• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.91-96
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• 2010

Purpose: Among computer users, the awkward posture and workstation setups of workers contribute to work-related upper limb musculoskeletal disorders. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a traditional physical therapy and ergonomic intervention by physical therapists in 4 computer users. Methods: After checking Visual Analogue Scores (VAS), four subjects who were treated by physical therapy for neck and shoulder problems related to VDT syndrome were enrolled in the study. All subjects spent at least 40 hours per week at a computer workstation. All subjects had pain and ergonomic states evaluated using methods such as VAS, Neck Disability Index (NDI), Workstyle short form, Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), and OSHA VDT checklist (Occupational Safety and Health Administration video display terminal) before a physical therapy + ergonomic intervention. Participants were re-evaluated 1 month later. Results: Participants showed more improvement of their neck pain after being treated with a physical therapy plus ergonomic intervention than when treatment consisted only of physical therapy. Improvements in RULA, Workstyle short form, and OSHA VDT checklist also were achieved. Conclusion: This case study suggests the importance of examining the work habits and work-related postures of subjects who complain of neck and shoulder pain that is exacerbated by computer use. Personalized ergonomic interventions and physical therapy can lead to improvement of patients with VDT syndrome.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.69-85
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• 2015

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms (MSSs) and their correlation with subjective health condition (SHC) among emergency medical technicians (EMTs). Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was disseminated to EMTs (N=257) at emergency medical institutions and fire stations. Results: The prevalence of MSSs was very high in the studied EMTs: 88.3% reported having MSSs. The most commonly affected site was the lower back (73.9%) followed by the neck (56.8%) and the shoulder (55.6%). MSSs were more common in women than in men, and its frequency increased with age. MSSs in the neck and shoulder were more increased in EMTs with < 1 year of service. MSSs in the hand / wrist / finger or leg / foot were significantly increased in EMTs of emergency medical institutions than those of fire stations. Job satisfaction was significantly lower in those with MSSs of the lower back. The subjective heath condition was decreased with age, marriage, or smoking. There was significant corelation between MSSs and SHC. Conclusion: This study suggests that MSSs are a reasonably common problem for EMTs, and that solutions need to be imposed such as some actual tasks or items related to work postures, work control, and work organization.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2020.12a
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• pp.443-452
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• 2020

Worker's awkward postures and unreasonable physical load can be corrected by monitoring construction activities, thereby increasing the safety and productivity of construction workers and projects. However, manual identification is time-consuming and contains high human variance. In this regard, an automated activity recognition system based on inertial measurement unit can help in rapidly and precisely collecting motion data. With the acceleration data, the machine learning algorithm will be used to train classifiers for automatically categorizing activities. However, input acceleration data are extracted either from designed experiments or simple construction work in previous studies. Thus, collected data series are discontinuous and activity categories are insufficient for real construction circumstances. This study aims to collect acceleration data during long-term continuous work in a construction project and validate the feasibility of activity recognition algorithm with the continuous motion data. The data collection covers two different workers performing formwork at the same site. An accelerator, as well as portable camera, is attached to the worker during the entire working session for simultaneously recording motion data and working activity. The supervised machine learning-based models are trained to classify activity in hierarchical levels, which reaches a 96.9% testing accuracy of recognizing rest and work and 85.6% testing accuracy of identifying stationary, traveling, and rebar installation actions.

• Korean Journal of Rural Living Science
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.111-117
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• 1997

In this study we tried to give a decision on propriety of working conditions, to present ideas on reducing work loads. and to grope for efficiency of agricultural works. For this we examined the actual conditions of working environment, farmer's clothes, working posture, working methods, working time, resting state, fatigue recovery methods during cultivating lettuce in the winter greenhouse. And Ive improved harmful factors that affect farmer's health by considering results of previous study and farmer's subjective sensation. And we measured, compared, and analyzed the farmer's work loads before and after improvement. The results of this study are as follows ; 1. According to examine the actual conditions of cultivating lettuce in the winter greenhouse, farmers have experienced physical and mental chronic fatigue on the basis of the hot and humid crops-centered working environment, the rough ground condition, inconsistent arrangement of working stand and sorter, heavy-weared habits. and unsuitable working posture. 2. When we improved harmful factors that affect farmer's health, conformed the positive effects on important work efficiency index such as heart rate, electromyovolume, body temperature, and microclimate inside clothing and work loads were decreased by improving the hot and humid working environment, eliminating the hillock and obstacles of working path. deliver way, arranging the working stand and sorter consistantly, decreasing the clothing weight, improving the working postures and methods as using assistant appliances, alloting the working time and sequence effectively and presenting the light gymnastic exercises and rest for fatigue restoration.

