• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제46권4호
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• pp.213-217
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• 2021

Background: Radiation exposure can occur as a result of occupational activities utilizing sources of radiation. The average level of occupational exposure is generally similar to the global average, but some workers receive more than this. In this study, the occupational exposure data for workers in Korea to check the recent trend of radiation exposure. Materials and Methods: The data collection and analysis are carried out by two separate periods based on the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) survey. One is the year 2003 to 2014 for a recent survey, and the other is 2015 to 2019. All available data were collected by annual reports from radiation dose registry organizations. Results and Discussion: The annual dose over the record level to the total workers did not change much compared with the total increasing number of workers in this period. The dose to the nuclear fuel cycle field has a tendency to decrease. It resulted from the efforts of radiation dose reduction with high technology introduced to this area. Also, it is important result that the radiation dose to the workers in radiography is remarkably reduced. Conclusion: The number of radiation workers and average doses were analyzed for occupational categories in Korea. It still needs cooperative efforts between the dose registry organizations for the efficient dose management of Korean radiation workers.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제30권4호
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• pp.353-363
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• 2020

Objectives: Occupational diseases that occur due to or aggravated by work have commonly been recognized in the manufacturing industry, but there are now more incidences happening in the service industry due to changes in the industrial structure. Health workers are exposed to direct factors and various other causes of occupational disease at work, such as physical, chemical, biological, and psyco-social factors. This study aims to identify work-related diseases affecting health workers that are recognized as occupational diseases. Methods: The research is based on the data of workers whose diseases were accepted as work-related by the Industrial Accidents Compensation Insurance, and filed by the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency. Amongst the approved claims during 2011 to 2015, we focused on healthcare workers and health-related workers of the Korean Standard Classification of Occupations. Descriptive statistics were performed. Results: The number of health workers(HWs) with approved work-related disease was 1,707 over 5 years. The number of healthcare workers(HCWs) excluding caregivers was 370 (21.7%) and of health-related workers (HRWs) it was 736 (43.1%). Out of HWs who were approved for their illnesses, females were 80% of HCWs and 88% of HRWs. The most common occupational disease in HWs was musculoskeletal diseases, while that of nurses was infectious disease. Conclusions: HWs are exposed to various risks from their profession and are affected by occupational diseases. It is necessary to focus on this issue and provide preventive measures.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.279-286
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• 1991

Much of the working population in developing countries are engaged in shift work now and the number of shift workers is not expected to decrease in the future mostly because the need for continuity of production is increasing. Therefore, the possible effects of shift work on health are of particular interest, and in fact, there have been many epidemiological studies on shift work since the first world war. However, no studies on health effects of shift work have been reported in Korea, and the existing studies in western world have arrived at quite different conclusions mainly because the conditions of work other than shift work, such as age and selection of workers, work environment, and labor conditions also influence the health of workers. This study was firstly carried out in Korea to investigate the health risks related to shift work with 2,093 female workers randomly selected from three major manufacturing industries in proportion to total number of female workers in those industries. Differences of work conditions other than shift work in this study were adjusted by multivariate analysis. Ma findings obtained from this study are as follows : 1. There were significant differences between shift and day workers in the distribution of age, type of industry, condition of noise and dust, regularity of mealtime, working position, and working duration. Shift workers tended to be younger, to have shorter working duration, to have more irregular mealtime, to work in standing position, and to work under more noisy and dusty environment than day workers. 2. Univariate analysis showed that shift work increased the Todai Health Index (THI) scores of digestive tract, respiratory tract, and mental instability symptom categories. Shift work also increased days of sickness absence and number of industrial accident per 100 workers per month. 3. Multivariate analysis that adjusted the differences of demographic, occupational and non-occupational health-related working conditions showed that digestive tract symptom and mental instability symptom scores were significantly higher in shift workers than those in day workers. Based on these study results, it is concluded that the shift work has significant effects on some psychophysiological conditions of the workers and the effects are also influenced by several other personal and working conditions.

