• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.71-80
• /
• 2014

The occupational injury and illness(OII) was influenced by the various factors. This study was planned to investigate the pathway of the activities of OSHM on the rate of OII via worker's participation. The survey on the trend of the activities of OSHM was used. The sample size of manufacturing industry was 3,000 enterprises and that of construction was 1,000 enterprises. The survey was done by interview method with structure questionnaire. Questions about the activities of OHSM were integrated into one category using factor analysis. The enterprises with OII has more activities of OSHM than that without OII. Among enterprises with OII, the level of the activities of OSHM was positively correlated with the rate of OII. The activities of OSHM has influenced on the rate of OII directly and indirectly via worker's participation and the activities of prevention of accident. Worker's participation also has the direct effect and indirect effect on the rate of OII. Worker's participation in construction sector has more effect on OII than that in manufacturing sector.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.120-123
• /
• 2016

Background: To assess in a laboratory setting the ability to stay awake in a sample of workers of an Italian hospital and to investigate the association between that ability and the risk of occupational injury. Methods: Nine workers at the University Hospital of Udine who reported an occupational injury in the study period (cases), and seven noninjured workers (controls) underwent a polysomnography and four 40-minute maintenance of wakefulness tests (MWT). Differences in sleep characteristics and in wakefulness maintenance were assessed using Wilcoxon's rank sums tests and Fisher's exact tests. Results: Controls had greater sleep latency, lower total sleep time, fewer leg movements, and a higher percentage ratio of cycling alternating pattern, were more likely not to fall asleep during the MWT and were less likely to have two or more sleep onsets. Although not all the differences reached statistical significance, cases had lower sleep onset times in Trials 1-3. Conclusion: In the literature, the evidence of an association between MWT results and real life risk of accidents is weak. Our results suggest a relationship between the MWT results and the risk of injury among hospital workers.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.202-210
• /
• 2006

Objectives : Although dairy farming ranks as the industry with the highest injury incidence rate, the information on the injuries is limited in Gyeonggi Province. The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence of farm accidents and injuries. Methods : The occurrence of accidents among dairy farmers due to work-related injuries were investigated from 2,799 dairy farms of Seoul Dairy Cooperative. Among 171 total accidents, the number of accidents for human was 108. In this study, the 108 human accidents were investigated. Results : The results of this study were as follows; First, the injury rate in dairy farming was 1.60%. Second, the highest injury in dairy farm was occurred in the spring and at 6~8 p.m. Third, a variety of injuries occurred when doing the milking. Fourth, cow, machinery and falls were among the most common causes. Fifth, the most common injuries was fracture (52.8%) and the most common body part of injuries were torso (25.9%), legs (22.2%) and hand (18.5%). Sixth, 45% of the accidents indicated the lost work time from 4 weeks to 3 months. Recommendations: With the results, it is recommended that practical control methods to prevent accidents in dairy farming, for instance, wearing adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) or designing a moderate floor of works etc. be studied and developed.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.51-60
• /
• 2013

The purpose of this survey was to investigate the exercise injuries and its care methods of members in amateur tennis clubs. 176 questionnaires were surveyed from tennis players who were exercising at 6 tennis club ranges in J city, Korea. The interesting variables were parts, time slots, causes, treatments of injuries, which were analyzed based on the general and exercise characteristics of surveyees, a gender, an age, an exercise career, an exercise time, an occupation, an average earning. The results of this study were as follows: 1) In the results of analyses for the injury parts, the upper bodies injuries were more than lower body ones, the injury of back and lumbus had the highest rate among upper body injuries. In twenties, the number of injury had highest rate. 2) The main cause of injury was the carelessness of one's own. The most injury by the carelessness of one's own was a reason for a lack of warm-up. 3) The first emergency manager for the injury was mostly oneself.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.129-138
• /
• 2014

As S. Korea is becoming an "aged society", workers in the country would be exposed to higher risk of workplace injuries due to their reducing work abilities as they are getting old. To identify the relationship between the work ability and the incident rate of workplace injuries, the work ability index (WAI) scores were surveyed from 409 workers occupied in different manufacturing industries reside on north GyoengBuk area. The workplace injury statistics in the year of 2010 for the corresponding industries were analyzed and summarized with the WAI scores by age groups, years of service, and sizes of business. The results showed the WAI scores of the workers occupied in the higher risk of workplace injury was lower than that of the workers of the lower risk. It means the lower the WAI score, the higher the chance of being injured during the task. It is concluded that appropriate correlation exists between the WAI scores of workers and the incident rate of workplace injury. It is recommended to administrate individual work abilities of aged workers in order to keep low rate of workplace injuries in upcoming aged and highly aged society.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.119-144
• /
• 2006

