• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2020

In this study, boron/silicon sol compounds were applied to wood for construction and durable materials, and fire risks were investigated in terms of smoke performance index (SPI), smoke growth index (SGI), and smoke intensity (SI). The compound was synthesized by reacting tetraethoxyorthosilicate with boric acid and boronic acid derivatives. Smoke characteristics were investigated using a cone calorimeter (ISO 5660-1) equipment for cypress wood. The fire intensity fixed the external heat flux at 50 kW/㎡. The smoke performance index measured after the combustion reaction increased between 13.4% and 126.7% compared with cypress wood. The fire risk due to the smoke performance index decreased in the order of cypress, phenylboronic acid/silicon sol (PBA/Si), (2-methylpropyl) boronic acid/silicon sol (IBBA/Si), boric acid/silicon sol (BA/Si). The smoke growth index decreased between 12.0% and 57.5% compared to the base specimen. The risk of fire caused by the smoke growth index decreased in the order of cypress, PBA/Si, IBBA/Si, BA/Si. The fire risk due to smoke intensity decreased between 3.2% and 57.8%, and in the order of cypress, PBA/Si, IBBA/Si, BA/Si. CO_peak concentrations ranged between 85 and 93 ppm, and decreased between 37% and 43% compared to the base specimen. A comprehensive assessment of the fire risk on smoke hazards decreased in the order of cypress, PBA/Si, IBBA/Si, BA/Si.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.293-310
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to present the most effective smoke exhaust mode by comparing the quantitatively evaluated risks according to the smoke exhaust mode when a train fire occurs in a subway platform. Therefore, applying the typical subway platform as a model, train fire scenarios are developed with the evacuation start time and location of the fire train for each exhaust mode. The fire accident rates (F) are calculated and the number of fatalities (N) was quantitatively estimated by fire analysis and evacuation analysis for each scenario. In addition, the F/N curve compared with the social risk assessment criteria and the following conclusions were obtained. In the event of a train fire at the subway station platform, the evacuation must start up within 600 s in maximum to ensure the evacuees' safety. To secure evacuation safety, it is advantageous to operate the HVAC system of the platform in the air-supply mode at station without TVF. Comparing the F/N curve for each exhaust mode with the social risk criteria, it turned out that the risk significantly exceeds the social risk criteria in case of no mechanical ventilation. As a result, this paper shows that the ventilation mode in which TVF are exhausted and HVAC system is operated in the pressurized mode are the most effective smoke exhaust mode for ensuring evacuation safety.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.151-160
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• 2013

Recently, children's deaths are found to be mostly caused by various accidents in Korea. But it is in reality that the safety training are very roughly conducted, and even contemporarily appropriate training materials are not sufficiently furnished contrary to the increasing significance of the safety training to reduce the children's accidental risks. This study is to compare and analyze the safety training courses of domestic and overseas elementary schools and various safety training materials. This study is purposed ultimately to reduce the accidental risks of elementary school students by suggesting the future development direction. It is concluded in this study that more appropriate safety training courses and materials should be provided to train the students to habituate their safe behaviors with a view to protect the elementary school students against the accidents. In addition, the safety training should be conducted consistently by reflecting the students' characters, and the pertinent training materials should be developed for the students' spontaneous learning and for more practical preventive training.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.161-167
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to assess power loss in the computer and office automation equipment and identified a way to save power consumptions through field measurement. In this study, the meaning of standby power was to consume power while waiting for the use of any electronic equipment. This standby consumption was about 11% of total power consumption even though we did not seriously realize it. Therefore, it was very important to measure accurate power consumption at the standby status of electronic equipment. In addition, it also helped to reduce potential risks of electricity associated disasters. This study proposed the way to reduce power losses through automatic turn off switches for power outlets and switches. Finally, this study can evaluate power consumption patterns that can reduce power consumptions and potential risks of power related disasters. This also can achieve the goals of sustainability that can reduce environmental impacts by lowering energy consumptions and greenhouse gas emissions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.9-15
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• 2023

Hydrogen is gaining attention as a sustainable and renewable energy source, potentially replacing fossil fuels. Its high diffusivity, wide flammable range, and low ignition energy make it prone to ignition even with minimal friction, potentially leading to fire and explosion risks. Workplaces manage ignition risks by classifying areas with explosive atmospheres. However, the effective installation of a blast wall can significantly limit the spread of hydrogen, thereby enhancing workplace safety. To optimize the wall installation of this barrier, we employed the response surface methodology (RSM), considering variables such as wall distance, height, and width. We performed 17 simulations using the Box-Behnken design, conducted using FLACS software. This process yielded two objective functions: explosion likelihood near the barrier and explosion overpressure affecting the blast wall. We successfully achieved the optimal solution using multi-objective optimization for these two functions. We validated the optimal solution through verification simulations to ensure reliability, maintaining a margin of error of 5%. We anticipated that this method would efficiently determine the most effective installation of a blast wall while enhancing workplace safety.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.782-790
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• 2016

