• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.1021-1039
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• 2012

Based on the ergonomic evaluation of workers in the domestic traditional Korean sweet manufacturer, one of the small scale agricultural product manufacturers, the purpose of this study is on estimating the specific works and muscles that have possibility of musculoskeletal disorder through an EMG experiment for quantitative evaluation. The method followed in an order: works that have musculoskeletal disorder risk were extracted through ergonomic assessment tools, RULA and REBA, and then EMG experiment on the postures was carried out with six healthy adult male patients. As an ergonomic evaluation result, work posture during the drying process had the greatest musculoskeletal disorder risk, and EMG activity in the cleansing work posture scored the highest among the drying, cleansing, and coating work postures. In particular in the drying work, relatively high EMG activities were shown in the two muscles in the lower body: biceps femoris muscle, and gastrocnemius, than any other muscles. Therefore, during the traditional Korean sweet workplace design in future, the workplace requires a posture that deeply bow wrist for a long time should be avoided.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.94-101
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• 2010

This study was performed to examine the asymmetry of hearing loss among the noise exposed male workers. Findings of otoscopic examination, pure tone audiometry and tympanometry were evaluated for 179 male workers working in the noise exposed workplace. And also selfadministered structured questionnaires were used for each worker's work-related and general characteristics including personal health behaviors. There were significant differences of hearing threshold between right and left ears at 1,000 Hz and 3,000 Hz(p<0.05). And also significant differences of hearing threshold were noted in the age group over 50 at 3,000 Hz, the high risk drinking group either at 3,000 Hz and 4,000 Hz, the work duration group 10-19 years at 3,000 Hz, the noise exposure group under 90 dB(A) at 3,000 Hz, the noise exposure group over 90 dB(A) at 1,000 Hz, the non-wearing protective device group at 4,000 Hz, and the wearing protective device group at 3,000 Hz(p<0.05). Further study is needed to explore the extent and the related factors of the asymmetry of hearing loss in the general population and occupationally noise exposed group.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Toocicology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.160-161
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• 2003

In Korea, 1, 357 tonnes of benzoyl peroxide was produced as a white granule with purities ranging 22 to 95％ in 2001. 75% of benzoyl peroxide is mainly used in the manufacture of expandable styrene polymer and other resins as initiators of polymerization and also been used in the treatment of acne vulgaris and the medical product contains mainly 5 to 10% of it. A very small portion of benzoyl Peroxide is used as flour bleaching agent, Potential human exposure from workplaces is expected to be negligible because this chemical is produced in closed system in only one company in Korea and when a production facility monitors its workplace for the worker exposure annually, the concentration of airborne aerosols at the personal sampling has been less than 1mg/㎥.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.367-376
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• 2016

Objectives: The production and use of nanoparticles have been increased. In 2014 Workplace Survey Results, 335 companies produce and treat nanoparticls. However, lack of data on nano-toxicity and a method for risk management and regulation on nanoparticles and the standard test method are not sufficient. Protective equipment selection guidelines for nanoparticles are not established. It is required to carry out respirator efficiency test against nanoparticles. This study was performed to evaluate filtration efficiency and manikin-based total inward leakage of particle filtering mask using in Korean country challenged with silver nanoparticles. Methods: We investigated filtration efficiency and total inward leakage of 7 respirator with silver nanoparticle. Results: The geometric mean diameters of Silver nanoparticles were 30 nm and number concentration were about $10^6{\sharp}/cm^3$. Filtration efficiency of six of the seven particle filtering masks was more than 98% and one particle filtering masks filtration efficiency was 94.9%. The filtration efficiency of particle filtering masks to 20 nm silver nanoparticels was highest. Artificial breathing machine with manikin based total inward leakage were 7.6% ~ 42.3%. Conclusions: The results of this study nano-silver filter efficiency was high but the total inward leakage was higher than filter penetration. Therefore, education on how to wear a respirator should be demanded. Especially for workers handling nanoparticles and toxic material, user seal checking and fit test must be performed.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.149-156
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• 2017

In this paper, we propose to enhance a Physical working conditions to decrease absence from work. we demonstrated the correlation of worker's absence with various environmental factors in workplace by surveying 6,962 workers. As result, first, concerning exposure to physical work factors, most of them complained of vibration, and concerning exposure to improper working posture, most of them complained of repetitive arm and hand motions. Second, the absence experience had correlations with age, monthly income, smoking, number of employees, long term working, and shift work, and of the physical factors, hand vibration, noise, high temperature, low temperature and improper working posture had correlations with physical pain posture, movement of people and carrying heavy materials. Third, experience of exposure to hand vibration, noise and low temperature of the physical factors had impact on absence, and of the improper working posture, physical pain posture and carrying heavy stuff had impacts on absence. Through this study, it was found that of the work factors of Korean workers, physical factors and improper working posture had impacts on absence. The results of this study confirmed that physical factors and inappropriate working posture among work factors influenced the absenteeism. Therefore, it is required to improve the work environment regarding physical risk factors and prepare a systematic management plan.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.338-344
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• 2015

