초록
The objective of this study was to analyze 157 processes of 145 industries that exceeded Korean Occupational Exposure Limits (KOEL) for carcinogen during the 11 year period from 1999 to 2009. The data included number of industry and workers exposed, type of carcinogen and their exceeded ratio, type and size of industry in each year. These data were collected by 46 regional employment & labor offices in Korea using work environment monitoring reports. The result showed that, in each year, about 10 industries exceed their carcinogen exposure limit. The most common carcinogen exceeding KOEL were found to be formaldehyde, benzene, ethylene oxide and chromium VI. The carcinogen with the highest level of over-exposure were in the order of formaldehyde, benzene, ethylene oxide and asbestos. Fabricated metal product manufacturing industry were found to be most vulnerable against carcinogen with 11.1% of them exceeding carcinogen KOEL followed by electronic components manufacturing industry (8.3%), chemical products manufacturing industry (6.3%), and electrical equipments manufacturing industry (4.9%). The industry employing less than 50 workers had the highest percentage of exceeding carcinogen KOEL with 52.8%. The result also showed that strengthening KOEL for benzene and asbestos helped reduce the level of carcinogen over-exposure. Based on these results, strengthening the KOEL or new regulation turned out to help reduce the carcinogen over-exposure level. Benzene, ethylene oxide and chromium VI were the most frequently over-exposed carcinogen with the highest level. Therefore, these chemicals need to be regulated with a highest priority to improve the workplace environment. The results also show that the small-sized industries employing less than 50 workers was the most vulnerable against carcinogen exposures. Therefore, more government support are needed for these small-sized industries to help them to improve their workplace environment.