• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.132-140
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• 2019

Background: Increasing workplace health-care perception has become a major issue in the world. Most of the health-related problems are faced because of the lack of health management instruments. The level of health care can be improved through workplace health well-being regulations. The aim of the present study is to formulate a conceptual model of physical checkup. Methods: This study applied conceptual theories and figures and used secondary data from articles and relevant websites for evaluating the validity of the study. Results: Annual health checkup increases health-care awareness perception of states, organizations, employees, and their families and manages the annual health record of employees, organizations, and states. Conclusions: Health care and awareness perception of states, organizations, employees, and families improves with annual health checkup, and annual health checkup also prevents unhealthy acts.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.329-337
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• 2015

Background: The aim of this study is to examine the prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints in Swiss operating room (OR) nurses, and to investigate how work-family conflict, work interruptions, and influence at work are related to lumbar and cervical back pain. Methods: Participants in this correlational questionnaire study included 116 OR nurses from eight different hospitals in Switzerland. Results: We found that 66% of the OR staff suffered from musculoskeletal problems. The most prevalent musculoskeletal complaints were lumbar (52.7%) and cervical pain (38.4%). Furthermore, 20.5% reported pain in the mid spine region, 20.5% in the knees and legs, and 9.8% in the hands and feet. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that work-family conflict (p < 0.05) and interruptions (p < 0.05) significantly predicted lumbar and cervical pain in OR nurses, while influence at work (p < 0.05) only predicted lumbar pain. Conclusion: These results suggest that reducing the work-family conflict and interruptions at work, as well as offering opportunities to influence one's workplace, help to promote OR nurses' health.

• Journal of Wellbeing Management and Applied Psychology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.57-66
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• 2024

Purpose: As environmental and social problems such as disasters caused by climate change and the rapid transition to an ultra-aging society are rapidly emerging, the voluntary participation of citizens in civil society is a good alternative to solve various social problems, and the necessity and role of volunteering is gradually being emphasized. Research design, data, and methodology: This study examined the motivation and satisfaction of volunteer participation and conducted a comparison analysis, focusing on the 2013 Beautiful Store Volunteer Satisfaction Survey and the 2021 Volunteer Satisfaction Survey data. Results: To summarize the main results of the study, first, the motivation to start volunteering was to respond that the individual's subjective disposition influenced the motivation to start volunteering. Second, volunteer participants were able to gain recognition and psychological comfort through volunteer activities. In addition, the satisfaction of the part that increases the confidence of volunteer participants can be seen as a positive change in volunteer work. Third, in relation to the continuity of volunteer work, it was found that problems related to managers and conflicts between organizations and individuals were largely emerging as factors that caused them to quit volunteering. Conclusions: Volunteers should be more interested in cooperation and communication and promote discussions on improvement for sustainable service in communication between other volunteers and managers.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.279-286
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• 2022

Objectives: South Korea's occupational safety and health legislation appears on the surface to have stronger regulations than any other country, but it is criticized for having many problems when viewed from the perspective of the effectiveness and universality of these regulations. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the validity of the regulatory content and the methods for contract work in South Korea. Methods: The main issues in contract work are compared and analyzed in terms of the occupational safety and health laws systems in South Korea and other developed countries. Based on this, problems related to contract regulation are derived from the perspective of legal policy studies. In addition, effective improvement measures for the derived problems will be proposed. Results: Other developed countries impose obligations suitable for the status and role of persons who entrust work in consideration of the fact that they do not directly manage risks and in terms of the effectiveness of industrial accident prevention. These countries generally impose obligations such as management of facilities and machinery, cooperation and coordination with subcontractors, cooperation and coordination obligations between subcontractors, and guidance obligations on a person who entrusts a work. Conclusions: It is difficult to achieve effectiveness in preventing accidents with based on unreasonable regulations that do not conform to safety principles or legal theory. Regulations on contract work need to be converted to rational cogent regulations based on science and rationality, not ideology and emotion. To this end, the legal system for contract work must have international universality.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.157-163
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• 2012

