• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.445-450
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• 2023

Background: The impact of COVID-19 infection on workers' work function persists even after the acute phase of the infection. We studied this phenomenon in Japanese workers. Methods: We conducted a one-year prospective cohort study online, starting with a baseline survey in December 2020. We tracked workers without baseline work functioning impairment and incorporated data from 14,421 eligible individuals into the analysis. We estimated the incidence rate ratio for new onset of work functioning impairment due to COVID-19 infection during follow-up, using mixed-effects Poisson regression analysis with robust variance. Results: Participants reporting infection between January and December 2021 showed a significantly higher incidence of new work functioning impairment (adjusted incidence rate ratio: 2.18, 95% confidence interval: 1.75-2.71, p < 0.001). The formality of the recuperation environment correlated with a higher risk of work functioning deterioration in infected individuals (p for trend <0.001). Conclusion: COVID-19-infected workers may continue to experience work difficulties due to persistent, post-acute infection symptoms. Companies and society must urgently provide rehabilitation and social support for people with persistent symptoms, recognizing that COVID-19 is not just a transient acute infection.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.259-266
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• 2023

Background: Recent research on occupational injuries in companies has faced difficulties in obtaining representative data, leading to studies relying on surveys or case studies. Moreover, it is difficult to find studies on how a company's industry characteristics affect occupational injuries. This study aims to address these limitations. Methods: We collected 11 years of disclosure data from 1,247 listed companies in the Korean stock market and combined it with their occupational injury histories collected by the Republic of Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) to build a dataset. We attempted to analyze a linear panel model by dividing the dataset into manufacturing, construction, and other industries. Results: The higher proportion of full-time employees and better job skills correlate with lower occupational injuries in other industries. The wage increase reduces occupational injuries in manufacturing and other industries, but the substitution effect produces the opposite outcome in construction. Also, foreign ownership and credit ratings increase effectively reduce occupational injuries mainly in the manufacturing industry. Conclusion: Our results suggest that in explaining the relationship between corporate characteristics and occupational injuries, it is necessary to consider the nature of the industry more closely, and in particular, employment and labor policies for preventing occupational injuries need to be selectively applied according to industry. In addition, to improve the limitations and increase the usability of the research results, further detailed studies are needed in the future.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.224-231
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• 2018

Background: Organizations are pursing complex and diverse aims to generate higher profits. Many workers experience high work intensity such as workload and work pressure in this organizational environment. Especially, psychological burden is a commonly used term in workplace of Republic of Korea. This study focused on defining the psychological burden from the perspective of occupational safety and health and tried to develop a scale for psychological burden. Methods: The 48 preliminary questionnaire items for psychological burden were prepared by a focus group interview with 16 workers through the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II and Mindful Awareness Attention Scale. The preliminary items were surveyed with 572 workers, and exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and correlation analysis were conducted for a new scale. Results: As a result of the exploratory factor analysis, five factors were extracted: organizational activity, human error, safety and health workload, work attitude, and negative self-management. These factors had significant correlations and reliability, and the stability of the model for validity was confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis. Conclusion: The developed scale for psychological burden can measure workers' psychological burden in relation to safety and health. Despite some limitations, this study has applicability in the workplace, given the relatively small-sized questionnaire.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.229-234
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• 2001

The EDXRF(Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer) technique was applied to the determination of heavy metals in welding fume. The EDXRF method designed in this study was a non-destructive analysis method. Samples were analyzed directly by EDXRF without any pre-treatment such as digestion and dilution. The samples used to evaluate this method were laboratory samples exposed in a chamber connected with a welding fume generator. The samples were first analyzed using a non-destructive EDXRF method. The samples subsequently were analyzed using AAS method to verify accuray of the EDXRF method. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possibility of the non-destructive analysis of heavy metals in welding fume by EDXRF. The results of this study were as follow: 1.When the samples were collected under the open-face sampling condition, a surface distribution of welding fume particles on sample filters was uniform, which made non-destructive analysis possible. 2. The method was statistically evaluated according to the NIOSH(National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) and HSE(Health and Safety Executive) method. 3. The overall precision of the EDXRF method Was calculated at 3.45 % for Cr, 2.57 % for Fe and 3.78 % for Mn as relative standard deviation(RSD), respectively. The limits of detection were calculated at $0.46{\mu}g$/sample for Cr, $0.20{\mu}g$/sample for Fe and $1.14{\mu}g$/sample for Mn, respectively. 4. A comparison between the results of Cr, Fe, Mn analyzed by EDXRF and AAS was made in order to assess the accuracy of EDXRF method. The correlation coefficient between the results of EDXRF and AAS was 0.9985 for Cr, 0.9995 for Fe and 0.9982 for Mn, respectively. The overall uncertainty was determined to be ${\pm}12.31%$, 8.64 % and 11.91 % for Cr, Fe and Mn, respectively. In conclusion, this study showed that Cr, Fe, Mn in welding fume were successfully analyzed by the EDXRF without any sample pre-treatment such as digestion and dilution and a good correlation between the results of EDXRF and AAS was obtained. It was thus possible to use the EDXRF technique as an analysis method of working environment samples. The EDXRF method was an efficient method in a non-destructive analysis of heavy metals in welding fume.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.17-25
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• 2009

This study was aimed to analyze of characteristics of Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) based on the industrial accident statistics which were extracted from the Ministry of Labor. In this study all MSDs cases in 2007, 7,723 cases, were investigated. First of all, for the analysis of a wide view point concerning the characteristics of MSDs, We have inspected characteristics of the user population (i.e. age, gender, employed periods, etc.). Secondly, work-related risk factors such as repetitive motions, awkward postures, manual material handling were analyzed in terms of disease code, injured part of body, types of business, etc. Next, characteristics of handling of heavy materials were analyzed according to weight, types of handling, agency of cause, etc. Finally, we have compared and analyzed the features between the period of hospitalization and other variables. In addition to that we also conducted statistics analysis. The study results showed that there were significant characteristics of MSDs that could be used as basis data for the MSDs prevention policy.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.505-510
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• 2021

