• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.28-38
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• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to identify the perceived problems of and suggest improvement measures for asbestos abatement companies in support of asbestos-related systems and policies. Methods: For this study a questionnaire was prepared consisting of current work (two questions), the contribution and necessity of a risk assessment system for asbestos abatement (two questions), and problems with and improvement measures for systems and policies (nine questions). The questionnaires were sent to 2,170 asbestos abatement companies and were returned by 83 companies (return rate = 3.8%). We conducted frequency analysis, ANOVA, and a Chi-squared test at the 5% significance level. Results: Asbestos abatement companies expressed difficulties with complying with wet work (43% of unenrolled managers), negative pressure enclosure (36% of all respondents), and installation and use of decontamination units (26% of all respondents) as stipulated in the relevant regulations. In addition, 43% of the respondents expressed concerns that the expertise of the company was not considered during bidding for asbestos abatement and hoped that an advantage (e.g., bid point) would be given to the upper grades for asbestos risk assessment (38%). Asbestos abatement companies generally rented and used negative pressure devices (including negative pressure recording devices) and suggested that periodic calibration (32%) is needed to ensure the performance of the rented equipment. Finally, the respondents asked for clear definitions for three situations specified in the Occupational Safety and Health Acts: (1) temporarily leaving the asbestos abatement workplace; (2) tasks with less airborne asbestos; and (3) physically breaking or cutting using a machine. Conclusions: The problems and improvement measures identified in this study of asbestos abatement companies can be utilized as fundamental information for the improvement of the systems and policies for safe asbestos abatement.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.13-22
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• 1977

In an attempt to evaluate working conditions and hazardous environmental factors, a survey on health problems was conducted for 721 employees from 18 industrial plants in Young Dung Po and Sung Dong districts of Seoul in the period from May 1975 to Feb, 1976. The questionnaire and survey was inclusive of all illnesses known as most common to industrial workers (according to the report by Korea Industrial Health Association) of this country and envi ronmental factors pointed out by the workers. The results were as following. 1. The over whelming majority of complaints were psychiatric, ear,eye, and digestive disorders. 2. Those whose work time is the longest have a propotionately higer incidence of complaints especially in eye,ear, neuromusculoskeletal, and neurosensory systems. 3. In females whose occupational history is relatively short, a higher incidence of digestive and skin section disorders was noted and this is especially true among those working in night shift. 4. Among machinery industry workers, most complaints were of eye, ear, and neuro musculoskeletal disturbances, and this fact seems to be closely related to physical over works. 5. Dust and noise were pointed out by the largest number of workers as undisirable conditions in work environment. 6. Distribution of complaints are closely related to the type of industry, and in comparison with the result reported by Korea Industrial Health Association in 1972, the prevalence rates of occupational disorder were similar in our study,

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.116-124
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of subjective overwork on health and the moderating effect of risk perception in the relationship between subjective overwork and health. The data used in this study are the fourth Korean Working Condition Survey (KWCS) conducted by Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) in 2014. The items related to actual working hours, subjective overwork, health, and risk perception were used. A total of 18,508 workers who are 1) waged workers, 2) work more than three days a week, 3) work more than 21 hours a week, 4) work longer than preferred work hours or work as longer as they desired were selected. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed to identify the effect of actual work hours, subjective overwork, prevalence of risk, lethalness of accident damage on health and to determine the moderating effects of prevalence of risk and lethalness of accident damage. As a result, actual work hours, subjective overwork, prevalence of risk, lethalness of accident damage had an effect on worker's health problems. Second, lethalness of accident damage had a moderating effect in the relationship between subjective overwork and health. These results suggest that organizations should manage worker's environmental factors and other threats that could increase the lethalness of accident damage.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.413-424
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• 2014