Background: The present study aims to investigate job stressors and stress relievers for Korean emotional laborers, specifically focusing on the effects of work conditions and emotional labor properties. Emotional laborers are asked to hide or distort their real emotions in their interaction with clients. They are exposed to high levels of stress in the emotional labor process, which leads to serious mental health risks including burnout, depression, and even suicide impulse. Exploring job stressors and relieving factors would be the first step in seeking alternatives to protect emotional laborers from those mental health risks. Methods: Using the third wave data of Korean Working Conditions Survey, logistic regression analysis was conducted for two purposes: to examine the relations of emotional labor and stress, and to find out job stressors and relievers for emotional laborers. Results: The chances of stress arousal are 3.5 times higher for emotional laborers; emotional laborers experience double risk-burden for stress arousal. In addition to general job stressors, emotional laborers need to bear burdens related to emotional labor properties. The effect of social support at the workplace is not significant for stress relief, unlike common assumptions, whereas subjective satisfaction (wage satisfaction and work-life balance) is proven to have relieving effects on emotional laborers' job stress. Conclusion: From the results, the importance of a balanced understanding of emotional labor for establishing effective policies for emotional laborer protection is stressed.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2022.06a
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• pp.450-457
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• 2022

The construction industry is demanding, dynamic, and complex making it difficult for workers to recognize hazards. The nature of construction tasks exposes workers to several critical risk factors, such as a high rate of exertion and fatigue. Recent studies suggest that fatigue may impact hazard recognition in the construction industry. However, most studies rely on subjective measures when assessing the relationship between physical fatigue and hazard recognition, limiting such studies' efficacy. Thus, this study examined the relationship between physical fatigue and hazard recognition using a controlled experiment. Worker fatigue levels were captured using physiological data and a subjective exertion scale. The findings confirmed that physical exertion plays a significant role in hazard recognition skills (p < 0.05). This research contributes to theory and practice by providing a process for objectively assessing the influence of physical fatigue on worker safety and providing construction professionals with some critical insight needed to improve workplace safety.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.65-70
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• 2005

Evaluation of repetitiveness for upper extremity intensive tasks is essential to determine the level of risk for upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders at the workplace. However, experimental data available to establish the acceptable levels of repetitiveness for various postures and forces is lacking. The present study examined the maximum acceptable frequencies(MAFs; motions/min.) of shoulder, elbow, wrist, and index finger motions at different forces(1kgf and 4kgf for shoulder, elbow, and wrist; 0.25kgf and 1 kgf for index finger) in sitting. Seventeen right-handed males in 20s without having any history musculoskeletal disorders participated in the MAF experiment. The participants determined their MAFs for the upper extremity motions by using the self-adjustment method and their work pulse(increase in heart rate; beats/min.) and rating of perceived exertion(RPE) were measured when working at MAF. The MAFs of elbow, wrist, and index finger motions for each force level were about 2, 3, and 6 times the corresponding MAF(9 at the high force and 24 at the low force) of shoulder motion and the MAFs at the low force increased about 2 times those at the high force. The work pulses of elbow, wrist, and index finger motions for each force level were 70%, 50%, and 30% of the corresponding work pulse(17 at the high force and 12 at the low force) of shoulder motion and the work pulses at the low force were about 70 % of those at the high force. Lastly, the RPEs of the upper extremity regions were about level 3(moderate) or below.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.237-254
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• 2021

Objectives: This study aims to classify the latent profiles in the exposure to hazard factors of salaried employees and test the determinants. Methods: Latent profile analysis(LPA) was conducted using data from the fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey(KWCS). 30,050 of salaried employees were the subjects of this study. After classifying the employees, multinomial logistic regression was used to test the determinants. Results: Salaried employees were classified with three latent profiles based on the exposure to the hazard factors. Employees included in class 1(32.8%) tend to experience low level of physical hazard factors, moderate level of psychological hazard factors, and high level of office work hazard factors. Employees included in class 2(61.8%) tend to be exposed to the moderate to high level of physical hazard factors, moderate to low level of psychological hazard factors, and low level of office work hazard factors. Employees included in class 3(5.4%) tend to experience high level of psychological and physical hazard factors, and moderate level of office work hazard factors. After classification, the demographic, health-, and employment-related variables were tested. Conclusions: This study clarified the features of each class, and proved that employees in class 3 are quite hazardous in that they are exposed to physical and psychological hazard factors much more frequently than other employees. Thus, this study can be used in predicting the high-risk employees and taking preemptive measures for preventing industrial accidents.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.239-247
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• 2008

Low back disorders (LBDs) have been the most common musculoskeletal problem in Korean workplaces. It affects many workers, and is associated with high costs to many companies as well as the individual, which can negatively influence even the quality of life of workers. The _evaluation of low back disorder risk associated with manual materials handling tasks can be performed using variety of ergonomic assessment tools such as National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Revised Lifting Equation (NLE), the Washington Administrative Code 296-62-0517 (WAC), the Snook Tables etc. But most of these tools provide limited information for choosing the most appropriate assessment method for a particular job and in finding out advantage and disadvantage of the methods, and few have been assessed for their predictive ability. The focus of this study was to _evaluate spinal loads in real time with lifting and pulling heavy cow leathers in variety of postures. Data for estimating mean trunk motions were collected as employees did their work at the job site, using the Lumbar Motion Monitor. Eight employees (2 males, 6 females) were selected in this study, in which the load weight and the vertical start and destination heights of the activity remained constant throughout the task. Variance components (three dimensional spaces) of mean trunk kinematic measures were estimated in a hierarchical design. They were used to compute velocity and acceleration of multiple employees performing the same task and to repetitive movements within a task. Therefore, a results of this study could be used as a quantitative, objective measure to design the workplace so that the risk of occupationally related low back disorder should be minimized.