• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.364-370
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• 2017

Background: Labeled noise reduction (NR) data presented by manufacturers are considered one of the main challenging issues for occupational experts in employing hearing protection devices (HPDs). This study aimed to determine the actual NR data of typical HPDs using the objective fit testing method with a microphone in real ear (MIRE) method. Methods: Five available commercially earmuff protectors were investigated in 30 workers exposed to reference noise source according to the standard method, ISO 11904-1. Personal attenuation rating (PAR) of the earmuffs was measured based on the MIRE method using a noise dosimeter (SVANTEK, model SV102). Results: The results showed that means of PAR of the earmuffs are from 49% to 86% of the nominal NR rating. The PAR values of earmuffs when a typical eyewear was worn differed statistically (p < 0.05). It is revealed that a typical safety eyewear can reduce the mean of the PAR value by approximately 2.5 dB. The results also showed that measurements based on the MIRE method resulted in low variability. The variability in NR values between individuals, within individuals, and within earmuffs was not the statistically significant (p > 0.05). Conclusion: This study could provide local individual fit data. Ergonomic aspects of the earmuffs and different levels of users experience and awareness can be considered the main factors affecting individual fitting compared with the laboratory condition for acquiring the labeled NR data. Based on the obtained fit testing results, the field application of MIRE can be employed for complementary studies in real workstations while workers perform their regular work duties.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2022.06a
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• pp.328-335
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• 2022

With the advance of robot capabilities and functionalities, construction robots assisting construction workers have been increasingly deployed on construction sites to improve safety, efficiency and productivity. For close-proximity human-robot collaboration in construction sites, robots need to be aware of the context, especially construction worker's behavior, in real-time to avoid collision with workers. To recognize human behavior, most previous studies obtained 3D human poses using a single camera or an RGB-depth (RGB-D) camera. However, single-camera detection has limitations such as occlusions, detection failure, and sensor malfunction, and an RGB-D camera may suffer from interference from lighting conditions and surface material. To address these issues, this study proposes a novel method of 3D human pose estimation by extracting 2D location of each joint from multiple images captured at the same time from different viewpoints, fusing each joint's 2D locations, and estimating the 3D joint location. For higher accuracy, the probabilistic representation is used to extract the 2D location of the joints, considering each joint location extracted from images as a noisy partial observation. Then, this study estimates the 3D human pose by fusing the probabilistic 2D joint locations to maximize the likelihood. The proposed method was evaluated in both simulation and laboratory settings, and the results demonstrated the accuracy of estimation and the feasibility in practice. This study contributes to ensuring human safety in close-proximity human-robot collaboration by providing a novel method of 3D human pose estimation.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2024.07a
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• pp.343-350
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• 2024

Mobile electroencephalography (EEG) can continuously and objectively monitor construction workers' psychological stress, thereby contributing to enhanced safety and health. Traditional EEG-based stress assessment techniques utilize headset-type devices that cover the scalp, including the frontal area, which is the most relevant brain part to stress. Yet, the invasiveness of such devices may pose a potential barrier to their field application. In response, ear-EEG technology presents a less intrusive alternative for continuous monitoring, potentially overcoming the limitations of scalp-EEG. The temporal regions monitored by ear-EEG hold anatomical and functional significance in the brain's response to stress, suggesting that ear-EEG could effectively detect stress. Despite its advantage, the effectiveness of ear-EEG in stress detection remains underexplored, largely due to the existing literature's focus on frontal brain regions. To address this gap, the authors aim to evaluate ear-EEG's effectiveness in measuring stress and compare it to high-density scalp-EEG. EEG signals were collected with ear- and scalp-EEGs from 10 subjects in a controlled laboratory while they performed the mental arithmetic tasks under time pressure and socio-evaluative threats to induce stress at different levels (high vs. low). Subsequently, the authors performed t-tests and point-biserial analysis to analyze differences between high and low-stress conditions in the most reliable stress biomarkers in literature: high-beta power in temporal regions for ear-EEG, and alpha asymmetry in frontal regions for scalp-EEG. The results indicate that both EEG techniques could effectively differentiate between stress levels, with statistical significance (p <0.001 for both) and moderate effect size. Furthermore, the results demonstrate ear-EEG's comparable effectiveness to scalp-EEG in detecting stress-induced brain activity given the comparable statistical metrics, such as p-value and effect size. This study provides a groundwork for further explorations into leveraging ear-EEG as a practical tool for the early detection of stress, aiming to enhance stress management strategies within the construction industry.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.131-145
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• 2003