The Korea rural health study, a large prospective cohort study, the objectives of this study are exploration for potential causes of agricultural injuries and diseases among farmers. Current medical research suggests that they may have higher rates of some traumatic injuries, pesticide poisoning, infectious diseases, musculoskeletal diseases, asthma and other respiratory diseases. This study is designed to identify occupational, lifestyle, and environmental factors of workplace that may affect the rate of diseases in farming population. Round 1, initial cohort recruitment, will begin in 2006 and conclude in 2009. Round 2, follow-up will begin in 2010 and conclude in 2014. Approximately 54,000 persons will be selected to study population. Nested case-control studies and case-crossover studies will be conducted for getting to the bottom of agriculture-related diseases. Recruitment and follow-up are conducted in collaboration with multi-centers. As data on the exposures and health outcomes of this study population are collected and analyzed in 2014. This study will be evaluated by public health experts for effort, achievement, adequacy of performance, efficacy, process of study and so on. The author expects that this cohort study may reduce agricultural injuries and diseases and will provide information that agricultural workers can use in making decisions about their health. Also, this study will be significant basis for strengthening the competitiveness of agriculture in Korea.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.526-532
• /
• 2020

Background: The high incidence of work-related diseases and injuries among day-laborers and workers with no legal contracts (informal workers) has received the attention of the Thai authorities. Workers' low occupational health literacy (OHL) has been reasoned as one contributing factor. Absence of a valid tool has prevented assessment of informal workers' OHL. The aim of this study was to create a valid and reliable Occupational Health Literacy Scale within the context of Thai working culture (TOHLS-IF). Methods: This study used the mixed method approach to develop TOHLS-IF. Questions were generated using in-depth interviews and an extensive review of the literature. Experts' assessment confirmed the content validity of TOHLS-IF. The scales of its psychometric properties were assessed in a sample of 400 informal workers using cluster random sampling. Results: The final version of the TOHLS-IF comprises 38 items within 4 dimensions: Ability to Gain Access, Understanding, Evaluation, and Use of occupational health and safety information. Factor analysis identified items explaining 50.22% of the total variance. The final confirmatory analysis confirmed the model estimates were satisfactory for the construct. TOHLS-IF demonstrated a high internal consistency and satisfactory reliability (Cronbach's alpha = .98). Conclusion: The TOHLS-IF is a valid and reliable instrument to assess informal workers' OHL. The structural dimensions of this instrument are based on the concept of health literacy and Thai culture. Thai health professionals are encouraged to benefit from this instrument to assess their workers' OHL and apply findings as guidelines for effective occupational health and safety interventions.

• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.54-61
• /
• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a day care rehabilitation program managed by nurses on physical and emotional function of patients with job-related injuries. Method: A one group pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental design was used. Thirty patients participated in a day care rehabilitation program and 9% of those were unable to complete the 16 weeks program due to absence. The physiotherapist, occupational therapist, and clinical psychologist offered the day care rehabilitation program, 5 times a week for 16 weeks. Outcome measures included physical and emotional function. Results: The program participants had significantly greater motor function (t=-2.85, p=.008) and activity of daily living (t=-5.34, p<.001), and lower depression (t=5.20, p<.001), state anxiety (t=4.71, p<.001), and trait anxiety (t=4.40, p<.001). Conclusion: The nurse managed day care rehabilitation program significantly improved physical and emotional function in patients with job-related injuries. The program should be further tested in a larger sample to validate the findings.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.30 no.5
• /
• pp.86-91
• /
• 2015

It is important to provide the farmers with practical and effective information of safety and health for individual crop to prevent or reduce occupational injuries in agricultural sector, since work characteristics and risk factors are not the same for all crops. In this study, risk assessment was carried out for cultivating shiitake mushrooms and then safety measures, which were based on the results of the risk assessment, were summarized and presented as the information of safety and health of shittake farmers. Guidelines for safety and health of the farmers of shiitake mushrooms, which were developed based on the risk assesment and safety measures, can be used by the farmers as self-educational tools or by the agricultural facilitators as an educational material for agricultural safety. It is expected that the guidelines can be useful in preventing occupational injuries of shiitake farmers.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.26-32
• /
• 2014

Purpose: Needlestick injuries (NSI) is the most frequent occupational hazard for healthcare personnel (HCP), and immediate report and adequate post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is essential in preventing occupational transmission of blood-borne pathogens. Methods: From June 2010 to October 2010, 544 NSI were reported through websites from 21 general hospitals in Korea. Among those, 499 cases of NSI were analyzed to identify the rate of follow-up treatment completion and for seroconversion. Results: 88.2% of the cases were completed with follow-up treatment, 8.8% of the NSI were not completed with follow-up treatment, and 5 cases were unavailable to trace. 4.2% cases of NSI required a hepatitis B vaccination concurrent with hepatitis B immunoglobulin. 41.1% of the cases and 31.1% of the cases needed to be tested for anti HCV and anti HIV, respectively. Prophylaxis medication for HIV was prescribed in 3 cases, and all cases completed required 1 month of medication. There was 1 case (0.2%) of seroconversion to HCV. Conclusion: The PEP completion rate was not satisfactory, and the importance of completion of PEP treatment should be emphasized through education and counseling. Also, a careful risk assessment is needed for HCP who are exposed to HCV or HIV.