• 한국콘텐츠학회논문지
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.421-429
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• 2019

본 연구는 인천시 재가요양보호사의 임금 수준에 영향을 미치는 요인을 살펴본 것이다. 이를 위해 인천시 소재 재가장기요양기관에 근무하고 있는 요양보호사 306명을 연구 대상으로 삼았고, 재가요양보호사의 임금에 영향을 줄 수 있는 요인들을 개인 특성과 근로(환경) 특성, 지역 특성으로 구분하여 분석을 수행하였다. 분석 결과, 개인 특성으로는 교육 수준과 자격증(경력) 유무가, 근로(환경) 특성은 고용 형태와 근로 시간, 서비스 제공 유형이 재가요양보호사의 임금 수준에 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 지역 특성은 장기 요양의 공급과 수요 측면을 나타낼 수 있는 요인들(재가요양보호사 100명당 재가장기요양기관 수, 급여이용자 100명당 재가장기요양기관 수, 재가요양보호사 1명당 급여이용자 수) 모두 요양보호사의 임금에 정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구는 이와 같은 결과를 바탕으로 정책적 함의를 제시하였다.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제49권4호
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• pp.249-251
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• 2016

Objectives: Nail salon owners in New York City (NYC) are required to provide their workers with gloves and it is their responsibility to maintain healthy, safe working spaces for their employees. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency with which nail salon workers wear protective gloves. Methods: A Freedom of Information Law request was submitted to New York Department of State's Division of Licensing Services for a full list of nail salons in Manhattan, NYC. A sample population of 800 nail salons was identified and a simple random sample (without replacement) of 30% (n=240) was selected using a random number generator. Researchers visited each nail salon from October to December of 2015, posing as a potential customer to determine if nail salon workers were wearing gloves. Results: Among the 169 salons in which one or more workers was observed providng services, a total of 562 workers were observed. For 149 salons, in which one or more worker was observed providing services, none of the workers were wearing gloves. In contrast, in six of the salons observed, in which one or more workers was providing services, all of the workers (1 in 2 sites, 2 in 1 site, 3 in 2 sites, and 4 in 1 site) were wearing gloves. Almost three-quarters of the total number of workers observed (n=415, 73.8%) were not wearing gloves. Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that, despite recent media attention and legislation, the majority of nail salon workers we observed were not wearing protective gloves when providing services.

• 한방재활의학과학회지
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.131-138
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• 2010

Objectives : Recently work-related musculoskeletal disorders have increased in various workplaces and many reports have been confirming this, but a comparative study on incidence of spinal disease by occupation has not been established yet. So this study was designed to clarify the distinction on incidence of spinal disease between white and blue collar workers. Methods : The subjects who visited with spinal disease to Ja-Seng oriental hospital from January to April in 2020 were selected and divided into white collar workers(n=844) and blue collar workers(n=333). We counted the number of patients with each spinal disease in both groups and carried out comparative analysis in five items(herniated nucleus pulposus(HNP), stenosis, spondylosis, sprain, etc). All data were analyzed by chi-square test. Results and Conclusions : Whit collar workers had higher incidence in HNP(p=0.030), sprain(p=0.016),etc(p=0.035) than blue collar workers, while blue collar workers had higher incidence in stenosis(p=0.002). But we think that the confidence is low in stenosis because the number of cases are very small. There were no significance between two groups with spondylosis.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제7권4호
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• pp.372-380
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• 2016

Background: The aim of this study was to estimate the number of workers exposed to diesel engine exhaust (DEE) by industry and year in the Republic of Korea. Method: The estimates of workers potentially exposed to DEE in the Republic of Korea were calculated by industry on the basis of the carcinogen exposure (CAREX) surveillance system. The data on the labor force employed in DEE exposure industries were obtained from the Census on Establishments conducted by the Korea National Statistical Office from 1993 to 2013. The mean values of prevalence rates adopted by EU15 countries were used as the primary exposure prevalence rates. We also investigated the exposure prevalence rates and exposure characteristics of DEE in 359 workplaces representing 11 industries. Results: The total number of workers exposed to DEE were estimated as 270,014 in 1993 and 417,034 in 2013 (2.2% of the total labor force). As of 2013, the industry categorized as "Land transport" showed the highest number of workers exposed to DEE with 174,359, followed by "Personal and household services" with 70,298, "Construction" with 45,555, "Wholesale and retail trade and restaurants and hotels" with 44,005, and "Sanitation and similar services" with 12,584. These five industries, with more than 10,000 workers exposed to DEE, accounted for 83% of the total DEE-exposed workers. Comparing primary prevalence rates used for preliminary estimation among 49 industries, "Metal ore mining" had the highest rate at 52.6%, followed by "Other mining" with 50.0%, and "Land transport" with 23.6%. Conclusion: The DEE prevalence rates we surveyed (1.3-19.8%) were higher than the primary prevalence rates. The most common emission sources of DEE were diesel engine vehicles such as forklifts, trucks, and vans. Our estimated numbers of workers exposed to DEE can be used to identify industries with workers requiring protection from potential exposure to DEE in the Republic of Korea.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제27권3호
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• pp.221-230
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• 2017

