• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.176-192
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• 1999

The purpose of this study is to analysis change of industrial health and safety before and after economic crisis(1997~1998). The data were obtained through mail interview with health supervisor(occupational health nurses) during February, 1999. The final sample was consisted of 127 respondents, 97 are selected in this study. The major findings were as follows: First, the percent of industries whose empl safe supervisors, physicians and industry hygi decreased in number is 79.4%, 3.8%, 50.0 21.5% in each. Second, man receiving over 1.5 million won as an average wage of health supervisor is 27.5% in 1997, but it decreased to 25.3% in 1998. Man receiving under 100~150 million won is 48.4% in 1997, but this percent decreased to 36.3% in 1998 and 13.6% of health supervisor regularly were transformed to contingent worker in 1998. Third, especially, budgets for health and saf work place decreased to 13.8% in 1998 than 19. Fourth, industrial accident case, unre accident case, occupational disease decreased than 1997, but mortality from industrial a increased in 250%. Fifth, according to the health diagnosis report, number of case with evidence of disease increased in liver disease, tuberculosis and so on, and number of case with evidence of occupational disease increased in noise induced hearing loss, pneumoconiosis. organic solvent poisoning and so on. Sixth, this survey shows that health council, health education in duty of health supervisor was conducted passive in 1998 thin 1997, and percent of hold two or more positions is 47.6% in medical insurance, 10.7% in accountant's business 8.3 in secretory. 7.1% in telephone operator awl 22.6% in etc. Seventh, distress of health supervisor after economic crisis is 30.9% in employment instability, 19.8% in hold two or more positions and decrease of budgets. For subjugation of the trouble, the respond of active policy of government occupied most.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.206-215
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• 2021

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the factors affecting cardiovascular disease in middle-aged male workers. Methods: The participants were 137 male office workers over 40 years old and under 60 years old working in small- and medium-sized workplaces from three southern provinces of Korea. Data were collected through self-reported questionnaires and health screening reports from the 2014 National Health Examination. The influencing factors included general characteristics of participants, anger expression style, and occupational stress. Data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, and regression analysis with SPSS 22.0. Results: The mean score of risk of cardiovascular disease was 6.73±4.69 and there were significant differences in exercise (t=2.13, p=.035) working time (t=-2.15, p=.034). Logistic regression analysis showed that, when adjusted for exercise and working time, the probability of becoming under a cardiovascular disease risk was 21% higher for those who anger-in (OR=1.21, 95% CI=1.02~1.44, p=.027) and 12% higher for those perceived occupational stress (OR=1.12, 95% CI=1.01~1.24, p=.030). Conclusion: The results suggest developing the strategies for middle-aged male workers to encourage exercise and to decrease occupational stress, as well as an appropriate anger expression style to improve holistic aspect of health considering their demographic characteristics.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.36-41
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• 2017

Background: Police work is generally sedentary although there may be situations that require physical endurance and strength, such as foot chases and arresting suspects. Factors such as excessive body fat can impede an officer's physical ability to deal with such occurrences. Our objective was to examine associations between officers' body fat percentage (BF%) and performance on a standardized fitness protocol. Methods: Data were obtained from fitness screening among 1,826 male and 115 female officers in a large US police agency. The screening consisted of a 2.4-km run, push-ups, sit-ups, and sit-and-reach test. Sex-specific body fat percentages were estimated from skinfold thickness measured using calipers. Linear regression models were used to examine unadjusted and adjusted mean scores of fitness tests across BF% tertiles. Results: The prevalence of overall fitness was 4.3 times greater in male officers and 3.6 times greater in female officers having the lowest BF% tertile compared with the highest tertile (30.3% vs 7.1% and 46.0% vs 12.8%, respectively). BF% was linearly and positively associated with the time of 2.4-km run (p < 0.001), and linearly and inversely associated with the number of push-ups (p < 0.001), sit-ups (p < 0.001), and the distance of sit-and-reach (p < 0.001) in men. Similar associations were observed in women with the exception of sit-and-reach (p = 0.122). Associations were independent of age, race/ethnicity, rank, and duty station. Conclusion: Overall, BF% was inversely associated with fitness levels in male and female officers. Future longitudinal studies should be initiated to explore the potentially causal relationship between BF% and fitness in law enforcement officers.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.61-68
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• 2010

