• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.99-103
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• 2022

Background: Firefighters may experience high environmental temperatures or carry out intensive physical tasks, or both, which leads to increased core body temperature and risk of fatalities. Hence there is a need to remotely and non-invasively monitor core body temperature. Methods: Estimated (heart rate algorithm) and actual core body temperature (ingested telemetric pill) measures were collected simultaneously for comparison during training exercises on 44 firefighter volunteers. Results: Prediction of core body temperature varied, with no specific identifiable pattern between the algorithm values and directly measured body core temperatures. Group agreement of Lin's Concordance of 0.74 (95% Upper 0.75, lower CI 0.73), was deemed poor. Conclusion: From individual agreement data Lin's Concordance was variable (Min 0.11, CI 0.13-0.01; Max 0.83, CI 0.86-0.80), indicating that the heart rate algorithm approach was not suitable for core body temperature monitoring in this population group, especially at the higher more critical core body temperatures seen.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.34
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• pp.12.1-12.11
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• 2022

Background: Gender equality in the workplace remains a challenge. This study aimed to investigate the gender gap of human resources in the field of occupational safety and health (OSH) in Korea. Methods: Several national statistical data that can confirm the gender distribution of personnel in the OSH sector were reviewed. The gender distribution of industrial technical manpower statistics, professional certificate holders in the OSH field, and the status of the appointment of safety and health managers by industry was analyzed. Results: The distribution of professionals in the OSH sector in Korea had a large gender gap with a small number of women. In particular, the proportion of women in the safety field was lower than that in the health field. In the younger age group, while the proportion of women is increasing, the gender gap tends to decrease. Conclusions: Few data are available to understand the gender-related aspects of OSH professions. Nevertheless, our results provide basic information for initiating a discussion on the necessity of establishing gender-sensitive culture and policies in the OSH sector.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.70-77
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• 2012

Objectives: Identify the characteristics related to the suicide rates in rural and urban areas of Korea and discover the factors that influence the suicide rate of the rural and urban areas. Methods: Using the data on causes of death from 2006 to 2008, the suicide rates were calculated and compared after age-standardization based on gender, age group and urbanicity. And, in order to understand the factors that influence suicide rate, total 10 local characteristics in four domains - public service, social integration, residential environment, and economic status - were selected for multiple regression analysis. Results: The suicide rates were higher in men than women, in rural areas than urban, and in older people than the younger. Generally, although there were variations according to age group and urbanicity, suicide rates were significantly related to residential environment and regional economic status but not related to regional welfare spending and social integration. In addition, the population over the age of 65 years, only regional economic status has significantly influence on their suicide rates. Conclusions: The influence of characteristics of regions on suicide rate is various by age-group, gender, and urbanicity. Therefore, in order to lower suicide rate and reduce the gap between regions, various approaches must be adopted by taking into account the socioeconomic characteristics of the regions.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.29.1-29.10
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• 2023

Background: Lone workers are generally defined as individuals who work alone without supervision, including self-employed people. While lone workers are considered a vulnerable group in some countries, there is a lack of research on their health status in domestic studies. Globally, the number of lone workers has been increasing, and this trend has been further accelerated since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with the rise of remote work. Methods: The study analyzed data from 44,281 participants, excluding unpaid family workers, soldiers, and those with missing data. Lone workers were defined as individuals who reported having no colleagues with the same job at their current workplace. Self-rated health status was categorized as "good" or "poor." Results: This study found a statistically significant higher number of lone workers among women compare to men. The largest occupational category for lone workers was service and sales workers, followed by agriculture and fisheries workers. A majority of non-lone workers reported working 40 hours or less per week, while the majority of lone workers reported working 53 hours or more per week. In addition, lone workers had significantly poorer health status evaluations compared to non-lone workers (odds ratio: 1.297; 95% confidence interval: 1.165-1.444). Conclusions: Further research is needed to investigate the causal relationship between lone work and health, using data collected after the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.135-145
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• 2004

This study tried to analyze influencing factors on self-perceived health status(SPHS) of labors in workplace. and suggested the preventive oriental medicine approaches in occupational health care. 914 data for research were collected through the process of oriental health examination with questionnaire in workplace and collected data were analyzed with frequency, homogeneity and correlation statistically. The results were as follows : 1) The distributions of SPHS was 58.4% of healthy group. 41.6% of unhealthy group. 2) For the difference of SPHS by stress, the high level stress group was more included in healthy group(p<0.05). 3. For the difference of SPHS by health behavior. the higher score of health behavior group was more included in healthy group. There was statistically significant difference of SPHS in physical exercise, but not in smoking, drinking, sleeping and body mass index. 4. For the difference of SPHS by the latest health examination results, non-disease group was more included in healthy group, while disease group was more included in unhealthy group. From the above results, SPHS was influenced by stress, health behavior, the latest health examination results. Therefore oriental medical service for occupational health must be interested in the these influencing factors and make an effort to change their perception of health as well as physical improvement.

