• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.315-322
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• 2013

Objectives: This study was conducted in order to prepare fundamental data and assess the short-term effects of applying cerebrovascular disease prevention programs by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) in Korea. Methods: The number of study subjects was 2,676 workers (58.5%) who were able to evaluate the level of incidence risk at pre- and post-applications of the program, among the 4,576 total workers who were enrolled in the cerebrovascular disease prevention program during 2011. The guidelines for this prevention program were adopted from KOSHA GUIDE H-1-2010. To determine the program' effectiveness, the workers'risks for cerebrovascular disease were assessed pre- and post-application of the program. Results: The blood pressure level was significantly reduced by 4.09 mmHg for the mean systolic blood pressures and 5.47 mmHg for diastolic blood pressures, respectively. The mean level of total cholesterol and BMI were also reduced significantly by 2.07 g/dl and 0.1 $0.1kg/m^2$. The rate of smoking was decreased by 4.0% and the percentage of workers engaging in regular exercise was increased by 29.8%. The level of overall cerebrovascular disease risk was reduced among 1,451 (70.7%) of 2,052 workers at low risk and above. The level of cerebrovascular disease risk was lower in the improved group for health behavior than the unimproved group (odds ratio =1.7, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The author considers that the application of the cerebrovascular disease prevention program by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency reduced cerebrovascular diseases risks among workers who were enrolled in the cerebrovascular disease prevention program and it must be accompanied by an improvement in health behavior for prevention of cerebrovascular disease.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제11권4호
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• pp.543-549
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• 2020

Background: The working conditions of bus drivers are difficult; they lead to occupational diseases and require careful study, particularly in Ukraine. The objective of the article is the description of occupational health risks of passenger bus drivers that lead to deteriorating health. Methods: The risk assessment was performed using a modified Risk Score method, which allowed determining the generalized level of danger to the driver's health. The hygienic hazards level was assessed as based on Stevenson's law, which was generalized later. Results: Based on the modification of the Risk Score method, it was possible to depart from expert assessments method of the risk level and calculate the general indicator based on the degree of dependence of the impact on the human body on its intensity, proposed by V. Minko. This allows objective determining of the impact of hygiene hazards on the health of the driver and to predict the occurrence of occupational diseases associated with the cardiovascular system, musculoskeletal system, and partial or complete disability due to the accumulation of emotional fatigue. The hazard assessment was carried out for three brands of passenger buses common in Ukraine, in which the driver is exposed to the dangers of fever, vibration, noise, harmful impurities in the bus cabin, and emotional load. Conclusion: The health of drivers in the cabins of passenger buses is most affected by hygiene hazards: fever, vibration, and emotional stress. The generalized level of risk is calculated by the modified method of Risk Score is 0.83; -0.99, -0.92 respectively.

• Journal of Construction Engineering and Project Management
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• 제4권1호
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• pp.29-36
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• 2014

Tunnelling has become a preferred method of construction for road and highway projects in countries with a lot of hilly slope geological conditions such as found in Malaysia. However the construction works of a tunnelling project are usually complicated and costly, which consequently impose great risks to the parties involved. This paper identifies the key significant risks and sub-risks for tunnelling construction projects in Malaysia through a case study. Interview has been used as the solitary means to determine the significant risks from contractor's eleven key project personnel who were directly involved in the tunnelling construction such as consultant, construction manager and tunnel engineers. The importance of the risks identified is then prioritised and ranked via the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)'s pairwise comparison approach to determine their criticality towards a successful delivery of project. As a result, three key risks have been identified as significant for the tunnelling case study project, namely health and safety, cost overrun in construction and time overrun in construction. Two sub-risks each of the latter categories, which are cost underestimation and unforeseen events (cost overrun in construction) as well as plant and machinery failure and delay in material delivery (time overrun in construction), have occupied the top five overall risk ranking.

