• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.139-155
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• 2012

This study aimed to glean lessons for desirable early childhood physical education programs by contouring the current paradigms on body or physical activities in the area of early education for young children. It also aimed to analyze their postures while participating in daily activities. The research method for analysis of children's postures while doing daily activities was OWAS(Ovako Working Posture Analysing System) which has been extensively used in ergonomics. Components of data analysis have been redesigned on the basis of information gathered from OWAS with the help of ergonomic experts. The results showed different percentages of children's movements according to activities such as whole class meeting, small group activity and outdoor activity. Small group and outdoor activities can be considered the most desirable physical activities not only for cognitive and social development but also for physical development. And it is recommended to reconstruct the quality and nature of whole class meetings in order to coordinate the physical nature of young children.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.347-353
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• 2016

Background: This study aimed to investigate the relation between key strike forces and musculoskeletal symptoms (MSS). Moreover, this study presents a key strike force measurement method to be used in a workplace setting. The correlation between key strike force characteristics and MSS was previously studied, but the measurement methods used either a single-key switch or force platforms applied under the keyboard. Most of the studies were conducted in a laboratory setting. The uniqueness of measurement methods in the current study is their ability to measure forces applied to a specific key in a workplace setting and to provide more information about specific key strike forces during typing. Methods: Twenty-four healthy computer workers were recruited for the study. The demographic questionnaire, and self-reported questionnaires for psychosocial status (General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychological and Social Factors at Work) and for detecting MSS were filled up, which later helped in dividing the participants into two groups (12 participants with pain and 12 without pain). Participants typed a predetermined text that utilized the instrumented keys multiple times. The dynamic forces applied to the keys were recorded and collected, using four thin and flexible force sensors attached to the preselected keys according to their location. Results: The results demonstrated that participants with high levels of MSS, specifically in the back and neck, in the last year exerted significantly higher key strike forces than those with lower levels of symptoms (p < 0.005). Conclusion: The key strike force exerted while typing on a keyboard may be a risk factor for MSS, and should therefore be considered in ergonomic evaluations and interventional programs.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.637-643
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• 2007

In many fields, commercial programs or equipments are biting developed and these are getting complicated more and more by adding advantages from existing products. In promoting the usability of these products, design based on the information integration receives attention. However, is information integration always better? In this study, we tried to demonstrate information distribution is more efficient than information integration through conning display design that was propelled by many countries' classification societies. We designed the conning display using many ergonomic methods and conducted its performance experiment. Results of the performance experiment reveal that conning display having two modes (one shows the functions related with ocean and coast voyage and another shows the functions related with docking and leaving port) is more efficient.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.51-57
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• 2010

Cycling that transform human energy into mechanical energy is one of the man-machine systems out of sports fields. Benchmarking means "improving ourselves by learning from others', therefore benchmarking toward dominant cyclist is necessary on field. The goals of this study were to provide important factors on multi-disciplines (kinematics, physiology, power, psychology) for a tailored-training program that is suitable to individual characteristics. Two cyclists participated in this study and gave consent to the experimental procedure. One was dominant cyclist (years: 21 yrs, height: 177 cm, mass: 70 kg), and the other was non-dominant cyclist (years: 21, height: 176, mass: 70). Kinematic data were recorded using six infrared cameras (240Hz) and QTM (software). Physiological data (VO2max, AT) were acquired according to graded exercising test with cycle ergometer and power with Wingate test used by Bar-Or et. al (1977) and to evaluate muscle function with Cybex. Psychological data were collected with competitive state anxiety inventory (CSAI-2) that was devised by Martens et. al (1990) and athletes' self-management questionnaire (ASMQ) of Huh (2003). It appears that the dominant's CV of ankle joint angle was higher than non-dominant's CV and dominant's pedaling pattern was consistent in biomechanics domain, which the dominant's values for all factors ware higher than non-dominant's values in physical, and physiological domain, and their values between cognitive anxiety and somatic anxiety were contrary to each other in psychology. Further research on multi-disciplines may lead to the development of tailored-optimal training programs applicable with key factors to enhance athletic performance by means of research including athlete, coach and parents.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.24-35
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• 1998

Cumulative trauma disorders(CTDs) have been a growing problems for US and European industries with higher incidence rate every year. The increase and their associated costs has led companies to form committes and implement programs to address this problem. In our country, we have just started to recognize and to work on the problems in industry. This study conducted an ergonomic analysis for typical jobs of ship building industry which was not usually surveyed for CTD problem. A baseline CTD checklist which was supposed to do a risk assessment was developed and applied in this study. Initially, we considered five major parts in the checklist which consisted of personal, frequency, posture, force, and miscellaneous information. Most jobs in ship building industry were much different from typical assembly work and VDT work that have been major part of the previous CTD studies. Specifically, job characteristics in terms of frequency and posture were quite different. There were relatively long cycle time, awkward postures for whole body (not just for upper extremities). Also, CTD risk scores based on checklist were a lot higher than the scores for VDT jobs which was a case of preceding application of the checklist. Specifically, grinding jobs turned out to be the most risky one in terms of CTDs. In conclusion, usual CTD prevention guidelines are not likely to he effective in this type of industry. An individual job based interventions are strongly suggested to have a good control of CTD problems in ship building industry.