Objective: This study is to understand medical management method in shipbuilding industry. Background: In shipbuilding industry, medical management for prevention of work-related musculoskeletal diseases due to limitations of engineering measures may be important measure. Results: Medical management of musculoskeletal diseases can be divided into primary, secondary, tertiary preventions. Primary preventions consist of symptom survey, appropriate work placement with work capacity evaluation, health promotion. Second preventions are early detection of symptomatic patient and appropriate treatment. Tertiary preventions are rehabilitation treatment and early return-to-work by return-to-work evaluation. In addition, patients with psychological counseling for emotional problems are needed. Conclusion: Medical management measures such as improving the work environment to be made are expected to exert greater effects.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.42-54
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• 2017

Objectives: The present study was conducted to investigate farm work environments among farmers and examine the level of management of safety and health, and to subsequently produce study result to serve as foundational data for the development of guidelines on safety and health as part of the improvement of farming work environments among farmers raising Korean native cattle. Methods: The present study conducted a survey on farm work environments and the management of safety and health with 407 farmers engaged in Korean native cattle farming in selected regions in eight provinces. It also visited 10 farmers to verify the current status of farm work. Results: The survey results showed that 16.4% of the respondents experienced safety-related accidents due to farm work. The locations of the accidents were inside the cattle shed (71.4%) and facilities outside the cattle shed (19.6%). The types of accident showed collision with animals (35.7%), collision or contact with obstacles (27.1%), and musculoskeletal accidents due to heavy object handling (12.9%). The causes of the accidents were cattle (38.3%), cultivators and tractors (25.4%), facility tools in cattle sheds (9.0%), and slippery floors (6.0%). The damaged areas were hand (21.0%), spine (19.8%), lower limb (18.5%), and foot (17.3%). A self-diagnostic survey on respiratory diseases showed that 11.5% of the respondents experienced respiratory-related symptoms. The survey on safety and health during farm work showed that wearing personal protective equipment and response to emergency situations, which were needed to prevent safety-related accidents, were relatively low compared to the level of recognition of the need and awareness of safety issues. Furthermore, the field survey identified the current status of safety and health issues such as prevention management of collision accidents with cattle, how to handle heavy objects, and wearing of personal protective equipment. Conclusions: The present study identified safety-related accidents and problems in the management of safety and health among Korean native cattle farmers. In order to address the problem, it is necessary to not only provide guidelines on safety and health management which are appropriate to the characteristics of Korean native cattle farming work, but also to study the development of personal protective equipment.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.144-152
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• 2006

Purpose: This study was conducted to understand the effects of daily hassle stress on the psycho-social health of male workers in manufacturing industry. Methods: Daily hassle stress and psycho-social health in manufacturing industry workers were estimated by using the Daily Hassles Scale for Korea Workers (DHS-KW) and general health questionnaire (GHQ), respectively. Results: The subjects were 553 male workers who had never been occupationally exposed to hazardous chemicals, were mean age 39.6 years and mean work duration was 15.66 years. DHS-KW total mean score had significantly higher in young ages (twenties and thirties ages), office workers, managers and daytime workers than other groups. GHQ total mean scores were significantly higher in un-married, daytime and overtime workers than others. DHS-KW and GHQ score correlated that they were negative correlation with age and working years, but was positive correlation with working hours and overtime work. The significant correlation between DHS-KW and GHQ were observed almost variables of DHS-KW and GHQ except a domestic and daily problem in DHS-KW variables. Domestic and daily problems were only significantly correlated with anxiety and insomnia of GHQ variables. Conclusion: This study indicated that physical health was associated with work condition and psychsocial health was mainly associated with domestic and daily problems of DHS-KW variables. Thus, the study on Daily Hassles stress and related with work stress should be further investigated for the comprehensive health program including stress management and coping behavior.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.286-293
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• 2022