When a fire occurs on a ship that has mechanical ventilation facilities, the air supply and exhaust systems directly effect smoke diffusion. And there is a high possibility that occupant's visibility will be harmed because of smoke. In this study, the effects and risks of air supply and exhaust systems with regard to smoke diffusion given a shipboard fire analyzed with a Fire Dynamic Simulator(FDS). Suggested measures are also provided for using air supply and exhaust systems more efficiently. The results showed that, when air supply and exhaust systems were both working at the time of a fire, rather than stopping these systems as previously encouraged, continuing to operate both was an effective measure to gain evacuation time. When a fire occurred and the exhaust system was operating, also starting the air supply system near the origin of the fire was another effective approach to gain evacuation time. However, when only the air supply system was operating and a fire occurred, the air supply system accelerated smoke diffusion, so it was necessary to stop the air supply system to detect smoke diffusion as much as possible.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.120-128
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• 2022

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are a basic component in the electronics industry and are widely used in nearly all electronic products, such as mobile phones, tablet computers, and digital cameras, as well as in electric equipment. PCB manufacturing involves the use of many chemicals and chemical processes and therefore has more risks than other manufacturing sectors. This study aims to identify the causes of possible accidents during PCB manufacturing through risk assessment, develop and implement safety measures, and evaluate the effectiveness of these measures. Note that the safety measures developed to mitigate the risks of a certain process were also implemented for other similar processes. The risk assessments conducted over seven years, from 2015 to 2021, at a PCB manufacturing company identified 361 hazardous processes. Between 2016 and 2019, 41-56 hazardous processes were identified per year; such processes decreased to fewer than 20 per year after 2020. Application of the risk assessment results to the improvement of the hazardous processes with the similar characteristics seems to be effective in decreasing the risks. Equipment-related factors such as lack of appropriate maintenance, low work standards, and defective protection devices were responsible for 59.8% of all possible accidents. Because PCB manufacturing involves many chemicals, skin contact with hazardous substances, electric shock, fire, and explosion were the most common types of possible accidents (81.7%). In total, 505 safety measures were implemented, including 157 related to purchase and improvement of equipment and devices for safety (31.1%), 147 related to the installation/modification of fire prevention facilities (29.1%), and 69 related to the use of standard electrical appliances (13.7%). Risk assessment conducted after implementing the safety measures showed that these measures significantly decreased risk; 247 processes (68.4%) had a risk level of 3, corresponding to "very low," and 114 processes (31.6%) showed a risk level of 4, corresponding to "low." In particular, risk assessment of 104 processes with risk scores of 12 and 10 other processes with risk score of 16 showed that the risk decreased to 4 after implementing the safety measures. Thus, implementing these measures in similar manufacturing sectors that involve chemical processes can mitigate risk.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.29-33
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• 2018

Accident likelihood is growing due to a correlation for gas and electricity installed in the area of dense energy consumption like traditional market and underground shopping center. In order to prevent and respond accident risks related to gas and electricity in this area, it should be monitored and predicted for factors of gas leak or electricity by developing safety management system. This study is about accident prediction model development considering fire risk factor related to gas accident. The temperature variation characteristic near a gas burner was analyzed. Also, accident prediction algorithm and related module were developed to prevent fire in the area of dense energy consumption.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.139-148
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• 2019

The role of electroencephalography (EEG) in the development of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology is increasing. In particular, the importance of the analysis of event related potential (ERP) in various situations is becoming more significant in BCI technology. Studies on past maze and fire situations have been difficult due to risks and realistic problems. Nowadays, according to the development of virtual reality (VR) technology, realistic maze and fire situation can be realized. In this study, ERPs (P300, and evented related negativity) were analyzed to collect objective data on case determination in an emergency situation. In order to overcome the limitations of previous methods that evaluating the EEG frequency change, ERPs were derived by setting epochs for stimulation and standardizing them, and evaluated for ERPs in this study. P3a and P3b, which are subcomponents of P300, were analyzed and the evented related negativity (ERN) was analyzed together with error positivity (Pe). As a result of the study, statistically significant changes of ERPs were observed, this result, which has little related research, is considered to be meaningful as medical basic statistics.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.1-6
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• 2021

Hydrogen is considered a cleaner energy source than fossil fuels. As a result, the use of hydrogen in daily life and economic industries is expected to increase. However, the use of hydrogen energy is currently limited because of safety issues. The rate of combustion of the hydrogen mixture is about seven times higher than that of hydrocarbon fuels. The hydrogen mixture is highly flammable and has a low minimum ignition energy. Therefore, it presents considerable risks for fire and explosions in all areas of hydrogen manufacturing, transportation, storage, and use. In this study, the auto-ignition characteristics of hydrogen were investigated numerically for diluted hydrogen mixtures. Auto-ignition temperature, a critical property predicting the fire and explosion risk in hydrogen combustion, was determined in well-stirred reactors. When N₂ and CO₂ were used to dilute the hydrogen/air mixture, the ignition delay time increased with increasing dilution ratios in both cases. The CO₂-diluted mixtures exhibited a longer ignition delay than the N₂-diluted mixtures. We also confirmed that lower initial ignition temperatures increased the ignition delay times at 950 K and above. Overall, the auto-ignition characteristics, such as the concentrations of participating species and ignition delay times, were primarily affected by the initial temperature of the mixture.