• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.217-225
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• 2019

Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the quality management systems of domestic asbestos survey and monitoring service providers and the relationships with the number of licenses or designations and sales performances. Methods: Data on quality management systems were collected by assessors who were assigned by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency(KOSHA) during a pilot evaluation program for designated asbestos survey and monitoring service providers in 2016 using evaluation criteria developed by KOSHA. Basic characteristics, evaluated scores, and sales performance were gathered and statistically analyzed. Results: The median and arithmetic mean of the total scores were 0.64 and 0.66. Evaluation fields that scored highly with the highest percentages were sales performance, installation and availability of equipment, compliance with the mandatory minimum number of airborne samples, laboratory independence, and results of proficiency analytical testing, in that order. Evaluation fields that received low marks with the highest percentages were the training of personnel, blank field samples, calibration of flow rates, preliminary check and visual inspection of the work area prior to the clearance test, and review and approval of final reports, in that order. Comparison of normalized scores between service providers registered for asbestos and other tasks and those designated for only asbestos showed significant differences in their evaluated scores. Sales performance did not show a positive correlation with evaluated scores. Conclusions: The quality management systems of domestic asbestos survey and monitoring service providers were poor. High scores were recorded mostly in evaluation fields related to regulatory requirements. Low scores were recorded mostly in evaluation fields related to documentation and recordkeeping. Considering the low influence of quality on sales performance, the government needs to evaluate the quality management of asbestos survey and monitoring service providers and provide the results to public in order to address their low levels of quality management.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.396-416
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• 2021

Objectives: This study was conducted to analyze the trends of government R&D (R&D) projects related to laboratory safety over the past 20 years. Methods: We collected publications from various databases(DBs) with words such as laboratory(ies), lab(s), researcher(s), laboratory worker(s), safety, environment, hazard(s), risk(s), and so on. Selected publications were analyzed by the research funds and the number of projects according to the investment subject and research characteristics. Results: About 93% of the total R&D budget went to government policy projects, not scientific research. Second, from the perspective of 'safety management activities', most of the research is related to management and inspection at the organizational level. Issues that need to be discussed at the national level like policy governance are not included. Third, focusing on the 'safety management cycle', there were few studies related to 'prediction' or 'post-response'. Fourth, when an analysis framework combining the perspectives of 'safety management activities' and 'safety management cycle' is applied, most of the budget is spent on infrastructure such as digital management systems, whereas basic knowledge for prevention and production of evidence was very few. Conclusions: In order to prevent policy planning without policy evaluation, implementation without strategy, and evaluation without evidence, it is necessary to expand investment in empirical research on risks, research on the effectiveness of current application methods, and research on theory development. The government budget for laboratory safety-related projects should be managed separately from the R&D budget for scientific research. Although less than 5% of the budget allocated to scientific research is the total budget, an optical illusion occurs because both the project budget and the scientific research budget are counted as R&D budgets.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.60-69
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• 2023

Objectives: Business operators handling hazardous chemicals regulated under the Chemical Substances Control Act (CSCA) must receive permits to operate their business from the Ministry of Environment. This study analyzed the status of recent legal violation in chemical handling workplaces in Ulsan where a large volume of chemicals is handled for industrial use. Methods: A total of 557 corporations have been granted legal status as business operators in Ulsan. For all business operators, legal violations in regard to the CSCA that were discovered by the environmental office in the last five years (2018~2022) were thoroughly analyzed. Results: A total of 225 violations of the CSCA have been discovered at 165 corporations, with the violation rate accounting for approximately 27% of all business operators. In particular, 22% of the 165 violators (36 corporations) were discovered to have violated twice or more, and some business operators (6%) even violated in consecutive years. Non-compliance of facility inspection was the most frequent violation (45 cases, 20.1%), followed by non-reporting of important changes in the permitted matters (23 cases, 10.3%), non-completion of legal safety education (19 cases, 8.5%), failure to secure permission for modification in the permitted matters (18 cases, 8.0%), and failure to submit chemical transport plans (16 cases, 7.1%). Conclusions: Most of the violations could have been prevented if the field personnel had paid sufficient attention. Thus, it is fundamentally necessary to create an environment for spontaneous safety management for themselves and to strengthen individual capabilities.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.542-557
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate the foodservice employees' awareness and performance in sanitation and customers' satisfaction with sanitation in large sized restaurants in Korea. Sanitation inspections were carried out in 200 large Korean, Western, Chinese, and Japanese style restaurants, and in buffet-style restaurants in Daegu and Gyeongbuk province. Foodservice employees' awareness of sanitation and customers' satisfaction with sanitation were investigated by interviewing 317 foodservice employees and 205 customers. Results of the inspection of restaurants showed low performance in food handling, employees' hygiene (hygienic) practices, and in cleaning food processing equipment. Scores of the foodservice employees' awareness in Chinese style restaurants were significantly lower than scores of workers in western restaurants. Foodservice employees had low awareness of sanitation procedures used for food storage and cleaning of equipment in Korean, Chinese, and Japanese style restaurants. Foodservice employees had low awareness of equipment cleaning, inspection and food distribution in western style restaurants and of equipment cleaning and food handling in buffet-style restaurants. Foodservice employees at all restaurants had the lowest performance in terms of HACCP. This shows that HACCP application and recording have not yet been properly carried out at restaurants in Korea. Foodservice employees had low performance scores in food handling, vegetable disinfection and disinfection after hand washing. Research on customers' satisfaction with sanitation revealed a low rating of kitchens and foodservice employees at all restaurants. Customers had low satisfaction with servers and kitchen environments in Korean style restaurants with food, tableware, utensils and servers in western style restaurants; with food and kitchen environments in Chinese style restaurants with servers, tableware, and utensils in Japanese style restaurants and with kitchen environments and servers in buffet-style restaurants. Therefore, cleanliness of kitchen facilities and equipment, and hygienic food handling procedures by workers in restaurants are urgently needed.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.707-714
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• 2017

