• 대한안전경영과학회지
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• 제11권3호
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• pp.1-9
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• 2009

The present management of the domestic and international advanced enterprises is transferring the systems and the regulations to the prevention system management. Expecially, KOSHA (Korea Occupational Safety & Health Agency) in Korea has supported to set up the OSHMS (Occupational Safety & Health Management System) by KOSHA 18001 since 1997. But small & medium enterprises (SMS) has many difficulties to set up the OSHMS system because of limited natural and human resources. In this study, the rating system as a judgment method of an OSHMS based on the certification standard of the OSHMS, which was suggested in previous study, was developed for SMS to adopt voluntarily the OSHMS, certify KOSHA 18001, and improve the safety and health level.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제10권3호
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• pp.355-361
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• 2019

Background: Painters in the automotive sector are routinely exposed to volatile organic solvents, and the levels vary depending on the occupational health and safety controls enforced at the companies. This study investigates the levels of exposure to organic vapors and the existence of controls in the formal economy sector in southern Colombia. Methods: This is an exploratory study of an observational and descriptive character. An analysis of solvents is conducted via the personal sampling of painters and the analysis of samples using the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 1501 method. The amount of solvents analyzed varied according to the budget allocated by the companies. The person in charge of the occupational safety and health management system was interviewed to learn about the exposure controls implemented at the companies. Results: A medium exposure risk for toluene was found in one company. Another presented medium risk for carbon tetrachloride, xylene, ethylbenzene, and n-butanol. The others showed low risk of exposure and that the controls implemented were not sufficient or efficient. Conclusion: These results shed light on the working conditions of these tradespeople. The permissible limits established by Colombian regulations for the evaluated chemical contaminants were not exceeded. However, there were contaminants that exceeded the limits of action. The analysis of findings made it possible to propose improvements in occupational safety and health management systems to allow the optimization of working conditions for painters, prevent the occurrence of occupational diseases, and reduce costs to the country's health system.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.1-9
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• 2023

Background: Firefighting involves exposure of firefighters to risks related to this activity, serious injuries, and occupational diseases are recorded. There are other consequences such as thermal and emotional stress. This systematic review is proposed in order to analyze the risks and consequences faced by these workers and thus provide elements to improve safety management systems in institutions. Method: A descriptive observational study of systematic literature review on the risks and consequences of exposure to firefighters' activity was proposed, and the information was analyzed and described based on the available data and according to the variables determined. Results: The studies showed data on mechanical, physical, chemical, psychosocial risks, workers' perception and resilience, and epidemiological data. Information related to firefighters' activity on falls and slips, exposure to noise, and high concentrations of carbon monoxide is detailed. In addition, the relationship between burnout, cognitive, and physical fatigue as adverse effects on health and performance is mentioned. Conclusions: Among the preventive measures, the use of personal protective equipment is suggested, incorporation in prevention programs of information on exposure to risk factors, as well as the implementation of models that can predict the perception of workers, additionally, the generation of management systems with safety climate models for fire departments.

• 한국가스학회지
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• 제18권5호
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• pp.33-39
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• 2014

열매체유는 화학플랜트의 가열시스템, 열교환시스템, 특정한 가스공정, 사출성형 시스템 및 펄프 제지공정에 사용되고 있다. 열매체유는 열적 산화 분해에 잘 견디며 안전성이 뛰어나며, 열매체유가 누출이나 분출의 경우에는 점화원이 있을때 쉽게 점화된다. 본 연구에서는 공정안전관리 사업장의 화재 폭발 사고를 예방하기 위해서 열매체유의 사용 실태조사를 통해 안전관리 상태를 고찰하였다. 사업장의 공정시스템에서 사용된 열매체유의 사용실태는 개발된 설문지에 의해서 조사되었다. 본 연구 결과는 열매체유의 관리나, 열매체유 공정의 안전한 운전과 유지와 관련된 화재 폭발 사고 예방을 위한 안전관리 대책 수립에 활용될 수 있을 것이다.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.11-19
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• 2013

Backgrounds: Occupations are grouped on the basis of similarity in tasks and duties performed. Standard occupational classification (SOC) is a tool for organizing all professions into a clearly defined set of groups according to the tasks and duties undertaken in the respective jobs. Objectives: The major objective of this study is to comprehensively review how a SOC system is used in occupational and safety fields such as surveillance, exposure monitoring, occupational epidemiological study, management of carcinogens and analysis of occupational accidents. Methods: We summarized the cases, policies and regulations used in SOC systems in advanced countries and as they appear in articles Results: We found that SOC systems have been widely used in various areas of occupational safety and health in the US, the UK, Finland, and the EU. In general, it is highly common to use SOC in the analysis of occupational accidents and diseases and to identify factors causing those accidents. The SOC system is also used not only for surveillance of exposure to hazardous agents and occupational health, but to manage carcinogens. In order to adjust the effects of a particular job, SOC is used in the general population health area. The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) has never used or introduced an SOC system. There have been no cases of the application of a SOC system to either the occupational safety and health field or to health surveillance for the general population in Korea. Conclusions: We suggested a need to introduce an SOC system in several occupational safety and health activities, such as work environment measurement, analysis of occupational accidents, specific physical examination and surveillance systems, etc.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제5권2호
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• pp.53-59
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• 2014