• Proceedings of the Safety Management and Science Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.15-24
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• 2009

Cycling that transform human energy into mechanical energy is one of the man-machine systems out of sports fields. Benchmarking means " improving ourselves by learning from others ", therefore benchmarking toward dominant cyclist is necessary on field. the goals of this study were to provide important factors on multi-disciplines (kinematics, physiology, power, psychology) for a tailored-training program that is suitable to individual characteristics. Two cyclist participated in this study and gave consent to the experimental procedure. one was dominant cyclist (years:21 yrs, height:177 cm, mass:70 kg), and the other was non-dominant cyclist(years:21, height:176, mass:70). Kinematic data were recorded using six infrared cameras (240Hz) and QTM (software). Physiological data (VO2max, AT) were acquired according to graded exercising test with cycle ergometer and power with Wingate test used by Bar-Or et. al ( 1977) and to evaluate muscle function with Cybex. Psychological data were collected with competitive state anxiety inventory (CSAI-2) that were devised by Martens et. al (1990) and with athletes' self-management questionnaire (ASMQ) of Huh (2003). It appears that the dominant's CV(coefficient of variability) was higher than non-dominant's CV in Sports Biomechanics domain, that the dominant's values for all factors ware higher than non-dominant's values in physical, and physiological domain, and their values between cognitive anxiety and somatic anxiety were contrary to each other in psychology. Further research on multi-disciplines may lead to the development of tailored-optimal training programs applicable with key factors to enhance athletic performance by means of research including athlete, coach and parents.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.831-841
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• 2010

Usability evaluation of physical products involves characterizing complex physical interactions between humans and products. Human models known as manikins have been widely utilized as usability evaluation tools for automobile interior package design. When combined with computer-aided design software programs, such manikins can be used to simulate driving postures and evaluate driver-interior fits early in the design process, and therefore, may greatly facilitate achieving high-quality design in a cost-efficient manner. The purpose of this study was to define a set of manikins for designing automobile interior packages for the South Korean male population. These manikins were conceptualized as "boundary" manikins, which represent individuals lacking in certain physical capacities or having usability-related issues (e.g., an individual with the 5th percentile forward reach capability, an individual with the 95th percentile shoulder width). Such boundary manikins can serve as an efficient tool for determining if an automobile interior design accommodates the majority of the population. The boundary manikins were selected from the large sample of Korean males whose anthropometric dimensions were described in the recent Size Korea anthropometric database. For each male in the database, his comfortable driving posture was represented using a kinematic body linkage model and various physical capacity measured and usability-related characteristics relevant to driver accommodation were evaluated. For each such measure, a boundary manikin was selected among the Korean males. The manikins defined in this study are expected to serve as tools for ergonomic design of automobile interior packages. The manikin selection method developed in this study was implemented as a generic software program useful for various product design applications.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.101-112
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to contribute to the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in 119 emergency medical technicians (EMTs) by evaluating ergonomic risk factors of patient lifting work-postures. Methods: Four procedures were evaluated: using long back-board (LBB) on the sitting and standing main stretcher, using variable stretcher on the sitting and standing main stretcher. Wok-postures were assessed during training. Results: In using LBB on the sitting main stretcher, the OWAS-score was Mode:3 (Mean:2.30, Maximum:3), the REBA-score was Mode:9 (Mean:7.61, Maximum:11), requiring improvement soon. In using LBB on the standing main stretcher, the OWAS-score was Mode:3 (Mean:2.33, Maximum:3), requiring as soon as possible corrective action, the REBA-score was Mode:6 (Mean:5.44, Maximum:11), requiring improvement. In using variable stretcher on the sitting main stretcher, the OWAS-score was Mode:1 (Mean:1.85, Maximum:3), not requiring corrective action, the REBA-score was Mode:6 (Mean:6.78, Maximum:11), requiring improvement. In using variable stretcher on the standing main stretcher, the OWAS-score was Mode:3 (Mean:2.84, Maximum:3), requiring as soon as possible corrective action, the REBA-score was Mode:11 (Mean:9.38, Maximum:11), requiring immediate improvement. Conclusion: All four-procedures showed improvement in work-posture. Thereby, required attention and management in training, occupational health professionals should participate in change of lifting-method, and programs aimed at preventing MSDs should be developed and implemented in fire-academy and fire-station.