• 재활복지
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.31-51
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• 2018

This study performed to provide the basic information about the effects of the health management importance awareness on the occupational performance and basic fitness for the people with intellectual disabilities. 16 people with intellectual disabilities participated in muscle strengthening exercise. To assess health management importance awareness, the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure was used to identify the importance of the health management. According to the results of the importance, they were divided into two groups: Extreme and Neutral Importance Group in order to analyze the changes of the occupational performance and basic fitness. In-group analysis of the performance, satisfaction level, strength, and flexibility found that all measures improved in both groups following completion of the program. Between-group analysis following completion of the program indicated group differences in the performance and satisfaction level, but no group differences were found in the muscle strength and flexibility. Thus, this study showed the positive effects from the results of the program participation targeting the people with intellectual disabilities, and highlighted the importance of the awareness for them regarding the need for the health management (as evidenced by the improvement in occupational performance). It is expected that effective health management through participation in programs such as this will help maintain a healthy lifestyle and contribute to improve the quality of life.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.75-84
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• 2016

Objectives : The aim of this study was to compare a treatment focusing on the physical function to an intervention focusing on a cognitive strategy in stroke patients which improves their performance skills of daily activities. Methods : This study design was a randomized control trial selecting 43 people with stroke patients. This study consisted of a control group, which received conventional occupational therapy focusing on physical function, and an experimental group which was trained to develop a cognitive strategy by themselves. Both groups each received 10 sessions of the treatment. This study compared the skills for performing daily activities before and after the intervention and analyzed the data with SPSS Ver. 18.0. Results : This study showed a significant improvement in all performance skills in the experimental group (p<.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the performance skills before and after the intervention in the control group (p>.05). Conclusions : It was verified that stroke patients to develop a cognitive strategy by themselves is more effective than to improve the physical function in performance skills for daily activities.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.387-393
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• 2022

Background: Problem drinking is a perennial concern in the US fire service. A large literature has documented the importance of addressing alcohol norms in intervention research. The purpose of this study was to explore alcohol norms in a national cohort of firefighters (FFs) to inform intervention development in this occupational group. Methods: Data were from a national online survey of career and volunteer FFs (N = 674). Participants were recruited through national fire service listservs and a database of FFs who had agreed to be contacted for research. Results: When asked about "acceptable" levels of alcohol consumption, FFs on average suggested levels which exceeded public health guidelines. Further, approximately half of career and volunteer FFs believed that, at least under some circumstances, drinking until intoxicated was normative. When asked how long should elapse between a FFs last drink and reporting for duty, the average suggested lag was 11.2 hours (sd = 4.6). However, among male volunteer FFs who reported heavy drinking, the average was 6.68 hours (sd = 4.77). Conclusions: Given the high prevalence of heavy and binge drinking in the fire service, it is not surprising that the alcohol norms found in this study were consistent with a culture of drinking. Participants' reports of alcohol use among their peers were consistent with the actual prevalence of problem drinking. Thus, education and prevention efforts in this occupation should focus on changing norms about alcohol use, including linking heavy drinking to other health and safety issues they face.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2022

Introduction: Previous studies on occupational health focussed predominately on the occurrence of occupational diseases. Relatively few studies have measured how employment is associated with the use of healthcare services. This study investigates the association between employment and the extent and range of healthcare use, such as medical expenditures, of women in South Korea. Methods: We analyze data of the Korean Health Panel, an ongoing longitudinal national representative survey, from 2008 to 2017, to identify the status of economic activity of women by year and age group. We estimate the association between female employment status and medical expenditures by using random effect panel Tobit models. Furthermore, we investigate the association between employment status and the range of healthcare services in biomedicine and traditional Korean medicine (KM) by conducting conditional fixed-effects logistic regression analyses. Results: For women aged between 25 and 65 in 2017, the majority of them were employed or self-employed. (The proportion of employment of self-employment equals 64.80%). In addition, working women spent 11.6% less on healthcare than nonworking women, and self-employment lowered the healthcare expenditure by 13.1%. Neither work nor the type of work is related to the types and range of healthcare service use. Being employed or self-employed is negatively associated with women's expenditure on healthcare. Conclusions: The findings show that employment is associated with less spending on healthcare. They imply that employment has a positive impact on women's health.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.509-516
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• 2020

Background: Meta-analyses have shown firefighters to be at an increased risk of several cancer types. Occupational carcinogen exposure may explain these increased risks. This study aims to describe Norwegian fire departments' work conditions from 1950 until today, focusing on factors relevant for potential occupational carcinogen exposure. Methods: With the help of a reference group, we developed a questionnaire on topics related to occupational exposure to carcinogens for the period 1950-2018. Selected Norwegian fire departments provided department-specific responses. Results: Sixteen departments, providing fire services for 48% of the Norwegian population as of 2019 and mainly consisting of professional firefighters, responded to our questionnaire. The introduction of synthetic firefighting foams, more regular live fire training, the introduction of chemical diving, and a higher number of diesel-driven fire service vehicles were identified as changes thought to increase exposure to occupational carcinogens. Changes thought to decrease exposure included the switch from negative to positive pressure self-contained breathing apparatuses, the use of self-contained breathing apparatuses during all phases of firefighting, the use of ventilating fans during firefighting, increased attention to flammable materials used during live fire training, increased attention to handling and cleaning of turnout gear and other equipment, and installment of exhaust removal systems in apparatus bays. Conclusion: Norwegian fire departments' work conditions have seen several changes since 1950, and this could influence firefighters' occupational carcinogen exposure. A peak of carcinogen exposure may have occurred in the 1970s and 1980s before recent changes have reduced exposure.