There have recently been an increasing number of reports claiming that the periodontal disease, the most typical oral disease, is closely associated with various systemic diseases such as cardiovascular disease. Therefore, it is imperative to explore the methods that can ensure effective and cost-effective monitoring of periodontal disease in specific population groups, as well as individuals in the electronic medical record environment. However, traditional periodontal examination methods, such as periodontal probe, are considerably demanding and time-consuming for dental specialists, and furthermore, cause the risk of bacteremia as they are invasive procedures. Thus, the objective of this study was to validate the capability of new method for screening the periodontal disease using the self-reported questionnaire for periodontitis which is the non-invasive procedure to replace radiography.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.145-152
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• 2015

Purpose: The inability to adequately judge the efficacy of cleaning and sanitation procedures in deli departments is a recognized food safety concern. In a prior study, our research group demonstrated that visual inspection of cleaned produce processing surfaces could be enhanced through the use of a portable fluorescence imaging device that detected residual produce residues. Methods: To explore the feasibility of using fluorescence imaging to similarly detect residual deli residues, spectra of American, Cheddar, Provolone, and Swiss cheeses and of processed chicken, ham, roast beef, and turkey were acquired using a laboratory hyperspectral imaging system. Circular punches of these commodities were placed onto stainless steel and high density polyethylene coupons for imaging. The coupon materials were selected to represent common surfaces found in deli departments. Results: Analysis of hyperspectral fluorescence images showed that cheeses exhibited peaks in the blue-green region and at around 675 nm. Meats exhibited peaks in the blue-green region with one of four ham and one of four chicken brands exhibiting peaks at around 675 nm, presumably due to use of plant-derived additives. When commodities were intermittently imaged over two weeks, locations of spectral peaks were preserved while intensity of peaks at shorter wavelengths increased with time. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that fluorescence imaging techniques have the potential to enhance surface hygiene inspection in deli departments and, given the immediate availability of imaging results, to help optimize routine cleaning procedures.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.283-289
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• 2008

This study was performed to obtain data about dental health to develop childrens' dental health education program. This research surved from from 22 July 2008 to 11 August 2008 and questionaire given to 140 teacher from Gwangsan-gu and Buk-gu and Dong-gu in Gwangju city. Collected data were analyzed with SPSS 12.0 program. The results of this study were as follows: 1. The dental health condition which teacher is recognizing is most with the facility 52.9% which is healthy, one day toothbrush qualitative number of times 3 times 67.1% and the dental floss qualitative number of times is 49.3%. Uses most the oral hygiene device which plentifully is 51.4% with the dental gargle solution, the dental problem which is knowing dental caries with 45.7% to be highest, perception dental sensitivity was 30.7%. 2. Periodical dental prosecuting says that 93.6% is executing, also the case which a dental inspection result in the parents notifies was 78.6%, after notifying treat, the case which confirms was 60.7%. The case which is the toothbrush qualitative time which is systematic was 95.0%, about dental healthily and food the case which executes an education was 93.6%. 3. About educational background by infantile dental health care of teacher with recognition currently the effectiveness of dental health care is higher from below junior college graduating (p < 0.05). dental hygienic relation experience event participation intention (p < 0.01) comes from the above of university graduation from infantile dental health care from important degree of teacher role was higher the junior college graduation group (p < 0.05). 4. Recognition there was not a difference which is beneficial with an educational background by about career by infantile dental health care of teacher. For the buccal cavity hygiene management of the infants thinks with the fact that also the development of the curricular material and the educational program and teacher buccal cavity hygiene education will be necessary.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.40-51
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• 2019

