• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.212-221
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• 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 Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.347-362
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• 2009

The United Nation agreed to adopt the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) until 2008 to solve the significant differences enough to result in different labels or MSDS for the same chemical in different jurisdictions. Though the GHS is an ideal solution in the respect of pursuing only one format of a MSDS throughout the world, it may cause confusion at the beginning due to lack of information. So the Korean Ministry of Labor (MOL) revised the Industrial Safety and Health Act (ISHA) and related public notice on the classification & labelling of chemicals according to the GHS in 2006. The transition period for the implementation of the GHS for substances was set until Jun 30, 2010, and for mixtures until Jun 30, 2013. To promote the implementation of the GHS in Korea, we developed an application program for constructing MSDS database and a management program for providing MSDS contents on the web in accordance with the GHS. We analyzed the sixteen sections of MSDS by the GHS guideline, and the result showed the necessity to construct logically connected DB for chemical identifier, hazard classification, label, standard phrases and regulatory information. Each section of a MSDS was divided into sub-databases to update the database efficiently. According to Relational Database Management System (RDBMS), the sub-databases were automatically assembled and subsequently a full MSDS is produced. At present, MSDS database for 6,314 substances has been built and provided through internet as the MSDS Editing program. During the service period from January 1 to March 31, 13,666 users have searched MSDSs for 33,401 substances. During program review, some comments about the classification results and other MSDS element sources were reported but no technical bug reported. We expect that the MSDS DB management system in accordance with GHS will accelerate the implementation of the GHS in Korea.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.306-313
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• 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 Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.293-302
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• 2008

Lead chromate is made by sodium dichromate and lead acetate, and has being used widely in the part of pigment, paints, inks, plastics and so on. Even though lead chromate has health hazards which like both lead and chromium, there are a few study about pigment workplaces using lead chromate in Korea. The purpose of this study is to evaluate workers' exposure levels and airborne lead and chromium concentration in the pigment workplaces using lead chromate. There are 20 workers in the total 5 workplaces. 10 workers(50%) have been exposed to lead and 3 workers(15%) have been exposed to chromium, which exceeded the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists(ACGIH) Threshold Limit Value (Pb: $0.05\;mg/m^3$, Cr: $0.012\;mg/m^3$) and Korean Ministry of Labor's Standard. Geometric mean (GM) of airborne lead was highest in pigment ($0.0421\;mg/m^3$), paint ($0.0020\;mg/m^3$) and PVC coloring ($0.0007\;mg/m^3$), respectively(p<0.05). The result of airborne chromium concentration was paint ($0.0033\;mg/m^3$), paint ($0.0004\;mg/m^3$) and PVC coloring ($0.0003\;mg/m^3$). Also the lead and chromium concentration in the manual process is each 30 times and 10 times higher than the value in automatic process(p<0.01). In the classified process by detail, the concentration of airborne lead was $0.0638\;mg/m^3$ in grinding & packaging, mixture & after-measuring ($0.0436\;mg/m^3$), filtration & drying ($0.0402\;mg/m^3$), lead nitrate & dissolution($0.0129\;mg/m^3$), pigment commitment & mixture ($0.0013\;mg/m^3$) and dispersion & grinding ($0.0010\;mg/m^3$) (p<0.05). Moreover the concentration of a sample in weighting & packaging was $0.0023\;mg/m^3$. The concentration of lead in workers' blood was pigment (15.12 ug/dl), paint (4.74 ug/dl) and PVC coloring (2.50 ug/dl), and some samples have exceeded biological exposure limit. In conclusion, the depending on their work industry and process, workers have been exposed to the high lead chromate.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.211-221
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• 2006

