• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.151-157
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• 2013

This paper is a comparative study on risk assessment policy between Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, Singapore and EU countries, German, UK. Risk assessment is a tool adopted currently in many countries in order to reduce occupational risk in workplace because it help employers to identify their hazard arousing in their working conditions then to settle the issues. This paper compares institutional framework posed in EU and Asian countries. As a result of comparative study, EU countries have more concrete legal system for risk assessment than Asian countries. But Asian countries are now interested in risk assessment such as Japan, Korea and Singapore. The author also suggests successful ways to settle down the risk assessment policy in a country. These findings help to understand occupational health and safety policy on risk assessment in Asian countries.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.207-214
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• 2010

Toxicity identification and quantification are important factors to evaluate the effect of industrial effluent on the aquatic environment. In order to measure the potential and real toxicity of mixed chemicals in the effluents, the biological method (i.e., WET test) should be used as well as chemical analysis method. In this study, we conducted WET test for various kinds of industrial effluents using aquatic organisms such as water flea (Daphnia magna), algae (Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata), fish (Oryzias latipes, Danio rerio), and microorganism (Vibrio fisheri). In addition, we carried out chemical analysis and TIE (Toxicity Identification Evaluation) for effluents in order to identify the substances causing toxicity. Among the 30 kinds of wastewater, S13 showed the highest eco-toxicity and $Ca^{2+}$ and $Cl^-$ ion were suspected as major compounds causing toxicity for aquatic organisms. In order to confirm these suspected compounds, various confirmation procedures need to be carried out.

• KIEAE Journal
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.33-41
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• 2017

Purpose: Indoor air quality in residential buildings needs to be evaluated over the long term. In previous research, there has been an attempt to perform the health risk assessment of pollutants by using numerical models as a method of long-term evaluation. However, the numerical model of this precedent study has limitations that do not reflect the actual concentration distribution. Therefore, this study introduces the CRPS index, constructs a numerical model that can reflect the concentration distribution, and then presents a more accurate health risk assessment method using it. At this time, the pollutants are toluene, which is a typical material released from building materials. Method: CRPS index was applied to existing numerical model to reflect concentration distribution. This was used to calculate concentrations at adult breathing area and to use them for exposure assessment in a health risk assessment. After that, we entered adult data and conducted a health risk assessment of toluene. Results: The non-carcinogenic risk of toluene was calculated to be 0.0060. This is 5% smaller than the existing numerical model, meaning that it is more accurate to predict the pollutant risks. This value is also lower than the US EPA reference value of 1. Therefore, under the conditions of this study, long-term exposure of adults to toluene has no impact on health.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2010

Industrial Safety and Health Law (ISH Law) of Japan requires abnormalities identified in evaluations of worker health and working environments are reported to occupational physicians, and employers are advised of measures to ensure appropriate accommodations in working environments and work procedures. Since the 1980s, notions of a risk assessment and occupational safety and health management system were expected to further prevent industrial accidents. In 2005, ISH Law stipulated workplace risk assessment using the wording "employers shall endeavor." Following the amendment, multiple documents and guidelines for risk assessment for different work procedures were developed. They require ISH Laws to be implemented fully and workplaces to plan and execute measures to reduce risks, ranking them from those addressing potential hazards to those requiring workers to wear protective articles. A governmental survey in 2005 found the performance of risk assessment was 20.4% and common reasons for not implementing risk assessments were lack of adequate personnel or knowledge. ISH Law specifies criminal penalties for both individuals and organizations. Moreover, under the Labor Contract Law promulgated in 2007, employers are obliged to make reasonable efforts to ensure employee health for foreseeable and avoidable risks. Therefore, enterprises neglecting even the non-binding provisions of guidelines are likely to suffer significant business impact if judged to be responsible for industrial accidents or occupational disease. To promote risk assessment, we must strengthen technical, financial, and physical support from public-service organizations, encourage the dissemination of good practices to reduce risks, and consider additional employer incentives, including relaxed mandatory regulations.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1994.02a
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• pp.405-411
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• 1994

