• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.20 no.3 s.71
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• pp.197-201
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to investigate the work ability of employees using the work ability index(WAI) and to confirm factors affecting the work ability of employees in the Korean machinery industry. In this study, correlations between the WAI score and variables affecting the work ability of employees(age, the class of the employee's position the character of the work and the type of the work) were analysed by the correlation analysis. The study population was consisted of employees from Korean machinery industry(n=446) and the WAI questionnaire was more or less modified considering actual circumstances in Korean. The WAI score of entire employees was slightly high (WAI score=42, Level=Good) and the WAI score of employees under 29 years of age was slightly higher than that of employees over 30 years of no. As a result of one-way ANOVA and correlation analysis, the character of the work and the type of the work were variables affecting the WAI score and the WAI score of physical/mental workers was higher than that of physical workers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.77-82
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• 2011

Recently, personal characteristics of organizational members arc regarded as an important factor that affects performance of organization. In addition, job stress is attributed to one of main factors that result in poor work ability and high turnover rate. In this study, job stress, work ability and DISC personality types were surveyed targeting 292 of foreman in shipbuilding company. The relationships between job stress and personal characteristics including personality types and correlation between job stress and work ability were analyzed based on the result of survey. As a result of statistical analysis, there were six statistically significant relationships between job stress and age, job tenure, work type, hobbies, exercise, personality types. On the other hand, there was a statistically significant relationship between work ability and exercise. Furthermore, negative correlation between job stress and work ability were found. In accordance with these analysis, this study presented how to improve work ability by managing job stress items and personal characteristics that affect the stress and the stress level.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.356-363
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• 2017

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate which physical and psychosocial work demands were associated with excellent work ability in individuals with neck pain, and to investigate age and sex differences in these associations. Methods: The study sample was obtained from the Statistics Sweden cross-sectional Work Environment survey and consisted of workers who reported neck pain after work (N = 3,212). Results: The findings showed an association between excellent work ability and self-reported low exposure to lifting, twisted work posture, working with hands in shoulder level or higher, and leaning forward without support and combination of exposures containing these work demands. Low exposure to seated work and high demands showed a reversed association. The associations were present mainly among older workers and were generally stronger for men than for women. Conclusion: This study indicates that a lower level of physically demanding work is an important element to maintain excellent work ability, especially for the older worker with neck pain.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.305-311
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• 2015

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship nursing personal and workplace system factors (work disability) and work ability index scores in Ontario, Canada. Methods: A total of 111 registered nurses were randomly selected from the total number of registered nurses on staff in the labor, delivery, recovery, and postpartum areas of four northeastern Ontario hospitals. Using a stratified random design approach, 51 participants were randomly selected in four northeastern Ontario cities. Results: A total of 51 (45.9% response rate) online questionnaires were returned and another 60 (54.1% response rate) were completed using the paper format. The obstetric workforce in northeastern Ontario was predominately female (94.6%) with a mean age of 41.9 (standard deviation = 10.2). In the personal systems model, three variables: marital status (p = 0.025), respondent ethnicity (p = 0.026), and mean number of patients per shift (p = 0.049) were significantly contributed to the variance in work ability scores. In the workplace system model, job and career satisfaction (p = 0.026) had a positive influence on work ability scores, while work absenteeism (p = 0.023) demonstrated an inverse relationship with work ability scores. In the combined model, all the predictors were significantly related to work ability scores. Conclusion: Work ability is closely related to job and career satisfaction, and perceived control at work among obstetric nursing. In order to improve work ability, nurses need to work in environments that support them and allow them to be engaged in the decision-making processes.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.101-107
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• 2012

The statistics of industrial accident reported by ministry of Employment and Labor denoted a significant increase of musculoskeletal disorders(MSDs) after 1993, and showed the higher incident rate by 71.3% over the overall worker's disorders. Also, it was expected that Korean society will become the post-aged society in 2026 with 20.8% of elderly who is over 65 years old. The reports suggest possible problems caused by the older worker known to have reduced working ability than the young counterparts. On this basis, the goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between MSDs symptoms and work ability in the shipbuilding industry. To achieve this goal, this study distributed a questionnaire for total 1,244 shipbuilding employers, and used 910 employers' reports which revealed validity for this study. The questionnaire included the MSDs symptoms report developed by the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Association(KOSHA) and the work ability index(WAI) developed by Finnish Institute of Occupational Health(FIOH). Results showed no relationship between MSDs symptoms and age, years of work and exercise. Also, the work ability was increased until 44 years old, but it was decreased after that time because of the reduced physical capacity. Meanwhile, the years of work and exercise have positive correlation with work ability. However, the results revealed significant relationships between WAI and age, years of work, task characteristics and exercise. All together, the MSDs symptoms have a close relationship with the work ability in that the work ability of workers with the MSDs symptoms was reduced. This study may suggest the needs of more efforts and attention on the MSDs prevention to increase the work ability.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.150-155
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• 2014

