• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2016

Background: Several studies have investigated the relationship between specific occupations and suicide mortality, as suicide rates differ by profession. The aim of this study was to investigate suicide mortality ratios across broad occupational groups in Greece for both sexes in the period 2000-2009. Methods: Data of suicide deaths were retrieved from the Hellenic Statistical Authority and comparative mortality ratios were calculated. Occupational classification was based on the International Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88) and the coding for Intentional self-harm (X60-X84) was based on the international classification of diseases (ICD-10). Results: Male dominant occupations, mainly armed forces, skilled farmers and elementary workers, and female high-skilled occupations were seen as high risk groups for suicide in a period of 10 years. The age-productive group of 30-39 years in Greek male elementary workers and the 50-59 age-productive group of Greek professional women proved to have the most elevated number of suicide deaths. Conclusion: Further research is needed into the work-related stressors of occupations with high suicide mortality risk and focused suicide prevention strategies should be applied within vulnerable working age populations.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.365-370
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• 2006

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in smoking rates according to the major occupational categories in South Korea. Methods: The study subjects were a weighted sample of 24,495 men and 26,121 women aged 25-64 from the 2003 Social Statistics Survey, which was conducted by the Korea National Statistical Office. Occupation was classified according to the Korean Standard Occupation Classification. We computed the age-standardized smoking rates according to gender and occupations after adjusting for the education level, marital status, and self-rated health. Results: For men, the smoking rate in elementary occupations was two times higher than that of clerks (OR=1.98, 95% CI=1.74-2.26). In general, a more prestigious job(professionals) correlated with lower smoking rates, and less prestigious jobs correlated with higher smoking rates, except for legislators, senior officials and managers. For women, smoking among service workers was 4.1 times higher than among clerical workers (OR=4.11, 95% CI=2.87-5.88). For women, their occupations, except elementary workers, and the unemployed, the retired and the armed forces, failed to show significant differences in smoking compared with the clerical workers. After adjusting for education, occupational differences in the smoking rate for men were attenuated in most occupations, except for legislators, professionals, and technicians. Further adjustment for marital status and self-rated health had a minimal effect on the occupational differences in the smoking rate for men. For women workers with service or elementary occupations, the ORs of smoking were attenuated with adjustment of the educational levels. However, the ORs of smoking were increased in workers with service, sales or elementary occupations, as well as for legislators, and the unemployed, the retired and the armed forces, after additionally adjusting for marital status. Conclusions: More prestigious jobs generally correlated with lower smoking rates in both sexes. The anti-tobacco policy should consider smoking rate differentials by occupations.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.152-160
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• 2009

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze service occupation types and to develop training programs for the aged. Methods: This study used descriptive study design. The research process consisted of three stages: first, identified the demand of service manpower for the aged; second, investigated present jobs and education programs in Korea and Japan; and last, developed service jobs and education programs for the aged. Results: Potential users considered "health management" to be the most important area. They thought "providing job" as second most important. According to the result of analyzing Korean policies, there were 9 service occupations in 5domains. So, we derived 10 occupations such as 'daily living manager', 'care manager', 'care worker', 'health manager', 'education specialist', 'leisure manager', 'good manager', 'housing manager', 'financial specialist' and 'retirement consultant' in 5domains as healthcare, leisure, goods, housing and finance. Finally, we developed their tailored training programs. Conclusion: According to this study, there should be various occupations qualified by the government, and training programs should be settled. And healthcare providers must included in developing standardized training programs.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2020