Objectives: The extent of the occupational cancer burden has rarely been estimated in Korea. The aim of this study is to provide an estimation of the population attributable fraction (PAF) of occupational cancer in Korea. Methods: Nine kinds of Group 1 carcinogens addressed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and 7 kinds of cancer were selected for the target carcinogens and diseases, respectively. The prevalence of carcinogen-exposed workers was estimated and correction factors were applied so that the value would be representative of the total population. Data on relative risk (RR) were taken from IARC reports and were compared with the RRs from the studies on Korean workers. The PAF was estimated according to Levin's formula. Results: The proportion of the general Korean population exposed to carcinogens was 9.7%. The PAF of total cancer was 1.1% for incident cancer cases and 1.7% for cancer deaths. The PAFs of lung cancer and leukemia were 7.0% and 4.5%, respectively. With the RRs reported from Korean studies, the PAF for lung cancer and leukemia were 3.7% and 3.4%, respectively. Conclusion: The PAF in this study (1.1%) was lower than that reported in previous studies (2-4%) from developed countries. Considering that only 9 of the 29 kinds of Group 1 carcinogens were included in this study, the PAF might be underestimated. However, because the process of industrialization in Korea differs from that which occurred in other developed countries, 1.1% of the PAF might be appropriate for Korea.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.28 no.3 s.51
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• pp.663-677
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• 1995

Special health examination institute has done periodic health examination for workers who have worked in the hazardous workplace. However, assessment on outcome in special health examination institute about detection ability of occupational disease has not been. In this circumstances, we studied on the differences of health examination outcome among special health examination institutes and identified related factors which affected outcome of special health examination in the special health examination institutes. The summary of the results were as follows. 1. 50 special health examination institutes were examined in this study. Among them, university institutes were 13 cases(26.0%), hospitals were 20 cases(40.0%), a corporation aggregates were 9 cases(18.0%) and an auxiliary organs of company were 8 cases(16.0%). There were 29(58.0%) institutes with a preventive medicine specialist, but 21 institutes(42.0%) were not. 2. Total workers examined in 50 institutes were 606,948 and workers diagnosed as occupational disease$(D_1)$ were 3,156. The rate of occupational disease was 6 workers per 1,000 examined workers. Workers needed for close observation(C) were 95,809 and the rate of workers needed for close observation was 141 per 1,000 examined workers. 3. The rate of occupational disease of university institutes was highest(11.3 per 1,000 examined workers), and followed by hospitals(6.0 per 1,000 examined workers), a corporation aggregates(4.2 per 1,000 examined workers), and an auxiliary organs of company(1.2 per 1,000 examined workers). The difference of the rate of occupational disease between university institutes and an auxiliary organs of company was statistically moderate significant(p<.1). The rate of occupational disease in special health examination institutes with establishment duration was more than 10 years was statistically higher than institutes with establishment duration was less than 10 years(p<.1). 4. The results of multiple regression, $R^2$ was 0.3394(adjusted $R^2$ was 0.2109), F-value was 2.6416(p<.05), and statistically significant variables were establishment duration(p<.01), number of examined workers per one doctor(p<.1), and auxiliary organs of company(p<.1), which dependent variable was the rate of occupational disease and independent variables were number of examined workers per one doctor, classification of institute, the rate of working environment exceeding TLV, duration of institute establishment, presence of a preventive medicine specialist.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.406-414
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• 2023

Background: This study examined age-group differences in the rate, severity, and cost of injuries among construction workers to support evidence-based worker safety and health interventions in the construction industry. Methods: Ohio workers' compensation claims for construction workers were used to estimate claim rates and costs by age group. We analyzed claims data auto-coded into five event/exposure categories: transportation incidents; slips, trips, and falls (STFs); exposure to harmful substances and environments; contact with objects and equipment (COB); overexertion and bodily reaction. American Community Survey data were used to determine the percentage of workers in each age group. Results: From 2007-2017, among 72,416 accepted injury claims for ~166,000 construction full-time equivalent (FTE) per year, nearly half were caused by COB, followed by STFs (20%) and overexertion (20%). Claim rates related to COB and exposure to harmful substances and environments were highest among those 18-24 years old, with claim rates of 313.5 and 25.9 per 10,000 FTE, respectively. STFs increased with age, with the highest claim rates for those 55-64 years old (94.2 claims per 10,000 FTE). Overexertion claim rates increased and then declined with age, with the highest claim rate for those 35-44 years old (87.3 per 10,000 FTE). While younger workers had higher injury rates, older workers had higher proportions of lost-time claims and higher costs per claim. The total cost per FTE was highest for those 45-54 years old ($1,122 per FTE). Conclusion: The variation in rates of injury types by age suggests that age-specific prevention strategies may be useful.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.379-386
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• 2022

