Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.15269/JKSOEH.2022.32.4.287

A Study on the Working Conditions of Agricultural Workers through a Comparison of Agricultural and General Workers: The 6th Korean Working Conditions Survey  

Hyeseon, Chae (Agricultural Safety and Health Division, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration)
Sooin, Park (Agricultural Safety and Health Division, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration)
Insoo, Kim (Agricultural Safety and Health Division, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration)
Kyungran, Kim (Agricultural Safety and Health Division, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration)
Publication Information
Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene / v.32, no.4, 2022 , pp. 287-301 More about this Journal
Abstract
Objectives: This study compared the characteristics of the work environment between agricultural and general workers and analyzed the effects of agricultural working characteristics on work-related health problems. Methods: The participants of this study were 2,347 agricultural workers and 48,042 general workers who were selected by applying standardized weights to the raw data of 50,538 respondents from the 6th Korean Working Condition Survey (KWCS). Variables applicable to both worker groups and related to exposure to hazardous risk factors in the working environment, working hours and intensity of work, health problems and work-related status, and satisfaction with the work environment were selected. Chi-square tests and independent sample t-tests were performed to evaluate the differences in the variables between the two groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to analyze the effects of work environment characteristics on work-related health problems. Results: Compared to general workers, agricultural workers were more exposed to hazardous environments, irregular work patterns such as working on Saturday/Sunday, and short repetitive tasks. They reported more work-related and general health problems, including back pain, upper extremity muscle pain, lower extremity muscle pain, and general fatigue. Agricultural workers showed lower satisfaction with their work environment than general workers. Factors affecting one or more work-related health problems included gender, working years, hazardous factors, irregular work pattern, working hours, and labor intensity. Conclusions: Our findings showed that agricultural workers were relatively more vulnerable to safety issues compared to other occupational groups. Therefore, it is necessary to establish standardized safety and health standards and strengthen systematic safety and health management policies and services for agriculture.
Keywords
Working condition; agricultural worker; general worker; Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS);
Citations & Related Records
Times Cited By KSCI : 8  (Citation Analysis)
연도 인용수 순위
1 Cha ES, Kong KA, Moon EK & Lee WJ. Prevalence and changes in chronic diseases among South Korean farmers: 1998 to 2005. BMC Public Health 2009;9(268):1-9(doi:10.1186/1471-2458-9-268)   DOI
2 Chae HS, Kim HJ, Oh YS, Lee KS, Kim HC et al. Evaluation of the farmers' workload and thermal environments during chili harvest in the open field. Korean J community Living Sci 2013;24(4):543-552(DOI:10.7856/kjcls.2013.24.4.543)   DOI
3 Chae HS, Min KD, Youn KW, Park JW, Kim KR et al. Estimated rate of agricultural injury: the Korean Farmers' Occupational Disease and Injury Survey. Annals of Occup & Environ Med 2014;26(8):1-8 (Doi:10.1186/2052-4374-26-8)   DOI
4 Choi DP, Chae HS, Kim HC, Lee KS, Choi WJ et al. A study on the farmers' safety management levels according to their pesticide exposure by farming type in South Korea. Korean J community Living Sci 2018;29(4):617-625(DOI:101.7859/kjcls.2018.29.4.617)   DOI
5 Choi DP, Kim KS, Lee MJ, Kim KR, Chae HS et al. DB Center of Farmers' Health and Safety. RDA. 2021. p. 7-13
6 Gu JH, Choi DW, Kwon JH, Kim TK. An analysis of factors affecting the job satisfaction of farmers: Focusing farmers in Gyeongsangbukdo. J Agri & Life Sci 2021;55(4):121-128(DOI:10.14379/jals.2021.55.4.121)   DOI
7 Jung WG, Kim KS, Seo MT, Kim HC. A study on the development of technical guidelines for safety and health in agricultural workplaces. J Korean Soc of Occup & Environ Hygiene 2021;31(4):385-395 (DOI:10.15269/JKSOEH.2021.31.4.38)   DOI
8 Kim IS, Kim KR, Lee KS, Chae HS, Kim SW. A survey on the workplace environment and personal protective equipment of poultry farmers. J Environ Health Sci 2014;40(6):454-468(DOI:10.5668/EHS.2014.40.6.454)   DOI
9 Kim KR & Choi JW. Disease, accident and health behavior of in farmers and fishermen. Korean J of Rural Med 2005;30(3):279-292
10 Kim KR, Kim HC, Lee KS, Chae HS. Exposure to dust and organic gas during chicken entrance and shipment tasks in poultry farms. J Korean Soc of Occup & Environ Hygiene 2014;24(4):417-477(DOI:10.15269/JKSOEH.2014.24.4.471)   DOI
11 Kim MH. Work-related musculoskeletal symptoms among agricultural workers in the rural community. Asia-pacific J MM Svcs Conv w/ Art, Hum & Sociol 2015;5(2):71-79(DOI:10.35873/ajmahs.2015.5.2.008)   DOI
