• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.743-749
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• 2014

Even if many studies for the prevention of accidents in chemical plant have been carried out, recently more severe accidents in chemical plants have occurred continuously. These have a large potential impact and the loss of casualties and economic can vary according to the activities of early emergency responses. Thus, in order to mitigate the impact of accidents, the studies preparing the guidelines for emergency response have to be urgently needed. In this study, the current emergency responses guidelines and regulations in Korea were investigated to find out the drawbacks. And, to tackle these, BCP(Business continuity plan) method was used to improve the activities of early emergency responses as suggesting the basic components, response steps, feedback and procedures of the emergency responses.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.100-107
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• 2015

Korea government has established and enforced countermeasures about the various policy of industrial accident prevention. Recent chemical accidents included hazardous materials. Exposure to these chemicals can cause serious environmental poisoning and various health problems. The key factor causing these major accidents may be associated with the mistake in workers' safety behaviors. Some researchers noted workers' safety behaviors may be related to workers' safety climate. In this research, a survey was conducted to explore workers' safety behaviors and safety climate in a large petrochemical company in Korea. The company processes major petrochemical materials and any spills can be hazardous and cause chemical disasters. In this study, we explored one petrochemical company to investigate three hypotheses. 593 workers were surveyed for this study. We checked association between workers' safety behavior and safety climate. The survey result shows the people who have safety climate do safe behavior.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.6 no.4 s.18
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• pp.1-7
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• 2002

Human errors can take place in all levels that include the design, production, construction, operation and maintenance of plant facilities. It was found that the causes were concerned with the effects of human error. This study verified characteristics of the on-site operators and error mechanism, and used the classifying sheet to analyze human error that occurred in process. Also, by applying the ASEP(Accident Sequence Evaluation Program) HRA(Human Reliability Analysis) procedure, the algorithm to estimate the HEP and the ASEP HEP program to analyze human error in the plant were developed. If it is built in on-site, possible human error incident will be prevented and the systematic human error prevention strategy will be devised.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.12-18
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• 2023

The effective evacuation strategy according to the accident scenario is crucial to minimize human casualties in the event of toxic gas leak accidents. In this study, the effect of the direction of a building and the location of an industrial complex on the increase in indoor concentration and outdoor diffusion was examined under the same leakage conditions, and effective evacuation criteria were established. In addition, the guidelines for building directions were suggested when constructing buildings that would mitigate human damage caused by chemical accidents. Three scenarios where buildings faced the front, side, and rear of the leakage direction were investigated through CFD simulations. The results revealed that when the building faced the industrial complex, both indoor and outdoor average gas concentrations increased significantly, reaching up to 120 times higher than the other two orientations. Moreover, the indoor space was filled with toxic gas substances more than twice in the same time due to the rapid increase of indoor concentration rate. In cases where the building's windows were positioned at the front, toxic gas stagnation occurred around the building due to pressure differences and reduced flow velocities. Based on our findings, the implementation of these guidelines will contribute to safeguarding residents by minimizing exposure to toxic gas during chemical accidents.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.8-16
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• 2014

In this study, the number of gas accidents prediction model was suggested by analyzing the gas accidents occurred in Korea. In order to predict the number of gas accidents, simple moving average method (3, 4, 5 period), weighted average method and exponential smoothing method were applied. Study results of the sum of mean-square error acquired by the models of moving average method for 4 periods and weighted moving average method showed the highest value of 44.4 and 43 respectively. By developing the number of gas accidents prediction model, it could be actively utilized for gas accident prevention activities.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.441-455
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• 2010

Researchers who work in science and engineering R&D laboratories are commonly exposed to a wide range of chemical, biological and physical hazards. They also may adopt ergonomically poor postures for long periods of time. These factors may increase the risk of adverse health outcomes in laboratory workers. Recently, there were several fatal accidents in the laboratories in universities and research institutes in Korea. Consequently, the 'Laboratory Safety Act' was enacted in 2006. However, there are concerns about the health risk associated with chronic exposures to hazards, as the management measures provided in this Act are very limited, focusing primarily on accident prevention and compensation for lab work-related accidents. In this article, the methods for assessing exposure to chemicals in laboratory environments are discussed. Also, epidemiological studies examining the association between laboratory exposure and health effects, including cancer and reproductive toxicity are extensively reviewed. Finally, the possible roles of environmental health professionals in this area are suggested, along with a list of critical research needs for properly assessing laboratory workers' exposure and risk.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.33-38
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• 2013

