• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.90-98
• /
• 2021

Since 2017, the Occupational Safety and Health Act has been fully applied to school food services, and risk assessments have been implemented since 2019. The introduction was slow compared to other industries and was evaluated by non-professional nutritionists, so there was a limit to establishing the system. All schools under the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education apply the KRAS every year in accordance with the OSH Act for school foodservice and a notice from the Ministry of Employment and Labor. A risk assessment is applied according to legal regulations. On the other hand, the effectiveness of risk assessment has been questioned because the frequency and intensity criteria of the risk are qualitative and subjective. Based on the accident statistics of catering workers, the frequency and intensity criteria of risk were presented quantitatively and objectively, and a risk assessment was conducted by applying a new calculation standard for some work during the catering service and compared with current risk assessment results. The risk was increased, and the improved effectiveness was confirmed by the specific suggestions for improvement. Thus, the pilot evaluation for the entire food service should be expanded, and the feasibility confirmed. The pilot evaluation should be applied to all schools to enhance the effectiveness and operability of the risk assessment.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.747-757
• /
• 2017

Of safety check regulation, 'Construction Technology Promotion Act' and 'Special Act on the Safety Control of Public Structures' contain provisions about the content of safety in construction works and the items of safety checks in the maintenance aspect and thus contribute to accident prevention in the construction industry. Of the regulations responsible for the practical safety of workers, the safety check regulation of Ministry of Employment and Labor demand for safety check from the start of construction based on an agreement with a concerned agency to the completion of construction solely based on 'Guidance Standards for the Specialized Disaster Prevention Instruction in Article 32 of Occupational Safety and Health Act' and 'Appropriation and Usage Standards of Safety and Health Management Costs in the Construction Industry'. There is, however, a huge gap, as well, in them according to client agencies. In small construction sites ordered by a private organization, checks are done formally with no detailed regulations. As a result, the costs of checks continue to drop with only the contract kept intact. This study examined the forms of safety checks practically done in the Jeju region, distinguished and compared them by the construction costs, calculated proper costs based on each construction act, and further proposed improvement measures for the detailed regulations.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.306-313
• /
• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study is suggested to improve upon current existing methods of ammonia chemical accident prevention and damage reduction. Method: Ammonia is one of the most common toxic substances that causes frequent chemical accidents. And it was selected as leakage materials according to statistics on chemical accident. Based on actual cases of chemical accidents, CARIS modeling was used to compare the damage impact range of Ammonia and HCl and Cl. Also, find out problems with the current systems. Result: As a result of find out the range of accident influence that spreads to the surroundings when an ammonia chemical accident, it was longer than the range of influence of hydrochloric acid and shorter than that of chlorine. In addition, it was found that when chemical accident by ammonia, hydrochloric acid, or chlorine, there are apartments and schools, which can have an effect. Conclusion: It is decided that it is necessary to determine whether or not chemical accident prevention management plans and statistical investigations are submitted for workplaces dealing with ammonia, and detailed guidelines and reviews are necessary. In addition, it is judged that it is necessary to establish a DB for ammonia handling plants, and it is considered that information sharing and joint inspection among related organizations should be pursued.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.57-72
• /
• 2022

The recent increase in international trade volume and explosive increase in cargo volume due to the non-face-to-face society are leading to an increase in risk exposure and safety accidents in the port logistics industry. Consequently, as the atmosphere and consensus on safety are spreading throughout the society, various safety laws are being enacted by the industry. Nevertheless, according to the industrial accidents status analysis by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the average annual number of injured persons increased by 11.1% and the number of deaths by 4.0% from 2015 to 2019. This means that special attention should be paid to possible future risks and preventive measures for major causes of accidents should be established. Therefore, in this study, risk assessment was conducted based on 5,028 accident cases that were reported by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency for 5 years, from 2016 to 2020, and major risk factors for each industry were derived, and then bow-tie analysis was conducted to perform the risk assessment; Further, the study aimed to derive the causes and preventive measures from the risk factors.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.212-221
• /
• 2013

