• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.203-210
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• 2014

In this study, we present a method for correcting unbalanced sitting posture alignment to its optimal position, by designing a chair equipped with pressure sensor. With increasement in sedentary work, such as office work or study, people are now spending more time in chair. To accommodate sedentary life styles, many chairs are being designed for a comfortable sitting condition. However, without awareness and efforts for correct sitting posture, it may not be possible to achieve such condition. When the weight is not distributed evenly while sitting, it may cause various diseases such as scoliosis and a herniated disc. Being inspired by such facts, we have progressed basic researches to maintain the correct sitting posture. To demonstrate the proof-of-concept validation, we installed a series of sensors to a chair and then measured the changes in pressure distribution in various postures. The results show that this approach can be potentially helpful for understanding how fundamental problems due to unbalanced sitting posture can be corrected and maintained properly.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.33-40
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• 2012

Dentists are known to be highly exposed to the musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). The present study investigated the prevalence of MSD among Korean dentists and association between their MSD and physical workload. In addition, detailed causes related to the physical workloads were identified in dental operation, and needs for improvement of dental instrument and environment were collected from Korean dentists. The standardized Nordic questionnaire was used to survey body troubles and three types of questionnaires were made to investigate the physical workloads, causes of the physical workloads and improvement priority of dental equipments, respectively. A total of 104 Korean dentists were participated in the survey. Neck trouble (82%) was the most prevalent in Korean dentists, and shoulder (68%) and low back trouble (56%) followed, while low back trouble was reported to be most frequent in previous studies. The body troubles were related to the physical workload of the corresponding body parts, although they were not associated with personal characteristics. Most Korean dentists selected 'to keep direct view inside patient's mouth' and 'no support of the hand with dental instruments' as the causes of awkward and strenuous work postures. They wanted design improvement for some equipment in their operating room such as operating light and arrangement of workplace.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.3
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• pp.21-30
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• 1993

For the purpose of disclosing the magnitude of low back pain problems of hospital nursing personnel and its possible causes, a questionaire survey was carried out on 418 nurses and nurse aides if a university hospital in Seoul. The results were as follows : 1. Of 418 nurse and nurse aides, 268 persons(64.1%) have experienced 1,145 spells of low back pain during 6-month period. 2. The pain and/or discomfort was mostly limited to the back, although 19% of the episodes accompanied radiating pain to the low extremities. 3. Of those with low back pain, 23 persons(8.6%) were medically diagnosed and 17 persons(6.3%)-underwent medical treatment. Those who sick leave amounted to 8 persons(3.0%). 4. The occurrence of low back pain showed significant association with assignment of duties(wards) and work shifts, while the association was not significant in terms of ranks, careers and overtimes. 5. The occurrence of low back pain was closely associated with lifting and carrying of loads, standing and twisting postures as well as the amount of work. 6. Among the nonoccupational factors, drinking showed statistically significant association with the occurrence of low back pain.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.459-465
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• 1999

A new-concept VDT workstation chair with adjustable keyboard/mouse support was proposed to minimize physical discomfort and the risk of cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs) at work sites in this study. First, a three-dimensional human modeling tool $(SAFEWORK^{(R)})$ was used to design the new chair satisfying the anthropometric specifications of Korean population. Second, based upon the result of 3-D graphical simulation, a mock-up chair was constructed with an adjustable keyboard/mouse support directly attached to the chair body. Third, muscle fatigue and subjective discomfort were measured to evaluate the newly developed chair. An experiment was conducted to compare the new workstation chair to the traditional computer chair without keyboard/mouse support. Six volunteer subjects participated in six one-hour word-processing sessions with two different chairs and three different postures. Statistical results indicate that the new-concept VDT chair generally improved subjective comfort level and reduced fatigue in finger flexor/extensor and low back muscle. In conclusion, this new VDT workstation chair is expected to reduce physical discomfort and prevent occupational CTD problems in the long run. Implications of the new design and suggestions for the further development are also addressed.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.266-273
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• 1999