Ginseng has a unique production system that is different from those used for other crops. It is subject to the Ginseng Industry Act., requires a long-term cultivation period of 4-6 years, involves complicated cultivation characteristics whereby ginseng is not produced in a single location, and many ginseng farmers engage in mixed-farming. Therefore, to bring the production of Ginseng in line with GAP standards, it is necessary to better understand the on-site practices of Ginseng farmers according to established control points, and to provide a proper action plan for improving efficiency. Among ginseng farmers in Korea who applied for GAP certification, 77.6% obtained it, which is lower than the 94.1% of farmers who obtained certification for other products. 13.7% of the applicants were judged to be unsuitable during document review due to their use of unregistered pesticides and soil heavy metals. Another 8.7% of applicants failed to obtain certification due to inadequate management results. This is a considerably higher rate of failure than the 5.3% incompatibility of document inspection and 0.6% incompatibility of on-site inspection, which suggests that it is relatively more difficult to obtain GAP certification for ginseng farming than for other crops. Ginseng farmers were given an average of 2.65 points out of 10 essential control points and a total 72 control points, which was slightly lower than the 2.81 points obtained for other crops. In particular, ginseng farmers were given an average of 1.96 points in the evaluation of compliance with the safe use standards for pesticides, which was much lower than the average of 2.95 points for other crops. Therefore, it is necessary to train ginseng farmers to comply with the safe use of pesticides. In the other essential control points, the ginseng farmers were rated at an average of 2.33 points, lower than the 2.58 points given for other crops. Several other areas of compliance in which the ginseng farmers also rated low in comparison to other crops were found. These inclued record keeping over 1 year, record of pesticide use, pesticide storages, posts harvest storage management, hand washing before and after work, hygiene related to work clothing, training of workers safety and hygiene, and written plan of hazard management. Also, among the total 72 control points, there are 12 control points (10 required, 2 recommended) that do not apply to ginseng. Therefore, it is considered inappropriate to conduct an effective evaluation of the ginseng production process based on the existing certification standards. In conclusion, differentiated certification standards are needed to expand GAP certification for ginseng farmers, and it is also necessary to develop programs that can be implemented in a more systematic and field-oriented manner to provide the farmers with proper GAP management education.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.186-198
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• 2000

The quality of the management of sanitation in food service establishments (school lunch programs, hospital patient food services, and commercial catering food services) in Korea was reviewed and evaluated, and ten strategies fur future improvement were suggested. They were: (1) An increase of qualified manpower and improvement of the professional training of the staff; (2) Obtaining special facilities exclusively for food service; (3) Improvement of facilities especially the kitchens; (4) Improvement of policy fur procuring raw materials and being assured of their quality by designing some standards and specifications for the raw materials to be purchased; (5) Production and use accurate and reliable kitchen apparatus and instruments; (6) An increase of the laboratory apparatus and instruments for inspection and evaluation of the sanitary level of raw materials and food service environments; (7) Enforced improvement of personal hygiene of the staff; (8) Use of a variety of methods in sanitary education and training; (9) Actively inspect the quality of imported foods; (10) Strengthening the research and accumulation of background data regarding sanitation management. There is a long process from the production of food to eating. The cooking process is the ultimate end of preparation of food before eating. This process sometimes increases the occurrence of food-borne diseases if we mishandle the food, even we obtained safe food. The process can also remove health hazards and reduce the risk from the hazards if we handle the food well although we have unsafe foods. This means the cooking process is a major key to preventing food-borne diseases. The concepts of hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) should be applied and practiced in food service establishments in Korea as soon as possible.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.249-255
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• 2016

The Ministry of Health and Welfare in Korea has enforced the oral health promotion program for elderly in Korea. There are the denture delivery program and the fluoride application-scaling program for elderly. Donggu Public Health Center in Daejeon has delivered the fluoride application-scaling program for elderly since the demonstration project in 2009. The official dental hygienists had a prior consultation with Dong-gu branch of Korean Senior Citizens Association in Daejeon. We expanded the program through government office, welfare centers, and nursing homes. The participants were satisfied with the public relations (95.2%), scaling (99.7%), fluoride application (91.5%), toothbrushing education (98.6%), and denture cleaning education (96.6%). After a medial accident with persistent bleeding, the pre-inspection survey about systemic disease and medication was reinforced. The official dental hygienists have agonized over the low participation of the low-income group and the overlap benefit with health insurance benefit of scaling. We suggested it be needed the assessment of the public oral health program to overlap with health insurance benefit.