Hazardous wastes released into the general environment are of concern to the public and to public health authorities. In response to this concern, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, as amended (commonly called Superfund), was enacted in 1980 to provide a framework for environmental, public health, and legal actions concerning uncontrolled releases of hazardous substances. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) was created by Superfund to address the public health issues of hazardous wastes in the community environment. Two key Agency programs, Public Health Assessments and Toxicological Profiles, are designed to assess the risk to human health of exposures to hazardous substances that migrate from waste sites or through emergency releases (e.g., chemical spills). The Agency's public health assessment is a structured process that permits ATSDR to identify which waste sites or other point sources require traditional public health actions (e.g.. human exposure studies, health studies, registries, health surveillance, health advisories). The ATSDR qualitative public health assessment complements the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's quantitative risk assessment. For Superfund purposes, both assessments are sitespecific. ATSDR's toxicological profiles are prepared for priority hazardous substances found most frequently at Superfund sites. Each profile presents the current toxicologic and human health effects information about the substance being profiled. Each profile also contains Minimal Risk Levels (MRLs), a type of risk assessment value. This paper covers ATSDR's experience in conducting public health assessments and developing MRLs, and it relates this experience to recommendations on how to improve chemical risk assessments.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.51-59
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• 1992

Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) is defined as an activity designed to identify and predict the impact on the environment. In the process of an EIA, the quantitative evaluation is generally performed for the air and water quality which have the national environmental quality standards. But the predicted values for the air and water quality are simply compared to the environmental standards. At present, the EIA process of Korea has no consideration for the possible human health risk resulting from the development projects. Environmental Health Impact Assessment(EHIA) is an applied methodology of EIA to estimate the acceptable health risk caused by a specified level of environmental pollutants. Estimating the excessive lifetime risk that is a possibility of dying of a certain disease by environmental contaminants, is useful as an evaluation technique of EHIA. It is recommanded the decision-makers to make efficient use of EHIA not only the development projects but also legislative proposals, policies and programmes in future.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.23-32
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• 2015

Recently, the Ministry of Labour, published clause 2 of Article 41 (Risk Assessment) of the Act "Industrial Safety and Health" dated 12 June 2013 in connection with continuous increase of accidents at construction sites in order to prevent accidents in industrial safety and health in new construction in accordance with the risk assessment on construction projects are realized after March 13, 2014. In this paper, positive method of calculating risk discussed by performing research the awareness of general contractors and sub-contractors with presenting risky situation is considered. The purpose will be a positive method of calculating risk and would be a sufficient base and give a positive direction in the development of new systems currently working in the construction and risk assessment which consider the characteristics of sufficient risk assessment system for future research.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.347-355
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• 2002

As concerns on the effects of soil contamination on human health have grown, more efforts have been made to quantify the effects. One of such efforts is the development of risk assessment methodology. The fundamental objectives of this approach is to investigate the alternative options that reduce the risk of hazardous chemicals results from environmental pollution, which will eventually lead to an accomplishment of removement of identified toxicants in polluted environment. The U.S. EPA Risk Assessment guidance for the superfund (RAGS) provides a methods for assessing the health risk of contaminated soils and determining the preliminary remediation goals (PRGs). Using this approach, we assessed the health risk and preliminary remediation goals of petroleum contaminated site in Kyounggi province.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.259-270
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• 2010

We conducted human risk assessment for exposure to inhalation of chemical substances emitted from the storage tanks of petroleum refineries. To assess human risk, this study calculated chemical emissions from the external floating roofs on storage tank at petroleum refineries, as well as concentrations thereof in the ambient air using the K-SCREEN model, and then determined risk in accordance with the Reference Concentration (RfC) values and Inhalation Unit Risk criteria developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The results indicated that non-carcinogenic chemicals have a hazard quotient of less than 1, meaning they have an insignificant effect on human health for residential areas near the storage tanks. Among the known carcinogens, the hazard risk for benzene slightly exceeded $10^{-6}$, indicating the need for corrective reduction measures. The methodology for health impact assessment devised herein provides findings useful in decision making for policy makers and the general public with respect to construction of industrial complexes. However, the methodology proposed herein does have limitations, including discrepancy in results induced by use of U.S. data (due to the lack of usable domestic data). More systematic studies from related researchers will be needed to address these issues and produce more reliable outcomes.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.25-33
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• 2023

This study analyzed the factors affecting the effectiveness of the Chemical Hazard Risk Management (CHARM). A survey was conducted on 104 learners who participated in the Risk Assessment training course at Occupational Safety and Health Training Institute. Through a self-administered questionnaire, the effect of personal characteristics, corporate characteristics, and safety and health level of the company on the effectiveness of chemical risk assessment was investigated. As a result of statistical analysis, the safety and health level of the company had a positive (+) effect on the effectiveness of Chemical Hazard Risk Management(CHARM), but personal characteristics and corporate characteristics had no relation to it. This study can be used as basic data for further research related to chemical risk assessment in workplaces.