This study was conducted to estimate the incidence and the degree of cigarette smoking and drinking among working men, and then to investigate the effects on blood pressure, various hematological indices and blood chemistry. The sample consisted of 2,287 male workers who had undertaken a general health check-up during the two-year period from January, 2000 to December, 2001. Such factors as blood pressure, blood glucose, lipid profiles, and liver function tests were determined and then analyzed with respect to the subjects smoking and/or drinking status. The major findings from this study are: 1. The drinking and smoking status have shown that 52.7% of participants were in the habit of both drinking and smoking while 11.6% were not associated with either. On the other hand 25.4% were involved only in drinking and 10.2% only in smoking. In the group smoking over 21 cigarettes per day over 30, the age group occupied the largest proportion at 20.1%. 2. Regarding the relationship between smoking and/or drinking status, and blood pressure, hematology and blood chemistry, the smoking and/or drinking group had significantly higher levels of blood pressure, both systolic and diastolic, Hb & Hct, TG, LDL-C, SGOT, and ${\gamma}$-GTP, than the non-smoking and/or non-drinking group. But HDL-C was significantly lower in the smoking group and significantly higher in the drinking group than the non-smoking/non-drinking group. 3. Regarding amount smoked, a larger number of cigarettes per day was significantly associated with the higher levels of blood pressure, systolic and diatolic, TG, TC, LDL-C, Hb, Hct, and ${\gamma}$-GTP. As for the amount druck, an increasing amount of alcohol intake was associated with rising levels of blood pressure, systolic and diatolic, TG, TC, LDL-C, HDL-C, Hb, SGOT, and ${\gamma}$-GTP. 4. Regarding the correlation among all the variables stated above, the smoking and drinking amount was shown to be in the positive correlation with blood pressure, both systolic and diastolic, TG, TC, Hb, and ${\gamma}$-GTP. On the contrary, LDL-C and HDL-C was in a positive correlation only with the amount drunk amount, and Hct only with the amount smoked. 5. As with systolic and diastolic blood pressure, the odds ratio of the smoking group was 2.35 and 2.58 compared to the non-smoking/drinking group. whereas it was 1.47 and 1.75 in the smoking/drinking group. Concerning serum lipids, the smoking/drinking group had 1.97 times the levels of TG in the non-smoking/non-drinking group, though the smoking group had 1.55 times the levels of HDL-C in the non-smoking/non-drinking group. As with liver function test results, the drinking group had 2.50 times and the smoking/drinking group had 4.41 times the levels of ${\gamma}$-GTP in the non-smoking/drinking group. respectively. The above results revealed that smoking and alcohol intake were effected the results of blood pressure and laboratory tests. Specifically, not only the smoking/drinking group but also those only smoking or only drinking were not as desirable as the non-smoking and non-drinking group to the results of blood pressure and laboratory tests.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.108-116
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• 2018

Objectives: This study investigated to the analytical work environment, analyst's expert and status of analytical instrument in the designated organization's laboratory for measuring work environment, and carried out to ensure reliability of analytical results. Methods: This study was conducted by 114 analysts who work in designated organization's laboratory for measuring work environment. Information on the working environment and personal characteristics of the analysts were collected using a self-reported questionnaire and were analyzed using the SPSS program through analysis of frequency and t-test. Results: The speciality of subjects was occupational health(57.0%), environmental health(38.6%) and environmental engineering(4.4%), and they had a higher level of academic ability than workers in other industries. Analysts had to handle a large number of sample analysis and many tasks other than analytical work. The analysts answered that it was difficult to analyze organic substances than inorganic substances, and the difficult parts were the analytical methods setting of new substances(55.3%), instrument analysis(24.6%) and principle of analysis(23.7%). Analytical instruments mainly have legally required instruments. The difficulty of the analysis is solved from the senior analyst in the laboratory and analytical information is mainly exchanged through seminar organized by the Association of Occupational Health Analysts. The analysts who are planning to move or considering the company were 48.2%, and the reasons for moving the company were difficult to work(14.0%), low salary(9.6%), employment type(8.8%) and job stress(7.0%). Conclusions: The conclusions of our study were that it was possible to secure reliability by solving the problems such as implementing professional education to improve expertise of analysts, strengthening analytical instruments through institutional improvement and improving work environment.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.279-285
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• 2016