• Korean Journal of Rural Living Science
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.119-124
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• 1997

In this study we tried to give a decision on propriety of working conditions, to present ideas on reducing work loads, and to grope for efficiency of agricultural works. For this we examined the actual working conditions of cultivating welsh onion in the summer ground. And we improved harmful factors that affect farmer's health by considering results of previous study and farmer's subjective sensation. And we measured. compared, and analyzed the farmer's work loads before and after improvement. The results of this study are as follows ; 1. According to examine the actual working conditions of cultivating welsh onion in the summer ground, farmers have experienced physical and mental chronic fatigue on the basis of farmer's appel to eye - fatigue and sun - burned skin on hot working environment including excessive ultraviolet rays, the rough ground condition, inconsistent arrangement of working stand and sorter, heavy - weared habits, and unsuitable working posture. 2. When we improved harmful factors that affect farmer's health, conformed the effects on important work efficiency index such as heart rate, electromyovolume, body temperature, and microclimate inside clothing and work loads were decreased by eliminating the hillock and obstacles of ground, decreasing the clothing weight, using proper clothing appliances such as hat and sunglasses, controlling height of working stand and sorter suitably, improving the working postures and methods as using assistant appliances, alloting the working time and sequence effectively and presenting the light gymnastic exercises and rest for fatigue restoration.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.938-948
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• 2016

In the present study, the general characteristics, job stress, working conditions, and aspects of pain of some industrial workers working in Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, were surveyed. In analyzing the relationship between job stress and the existence of pain, the variables "working speed" and "opportunities to develop abilities" were shown to have statistically significant relationships with the existence of pain ($p{\leq}.05$). Regarding the relationship between working conditions and the existence of pain, the variables" amount of work per hour," "amount of work per day," "number of parts handled during work," "work production per person," and" inconvenient postures or motions during work" were shown to have statistically significant relationships with the existence of pain($p{\leq}.05$). Regarding aspects of pain", within 1~3 years" was the most common answer to time of occurrence of symptoms, with a percentage of 27.6%; "appear almost always" was the most common answer to frequency of symptoms, with a percentage of 37.1%; "slight pain" was the most common answer to degree of pain, with a percentage of 50.5%; and "moderate" was the most common answer to encumbrance caused by pain to living and work, with a percentage of 41.2%. The aim of the present study was to determine the factors that affect pain due to musculoskeletal diseases in industrial workers and to define the aspects of pain in order to provide basic data for the preparation of measures to prevent musculoskeletal diseases. To control pain due to musculoskeletal diseases, factors that affect pain, as well as the aspects of pain, should be recognized early, and efforts should be made to supplement and improve systems for preventing recurrence.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.65-70
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• 2005

Evaluation of repetitiveness for upper extremity intensive tasks is essential to determine the level of risk for upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders at the workplace. However, experimental data available to establish the acceptable levels of repetitiveness for various postures and forces is lacking. The present study examined the maximum acceptable frequencies(MAFs; motions/min.) of shoulder, elbow, wrist, and index finger motions at different forces(1kgf and 4kgf for shoulder, elbow, and wrist; 0.25kgf and 1 kgf for index finger) in sitting. Seventeen right-handed males in 20s without having any history musculoskeletal disorders participated in the MAF experiment. The participants determined their MAFs for the upper extremity motions by using the self-adjustment method and their work pulse(increase in heart rate; beats/min.) and rating of perceived exertion(RPE) were measured when working at MAF. The MAFs of elbow, wrist, and index finger motions for each force level were about 2, 3, and 6 times the corresponding MAF(9 at the high force and 24 at the low force) of shoulder motion and the MAFs at the low force increased about 2 times those at the high force. The work pulses of elbow, wrist, and index finger motions for each force level were 70%, 50%, and 30% of the corresponding work pulse(17 at the high force and 12 at the low force) of shoulder motion and the work pulses at the low force were about 70 % of those at the high force. Lastly, the RPEs of the upper extremity regions were about level 3(moderate) or below.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.185-194
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• 2013