12 Kim YH. Relationship between workplace hazard exposures and chronic health problems in Korea : the fifth Korea working conditions survey. Korean J of Occup Health Nursing 2020;29(1):58-68(DOI:10.5807/kjohn.2020.29.1.58)   DOI
13 Kim YH, Koh SJ, Cho KM, Chae JY, Oh HJ et al. Effects of working postures on headache/eye strain in Korean waged workers: the 5th Working Condition Survey. J Korean Soc of Occup & Environ Hyg 2022;32(2):116-128(DOI:10.15269/JKSOEH.2021.31.4.38)   DOI
14 Kim YM. Possibility of converting the occupational safety and health act regulatory system to the agricultural work safety and health discipline system : For the rules on agricultural work safety and health standards. J Labor Law 2020;50:263-333
15 Kong YK, Han JG, Kim DM. Development of an ergonomic checklist for the investigation of work-related lower limb disorders in farming-agricultural lower-limb assessment. J Ergon Soc of Korea 2010;29(6):933-941(DOI:10.5143/JESK.2010.29.6.933)   DOI
16 Lee HK, Choi DP, Choi WJ, Park SI. Comparison of accident experience rate and health-related quality of life between farmers and non-farmers. J Korean Data Anlys Soc 2019;21(2):717-731   DOI
17 Lim HD, Kawshalya MADR, Nam KH. Investigation of the potential risk for musculoskeletal disorders in migrant workers. Korean Soc of Ind Conv 2021;24(6):781-786(DOI:10.21289/KSIC.2021.24.6.781)   DOI
18 Lee ME. Effects of working conditions on satisfaction with work environment and mediating effects of providing health and safety information among construction workers. J Korean Soc Occup Environ Hyg 2020;30(2):213-225(DOI:10.15269/JKSOEH.2020.30.2.213)   DOI
19 Lee SJ & Park HJ. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among agricultural workers. J of Ergon Soc of Korea 2011;30(4):523-534(DOI:10.5143/JESK.2011.30.4.525)   DOI
20 Lee TH & Cho GY. Effect of office worker's work-life balance and work environment on job satisfaction and mental health. J Korean Data & info Sci Soc 2020;31(6):1021-1035(DOI:10.7465/jkdi.2020.31.6.1021)   DOI
21 Ministry of Employment and Labor(MOEL). 2021 Industrial accidents. 2022. [Accessed 2022 July 20]. Available from:URL: https://www.moel.go.kr/policy/policydata/view.do?bbs_seq=20220300882
22 Noh SK, Choi JH, Shin DH, Lee MY, Chung IS. Occupational risk factors associated with musculoskeletal symptoms in public workers. Korean J of Occup Environ Med 2012;24(4):410-419   DOI
23 Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute (OSHGRI). Declaration of the 6th Korean Working Conditions Survey. 2022. [Accessed 2022 July 5]. Available from:URL: https://www.moel.go.kr/news/enews/report/enewsView.do?news_seq=13319
24 Park HS, Lee YK, Kim HC, Lee KS. Suggestion of a method to assess the risk level of agricultural works considering work posture and working time. J Ergon Soc Korea 2017;36(5):601-607(DOI:10.5143/JESK.2017.36.5.601)   DOI
25 Rural Development Administration(RDA). 2020 Farmers' occupational disease survey. 2021. [Accessed 2022 July 15]. Available from: URL:https://www.rda.go.kr/board/board.do?boardId=farmprmninfo&prgId=day_farmprmninfoEntry&currPage=1&dataNo=100000771872&mode=updateCnt&searchSDate=&searchEDate=&searchOrgDeptKey=org&searchOrgDeptVal=&searchKey=subject&searchVal=%EC%97%85%EB%AC%B4%EC%83%81%20%EC%A7%88%EB%B3%91 
26 Park SK. A study on the foreign workers' working conditions and policy issues in Korea: focusing on Jeonbuk area. Multicult & Diaspora Stud 2017;11:99-118
27 Park WY. The effect of the exposure to hazard factors on job satisfaction in employees. J Korea Safety mgnt & sci(KSMS) 2014;16(3):257-266   DOI
28 Rural Development Administration(RDA). Report of international cooperation project in 2013: study onfarm based safety and health management system for farmers. 2014. p. 8-9
29 Statistics Korea. 2020 Census of agricultural, forestry and fisheries. 2021. [Accessed 2022 July 1]. Available from:URL:https://www.kostat.go.kr/portal/korea/kor_nw/1/1/index.board?bmode=read&aSeq=403184
30 Yang SM. A study on the relationship between the life difficulties and labor condition satisfactions among agricultural migrant workers. Rural Econ 2016;39(4):97-122
31 Youn KW, Im SH, Park JW, Lee KS, Chae HS. Type and characters of agricultural injury subjective burden. J Agric Med Community Health 2016;14(1):1-12
32 Park SH, Jeong DK, Yoon JH. An analysis of muscle characteristics, muscle activity, and posture in patients with cervicogenic headache. J Korea Acad-Industrial coop Soc 2022;23(6):137-143(DOI:10.5762/KAIS.2022.23.6.137)   DOI
33 Kim IS, Lee KS, Kim HC, Chae HS, Kim KS et al. A survey on the current status of safety and health and of safety management levels among Korean native cattle farms. J Environ Health Sci 2017;43(1):42-54 (DOI:10.5668/JEHS.2017.43.1.42)   DOI
34 Lee KH, Yoon JH, Kim SK, Cho IJ, Oh SS et al. The relationship of physical and psychosocial risk factors to work-related musculoskeletal upper extremity symptoms amongst male automobile manufacturing workers. Ann of Occ and Envir Med 2012;21(1):72-85