Objectives: Asbestos fibers are accumulated in negative pressure unit (NPU) or vacuum cleaner in asbestos removal. Failure of operation or poor use performance of the NPU or vacuum cleaner causes asbestos fibers to spread in the air. Asbestos contractors should have an NPU fitted with a HEPA , vacuum cleaner, decontamination area, respirators, wetting equipment, and differential pressure manometer to register with the Ministry of Employment and Labor. There should be performance criteria of equipment used in asbestos removal. But there are none such criteria used in asbestos removal. This study was performed to investigate international or national performance criteria of equipment used in asbestos removal. Methods: Regulations, approved code of practice, guidance and national standards of the UK, USA and Korea were reviewed. A survey was done to investigate the requirements for equipment used in asbestos removal in Korea. Results: Air flow of NPUs used in Korea usually covers from$500m^3/h$ to over $3000m^3/h$. Some requirements for NPUs used in Korea were missing compared to the requirements of British standards for NPUs. All NPUs have different missing requirements. The UK also has separate British standard for leak tests for NPUs. Highly hazardous class vacuum cleaners should be used in asbestos removal in the UK. It has national standards on the operation of vacuum cleaners used in asbestos removal. There is only a certification system for less than 2.5kw rated voltage vacuum cleaners for home use in Korea. Powered (-assisted) respirators with mask are recommended in asbestos removal. Type 5 coveralls should be used in asbestos removal in the UK. There are international standards for requirements and leak tests of type 5 coveralls. A manometer for measuring differential pressure is needed in asbestos removal. The manometer's measuring range should cover less than ${\pm}125$ Pa and the gradation of manometer should be less than 2.5 Pa. The definition of decontamination area should be corrected. Installation of airlock and minimum area should be considered in decontamination area. Conclusions: Equipment should be used in asbestos removal proper performance and no leaks. There should be a certification system for equipment used in asbestos removal. This study can help to a certification system for equipment used in asbestos removal in Korea.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
• /
• v.48 no.2
• /
• pp.209-220
• /
• 2021

The noise is defined as unwanted sound that causes discomfort and physical changes. This study was conducted to evaluate intensity of noise in the pediatric dental clinic and to investigate noise environment of a pediatric dentist. Human ear shaped microphone and mobile noise level meter were used for recording noise and calculating intensity of noise. By recording according to the method specified by Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) of Korea Ministry of labor and employment, the following results were obtained. For 16 experimental days, 8 hour time weighted average (8hr-TWA) was 49.33 dBA (A-weighted deci-Bell) on daily average with maximum 58.54 dBA and minimum 33.97 dBA. And Dose was 0.49% on daily average with maximum 1.28%, minimum 0.04%. These values are less than criteria of KOSHA standard (85 dBA, 100%). Comparing the highest noise level for each patient, pulp therapy group and Frankel grade I group were the highest. The intensity of dental noise of pediatric dental clinic didn't meet standard of KOSHA. It is necessary to re-evaluate noise environment by establishing new standards considering environment of pediatric dental clinic.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
• /
• v.17 no.5
• /
• pp.108-119
• /
• 2016

Since the introduction of the converted accident rate in Pre-Qualification(PQ) process in 1992, the safety evaluation system has contributed to a reduction of construction accidents and development of the safety management system in public construction projects. As the comprehensive evaluation method the government plans to introduce includes the indicators 'accident rate' and 'death rate per 10,000 workers', the influences on the safety evaluation in the bidding process would be broader in public sector construction projects. However, the current safety evaluation system is operated by different estimating standards in the bidding process. At this point, a study of improvement on the safety evaluation index is required to review its current conditions and to propose its efficient operating method. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze problems of the current safety evaluation system through the questionnaire survey on the qualified workers in construction safety management and to propose an improvement plan for the problems noticed. Our results suggest the standards of the unified process for the safety evaluation index, the size of construction firms needed for accident rate estimation, and the improvement plan for unreported accidents. The proposed improvement plan enables the reasonable estimation and efficient operation of the safety evaluation index, and further, it would contribute to reducing construction accidents through the activation of voluntary safety management by construction firms.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.119-131
• /
• 2011