Background: As the impact of climate change intensifies, exposure to heat stress will grow, leading to a loss of work capacity for vulnerable occupations and affecting individual labor decisions. This study estimates the future work capacity under the Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 scenario and discusses its regional impacts on the occupational structure in the Republic of Korea. Methods: The data utilized for this study constitute the local wet bulb globe temperature from the Korea Meteorological Administration and information from the Korean Working Condition Survey from the Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute of Korea. Using these data, we classify the occupations vulnerable to heat stress and estimate future changes in work capacity at the local scale, considering the occupational structure. We then identify the spatial cluster of diminishing work capacity using exploratory spatial data analysis. Results: Our findings indicate that 52 occupations are at risk of heat stress, including machine operators and elementary laborers working in the construction, welding, metal, and mining industries. Moreover, spatial clusters with diminished work capacity appear in southwest Korea. Conclusion: Although previous studies investigated the work capacity associated with heat stress in terms of climatic impact, this study quantifies the local impacts due to the global risk of climate change. The results suggest the need for mainstreaming an adaptation policy related to work capacity in regional development strategies.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.41-49
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• 2020

Background: We performed this study to investigate the inequalities in site-specific cancer incidences among workers across different occupations in Korea. Methods: Subjects included members of the national employment insurance. Incident cancers among 8,744,603 workers were followed from 1995 to 2007. Occupational groups were classified according to the Korean Standard Occupational Classification. Age-standardized incidence rate ratios were calculated. Results: We found that men in service/sales and blue-collar occupations had elevated rates of esophageal, liver, laryngeal, and lung cancer. Among women, service/sales workers had elevated incidences of cervical cancer. Male prostate cancer, female breast, corpus uteri, and ovarian cancers, as well as male and female colorectal, kidney, and thyroid cancer showed lower incidences among workers in lower socioeconomic occupations. Conclusions: Substantial differences in cancer incidences were found depending on occupation reflecting socioeconomic position, in the Korean working population. Cancer prevention policy should focus on addressing these socioeconomic inequalities.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.26.1-26.15
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• 2023

Background: The objective of this study is to investigate the differences in incidence rates of targeted diseases by classification of occupations among construction workers in Korea. Methods: In a subject-based cohort of the Korean Construction Worker's Cohort, we surveyed a total of 1,027 construction workers. As occupational exposure, the classification of occupations was developed using two axes: construction business and job type. To analyze disease incidence, we linked survey data with National Health Insurance Service data. Eleven target disease categories with high prevalence or estimated work-relatedness among construction workers were evaluated in our study. The average incidence rates were calculated as cases per 1,000 person-years (PY). Results: Injury, poisoning, and certain other consequences of external causes had the highest incidence rate of 344.08 per 1,000 PY, followed by disease of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue for 208.64 and diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue for 197.87 in our cohort. We especially found that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was more common in construction painters, civil engineering welders, and civil engineering frame mold carpenters, asthma in construction painters, landscape, and construction water proofers, interstitial lung diseases in construction water proofers. Conclusions: This is the first study to systematically classify complex construction occupations in order to analyze occupational diseases in Korean construction workers. There were differences in disease incidences among construction workers based on the classification of occupations. It is necessary to develop customized occupational safety and health policies for high-risk occupations for each disease in the construction industry.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.256-269
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• 2020

Objectives: Everyone has been affected in some way by the COVID-19 pandemic, while some workers face threats to their health due to their jobs as well as worries about spreading the virus to intimate family members. With these concerns in mind, this study aims to identify occupations more vulnerable to COVID-19 and suggests the necessity of providing proper control measures against the risks in a timely manner in Korea. Methods: Daily briefing reports by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) were compiled (n=120) between January 20 and May 31, 2020. A total of 11,486 confirmed cases were included, which were sorted by occasion, area, and occupation. Among them, 2,411 cases were classified with specific occasions and/or areas of infection, while only 544 cases were determined with identifiable occupations. Guidelines for biological hazard management and COVID-19 guidelines for workplaces from domestic and international bodies were enlisted and compared. Results: It is unsurprising to find that healthcare professionals are experiencing the most immediate threat from COVID-19. In addition, service workers with face-to-face practices or indirect contact are also facing high risks. Religion facilities and eating places (dining, drinking bar, café, etc.,) follow. Guidelines and manuals for biological hazards are still lacking in Korea compared to the US and EU. Workplace manuals for managing COVID-19 are neither as comprehensive as the approaches of NIOSH's hierarchy of controls nor inclusive enough for minimizing secondary or tertiary suffering. Conclusions: The COVID-19 crisis is still ongoing and there is no doubt there will be more such events in the future. This analysis suggests that occupational health professionals, amid a pandemic including COVID-19, are urged to anticipate emerging risks related to all sorts of occupations, identify vulnerable workers and working environments, and plan and take actions to protect workers' health.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.165-172
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• 2020

