• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제10권4호
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• pp.409-419
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• 2019

Although the rare earth elements (REEs) recycling industry is expected to increase worldwide in hightech industry, regulations for worker safety have yet to be established. This study was conducted to understand the potential hazard/risk of REE recycling and to support the establishment of regulations or standards. We review the extensive literature on the toxicology, occupational safety, and health issues, and epidemiological surveys related to the REEs, and propose suitable management measures. REE recycling has four key steps such as collection, dismantling, separation, and processing. In these processes, hazardous substances, such as REEs-containing dust, metals, and chemicals, were used or occurred, including the risk of ignition and explosion, and the workers can be easily exposed to them. In addition, skin irritation and toxicities for respiratory, nervous, and cardiovascular systems with the liver toxicity were reported; however, more supplementary data are needed, owing to incompleteness. Therefore, monitoring systems concerning health, environmental impacts, and safety need to be established, based on additional research studies. It is also necessary to develop innovative and environment-friendly recycling technologies, analytical methods, and biomarkers with government support. Through these efforts, the occupational safety and health status will be improved, along with the establishment of advanced REE recycling industry.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제10권2호
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• pp.131-131
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• 2019

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제10권3호
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• pp.384-388
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• 2019

The horse stable hand workers are one of the most important occupations in horse-racing industry. However, suicide problem of the horse stable hand workers in Korea has raised the necessity of new study on how these workers experience mental health problems such as occupational stress and depression in organizational situation. Therefore, this study investigated the occupational stress and depression level of the horse stable hand workers and identified the structural relationship in the horse-racing industry through a detailed interview. A total of 207 horse stable hand workers participated in this study, and occupational stress and depression level were surveyed using the Korean Occupational Stress Scale (KOSS) and Korean version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D). The results of this study showed that the occupational stress level of horse stable hand workers was higher than the median of Korean population. The significant difference in occupational stress among the detail job grade was also identified. In addition, 34% of the horse stable hand workers showed high risk of depression, and job demand, organizational system, and inappropriate compensation as the subfactors of occupational stress were showed to mainly affect depression. Although there are some limitations according to the field survey, this study also has significant meaning in that it identifies the relationship between the occupational characteristics of the horse stable hand workers and the mental health. It will be necessary to study the diverse organizational situation and individual mental health for new occupations.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제29권6호
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• pp.158-165
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• 2014

The statistics of occupational injuries and illnesses is one of the most important indicators of worker's safety and health in the field of occupational safety and health. The conventional statistics was produced without consideration of gender difference. This study was planned to investigate the difference of occupational injuries and illnesses by gender because that recently female workers was increased through the change of industrial structure such as from manufacturing dominated to service dominated structure. Statistics of occupational injuries and illnesses collected by workmen's compensation insurance system that have no information about gender composition of population. Economically active population survey was used to calculated the rate of occupational injuries and illnesses by gender. The distribution of estimated rate of occupational injuries and illnesses by industry, occupation and the type of accident were different between male and female employees, but those by the size of enterprise, age of the injured, the duration of the first recuperation, and job tenure were similar between male and female employees. This study has shown that gender sensitive approach may be applied to policy of occupational safety and health because that gender neutral perspective may not discover the fact of gender specific problems.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.63-70
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• 2007

This study investigated the current management staus of chemical substance information on Material Safety Data Sheets(MSDS) and Chemical Information Cards(CIC) provided by Korea Occupational Safety & Health Agency(KOSHA) and also researched the kind and the characteristics of chemical substance information provided in other organizations. MSDS DB in Korean provided on KOSHANET(which is Kosha website) is 50,802 in total, among whom are single chemical substances with 31,870 kinds(18,932%) and are mixed chemical substances with 31,870 kinds(62.7%). The number of visiting MSDS DB on KOSHANET for the search of chemicals was 2,049,806. The number has increased each year. The CIC provided for workplaces is all 542 kinds : 14 harmful substances subject to permission, 168 harmful substances subject to management, 360 KOEL(Korean Occupational Exposure Limits) establishment substances. MSDS internationally provided by organizations producing MSDS DB was written with 16 sections, which is suitable for the writing basis of American Standards Institute(ANSI) and International Organization for Standardization(ISO) and provided chemical substance information on more than 100,000 kinds in most organizations.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.139-152
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• 2009