Background: The death rate of workers due to industrial accidents in South Korea (3.61 persons in 2017) is higher than the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average (2.43) and the fifth highest among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries. Although the pandemic of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has changed, the socioeconomic aspects of Korean society, the number of Koreans suffering accidents and the number of deaths in 2020 have increased. It is necessary to take measures to prevent accidents and make comprehensive efforts to return to work. This study proposes research questions about the effect of workers' positive perception on whether to work after accidents and the impact of the experience of rehabilitation services on the return to work. Methods: This research performed a panel logistic regression analysis using data on workers' compensation insurance in Korea for two years (2018-2019). Results: This research finds that workers' positive perceptions of workability and life satisfaction contributed affirmatively to their re-employment. Several factors related to employment (e.g., work period, the number of job qualifications) also positively affect their return to work. However, the experience of rehabilitation services did not have a significant effect on re-employment. The variables of their health conditions (e.g., disability grade, feelings of health problems, age) negatively influenced their return to jobs. Conclusion: These results suggest the importance of workers' mental recovery and the need to innovate rehabilitation services for their employment. Positive thinking and self-rehabilitation could be critical for workers, parallel with social welfare policies.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.125-134
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• 2015

Objective: In this review we discuss the health effects among office workers. Background: Even if office workers are not exposed hazardous or harmful environment frequently, some problems could be happened to the office workers. Although serious occupational diseases rarely occur to the office workers, it is important to consider occupational risk factors for the office worker because the portion of the office workers is relatively high in all industries. Method: We divided possible health effects for the office workers into three categories; musculoskeletal disorders, indoor environment, and cerebro-cardiovascular diseases. We reviewed related articles, textbooks, and statistical materials non-systematically and described risk factors, related illnesses, and prevention strategies on each category. Results: Office workers have various musculoskeletal disorders to be intervened. By medical treatment, improving working environment, and ergonomic intervention, office workers can be prevented from musculoskeletal injuries. Poor indoor environment can cause many building-related illnesses or sick building syndrome. Although the etiology of some problems by poor indoor environment is not clear, it helps to maintain adequate humidity, temperature, and clarity of indoor air. Cerebro-cardiovascular diseases are a rising issue because office workers in Korea tend to work for a lot of time. To prevent the diseases, it is needed to work for adequate time, lengthen activity level, and manage other medical risk factors for the diseases. Conclusion: There is no distinct occupational disease for office workers. However, there are some aspects to consider the health effects of office workers and it is important to prevent the possible health problems. Application: A strategy against occupational diseases among office workers can be established by reviewing this article.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.550-561
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to provide basic data for the improvement of the working environment for health prevention and related countermeasures for shift workers. This study was conducted based on the Fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS), which analyzed the health effects of shift work forces and compared them with preceding studies. Methods: By analyzing secondary rates using raw data from the 5th KWCS, 4,870 (9.7%) of the 50,184 total study subjects were divided into shift work and 45,314 (90.3%) non-shift work groups based on the response to shift status. Variables that could affect work health issues were identified and corrected. A cross-analysis was conducted to examine demographic characteristics (gender, age, and education level) of the workers and occupation characteristics (monthly net earnings, employment type, occupation, working period up to now, workplace scale, type of work system, and weekly working hours). In order to find the work health issue ratio between the shift and non-shift work groups, logistic regression was analyzed and the association with health problems according to shift type by gender was looked at through cross-analysis. Results: According to the surveys conducted from the 1st KWCS (2006) to the 5th KWCS (2017), the proportion of shift workers continued to increase. Also, muscular pains in the lower limbs (hips, legs, knees, feet, etc.) (OR=1.135, 95%CI 1.031-1.251), headaches, eyestrain (OR=1.580, 95% CI 1.428-1.748), anxiety (OR=1.715, 95% CI 1.402-2.099), difficulty falling asleep (OR=1.391), and other problems (OR=7.392) were reported. In addition, back pain, muscular pains in shoulders, neck and/or upper limbs, muscular pains in lower limbs (hips, legs, knees, feet, etc.), headaches, eyestrain, depression, anxiety, overall fatigue resulted in significant results for both male and female shift workers. Depression and anxiety were higher in female shift/circulation compared to males. Conclusions: The social nets for the health and safety of shift workers should be explored in a variety of ways, including management and supervision of shift sites, attempts to reorganize and improve the shift system, development of workers' health recovery programs, promotion, systematic treatment, and compensation systems.