With the development of nanotechnology, the amount of nanomaterials increases and the problems of environment and the toxic property associated with it have become a social problem. But regulations and laws of nanomaterials have not yet been established. The purpose of this study is to utilize as the database of safety guidelines for research activities' workers associated with nanomaterials to conduct a behavior evaluation of aluminium oxide, which is most widely used in thirteen kinds of WPMN manufactured nanomaterials in the country. The experiment proceeds in the chamber reduced to 1/6 size of the actual laboratory, the test method was performed in NIOSH 0500. As the results of the study, the mass concentration was in inverse proportion to the particle size of the nanomaterials. And the mass concentration during the operation of ventilation equipment was reduced to about 1/8 times. In the future, it can be utilized as the database of safety guidelines for research activities' workers associated with nanomaterials. However, in order to increase the reliability of the study, the experiment of the mass concentration by particle size and Condensation Particle Counters will be needed additionally.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.18-37
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• 1989

This study was done in order to analyze the factors which influenced the performance level of community health practitioners' task. Interview survey was done during the period from August to October, 1986. Interviewee were 166 CHPs among total of 217 CHPs in Kyonggi province area. Multiple stepwise regression and canonical correlation analysis were used to identify major factors influenced to perform community health practitioners' task. The results of this study were summarized as follows: 1. General characteristics of CHPs 1) Personal characteristics The average age of CHPs was 37.8 years and their marital status was $77.6\%$ of married, educational back-ground was $65.3\%$ of junior college graduation. Their job career was $38.6\%$ of between 1-3 years, $33.3\%$ of between 3-5 years, $22.2\%$ of less than 1 years. Most of CHPs$(62.8\%)$ were fully satisfied with their job, $33.3\%$ were moderately, and $3.8\%$ were not satisfied. 2) Working environmental condition Only $31.7%$ of CHPs were satisfied with their working condition of primary health post, $26.6\%$ were not satisfied. Half of CHPs$(52.5\%)$ replied having good cooperation with health center, $10.1\%$ replied bad. Cooperation with health subcenter was good in $32.9\%$, and bad in $21.9%$. Cooperation with private health institutions was good in $34.2\%$, bad in $21.6%$. 2. Performance level of community health practitioners' task Among a total of 52 contents of their functions medical history taking. physical examination, referral of diagnostic laboratory work-up($(86.4\%)$, health assessment of pregnant women$(82.1\%)$, development of health information system$(79.4\%)$, supervision of health workers $(78.4\%)$, follow-up of family planning acceptors$(77.3\%)$, and follow-up of family planning acceptors' side effects$(77.3\%)$ were actively performed. Diagnosis of pregnancy$(62.1\%)$, sampling of drinking water for quality test$(52.5\%)$, making list of equipment' & supplies $(51.5\%)$, evaluation of primary health post activities $(37.6\%)$, organization of village health workers$(32.4\%)$ and management of village health workers $(30.1\%)$ were poorly performed. 3. Stepwise multiple regression analysis of job function The factors which influenced the performance level of community health practitioners' function were age, marital status, educational level, job career, job satisfaction, satisfaction of working environment of primary health post, cooperation of health center, cooperation of health center, cooperation of private health instiutions in orders. These 9 variables were able to explain job function from $25.7\%$ of program planning to $6.7\%$ of management of common disease. 4. Canonical correlation analysis between the performance of function and general characteristics of CHPs. Cooperation of private health institutions was found to be the factor influencing task performance of community organization, management of primary health post, technical supervision of health personnels. Job satisfaction of CHPs was also found to be the factor influencing task performance of family planning, management of common disease and maintenance of health information system.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.113-121
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• 2011

