• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.28-34
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• 2018

Recently, various engineering approaches have been widely used in the accident investigation field to identify the cause of the accident and to predict damage by accident. Computational analysis is the most commonly used method of accident investigation technique. This technique is mainly used to identify the mechanism of the accident generation and to determine the cause when it is difficult to reproduce the situation at the time of the accident or when it is impossible to perform a reproduction experiment. In this study, The computational fluid dynamics analysis for nitrogen asphyxiation accident generated by defect of building structural between diffusion outlet and cooling tower was performed to determine the inflow path of the suffocation gas, death possibility by concentration of suffocation gas and predicted the time of death due to the accident using 3D modeling and FLACS program. We can quantify diffusion concentration of asphyxiation gas and predict mechanism of death occurrence by accident and evaluate the consequence Analysis through this study. In the future, This method can be widely used in the field of gas safety by improving the reliability and validity of the analysis.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.47-54
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• 2016

A confined space means places where the risk of damage to health caused by lack of oxygen or hazardous gases in inadequate ventilation conditions and the risk of fire and explosion caused by flammable substances. Asphyxiation accidents in a confined space occured every year and also occurred more than two people at the same time. In this study, we surveyed the domestic statistical data occurred the lack of oxygen in confined space for the last 10 years(2006-2015) and, analyzed the accident by industries sector, workplace size etc. 17 fatal work accidents that occurred in confined spaces in Korea between 2013 and 2015 were investigated and analyzed using the database of the KOSHA and suggested interventions to minimize asphyxiation accidents in confined spaces. This paper is expected to be used to establish interventions planning and training as a preventive measures in workplace having confined spaces.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.21-27
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• 2019

Many accidents have been occurring during welding and flame cutting work related to maintenance and repair as the domestic manufacturing facilities gradually become decrepit. However, it is not easy to find the accurate statistics and analysis data on accidents occurring during welding or flame cutting operations related to maintenance and repair of machinery and equipment. Therefore, in this study, the fatal accident cases of fire/explosion and asphyxiation that occurred during the welding and flame cutting work in the manufacturing industry were collected and their characteristics were analyzed. Then, we tried to find the connection of the accidents according to the machinery/equipment and the work content, and to provide the materials and measures that can be used to prevent the similar accidents. We collected 329 cases of the fatal accidents related to fire/explosion and leakage/contact of chemical substances in the domestic manufacturing industry during the last 10 years (2008 ~ 2017). Among them, 72 accidents occurred during welding or flame cutting were extracted and the related reports were investigated whether they occurred during usual work or unusual work. Also, the machinery/equipment and the work content related to the accidents were classified and analyzed based on the criteria. The analysis results showed that 31 cases of the fire/explosion accidents occurred during usual work and 32 cases during unusual work, and it was found that 9 cases of asphyxiation death occurred during usual work. Then, from the analysis results, the connections of the machinery/equipment and the work contents related to the accidents were schematized into a accident tree.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.36-43
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• 2020

Gas system fire extinguishing equipment is a very economically useful facility, but if it is not used for a long period of time after installing the equipment, there is possibility of rupture due to corrosion of containers and operation errors of equipment systems, and this is very dangerous. However, it is impossible to experiment to check whether the equipment is operating normally. If gas is temporarily released into the enclosed space due to rupture and malfunction, it can cause serious human damage due to gas suffocation. In this study, based on the suffocation death accident of gas system fire extinguishing facility, the inflow path of released gas and the possibility of death and time to death were estimated using a 3D scan and FLACS.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.294-300
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• 2017

The offshore installations and ships are the structures most likely to be exposed to hazards such as hydrocarbon fire and/or explosion. Developing proactive measures to prevent the escalation of such events thus requires detailed knowledge of the related phenomena and their consequences. $CO_2$ extinguishing systems are extensively used for fire accidents of on-and offshore installations because of outstanding performance and low cost. There is, however, the risk of carbon dioxide system which enumerates many of the fatalities by suffocation associated with industrial fire protection requirements. Therefore, the aim of this study is to perform the prediction of fire suppression characteristics of the carbon dioxide system in realistic enclosed compartment area of ships and propose $CO_2$ extinguish fire fighting system for preventing suffocation accidents during fire fighting. According to CFD calculations, it can be observed and assessed that various fire profiles with $CO_2$ and $O_2$ mole fraction in the target enclosed compartment area are applicable within the proposed system. Additionally, the design of fire safety system of ships and offshore installations can utilize ventilation system and/or layout arrangement through the proposed system.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.57-64
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• 2015

Carbon dioxide extinguishing systems are broadly used for onshore and offshore fire accidents because of excellent performance and low cost. However, there is risk with carbon dioxide systems, which have caused many injuries and deaths by suffocation associated with industrial and marine fire protection applications. In this study, a numerical analysis was performed to predict the fire suppression characteristics of a carbon dioxide system in the compressor room of ships. A double protection safety system is suggested to prevent suffocation accidents from carbon dioxide extinguishing systems. Four scenarios were selected to study the variation of the heat release rate, maximum temperature, a $CO_2$ and $O_2$ mole fraction, and fire suppression characteristics with the carbon dioxide system. The importance of proper design is suggested for a ventilation system in the compressor room of ships.