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate general characteristics, job characteristics, characteristics of hospitals, and hospital coordinators, and to investigate the factors affecting the job satisfaction of medical workers. Methods: The data was collected through a self-reported questionnaire among 435 workers in plastic surgery and dermatology clinics in metropolitan city G. We investigated general characteristics, job-related characteristics, characteristics of medical institutions and hospital coordinators, job performance of hospital coordinators, and job satisfaction of medical workers. T-tests, ANOVA, correlation, and multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate the factors related with job satisfaction. Results: The job satisfaction of the medical workers and the perceived job performance of hospital coordinators were $3.55{\pm}0.40$ and $3.74{\pm}0.43$, respectively. In multiple regression analysis, drinking frequency, number of night shifts, number of work days, and hospital coordinator introduction years were associated with the job satisfaction of medical workers. The more the overall job performance of hospital coordinators increased, the higher was job satisfaction(B=0.458, p<0.001). In detail, the more job roles(B=0.218, p<0.001), core competency(B=0.145, p=0.005), and leadership(B=0.099, p=0.037) increased, the higher was the job satisfaction of medical workers. Conclusions: The job satisfaction of the medical institution workers was associated with the perceived job performance of the hospital coordinator. In order to increase the job satisfaction of medical institution workers, a hospital coordinator with specialized job performance will be able to improve job satisfaction by carrying out efficient work in the medical institution.

• 대한인간공학회지
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• 제33권6호
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• pp.477-486
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• 2014

Objective:This study aims to devise industrial injury prevention measures by analyzing industrial injury characteristics including the status of industrial injuries, source of industrial injury and accident type in order to prevent aging workers' industrial injuries that account for more than half in the workplaces in agriculture. Background: Continuous migration from farm to city takes place among young people in rural areas in Korea, a traditionally agricultural country due to rapid industrialization and economic development. The aging rate in rural areas in 2013 was 37.3%, about three times higher than the total aging rate of 12.2% in Korea. According to industrial injury statistics of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the number of industrial injuries in agriculture shows an uptrend and the industrial injuries of aging workers account for more than 50% each year. Method: Of the 2,970 industrial injury cases occurred in the workplaces in agriculture for five years during 2008 and 2012 offered by a national agency related to health and safety, this study analyzed 1,767 industrial injury cases of aging workers. Results: As a result of an analysis on aging workers' industrial injuries by company size in agriculture, 89.8% of the total number of industrial injuries were analyzed to occur in small scale company. According to aging workers' industrial injuries by source of industrial injury and accident type, the outdoor floor and a fall were analyzed to be the highest at 16.5% and 26.1%, respectively. Conclusion: This study analyzed aging workers' industrial injuries by company size, age, job duration, accident severity, gender, nationality, the source of industrial injury and accident type in order to identify industrial injury characteristics in agriculture. Application: The identification of industrial injury characteristics of aging workers in agriculture is judged to be helpful to devising effective measures to prevent industrial injuries.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제28권2호
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• pp.230-239
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• 2018

Objective: The purpose of this study is to identify the kinds and exposure levels of health hazards in the metalworking process in relation to acute poisoning accidents caused by methanol in 2016. Methods: The number of industries, workplaces, exposed workers, regional distribution, and exposure level of health hazards in metalworking process were investigated based on employee exposure assessment database provided by KOSHA (the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency), which was collected from workplace hazard evaluation programs in Korea. Exposure metrics for methanol were assessed by RCR (risk characterization ratio). Results: The numbers of processes, workplaces, and exposed workers of metalworking, which include CNC (computer numerical control) were 25, 14,405, and 169,102 respectively. The numbers of samples of chemical hazards including methanol were 91,325, and it was found that workers in metalworking were exposed to 249 kinds of chemical hazards. There were 16 kinds of special controlled substances including beryllium. It is estimated that the number of workplaces involving CNC process was 2,537, and the number of exposed workers was 27,976. In CNC process, the total number of workplaces handling methanol was 36, and 298 workers were estimated to be exposed. There was no exceeded that surpassed the OEL and 49% of samples were below the limit of detection. Methanol exposure concentrations in Gyeonggido Province were statistically significantly higher than in other areas (p <0.0001). Conclusions: In the metalworking process including CNC, there is exposure to a wide variety of health hazards. There was no sample exceeding the OEL for methanol. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize the limits of the employee exposure assessment system and urgently improve measures to prevent the occurrence of events like methanol poisoning.