• 한국건축시공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국건축시공학회 2023년도 가을학술발표대회논문집
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• pp.49-50
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• 2023

Asbestos is a building material that has been actively used because of its excellent durability and heat resistance until 2009, when it was found to be a first-class carcinogen and prohibited in Korea. Currently, asbestos dismantling is an essential process in demolition of old buildings. Workers are likely to be exposed to asbestos in the process of dismantling and removing them, which causes various occupational diseases, suggesting related laws and work standards to ensure the safety of asbestos dismantling process. Accordingly, prior studies have been conducted to analyze the level of asbestos exposure and influencing factors occurring during work, but most of them are mainly concerning health issue while research on process risks considering field characteristics and safety aspects of the work processes is still insufficient. Therefore, this study aims to derive the process risks affecting the safety of workers based on the survey results of asbestos dismantling companies, and further proposed a cost calculation model taking those risks into account.

• 대한안전경영과학회지
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• 제5권3호
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• pp.21-30
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• 2003

This study was intended to help workplaces set up an occupational health & safety management system by investigating the certification of the system and by conducting a questionnaire to survey the necessity, purpose, effect and promotion of the system. The occupational health & safety management systems generally adopted in Korea are OHSAS 18001 and K-OHSMS 18001, which are the PDCA model, such like the quality and environment management system. Because these standards have a compatibility with other management systems, individual or integral certification is available. A telephone questionnaire was conducted with 30 workplaces in Kyeonggi Province and Incheon Metropolitan City, which have been certified for the occupational health & safety management systems (OHSAS 18001, KOSHA 2000, and/or K -OHSMS 18001). About 92 percent of them were large-sized workplaces with over 500 employees. For the question on the necessity of the system, most of the respondent answered very necessary. The purposes of the certification were to control the risks in safety and health, to have a systematic approach for accident prevention and sustainable improvement, and to comply with a range of regulations voluntarily, in that order. Most of the answers to the question on the effect of the system were prevention of accident. For the question on the promotion of the system, the most prominent answer was reduction in the workers compensation rate.

• 웰빙융합연구
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• 제6권2호
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• pp.15-26
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• 2023

Purpose: It is necessary to prepare more groundbreaking measures to prevent recurrence in order to reduce the number of industrial accidents in Korea that occur steadily. In particular, since workers with disabilities are much more vulnerable to disaster safety than non-disabled workers, there is a great need to build a customized safety environment system suitable for the characteristics of the work in which workers with disabilities work and to promote management efficiency. Research design, data and methodology: Based on the analysis of the actual status of safety and health management of workplaces for the disabled, such as small, medium-sized and major businesses in Korea, an app was designed and developed to improve safety and health management efficiency of workplaces for the disabled. First, it was designed so that managers of workplaces with disabilities can understand at a glance key legal information that managers need to know and it was improved to suit the eye level of disabled workers so that they could self-evaluate the risk of their work by applying the risk assessment model for workplaces with disabilities. In addition, a mobile education environment was created in which safety and health education contents suitable for the characteristics of disabled workers can be learned by themselves. Results: When this app is applied to domestic workplaces, it is possible to check the exact contents of occupational safety and health education and easily search and check various legal information anytime, anywhere, allowing managers and disabled workers to quickly and efficiently manage various safety information. Conclusions: In addition, the establishment of a mobile safety and health management system that can quickly identify and clearly respond to various legal standards and risks of workplaces with disabilities can be expected to help prevent industrial accidents at workplaces with disabilities in Korea.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제4권1호
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• pp.12-26
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• 2013