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to seek measures for improvement and management of farm work safety and health by conducting questionnaire surveys and on-site investigations to ascertain the present state of occurrence of safety accidents and safety and health management levels among swine farmers. In particular, the purpose of this study is to provide basic data for the establishment of measures for the management of safety and health suitable to the characteristics of related working environments. Methods: Questionnaire surveys were conducted among 223 farmers engaged in swine farming in 14 regions, and 10 farms were visited in order to implement multilateral methods, including in-depth interviews, along with field surveys. Results: The surveys indicated that 26.2% of all respondents experienced farm-work related safety accidents and body-reaction related accidents showed a high ratio at 31.1% of all respondents. With regard to cause materials of safety accidents, work other than that directly related to swine raising showed high ratios of safety accidents, with pigsty facility related accidents at 26.6%. Although most workers recognized the dangers latent in the working environments, their behavior and responses to the prevention of safety accidents were still insufficient due to a lack of understanding of safety and health management. In the survey on the present state of personal hygiene and wearing of protective equipment, workers were found to have been exposed to dangerous and harmful environments both inside and outside pigsties, but the actual states of their wearing protective safety equipment were very poor. Conclusion: Given the results of this study, swine farmers well recognize problems in their control of safety accidents and management of safety and health, but their knowledge about safety and health education and management guidelines was insufficient. Therefore, safety and health education, public relations, and customized personal protective equipment suitable for swine raising work should be developed in order to address the foregoing problem.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.50-56
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• 2019

Objective: The aim of this study is to analyze the reliability assessment of work environment measurement, and to propose ways of improving the system. Methods: We have reviewed reports and articles on the reliability assessment written by KOSHA and academia in order to analyze problems related with the system and propose the alternatives. Results: There are three ways to improve the system of the reliability assessment. First of all, it is necessary to perform the reliability assessment by measuring the work environment when workers raise questions about the results so we can make workers trust these results of the reliability assessment. Secondly, we should inspect the workplace at first, not the work environment service provider, so we can increase the employer's recognition of his duty to practice the work environment measurement. Thirdly, the technical committee is needed for technical issues related with the work environment measurement. Conclusions: Above all, it is crucial to get the workers' interest and trust to improve the work environment measurement. The reliability assessment should support the meaning and value of the work environment measurement by practicing the reliability assessment whenever workers have a demand for this and operating the technical committee.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.55-66
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• 2021

Objectives: The aim of this scoping review was to analyze research trends about mental health of nurses working in Korean medicine (KM) hospitals in Republic of Korea. Methods: Searches were conducted using four electronic databases including Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, Korean Studies Information Service System, Research Information Sharing Service, Korea Citation Index to collect relevant studies. The search date was March 4, 2021. All studies published up to the search date were considered. Observational studies reporting mental health outcomes of nurses working at KM Hospital were included. Results: A total of 11 cross-sectional observation studies were included. Four of them compared mental health of nurses working on KM and Western medicine (WM). Commonly reported outcomes related to mental health were job satisfaction, role conflict, and work stress. As a result of meta-analysis based on a 5-point Likert scale, the following factors were related to mental health of KM nurses: job satisfaction (2.844±0.067 points), role conflict (3.678±0.058 points), work stress (3.142±0.021 points), turnover intention (3.483±0.028 points), and burnout (3.180±0.033). Compared to WM nurses, KM nurses had significantly less work stress (p=0.000), role conflict (p=0.039), and job satisfaction (p=0.000). Conclusions: Mental health problems of nurses are known to be very common. Although improving them is an important social task, studies on mental health of KM nurses remain insufficient. Based on findings of this study, more cooperation between nurses and KM doctors should be made to improve the mental health of KM nurses, especially their job satisfaction in the future. The Korean Society of Oriental Neuropsychiatry needs to pay more attention to this topic.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.470-475
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• 2019

Background: There is a lack of statistical analysis investigating the relationship between sleep problems and commute time in Korea. We aimed to analyze the association between representative health symptoms, sleep disturbances, and commute time according to working hours in Korea. Methods: The 4th Korean Working Conditions Survey data were used for analysis, and unpaid family workers and workers who work fewer than three days in a week were excluded. Commute time, working hours, and sleep hours were assessed using self-reported questionnaires. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for sleep problems were calculated using a multivariate logistic regression model with ≤10 min commute time as the reference group. Results: Among a total of 28,804 workers (men = 14,945, women = 13,859), 2.6% of men and 3.2% of women experienced sleep problems. In both sexes, long commute time (51-60 minutes and >60 minutes) showed an increased OR [men, 2.03 (CI = 1.32-3.13) and 2.05 (CI = 1.33-3.17); women, 1.58 (CI = 1.05-2.39) and 1.63 (CI = 1.06-2.50), respectively]. In stratification analysis of working hours, long commute time (51-60 and > 60 minutes) showed an increased OR in men working >40 hours/week [2.08 (CI = 1.16-3.71) and 1.92 (CI = 1.08-3.41), respectively]. Furthermore, long commute time (41-50, 51-60, and >60 minutes) showed an increased OR in women working >40 hours/week [2.40 (CI = 1.27-4.55), 2.28 (CI = 1.25-4.16), and 2.19 (CI = 1.17-4.16), respectively]. Moreover, commute time >60 minutes showed an increased OR in women working ≤40 hours/week [1.96 (CI = 1.06-3.62)]. Conclusion: This large cross-sectional study highlights that long commute time is related to sleep problems in both sexes. Shorter commute times and decreased working hours are needed to prevent sleep problems in workers.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.57-67
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• 2009