Emergency medical services (EMS) personnel are at high risk for adverse mental health outcomes during disease outbreaks. To support the development of evidence-informed mitigation strategies, we conducted a scoping review to identify the extent of research pertaining to EMS personnel's mental health during disease outbreaks and summarized key factors associated with mental health outcomes. We systematically searched three databases for articles containing keywords within three concepts: EMS personnel, disease outbreaks, and mental health. We screened and retained original peer-reviewed articles that discussed, in English, EMS personnel's mental health during disease outbreaks. Where inferential statistics were reported, the associations between individual and work-related factors and mental health outcomes were synthesized. Twenty-five articles were eligible for data extraction. Our findings suggest that many of the contributing factors for adverse mental health outcomes are related to inadequacies in fulfilling EMS personnel's basic safety and informational needs. In preparation for future disease outbreaks, resources should be prioritized toward ensuring adequate provisions of personal protective equipment and infection prevention and control training. This scoping review serves as a launching pad for further research and intervention development.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.505-511
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to show the occurrences of musculoskeletal disease in aging society and basic information on developments of a systematic prevention program and proposed management measures needed to prevent the disease. The Korea Occupational Safety & Health Agency has analyzed cases of industrial accidents that cause musculoskeletal disease, from 1998 to 2007. They found 30,439 people suffering from the disease during those ten years. This information is from the Ministry of Labor's industrial accident analysis and the industrial accident survey from the Korea Occupational Safety & Health Agency. The data was analyzed by age and industrial classification. In Korea, according to the studies on aging society, the occurrence of musculoskeletal disease in elderly employee's have increased, so prevention programs are needed. Psychological, mental and cognitive programs are needed, as well as other prevention programs to ensure health in old age. In this study, we were able to see the state of musculoskeletal disease in aging society and the countermeasures to prevent the disease, such as a universal design, guarantees, and recuperation services. Later, we found that studying the various elderly patients would be of great help to us.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.216-220
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• 2013

A 46-year-old man who had worked as a bumper spray painter in an automobile body shop for 15 years developed lung cancer. The patient was a nonsmoker with no family history of lung cancer. To determine whether the cancer was related to his work environment, we assessed the level of exposure to carcinogens during spray painting, sanding, and heat treatment. The results showed that spray painting with yellow paint increased the concentration of hexavalent chromium in the air to as much as $118.33{\mu}g/m^3$. Analysis of the paint bulk materials showed that hexavalent chromium was mostly found in the form of lead chromate. Interestingly, strontium chromate was also detected, and the concentration of strontium chromate increased in line with the brightness of the yellow color. Some paints contained about 1% crystalline silica in the form of quartz.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.315-322
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• 2013

Objectives: This study was conducted in order to prepare fundamental data and assess the short-term effects of applying cerebrovascular disease prevention programs by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) in Korea. Methods: The number of study subjects was 2,676 workers (58.5%) who were able to evaluate the level of incidence risk at pre- and post-applications of the program, among the 4,576 total workers who were enrolled in the cerebrovascular disease prevention program during 2011. The guidelines for this prevention program were adopted from KOSHA GUIDE H-1-2010. To determine the program' effectiveness, the workers'risks for cerebrovascular disease were assessed pre- and post-application of the program. Results: The blood pressure level was significantly reduced by 4.09 mmHg for the mean systolic blood pressures and 5.47 mmHg for diastolic blood pressures, respectively. The mean level of total cholesterol and BMI were also reduced significantly by 2.07 g/dl and 0.1 $0.1kg/m^2$. The rate of smoking was decreased by 4.0% and the percentage of workers engaging in regular exercise was increased by 29.8%. The level of overall cerebrovascular disease risk was reduced among 1,451 (70.7%) of 2,052 workers at low risk and above. The level of cerebrovascular disease risk was lower in the improved group for health behavior than the unimproved group (odds ratio =1.7, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The author considers that the application of the cerebrovascular disease prevention program by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency reduced cerebrovascular diseases risks among workers who were enrolled in the cerebrovascular disease prevention program and it must be accompanied by an improvement in health behavior for prevention of cerebrovascular disease.