The chemical industries have used large amounts of chemicals. If an accident occurs, it caused physical and human damage. We intended to investigate risk assessment for the prevention of accidents. The risk assessment by HAZOP technique has been applide to major chemical industries, and that result has been utilized efficiently. In this study, we analyzed Bow-Tie and HAZOP technique, and risk assesment was performed by Bow-Tie on toxic material process. As a result, the risk that can not be found in the risk assessment of the other is derived, and improvements of 14 to remove the dangers derived. Bow-Tie risk assessment is suitable to derive the applicability of risk factors in the field and to establish the improvement measures.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.597-607
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• 2023

Purpose: The Ministry of Employment and Labor has been working hard to ensure the safety of workers due to heavy rain during natural disasters as the responsible ministry in charge of preventing industrial accidents and health problems for workers. Accordingly, the Ministry of Employment and Labor intends to analyze actual cases of responding to heavy rain disasters and suggest ways to improve the response system. Method: An emergency response system implemented to respond to heavy rain disasters with an internal expert group composed of those in charge of disaster work at headquarters, local government offices, and Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, and an external expert group composed of professors, consulting representatives, and disaster managers from other ministries. Contents on self-inspection by industry, workplace inspection, use of serious siren, safety management and restoration work guidance were reviewed. Result: First of all, it is necessary to check the regular contact system from time to time, and it is also necessary to prepare and distribute detailed self-checklists for each industry. In addition, it is necessary to check the implementation of self-inspection when inspecting workplaces, and it seems necessary to have measures to increase the readability of information notified through serious disaster sirens. In addition, since safety work is done in the form of a contract, it seems necessary to prepare specific safety guidelines. Conclusion: In order to protect the lives of workers due to seasonal harm and risk factors, unlike the passive coping methods of the past, abnormal weather should not be regarded as an unexpected situation, and it should be actively and preemptively responding beyond the conventional framework.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.806-814
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• 2023

Purpose: According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, in order to prevent industrial accidents, the right to stop work must be exercised in the event of an imminent danger. This study conducted a fact-finding survey on whether employers fulfilled the right to suspend work in the workplace when an imminent danger, such as a typhoon, was encountered. Method: For two days from August 9 to October, when the impact of Typhoon Khanun No. 6 was significant, it was confirmed by wire whether or not the work suspension was carried out at the workplace, and the subjects of the survey were 1,649 construction sites, 830 manufacturing sites, and 278 other industries, for a total of 2,757 sites. Result: As a result of the fact-finding survey, 56% (1,555 locations) on August 9th and 77% (2,142 locations) on August 10th carried out full or partial work suspension. In particular, on August 10, when the typhoon landed, 40% of all workplaces completely stopped work. Conclusion: Through this study, it was confirmed that the right to suspend work by employers is being used in actual workplaces. In the future, when there is an imminent danger, in addition to the right to suspend work, flexible and telecommuting, working hour adjustments, etc. must be actively used to ensure the safety of workers and protect their lives.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.194-202
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to develop educational materials on field practice safety based on existing field practice data and accident cases regarding vocational high schools and apply them to identify their impact. Methods: The existing data, accumulated since 2010, on field practices of vocational high schools were analyzed, and educational materials regarding field practices were developed by six experts. 195 students in three vocational high schools were surveyed before and after being taught with the materials. The survey asked about their knowledge of industrial safety and health and attitudes toward industrial safety and health. Results: As a result of the study, harmful environments for field practices of vocational high schools were physical, chemical, ergonomic, and emotional labor, and the consequences were accidents, death by overwork, musculoskeletal diseases, etc. The materials covered students' rights and how to respond to workplace accidents in the 1st round, how to organize a workshop in the 2nd round, workplace safety and health signs in the 3rd round, prevention of musculoskeletal diseases in the 4th round, management of physical risk factors in 5th round, management of hazardous chemicals in 6th round, wearing and managing protective equipment in 7th round, first aid depending on the situation in the 8th round, CPR and defibrillator in the 9th round, sexual harassment in the 10th round, and prevention of sexual violence in the 11th round. After completing the education, their knowledge of industrial safety and health increased significantly from 6.52 points to 7.01 points. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest: first, to statistically organize the data on accidents that have occurred during field practices of vocational high schools; second, to develop a systematic curriculum for high school 1st to 3rd graders on accidents that may happen during field practices of vocational high schools.