Background: To gain a better understanding of nonfatal injuries in Alaska, underutilized data sources such as workers' compensation claims must be analyzed. The purpose of the current study was to utilize workers' compensation claims data to estimate the risk of nonfatal, work-related injuries among occupations in Alaska, characterize injury patterns, and prioritize future research. Methods: A dataset with information on all submitted claims during 2014-2015 was provided for analysis. Claims were manually reviewed and coded. For inclusion in this study, claims had to represent incidents that resulted in a nonfatal acute traumatic injury, occurred in Alaska during 2014-2015, and were approved for compensation. Results: Construction workers had the highest number of injuries (2,220), but a rate lower than the overall rate (34 per 1,000 construction workers, compared to 40 per 1,000 workers overall). Fire fighters had the highest rate of injuries on the job, with 162 injuries per 1,000 workers, followed by law enforcement officers with 121 injuries per 1,000 workers. The most common types of injuries across all occupations were sprains/strains/tears, contusions, and lacerations. Conclusion: The successful use of Alaska workers' compensation data demonstrates that the information provided in the claims dataset is meaningful for epidemiologic research. The predominance of sprains, strains, and tears among all occupations in Alaska indicates that ergonomic interventions to prevent overexertion are needed. These findings will be used to promote and guide future injury prevention research and interventions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.317-331
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• 2023

Objectives: Construction workers are exposed to various hazardous substances simultaneously. However, little is known about the exposure hazards in construction industry. This study was aimed at identifying the risk of exposure hazards among construction workers. Methods: The expert survey (n=29) was conducted, including construction industry health managers (n=11) and work environment monitoring experts (n=18), on exposure probability, intensity and risk of hazardous substances by construction occupations Results: The exposure hazards of 30 construction occupations were identified and summarized through a literature review and expert survey. The most prevalent hazards were in order of noise, awkward posture, heat/cold, crystalline silica, cement/concrete dust, metal fumes, and volatile organic compounds. The hazards with highest risk score(over seven points) at construction occupations were noise(formwork carpenter, concrete finisher, rebar worker, demolition worker, driller/rock blaster), hazardous rays(welder), heat/cold (earthworks, formwork carpenter, rebar worker, concrete placer, scaffolder), awkward posture(bricklayer, caulker/tile setter, rebar worker) and heavy lifting(bricklayer, rebar worker). Among construction workers, the job types with the highest risk of exposure to carcinogens, and in which occupational cancer has been reported, were in order of stonemason, concrete finisher, rock blaster, welder, insulation installer, painter, scaffolder, plant worker and earthworks in order Conclusions: Systematic research and discussion on occupational disease among construction workers and its various hazardous factors are needed to establish job exposure matrix for facilitating standard for promptly processing the workers' compensation.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.85-91
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• 2012

The occupations involved in food animal production have long been recognized to carry significant health risks for workers, with special attention to injuries. However, risk of pathogen exposure in these occupations has been less extensively considered. Pathogens are a food safety issue and are known to be present throughout the food animal production chain. Workers employed at farms and slaughterhouses are at risk of pathogen exposure and bacterial infections. The industrialization of animal farming and the use of antimicrobials in animal feed to promote growth have increased the development of antimicrobial resistance. The changed nature of these pathogens exposes workers in this industry to new strains, thus modifying the risks and health consequences for these workers. These risks are not yet recognized by any work-related health and safety agency in the world.