The maximum work capacity at various shoulder angles was estimated in terms of joint moment through maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) measurement, and the result was compared to workload computed from 3-D static lifting model (3DSSPP) based upon national institute of safety and health (NIOSH) lifting guideline (1991). The electromyography (EMG) of anterior/posterior deltoid and trapezius muscle was also recorded to study the function of individual muscle during asymmetric shoulder lifting. Psychophysical workload was measured to observe the difference from MVC or biomechanical estimation. An apparatus was constructed for the study and twenty five trials including five flexion angles and five add/abduction angles were performed isometrically. Results indicated that MVC at 30 degree of flexion was the strongest whereas MVC at 120 degree was the weakest. In case of add/abduction, MVC decreased to 77 to 89 % during add/abduction compared to the MVC at neutral position. Regarding the normalized EMG value, a substantial increase was observed at 30 and 60 degree abduction. More importantly, the shoulder moment computed from maximum permissible limit (MPL) was greater than the moment at MVC condition during 30 degree adduction. Current result can be used as a reference information for a safe workplace design to prevent the shoulder from an excessive work load in industry.

• Proceedings of the Korean Operations and Management Science Society Conference
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• 1996.04a
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• pp.651-654
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• 1996

Although the tasks are being mechanized or automated today, many taks are still performed manually in serveral indeustrial settings and low back pain has been a social and economic problem. In this study, five machine repair tasks are selected from one manufacturing company in Pohang, which are accountable for relatively high complaints of low back pain. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively evaluate the hazards of the tasks, and finally to recommend the improved methods and guidelines for safe work practices. For most of the tasks under study, workers were found to be exposed to relatively high stresses in low back, mainly due to the heavy objects handled and the improper working postures.

• Proceedings of the KAIS Fall Conference
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• 2011.05b
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• pp.1044-1047
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• 2011

본 연구는 소방대원의 현장 작업자세 평가와 분석을 통하여 소방대원의 근골격계 부담작업 유해요인을 분석하고자 한다. B시에 소재하고 있는 소방서의 남자 소방대원을 대상으로 소방 현장에서 많이하는 자세 중 요구조자 이송작업자세, 방수작업자세, 유압구조장비 작업자세, 만능도끼작업 자세를 인간공학적 평가 기법인 Rapid Entire Body Assessment(REBA), Rapid Upper Limb Assessment(RULA)와 NIOSH Lifting Equation(NLE)를 이용하여 평가하고 분석하였다. 자세 분석결과, RULA 분석에서 모든 작업이 최고 점수인 7점으로 평가되었고 REBA는 5점에서 10점까지로 RULA분석에 비하여 낮은 점수를 나타내었다. 따라서, 소방대원들의 작업환경과 자세에 문제가 많다는 것을 알 수 있었다.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2005.10b
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• pp.186-188
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• 2005

Hand region detection in images is an important process in many computer vision applications. It is a process that usually starts at a pixel-level, and that involves a pre-process of color space transformation followed by a classification process. A color space transformation is assumed to increase separability between skin classes for hands and non-skin classes for other parts, to increase similarity among different skin tones, and to bring a robust performance under varying illumination conditions, without any sound reasonings. In this work, we examine if the color space transformation does bring those benefits to the problem of hand region detection on a dataset of images with different hand postures, backgrounds, people, and illuminations. Results indicate that best of the color space is the normalized RGB.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.58-63
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to develop improved boom structures with reliable fatigue strength of weldment and lower production cost. For that purpose, multibody dynamic analysis was performed to evaluate forces acting on arm & boom cylinders and joints of boom structure during operation of an excavator for three working postures, then stress analysis was made to investigate stress distribution around diaphragms at the bottom plate of boom structures which was known to be susceptible to fatigue failures of welded joints, and finally boom structure with optimum arrangement of diaphragms was proposed. This work basically consists of the following two parts: part 1 focuses on multibody dynamic analysis of excavators during operation and part 2 includes evaluations of fatigue strength of welded joints for modified boom structures.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.21 no.2 s.74
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• pp.121-127
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• 2006

Nursing often requires heavy physical work activities such as lifting heavy loads, working in awkward postures, transferring patients, operating hazardous equipment, etc. Among various nursing tasks, patients transferring is one of the most physically demanding tasks. This study aims to investigate workload of the patients transferring, and to propose its improving methods for reducing high workload. The results showed that irrespective of methods for patients transferring and the number of workers involved, workload for most patients transferring tasks exceeded the action limit represented in terms of L5/SI compressive force of 3,400N or LI of 1.0 by NIOSH. The loads for some tasks were far larger than the maximum permissible limit of 6,400N. It is recommended that the mechanical devices for transferring patients such as ceiling crane, sling lift etc. should be introduced rather than simply increasing the number of workers in the tasks.