In concert with the development of new materials in the last decade, the need for toxicological studies of these materials has been increasing. These new materials include a group of rare earths (RE). The use of RE nanotechnology is being considered in some green applications, to increase their efficiency by using nano-sized RE compounds, and therefore hazard evaluation and risk assessment are highly recommended. This review was conducted through an extensive contemplation of the literatures in toxicology with in vitro and in vivo studies. Major aspects reviewed were the toxicological evaluations of these elements and metallic compounds at the molecular and cellular level, animal and human epidemiological studies and environmental and occupational health impacts on workers. We also discuss the future prospect of industries with appliances using RE together with the significance of preventive efforts for workers' health. To establish a safe and healthy working environment for RE industries, the use of biomarkers is increasing to provide sustainable measure, due to demand for information about the health risks from unfavorable exposures. Given the recent toxicological results on the exposure of cells, animals and workers to RE compounds, it is important to review the toxicological studies to improve the current understanding of the RE compounds in the field of occupational health. This will help to establish a sustainable, safe and healthy working environment for RE industries.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제2권2호
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• pp.135-147
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• 2011

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate cancer risks in the Korean semiconductor industry. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed in eight semiconductor factories between 1998 and 2008. The number of subjects was 113,443 for mortality and 108,443 for incidence. Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) and standardized incidence ratios (SIR) were calculated. Results: The SMR of leukemia was 0.39 (95% Confidence Interval 0.08-1.14) in males (2 cases) and 1.37 (0.55-2.81) in females (7 cases). The SMR of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) was 1.33 (0.43-3.09, 5 cases) in males and 2.5 (0.68-6.40, 4 cases) in females. The SIR of leukemia was 0.69 (0.30-1.37, 8 cases) in males and 1.28 (0.61-2.36, 10 cases) in females. The SIR of NHL in females was 2.31 (1.23-3.95, 13 cases) and that of thyroid cancer in males was 2.11 (1.49-2.89, 38 cases). The excess incidence of NHL was significant in female assembly operators [SIR=3.15 (1.02-7.36, 5 cases)], but not significant in fabrication workers. The SIR of NHL in the group working for 1-5 years was higher than the SIR of NHL for those working for more than five years. The excess incidence of male thyroid cancer was observed in both office and manufacturing workers. Conclusion: There was no significant increase of leukemia in the Korean semiconductor industry. However, the incidence of NHL in females and thyroid cancer in males were significantly increased even though there was no definite association between work and those diseases in subgroup analysis according to work duration. This result should be interpreted cautiously, because the majority of the cohort was young and the number of cases was small.

• 대한안전경영과학회지
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.63-70
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• 2014

There has been an increase in fire/explosion accidents caused by chemical substances used in new small/medium sized construction, reconstruction, or extension sites. There is vast room for improvement, especially in safety training, safety inspection, and selection of countermeasures because training, technicality, and management systems regarding fire/explosion risks in small/medium sized construction sites are very immature in most cases. The purpose of this study is to propose a differentiated technical, educational, and management application plan for preventative management of fire/explosion accidents caused by chemical substances used in small/medium sized construction sites.

• 대한의사협회지
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• 제61권12호
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• pp.702-705
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• 2018

Advances in technology lead to advances in medical devices, and these advances have the positive effect of creating opportunities for beneficial developments in healthcare, such as innovating traditional healthcare processes or expanding opportunities for diagnosing and treating diseases. Nonetheless, device developers, suppliers, users, insurers, and patients all face the challenge of balancing patient safety and health effectiveness with a reasonable profit. In Korea, the New Health Technology Assessment system aims to introduce safe and effective health technology, but this is only effective for the entry of devices onto the healthcare market. This system is not enough for creating a healthy ecosystem in which high-quality technologies and devices survive in the market and naturally exit from the market if not successful. The nation must not lag in the rapid development of medical devices, but the concomitant requirement for patient safety is like two rabbits moving in different directions. There is not enough time to resolve each source of uncertainty for both developers and users. The early adoption of health technologies, including medical devices, offers new opportunities for treatment and diagnosis, but also poses unexpected health risks. Thus, we need to design a plan to generate scientific evidence related to medical devices after they introduced into practice. Additionally, regarding the use of individual medical devices, we believe that the creation of a healthy ecosystem for medical devices by implementing medical device surveillance culture is a way to manage the opportunities and risks of the early introduction of innovative medical devices.