Purpose: This study was to explore situations that might put the middle-aged Korean-Chinese female migrant workers at risk for work-related musculoskeletal diseases (WMSDs). At the development phase of a continuing health project, the study aimed to clarify health promotion program needs of the migrant population. Methods: A qualitative description research design was used with three focus groups of 23 Korean-Chinese female migrant workers. Each focus group interview was conducted for 70-minutes using semi-structured interview guidelines. The data were analyzed using directed qualitative content analysis techniques. Results: The majority of the participants were household workers and their work included heavy material handling, standing for a long time, and working in awkward postures. They experienced discrimination from employers, lack of control at work, limitations in open-communication, job insecurity, and acculturation. They had needs to have health promotion programs for preventing and managing chronic diseases, depression and menopause as well as WMSDs. Conclusion: The participants were situated in work environments with physical demanding tasks, acculturative and job-related stress and lack of opportunities to participate in health promotion programs. It is suggested to develop a comprehensive program to better meet the needs of middle-aged Korean-Chinese female migrant workers rather than targeting the reduction of WMSDs.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.1128-1137
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• 2012

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that affect working environment related musculoskeletal subjective symptoms among dental hygienists. Methods : The subjects in this study were 232 dental hygienists working at dental clinics and general hospitals in Daegu. The data has collected through the self-questionnaire survey from July 9th 2012 to July 31th. Results : 1. Musculoskeletal subjective symptoms were 85.3% in shoulder(right), 81.9% in neck, 74.6% in shoulder(left), 65.5% in wrist(right), 56.5% in lower leg(right). 2. Pain frequency of musculoskeletal subjective symptoms were the highest 24.7% in neck. Seeing the severity pain was the highest 9.0% in foot(left). The investigation of work interference related to substantially pain showed the highest 18.5% in wrist(right). 3. Musculoskeletal subjective symptoms correlated with general characteristics such as age, marital status, regular exercise and medical check-up(p<.05). 4. Musculoskeletal subjective symptoms correlated with working environments such as working career, the night treatment, the average daily number of patients handled, the average daily standing work hours, the regular rest, the major job in work place and physical burden(p<.05). Conclusions : The education or program on wrong working habits and bad postures of dental hygienists is needed to prevent musculoskeletal disorder.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.114-123
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• 2005

We analyzed the demographic and job features of 197 shipyard workers with work-related musculoskeletal disorders(WMSDs) compensated by the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, and the features of the disorders, the causes of operation and the induced behaviors. The three shipbuilding companies surveyed were located in Busan Metropolitan city and Gyungsangnam-do. The results were as follows. 1. The ages of WMSDs patients in shipyard were $43.6{\pm}8.6$ and the job tenure was $14.3{\pm}5.6$. The 40's of them was 40.1%, and the 30's was 29.4%. Patients less than 5 year-work duration were 85.3%, and ones more than 16 year-work duration 6.6%. In occupations, welders were 32.5%, pre-welders 17.3%, and setting engineers 6.6%. 2. The causes of WMSDs in shipyard were works(95.4%) and outer crash or accident shock (3.6%). Based on the standard of the NIOSH induced behaviors, the causes were awkward posture (62.9%), excessive movement(19.3%) and repetitive movement(13.7%). 3. The compensated WMSDs by body part was the highest, 36%, in the spines, 32.0% in both the upper limbs and the spines, and 14% in the upper limbs. The number of cases of WMSDs in body were 96 in the cervical, 79 in the lumbar and 72 in the shoulders. 4. As a result of chi-square test(${\chi}^2$) between diagnosis and operation in body, welding and spot welding had the most diagnoses in all parts of the body among other occupations. Chi-square test(${\chi}^2$) between diagnosis and induced behavior in body showed that awkward postures recorded the highest rate and repetitive movements was the second. 5. The most hazardous occupation was the welding(incidence rate=9.7) and the most hazardous behavior was the awkward posture.