This study was performed to compare with desorption efficiency and storage stability of CSC and CMS tubes for Ketones in workplace air. 1. The best desorbing solution for CSC tube was 1 % or 3 % dimethylformamide(DMF) in carbon disulfide($CS_2$). The desorption efficiencies were 96.40 % for cyclohexanone, 94.86 % for acetone, 96.96 % for methyl ethyl ketone(MEK), 103.44 % for methyl isobutyl ketone(MIBK), 100.17 % for methyl amyl ketone(MAK), 100.43 % for methyl butyl ketone(MBK), 97.01 % for toluene and 99.33 % for trichloroethylene(TCE). 2. The best desorbing solution for CMS tube was 1 % or 3 % DMF in $CS_2$. The desorption efficiencies were 96.42 % for cyclohexanone, 98.53 % for acetone, 99.67 % for MEK, 105.48 % for MIBK, 100.13 % for MAK, 100.13 % for MBK, 95.42 % for toluene and 98.15 % for TCE. 3. In the storage condition at room temperature($20^{\circ}C$), the recovery rates of cyclohexanone and MEK on CSC tube were rapidly decreased 30.9 % and 50.9 % after 4 weeks, respectively. The recovery rates of all of 6 ketones and 2 nonpolar solvents were shown over 80 % after 1 week in the storage condition of refrigerate temperature($-4^{\circ}C$), and were kept over 80 % after 4 weeks in the storage condition of freezer temperature($-20^{\circ}C$). 4. The recovery rates of cyclohexanone on CMS tube were 80.6 % for 1 week after and 60.5 % for 4 weeks after at room temperature($20^{\circ}C$). The recovery rates of cyclohexanone were shown 80.6 % for 1 week after and 60.5 % for 4 weeks after at $-4^{\circ}C$, and of 6 ketones and 2 non-polar solvents were kept stable over 85 % at $-4^{\circ}C$ and over 97 % at $-20^{\circ}C$ for 4 weeks after. In conclusion, the best desorbing solution was 1 % or 3 % DMF in $CS_2$ and more appropriate sorbent tube for ketones and non-polar solvents was CMS than CSC. We recommend CSC tube would be useful if the samples analyzed within 1 week because CMS tubes are more expensive than CSC tubes. However, if the storage time is needed more than 3 weeks, CMS tubes should be suitable and the storage condition should be below $-20^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.219-236
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• 2006

Objectives: To develop a model of a official management system for agricultural disease, injury and accidents, We analyzed current Korean status and management system about occupational injury and accident of farmers. Methods: For national management systems of industry safety and health and current status of occupational injuries and accidents of farmers, related literature such as books, theses, articles, and web documents were collected and analyzed. Results and Conclusion: The regulations of protecting occupational injury and accidents of farmers are suggested as follows: (1)insurance and compensation act for occupational injury and accident of farmers, (2)setting standards of occupational injuries and accidents of farmers, (3)mandating the usage of safety devices for agricultural vehicles and equipments, (4)reporting occupational injuries and accidents that occur among farmers, (5)registering pesticides and assessing safety usage, (6)implementing safety training, (7)supporting personal protective equipments and agricultural safe facilities etc.

• 재활복지
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.33-57
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to analyze factors that can affect the satisfaction with life of elderly with disabilities so as to provide measure for improving the quality of their lives. To that end, elderly with disabilities and 50 years or older were extracted from the raw data (2nd Wave, 1st Survey) of 2016 Panel Survey of Employment for the Disabled (or PSED), conducted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korea Employment Agency for the Disabled. And they were classified into those aging with disabilities (onset of a disability before 50 years) and those having disabilities with aging (onset of a disability after 50 years). The results of the analysis show factors affecting satisfaction with life were different in the two groups. Although awareness about employment, awareness about disability, levels of happiness, subjective socioeconomic standing, and financial problems were the common factors, health conditions and ability to function in daily life affected more those aging with disability, and employment status was more relevant to those having disability with aging. Based on these results, this study points out the need to take into account awareness about employment and disability when developing services for elderly with disabilities, to solve their financial problems, and to provide a collective approach to employment and health issues in order to improve the quality of their lives.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.93-102
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• 2023