According to the third study on the distribution of chemical substances carried out by the Department of Environment in 2006, there were a total of 900 chemical substances whose respective annual usage amount exceeded 1,000 tons and, among them, 90 substances belonged to the 168 hazardous substances requiring management(53.6%). The work-related illnesses caused by hazardous substances requiring management in Korea between $1992{\sim}2005$ can be classified into four groups depending on the type of the chemical substances. These four groups are 23 organic substances including benzene, 12 metals including lead, 3 acids and bases including hydrogen chloride, and 6 gaseous substances including carbon monoxide. These hazardous substances requiring management were again classified depending on the threshold limit values. The chemicals whose TLV was lower than or equal to 0.005 ppm included 4 organic substances including methylene bisphenyl isocyanate and toluene-2,4-diisocyanate (TDI). The chemicals whose TLV was larger than 51 ppm included 22 organic substances including diethyl ether and 1,2-dichloroethylene. When we classified these hazardous substances requiring management according to the categories of GHS health hazards, we found that isobutyl acetate and magnesium oxide didn't belong to the 13 health hazard categories. Among the substances whose TLV is set and whose annual usage amount is more than 0.1 million ton, we recommended 12 chemical species including 4,4'-Methylenedianiline as new hazardous substances requiring management. All the recommended substances were found to be hazardous when we classified their health hazards.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제11권3호
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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.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.34-44
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to suggest ways to improve the transparency of occupational safety and health management cost (OSHMC) in order to create a safe working environment that can guarantee the health of construction workers. It was performed in the following procedures and methods. (1) collecting and analyzing resources related to the OSHMC in construction, (2) gathering stakeholder opinions for interviewing actual conditions, (3) deriving the improvement plans based on survey results and (4) suggesting direction for improvement of related laws based on the results of the research. As a result of this study, the following ways were found to be effective for enhancing transparency of the OSHMC in construction. (1) disclosure of usage details in sites, (2) Expansion of the standard for the OSHMC in construction, (3) Increase in fines for false use, (4) Establishment of the plan to improve the OSHMC ratio of small-scale construction sites, (5) Strengthen the role of supervisory and support organizations such as the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korea Occupational Safety & Health Agency. The result of this study is expected to be used as a basic data for future improvement of the occupational safety and health acts in Korea.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.112-116
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• 2022

Background/Aims: The Gachon Regional Occupational Cohort Study (GROCS) is a large-scale longitudinal study of occupational safety and health data (covering Work Environment Monitoring, Workers' Health Surveillance, and Occupational Health Service) conducted by the Gachon University Gil Medical Center (GUGMC) in Incheon, Republic of Korea. We conducted GROCS to identify the health effects of workers' occupational risks, behavior, socioeconomic status, and life style. Methods: The GROCS includes data from Work Environment Monitoring, Workers' Health Surveillance, and Occupational Health Service. The baseline year for all data collection was 2018. Work Environment Monitoring was conducted in 240 companies located in Incheon. General Health Examination and Special Health Examination were performed on 32,725 and 9,504 workers, respectively. Occupational Health Services were provided to 16,883 workers in 171 companies. These data have been collected and operated at an external data management institution and were provided as a retrospective cohort after removing personal identification information. Results: In 2018, the total number of companies was 2,854, among which which 488 special Health Examination, 171 Work Environment Monitoring, and 240 Occupational Health Service. The proportion of companies undergoing Special Health Examination was 17.1%, the proportion of companies undergoing Work Environment Monitoring was 8.4%, and the proportion of Companies undergoing Occupational Health Service was 6.0%. Conclusion: GROCS expects researchers to utilize its useful and reliable resource for occupational health and surveillance with for academic or political purposes to lead to improved workers' health and working environment.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제18권1호
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• pp.62-71
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• 2008

The use of chemical products to enhance and improve life is a widespread practice worldwide. But alongside the benefits of these products, there is also the potential for adverse effects to people or the environment. As a result, a number of countries or organizations have developed laws or regulations over the years that require information to be prepared and transmitted to those using chemicals, through labels or Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS). While these existing laws or regulations are similar in many respects, their differences are significant enough to result in different labels or MSDS for the same product in different countries. Given the reality of the extensive global trade in chemicals, and the need to develop national programs to ensure their safe use, transport, and disposal, it was recognized that a Globally harmonization system of classification and labeling of chemicals(GHS) would provide the foundation for such programs. This study offered complementary details of GHS classification criteria adopted in Korea by analyzing the differences in chemical classification system between UN and Korea Ministry of Labor. Also it is proposed that mutual agreement of information DB used is required by comparing classification results of chemicals in Korea, Japan, and EU. We offered the lists of information sources useful for chemical classification.