The asbestos contents in some representative building materials were analyzed using JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) X-ray diffraction (XRD) method. The changes in mineral composition during analysis process and problems in JIS method were also examined. XRD analysis of some representative domestic building materials used for roof, wall, ceiling, and floor indicates that slate have the highest asbestos content having 6.87~6.93% of chrysotile. Other building materials analyzed in this study also have 1.35~3.98% of chrysotile contents. The XRD analysis results of asbestos contents in some domestic building materials are presented in this study. This method is very effective for the asbestos content evaluation of building materials according to newly modified asbestos content regulation (Law of Industrial Safety and Health, 2007-26) that limits asbestos content less than 0.1% by Ministry of Employment and Labor. Small amount of tremolite as well as chrysotile were also observed in some samples. With consideration of crystal shape, contents and geological occurrence, it is considered that tremolite is an associated mineral of chrysotile and is not intentionally added. Complemental analyses with optical microscope and SEM/EDS are also necessary because XRD method cannot distinguish asbestiform from non-asbestiform. The XRD method applied in this study is very effective in the asbestos content analysis of building materials, specially building materials showing high asbestos concentration in residues due to the high loss rate with ashing and acid dissolution procedure.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.51-60
• /
• 2018

Objectives: Currently, there is only limited knowledge regarding the hazard of low-level exposure to CMR materials in workplaces. To overcome this limitation, a reference concentration for workers($RfC_w$) from among the risk assessment tools proposed by the US EPA is widely used to set a provisional workplace exposure level(PWEL) for CMR materials for which there are no established Korea Occupational Exposure Limits(KOELs) or subjective chemicals for work environment measurements as regulated by Korea Ministry of Employment and Labor(KMOEL). A simple European calculator of derived no effect level(SECO-DNEL) as proposed by REACH can also be used in place of $RfC_w$ to set the PWEL for chemicals. This study was performed to test the acceptability of using SECO-DNEL as an alternative to $RfC_w$ when setting a PWEL for low-level exposures. Methods: The $RfC_w$ and DNEL for the five CMR materials of dinitrogen oxide, catechol, 2-phenoxy ethanol, carbitol, and carbon black were calculated using the dose-response assessments of the US EPA for $RfC_w$ and REACH guidance for SECO-DNEL, respectively. They were compared using paired t-tests to determine the statistical differences between them. Results: For the five chemicals, the $RfC_w$ were 2.53 ppm, 0.10 ppm, 1.73 ppm, 1.66 ppm, and $0.05mg/m^3$, respectively, while the SECO-DNEL were 2.01 ppm, 0.11 ppm, 1.83 ppm, 1.77 ppm, $0.14mg/m^3$, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between $RfC_w$ and SECO-DNEL. Conclusions: This study suggests that the SECO-DNEL could be applied in place of $RfC_w$ to set a PWEL for low-level exposure to chemicals, especially CMR materials. To further ensure the reliability of SECO-DNEL as an alternative tool, more chemicals should be applied for calculation and comparison with $RfC_w$.

• Particle and aerosol research
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.95-102
• /
• 2016

Controlling exposures to occupational hazards is important for protecting workers. Certified facepiece respirators are recommended when engineering controls do not adequately prevent exposures to airborne nanomaterials. The objective of this study is to carry out the experimental performance test to investigate the fractional efficiencies of the filter media for two grades of facepiece respirators. Experimental performance evaluations were carried out for the test NaCl particles and silver nanoparticles. For media of respirator filter, the penetration of NaCl particles was less than 5% and the most penetrating particle size occurred at about 40 nm. For silver nanoparticles, the most penetrating particle size was about 20nm with higher efficiency than those of NaCl particles. Charge characteristics of airborne nanoparticles is important because the media of respirator filter is made by the electret filter media.