to the various characteristics of injuries; economic sectors, age of the injured, and type of injuries. The changing profile of occupational injuries was investigated by comparison with an index-created relative value based on the number of cases of reference category. Results: The fatalities of construction, forest, agriculture, and service show the increasing trend. The nonfatal occupational injuries of the manufacturing sector were higher than those of other sectors in every year but the fatal occupational injuries of construction workers were higher than those of the manufacturing sector. Occupational injuries occurring due to amputation and those of slip and trip increased. The number of occupational injuries for the worker groups of 24 years old and below decreased and 45 years old and above increased. In comparison to the figure of fall from height, the figures of slip and trip or caught in equipment are higher in every calendar year. Conclusion: This study find out construction, forest, agriculture, and service sectors, aged worker with 45 years old and over can be target population for the strategies of occupational safety.

• 한국직업건강간호학회지
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.194-204
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• 2009

Purpose: This study was done to learn the status of occupational injuries and illnesses among Korean nurses. Methods: Thirty four articles published between 1990 and 2007 were selected using keywords as nurse and back pain, musculoskeletal symptom, violence, needle stick injuries and latex allergy from the database. The 609 RN cases among the workers' compensation data from 2005 to 2007 were analyzed by descriptive statistics. Results: Based on the analysis of the articles, the most frequent work-related illness and injuries were the musculoskeletal symptoms including back pain. The prevalence of back pain was ranged from 36.5% to 98.5%. Tuberculosis cases were the most frequent and the musculoskeletal cases were the second rank in the workers' compensation data. In the case of violence, there has been an increasing tendency since 2000 in the articles and workers' compensation data. The relatively high percentage of compensation cases occurred among the ones working in small institutions and with less than one year experience. Conclusion: The further research on the nurses' work-related illness and injuries needs to consider the measurement tool selection and longitudinal design. The various types of contribution to the occupational health in nursing is suggested to improve the nurses' health and safety.

• 한국직업건강간호학회지
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.275-284
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• 2013

Purpose: This study analyzed the characteristics of occupational injuries and illnesses of the nursing staff to reveal the prevalence of the major diseases and the predominant causes of the injuries in the nursing environment. Methods: Total 3,455 work-related compensation cases of nursing staff from January 1 2000 to December 31 2012, were selected. The specific types of the diseases, injuries, causes and the time of the incidence were analyzed. Results: Majority of the compensated cases were young women under 30 years old. The composition of the occupational injuries and illness was 74.5% and 25.5%, respectively. Occupational infection was the major part of the occupational illnesses (47.3%), and 74% of them were tuberculosis. Musculoskeletal disorder (12.6%) was followed the infectious disease, and 36.4% of them occurred while moving the patients. Slipping was the most frequent injury; most of them resulted in the lower extremities injury. Most of the injuries increased during shift change, except workplace violence, which increased later than 19:00. Conclusion: Occupational injuries and illnesses of nursing staff need the specific prevention strategy, and the prevention strategy should be suitable for the nursing workplace.