Background: Factors related to root causes can cause commonly occurring accidents such as falls, slips, and jammed injuries. An important means of reducing the frequency of occupational accidents in small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMSEs) of South Korea is to perform intensity analysis of the root cause factors for accident prevention in the cause and effect model like decision models, epidemiological models, system models, human factors models, LCU (life change unit) models, and the domino theory. Especially intensity analysis in a robot system and smart technology as Industry 4.0 is very important in order to minimize the occupational accidents and fatal accident because of the complexity of accident factors. Methods: We have developed the modern cause and effect model that includes factors of root cause through statistical testing to minimize commonly occurring accidents and fatal accidents in SMSEs of South Korea and systematically proposed educational policies for accident prevention. Results: As a result, the consciousness factors among factors of root cause such as unconsciousness, disregard, ignorance, recklessness, and misjudgment had strong relationships with occupational accidents in South Korean SMSEs. Conclusion: We conclude that the educational policies necessary for minimizing these consciousness factors include continuous training procedures followed by periodic hands-on experience, along with perceptual and cognitive education related to occupational health and safety.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.218-226
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• 2015

Background: The present study aimed to analyze the index value trends of injured employed persons (IEPs) covered in Pakistan Labour Force Surveys from 2001-02 to 2012-13. Methods: The index value method based on reference years and reference groups was used to analyze the IEP trends in terms of different criteria such as gender, area, employment status, industry types, occupational groups, types of injury, injured body parts, and treatment received. The Pearson correlation coefficient analysis was also performed to investigate the inter-relationship of different occupational variables. Results: The values of IEP increased at the end of the studied year in industry divisions such as agriculture, forestry, hunting, and fishing, followed by in manufacturing and construction industry divisions. People associated with major occupations (such as skilled agricultural and fishery workers) and elementary (unskilled) occupations were found to be at an increasing risk of occupational injuries/diseases with an increasing IEP trend. Types of occupational injuries such as sprain or strain, superficial injury, and dislocation increased during the studied years. Major injured parts of body such as upper limb and lower limb found with increasing trend. Types of treatment received, including hospitalization and no treatment, were found to decrease. Increased IEP can be justified due to inadequate health care facilities, especially in rural areas by increased IEP in terms of gender, areas, received treatment, occupational groups and employment status as results found after Pearson correlation coefficient analysis. Conclusion: The increasing trend in the IEP% of the total employed persons due to agrarian activities shows that there is a need to improve health care setups in rural areas of Pakistan.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.543-550
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of career barriers on college students majoring in multimedia content on occupational engagement. Data was collected through a questionnaire survey from 446 students majoring in Multimedia content at D University in Pusan. The data were analyzed by using reliability analysis, t-test, correlations, multiple regression analysis, and hierarchical analysis with SPSS 24.0. The results are as follows. Among the career barriers, external barriers had a significant positive influence on occupational engagement, although indecisive personality, lack of job information, lack of self clarification had a significant negative influence on occupational engagement. In addition, the implications of the study on the basis of these results and the limitations and future research directions are discussed.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.95-99
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• 2013

Background: Work-related stress is one of the major causes of occupational ill health. In line with the regulatory framework on occupational health and safety (OSH), adequate models for assessing and managing risk need to be identified so as to minimize the impact of this stress not only on workers' health, but also on productivity. Methods: After close analysis of the Italian and European reference regulatory framework and workrelated stress assessment and management models used in some European countries, we adopted the UK Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) Management Standards (MS) approach, adapting it to the Italian context in order to provide a suitable methodological proposal for Italy. Results: We have developed a work-related stress risk assessment strategy, meeting regulatory requirements, now available on a specific web platform that includes software, tutorials, and other tools to assist companies in their assessments. Conclusion: This methodological proposal is new on the Italian work-related stress risk assessment scene. Besides providing an evaluation approach using scientifically validated instruments, it ensures the active participation of occupational health professionals in each company. The assessment tools provided enable companies not only to comply with the law, but also to contribute to a database for monitoring and assessment and give access to a reserved area for data analysis and comparisons.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.164-171
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• 2024

Background: Telework adoption in Taiwan has surged because of government guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined the disclosure practices of Taiwanese-listed companies, assessing their adherence to government telework guidelines and their correlation with corporate governance, focusing on occupational health measures. Methods: We conducted a guideline-adherent cohort analysis of the 2020 and 2021 sustainability reports of 295 Taiwanese-listed companies. We assessed their disclosure of corporate measures for teleworking in alignment with two government guidelines, specifically occupational health measures. Using the McNemar test and general estimating equation analysis, we compared the 2020 and 2021 responses and examined their associations with corporate governance rankings. Results: Telework adoption increased significantly from 2020 to 2021, with 68% of companies reporting new work modes. The mentioning of government guidelines also increased to 67% by 2021. Companies with higher governance rankings were more likely to adopt online occupational health measures, including occupational health services (RR = 2.03; 95% CI = 1.41-2.94; p < 0.001) and mental health promotion activities (RR = 2.01; 95% CI = 1.06-3.82; p = 0.032), than those with low rankings. Although on-site and online occupational health services increased, home workspace assessments did not. Conclusion: Our findings highlight significant upward trends in the disclosure of telework measures following the issuance of government guidelines. Corporate governance is significantly associated with the implementation of occupational health measures. Amid the evolution of teleworking, both government guidelines and corporate governance have become essential for shaping work arrangements and ensuring workforce well-being.