Objectives: With the evolution of direct reading sensors, it is possible to monitor several substances through telecommunication. However, there are some limitations on the use of direct reading technologies in the Occupational Safety and Health Act in South Korea, which only applies to detector tubes, noise, heat, and carbon monoxides. The number of chemicals and their amount of use have been continuously increasing in South Korea. The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MoEL) has concerns about worker's health because exposure is only covered for about 1.2% of all distributed chemicals. Using a direct reading monitor with photoionization detectors (PID-DRMs), gases and vapors chemicals can be measured. Based on the data, business owners are able to create corrective strategies, provide better working routines, and select correct respiratory equipment. PID-DRMs are less expensive and easier to handle for an owner voluntarily controlling chemicals emitted in the workplace. However, there are several limitations on using these PID-DRMs to the degree that the MoEL has not been able to select a legal monitor. The aim of this study was to review previous studies related to PID-DRMs and identify the characterization and limitation on PID-DRMs. Methods: To search for related studies on PID-DRMs, key words were used including direct reading monitors/instruments and/or photoionization detectors. Through that, four domestic and 15 international studies were reviewed. Results: Studies on PID-DRMs were conducted by chamber (enclosed, dynamic, walk-in) and in the field (experimental environment, actual environment). The concentration of PID-DRMs and charcoal tubes were compared for a single substance or mixture, or within the PID-DRMs. There was a high correlation between the two concentrations, but it did not meet the accuracy criteria (95% confidence interval, within 25%) of the NIOSH technical report (2012). In addition, differences in measured values occurred according to environmental factors (temperature, humidity) and high concentration, and concentration values tended to be underestimated due to contamination of the sensor. As a way to improve the accuracy of PID concentration, it was proposed to use correction factors, charcoal tube-based correction factors, or to calibrate the PID-DRMs in the same environment as the workplace. Conclusions: PID-DRMs can likely be used by business owners for the purpose of voluntarily managing the workplace environment, and it is expected that it will be possible to use them as legal equipment if a PID sensor can be upgraded and the limitations of the sensor (temperature, humidity, high concentration evaluation, sensor pollution) can be overcome in the near future.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.56 no.11
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• pp.815-822
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• 2023

Organic pollution is one of the most common forms of water contamination. Under the Water Quality Conservation Act, indicators for measuring organic substances include BOD, COD, and TOC. Analysis of BOD and COD is labor-intensive, and in the case of organic substances where biological decomposition is not feasible or toxic substances are present, the accuracy is often low. Therefore, the Ministry of Environment is shifting towards TOC-centric management. With advancements in sensor technology today, various parameters can be monitored using sensors. In this study, digital monitoring of river TOC using a spectrophotometer called Spectro::lyser V3 was conducted. Initially, experiments were carried out at the Andong River Experiment Center to assess the applicability of the measurement equipment. Subsequently, data collected at the confluence of the Nakdong River was analyzed for the spatial distribution of TOC using the Kriging technique. This research proposes the utilization of sensors for river TOC monitoring and spatial distribution analysis. Real-time monitoring of changes in river TOC concentration can serve as fundamental data for pollution monitoring and response. Sensor-based river monitoring offers advantages in terms of temporal resolution and real-time data acquisition. When various spatial information interpretation methods are applied, it is expected to contribute to diverse studies such as aquatic ecological health, river water source selection, and stratification analysis in the future.

• Industry Promotion Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.69-75
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• 2024

Korea has entered the ranks of advanced countries in terms of economic size and technological competitiveness. However, its industrial accident fatality rate remains among the lowest in OECD countries, and recent incidents such as various building collapses have resulted in numerous deaths of workers or citizens, reminiscent of accidents in developing countries. According to the 2022 Industrial Accident Status Analysis by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, out of the 874 fatalities in work-related accidents in 2022 across all industries, 402 were in the construction industry, accounting for approximately 46% of all fatalities. In particular, the construction industry's fatality rate stands at 1.61, significantly higher than the overall industry fatality rate of 0.43, indicating its severity. Construction ranks highest in terms of fatality rates, with mining at 12.18 and fishing at 1.80. When categorizing construction projects into private and public, private projects show significantly higher figures in terms of contracts, contract amounts, accident numbers, and fatalities compared to public projects. However, unlike public agencies, many private clients lack adequate safety and health activities and lack established safety and health systems. This study aims to raise awareness among private clients about the need to establish safety and health systems and enhance safety and health activities, and to discuss the direction of future development of advanced safety and health practices among private clients.