The aerosol nanoparticles are suspected to be exposed to workers in nanomaterial manufacturing facilities. However, the exposure assessment method has not been established. One of important issues is to characterize background level of nanoparticles in workplaces. In this study, intensive aerosol measurements were made at a $TiO_2$ manufacturing laboratory for five consecutive days in May of 2010. The $TiO_2$ nanoparticles were manufactured by the thermal-condensation process in a heated tube furnace. The particle number size distribution was measured using a scanning mobility particle sizer every 5 min, in order to detect particles ranging from 14.5 to 664 nm in diameter. Total particle number concentration shows a severe diurnal variation irrespective of manufacturing process, which was governed by nanoparticles smaller than 50 nm in diameter. During the background monitoring periods, significant peak concentrations were observed between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. due to the infiltration of secondary aerosol particles formed by photochemical smog. Although significant increase in nanoparticle concentration was also observed during the manufacturing process twice among three times, these particle peak concentrations were lower than those observed during the background measurement. It is suggested that the investigation of background particle contamination is needed prior to conducting main exposure assessment in nanomaterial manufacturing workplaces or laboratories.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.153-162
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• 2008

The main purpose of this study was to investigate relationship between WRMD (Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders) symptoms and dangerous factors in medical technologistes who work in Gwang-ju city and Jeollanam-do province. Experimental group was 74 medical technologistes at hospital centers, hospitals, general hospitals, university hospitals. From the this survey, we found that significant statistical difference in WRMD symptoms by general characteristics (sex, exercise) and working environmental characteristics (examination numbers, time of margin, repetition, intensity of work, time of using PC). In the general factors, Odds ration in male vs female, do exercise vs do not exercise were 4.557 (95% CI=1.003-20.713), 2.747 (95% CI=0.59-12.783). In working environment factors, Odds ration in little of examination numbers vs a lot of examination numbers, little of time margin vs a lot of time margin, non repetitive vs repetitive, non intensity of work vs intensity of work, little of pc using time vs a lot of pc using time were 1.901 (95% CI=0.828-4.363), 1.15 (95% CI=0.335-3.944), 3.952 (95% CI=1.095-14.262), 1.411 (95% CI=0252-7.891), 2.606 (95% CI=1.055-6.437) respectively. For prevention of WRMD symptoms, Most of hospitals should improve medical technologists of working circumstances, especially control a intensive of work, working speed and guarantee enough break time. Therefore, This study suggests that increasing workers and examination of automation, streching during working be needed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.63-69
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• 2010

This study was conducted to compare the concentration of various air contaminants in nine different laboratories during routine activities. Volatile organic compounds (VOC) were sampled and analyzed using NIOSH Method 1500 and asbestos fibers were sampled and analyzed using NIOSH Method 9002 and 7400. Detectable levels of acetone, toluene and ethanol were found in all the laboratories and xylene and n-hexane were detected in eight of the nine laboratories. All the VOC concentrations were well below the Korean Ministry of Labor's Exposure Limit and American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists' (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Values (TLVs). Total VOC concentrations at the university laboratories were significantly higher than those at governmental agency laboratories. Airborne fiber concentrations were below 0.01 fibers/cc, while the concentration of chrysotile was 2% in insulation materials sprayed on the ceiling of one laboratory. While all the governmental agency laboratories (n=4) had fume hoods, two out of the five university laboratories did not have fume hoods. The capture velocity of half of the fume hoods were below the maintenance standard(0.4 m/sec). In conclusion, the study suggests that the current controls in place at both university and government agency laboratories are not sufficient in limiting exposure to harmful chemicals to non-detectable levels, though they appear to be adequate in protecting workers to levels below applicable occupational exposure limits. The study also suggests that researchers working in university laboratories may be exposed to greater levels of contaminant than those working in government agency laboratories.