Background: In a safety perspective, efficient knowledge management is important for learning purposes and thus to prevent errors from occurring repeatedly. The relationship between knowledge exchange among employees and safety behavior may be of particular importance in distributed organizational systems where similar high-risk activities take place at several locations. This study develops and tests hypotheses concerning the relationship between knowledge exchange systems usage, knowledge exchange in the organizational system, and safety compliance. Methods: The operational context of the study is petroleum drilling and well operations involving distributed high-risk activities. The hypotheses are tested by use of survey data collected from a large petroleum operator company and eight of its main contractors. Results: The results show that safety compliance is influenced by use of knowledge exchange systems and degree of knowledge exchange in the organizational system, both within and between units. System usage is the most important predictor, and safety compliance seems to be more strongly related to knowledge exchange within units than knowledge exchange between units. Conclusion: Overall, the study shows that knowledge management is central for safety behavior.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제7권4호
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• pp.331-339
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• 2016

Background: Occupational risk management is known as a catalyst in generating superior returns for all stakeholders on a sustainable basis. A number of companies in Ghana implemented health and safety measures adopted from international companies to ensure the safety of their employees. However, there exist great threats to employees' safety in these companies. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the level of compliance of Occupational Health and Safety management systems and standards set by international and local legislation in power producing companies in Ghana. Methods: The methodology is conducted by administering questionnaires and in-depth interviews as measuring instruments. A random sampling technique was applied to 60 respondents; only 50 respondents returned their responses. The questionnaire was developed from a literature review and contained questions and items relevant to the initial research problem. A factor analysis was also carried out to investigate the influence of some variables on safety in general. Results: Results showed that the significant factors that influence the safety of employees at the hydroelectric power plant stations are: lack of training and supervision, non-observance of safe work procedures, lack of management commitment, and lack of periodical check on machine operations. The study pointed out the safety loopholes and therefore helped improve the health and safety measures of employees in the selected company by providing effective recommendations. Conclusion: The implementation of the proposed recommendations in this paper, would lead to the prevention of work-related injuries and illnesses of employees as well as property damage and incidents in hydroelectric power plants. The recommendations may equally be considered as benchmark for the Safety and Health Management System with international standards.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제34권5호
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• pp.37-45
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• 2019

The characteristic of fire and explosion related to electrostatic discharge is that it is difficult to reproduce the electrostatic charge and discharge phenomenon in addition to the large human and material damage. Therefore, in order to prevent accidents and disasters related to electrostatic in fire and explosion hazard areas, it is important to manage the level of electrostatic in a safe manner from the perspective of system between industrial facilities and human bodies. Rule 325 of the Occupational Safety and Health Regulations, "Prevention of Fire / Explosion due to Electrostatic", requires the use of grounding, conductive materials, humidification and electrification in order to prevent the risk of disaster caused by static explosion and electrostatic in the production process. In order to comply with these measures, related technologies, standards and systems are needed from the viewpoint of preventive measures related to electrostatic in fire and explosion hazard areas, but in Korea, it is still insufficient. Therefore, technical, institutional and managerial measures are needed as a precautionary measure to improve the level of ESD safety in fire and explosion hazard areas and prevent electrostatic related injury. In Korea, we analyzed the current status and characteristics of electrostatic related disaster by using the statistics of industrial accident and fire statistics of the Ministry of Employment and Labor. We also analyzed the current status and characteristics of electrostatic related disasters in Japan using JNIOSH accidents and disasters investigation cases and JNIOSH fire accident data of Japan Fire Bureau. The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze the current status of electrostatic related accidents and disasters in Korea and Japan in order to improve the safety management of electrostatic in fire and explosion hazard areas. In order to prevent accidents and disasters in the industrial field, The technical, institutional, and managerial measures to manage the level of electrostatic in a safe state were derived from the system point of view.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.99-108
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• 2020

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the regulatory systems for laboratory safety and health management between Korea and Germany and discuss the implications. Methods: Laboratory safety and health regulations for legal enforcement and relevant technical guidelines in Korea and Germany were reviewed. Results: Lab safety and health management is enforced by the Act on the Establishment of Safe Laboratory Environment in Korea. Most provisions focus on supervisory control, that is, the principal's liability is emphasized. In addition, there is a lack of laboratory-specific procedures for safety and health management in the act since it is stipulated that other relevant regulations apply to some technical contents. Non-compulsory technical guidelines for lab safety and health management are also provided by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) in order to enable researchers to follow safe procedures. There is no independent regulation for lab safety and health in Germany, and it is also governed by several regulations. The German Social Accident Insurance Institute provides technical guidelines on lab safety and health, and these contain more specific content to allow them to be followed more easily compared to the KOSHA guidelines. The most remarkable differences between the regulation of each country were contents of the risk assessment and specific protect measures from hazardous agents. Conclusions: Regulatory control is an essential way to prevent accidents, but it is more important to create an environment in which all stakeholders, including individual lab members, are allowed to participate actively in safety and health management activities.

• 대한안전경영과학회지
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• 제3권2호
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• pp.33-49
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• 2001

This article is concerned with various aspects of establishing the global standard for occupational safety and health management system (OHSMS). The notion, main features, and brief history of the OHSMS are presented. The OHSAS 18000, its assets and liabilities, are reviewed as a prototype of the global standard. It is also addressed the possibility of combining ISO 9000(quality management system), 14000(environmental management system) and the OHSMS into the integrated management system (IMS) as a whole. The concepts of internal and external customers are presented to explain why the environment, safety and health should be incorporated into the notion of total quality 'Participation of the members' and 'standardization of the 4Ms (Man, Machine, Materials and Method)'are emphasized as the major enablers of the IMS. Finally, the industrial, academic and governmental roles are discussed for developing the IMS and setting it down into the Korean industries.