The psychosocial stress and musculoskeletal disorders(MSDs) have been one of major health problems for hospital workers. This study tried to understand the relationship between symptoms associated with MSDs and risk factors such as working posture, job stress, psychosocial stress and fatigue. A total number of 655 hospital workers participated in this study. Specifically, REBA was applied for evaluating working posture and a checklist prepared by KOSHA(Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency) was used for symptom survey. A questionnaire from KOSHA was also used for collecting data associated with job stress, psychosocial stress and fatigue. All these data were formulated and modeled by path analysis which was one of major statistical tools in this study. Specifically, path analysis for the data we collected came up with several major findings. As a result, as for body part(neck), (waist) and (arms) the degree of risk of work posture measured with the use of job stress(KOSS), psycho-social stress(PWI-SF) and REBA is significantly more affected by fatigue than muscular skeletal disease related consciousness symptom. However, regarding bod(wrist), the degree of risk of work posture measured with the use of job stress(KOSS) and REBA is directly affected by muscular skeletal disease related consciousness symptom. This study is meaningful in that the study clarified the causal relations of the degree of risk of work posture, degree of fatigue, and muscular skeletal disease related consciousness symptoms by each body part measured with the use of work stress(KOSS), psycho-social stress(PWI-SF) and REBA.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.79-89
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• 2024

Purpose: Nurses have been reported to be at an increased risk for miscarriage and preterm labor. However, there is limited knowledge regarding nurses' preconception health behaviors. Therefore, this study aimed to identify factors influencing these behaviors. Methods: One hundred sixty nurses, who were planning their first pregnancy within the upcoming year, participated in an online survey from August 11 to October 31, 2021. Data on preconception health behavior, perceived health status, pregnancy anxiety, nursing practice environment, and social support were analyzed using the t-test, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression analysis. Results: Age (p=.024), educational level (p=.010), marital status (p=.003), work experience (p=.003), satisfaction with the work department (p<.001), smoking status (p=. 039), and previous health problems related to pregnancy outcomes (p=.004) were significantly associated with nurses' preconception health behaviors. Furthermore, perceived health status (p<.001), pregnancy anxiety (p=.011), nursing practice environment (p=.003), and social support (p<.001) showed significant correlations with preconception health behaviors. Social support (β=. 28, p=.001), satisfaction with the work department (β=.23, p=.032), marital status (β=.22, p=.002), and perceived health status (β=.23, p=.002) were confirmed as factors associated with preconception health behaviors. These factors explained 40.9% of the variance in preconception health behaviors (F=6.64, p<.001). Conclusion: Clinical nurses' preconception health behaviors were influenced by social support, perceived health status, satisfaction with the work department, and marital status. Interventions to improve clinical nurses' preconception health behaviors should target social support and perceived health status. A preconception health behavior education program considering clinical nurses' marital status and satisfaction with the workplace can also be implemented.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.37-41
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• 2005

Work related musculoskeletal disorders became a hot issue in Korea since many workers reported musculoskeletal disorder problems. Korean government enacted a law to require companies to take measures to prevent musculoskeletal disorders at work. This study found workers' WMSDs symptoms in squatting work posture which the rate of the occurrence was relatively high among work types to bring about WMSDs in railroad cars maintenance works and analyzed to compare the hazardous jobs in the industrial safety health law in South Korea with the caution jobs in Washington State in U.S. The hazardous jobs in South Korea were more effective in squatting work posture from this study result and this study data will be a great help to plan and carry out an effective prevention program about WMSDs.