The success of construction projects is heavily dependent on the work ability of the field managers who manage the execution of projects. The work ability of field managers is influenced by various elements such as job stress and individual characteristics. The purpose of this study is to reveal the factors influencing the work ability of construction field managers in Korea. Work ability is evaluated bases on the Work Ability Index(WAI) developed by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, while job stress is measured using the Korean Occupational Stress Questionnaire Short Form developed by the Korean Occupational Safety & Health Agency. The results showed that field managers under higher job stress have lower work abilities. In addition, it is revealed that exercise or religious practice have a positive influence on work ability. This study will help to increase the work ability and enable the efficient management of organization at building construction sites.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.20 no.2 s.70
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• pp.133-139
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• 2005

TWe investigated whether work ability index(WAI) was highly correlated with work environment(physical work environment, working condition and work form) correlated high. The study population consisted of technicians from one manufacturing company in South Korea(n=104). WAI and work environment were analyzed by correlation and multiple regression. Therefore, we conclude that the correlation of WAI and work environment in this population was high. So if there are the older employees having a poor score on the items related to work environment, we can elevate the work ability by dealing with work environment. Moreover, we can make the best program to maintain and raise WAI in short term.

• The Journal of Korean society of community based occupational therapy
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.35-42
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• 2017

Objective : The purposes of this study are to examine the correlations among work ability and sleep quality in bus driver and to find the factors affecting work ability. Methods : The participants were 120 inpatients with bus driver. The Work Ability Index(WAI) was used for measuring work ability and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was utilized to measure sleep quality. The relationships among the variables were examined with Pearson correlation coefficients. And the stepwise multiple regression analysis were performed to identify the predictive variables that explain changes of work ability. Results : As a result of analyzing correlation of variables affecting work ability, there was negative correlation in contact sleep quality(p<.001) and working hours(p<.001). Finally, Work ability was identified as a factor that explains 48.2% of change in sleep quality(p<.001) and working hours(p<.01). Conclusion : It was found that intimacy of bus driver was a major variable to affect work ability. The sleep quality and working hours should be considered as a way to improve the bus driver work ability.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.58-62
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• 2022

Metro subway construction is a field that requires a great deal of professional manpower. The aging of professionals has a negative impact on both productivity and health, owing to poor working environments, heavy lifting, underground work, and other factors. To address this issue, the government is progressively revising and enforcing health management law and regulation in the construction industry. Thus, the job stress and work ability of many professional subway construction workers, who are rapidly aging, are being analyzed to ensure their safety and improve their health. In this study, the Macpa stress index of Busan Metro Subway construction workers from Sasang to Hadan line was measured by using a Macpa measurement machine, and a work ability survey was conducted by using the questionnaire that was developed by the FIOH. The independent variables were age, years of service, job position, employment type, and occupation. While, the dependent variables were the Macpa stress index and work ability. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used because it was difficult to assume that the statistics of this study represented a normal distribution. The results showed that age, job position, and employment type affected Macpa stress index and revealed that as the age of the workers increased, their stress levels increased as well. Additionally, job position and employment type affected the work ability of the metro subway construction workers. In terms of job position, the technical engineers were under a lot of stress, and whereas the managers had the best work ability. The technical engineers were more stressed than the other workers because of a poor working environment. In terms of employment type, daily workers were under more stress and lower work ability than others.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.132-135
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• 2009

The population over 65 years of age in Korea will be 10.3% of the entire population in 2008 indicating that Korea is already in an aging society. In addition, it is expected that Korea will be in an aged society in 2018 (population over 65 years of age : 14.3%) and that it will be in a post-aged society in 2026 (20.8%). Consequently, aged workers may also increase. It is well-known that the possibility to work longer and to live better is highly related to the work ability of individual. The objective of this study was to evaluate the work ability of each age group using the Work Ability Index(WAI) in the shipbuilding industry, and to assess the effects of social psychological stress, drinking characteristics, smoking characteristics, etc. on the WAI score. The results showed no significant difference on the effects of aging, drinking, and smoking characteristics. Interestingly, a statistical analysis on the effects of social psychological stress revealed a significant difference by stress levels. The difference of the average WAI score between the healthy group and the high risk group was about 10 points. Based on this result, it can be concluded that the stress level is an influential factor on WAI.