• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.32-38
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• 2009

According to the statistics from the Ministry of labor, 70~80 people died by work-related electric shock accidents in the workplace and this number is about 10~20 times higher than those of the foreign countries such as Japan and the United Kingdom in frequencies and rates per 100,000. The electrocution deaths had decreased from several hundred in 1990s to 67 in 2002, since then there has been little change over the last 5 years. To reduce this number of the electrocution death, it is necessary to analyze the sources of the accidents and to implement the suitable measures for preventing the similar accidents from occurring. But there is not any consensus standard method or procedures for accident investigation yet. And the results solely depend on the ability of the investigator. Because of the demand of eliminating technical barrier for free trading, the IEC 60364 is adopted as a regulation for low voltage electrical installations in Korea. The facilities designed and constructed by IEC 60364 are increasing. The facilities by IEC 60364 have different features in comparison with the facilities by Korea eletro technical regulation, and these features combined with parameters of electric shock accident can greatly affect the consequences of the electric accidents. The accident analysis program for electric shock injuries in Terra Neutral(TN) and Terra Terra(TT) system was developed in this paper, which was based on KOSHA Electric Shock Analysis Program(ESAP).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.20 no.3 s.71
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• pp.188-196
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• 2005

Accident reports from 1991 to 2000 of a steel company were used to analyze which factors induce industrial accidents. The subjects were 8,311 blue-collar workers, who sustained 114 occupational injuries and work on a continuous full-day 3-team 3-shift system of backward rotation(mornings to afternoons to nights). With respect to marital status, the occupational injury rate(OIR) on the married workers was significantly higher compared to unmarried workers. With respect to no, the OIR of those in their early 20s was significantly higher when compared to other age groups. The OIR of highly educated workers showed a reduction when compared with lower educated workers. The OIR of shift workers were significantly higher compared with the daytime workers. The OIR of type of work decreased across the steel manufacturing process, rolling process, machine maintenance section forwarding products section to the field management section. With respect to the block of shift work(morning, afternoon, and night shifts) by the type of work, the OIR of the night shift was higher than those of the morning shift in the steel manufacturing process or forwarding products section. The OIR of the machine maintenance section was slightly higher in the morning shift than those of the night shift. The OIR of the time of day of the shift workers reached a peak between 09:00 and 11:00. The OIR of a slight injury to shift workers decreased across the night, afternoon, to morning shifts whereas the OIR of a serious injury tended to decrease across the night, morning, to afternoon shift. The body parts most commonly injured were the arm and the crus.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.161-165
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• 2016

Background: Despite the declining trend of workplace accidents in Republic of Korea, its level is still quite high compared with that in other developed countries. Factors that are responsible for high workplace accidents have not been well documented in Republic of Korea. The main purpose of this paper is to estimate the effects of unions and health and safety committees on workplace accidents in Korean manufacturing firms. We also allow for the interactions between unions and health and safety committees in the analysis. The results obtained in this paper will not only contribute to the literature in this field, but might also be useful for employers and worker representatives who are trying to find an effective way to reduce workplace accidents. Methods: This paper utilizes the 2012 Occupational Safety and Health Trend Survey data, which is a unique data set providing information on workplace injuries and illness as well as other characteristics of participatory firms, representative of the manufacturing industry in Republic of Korea. Results: In estimating the effects of unions and health and safety committees, we build a negative binomial regression model in which the interactions between unions and health and safety committees are permissible in reducing workplace accidents. Conclusion: Health and safety committees were found to reduce the incidence of accidents whereas unionized establishments have higher incidence of accidents than nonunionized establishments. We also found that health and safety committees can more effectively reduce accidents in nonunionized establishments. By contrast, nonexclusive joint committees can more effectively reduce accidents in unionized establishments.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.11 no.7
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• pp.298-306
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to examine the occupational risk factors that affect oral symptoms in hospital facility workers. This study surveyed 627 hospital facility temp·contract workers in the metropolitan area from November 17, 2020 to May 20, 2021. The results of the study indicate that oral symptoms were higher among workers with high risk of musculoskeletal disorders and injuries. Also, symptoms of oral mucosa, temporomandibular joint disorder, and dry mouth were high in the areas of job insecurity and organizational injustice. As the occupational risk factors and occupational stress of workers increased, the risk of oral symptoms increased. In the future, this study can be used as basic data for improving oral health policies to better the oral health of hospital facility workers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.118-127
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• 2022

This study analyzes the characteristics of occupational accidents of food delivery via motorcycle in terms of accident probability and work-days. Depending on their employment status, food-delivery workers were divided into "employed" workers (who work for restaurants) and "special-type" workers (who work for delivery platforms). Collected data include occupational accident-information during the last two years (1,468 cases for employed workers and 4,899 cases for special-type workers) and their risk information such as age, work experience, accident location, season of the accident, and weather conditions. The study finds that special-type workers had a significantly higher accident probability for the younger age group (80.8%), while employed workers had more accidents in both 20's or younger (34.9%) and 50's or older (25.4%). The number of work-days-lost was higher for special-type workers with less work experience, and it decreased with increasing work experience. Moreover, the chance for accidents was higher at night time (55%) than for day time (45%) for special-type workers as well as for employed workers. The number of work-days-lost was higher in foreign workers (180.79 days) than in Korean workers (121.44 days). Accident probability (30.7%) and work-days-lost (136.2 days) was higher in winter than in other seasons. In addition, accidents-per-day was higher on snowy days (12.7 cases per day) than rainy (8.1) and windy days (7.1). In addition, it was found that deadly accidents mainly caused injuries to face, head, and chest, while non-deadly accidents affected mainly the legs and feet. This study enables the development of better policies to prevent accidents of food delivery workers.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.236-250
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of intensive rehabilitation programs on pain, range of motion (ROM), lumbar muscle strength, core muscle endurance, disability, and depression in patients with traumatic low back injuries and to compare the efficacy of this therapy with that of conventional rehabilitation therapy. Methods: The study was performed with a retrospective medical chart review of patients with traumatic low back injury referred to the rehabilitation center at the Daegu Hospital of the Korean Workers Compensation and Welfare Service. Forty-four patients were allocated to either the conventional rehabilitation group (CRG; n = 22) or the intensive rehabilitation group (IRG; n = 22). The CRG group patients, who received 30-min therapist-supervised physical therapy and modality therapy five times per week for four weeks, were compared with the IRG group patients, who received 60-min therapist-supervised physical therapy, 30-min therapist-patient 1:1 matching rehabilitation therapy, and modality therapy five times per week for four weeks. Outcome measures were a numerical rating scale, ROM, lumbar muscle strength, lumbar core muscle endurance, thickness of lumbar deep focal core muscle (transverse abdominis and lumbar multifidus), Oswestry disability index (ODI), and depression (Korean version patient health questionnaire-9). Results: There were statistically significant improvements after treatment in all outcome measures in both groups (p < 0.05). In the intergroup comparison, NRS scores on the activity and thickness of lumbar deep focal core muscles increased significantly more in the IRG than in the CRG (p < 0.05). There were no statistically significant intergroup differences in NRS scores on resting, ROM except left lateral bending, lumbar muscle strength, core muscle endurance, ODI, and depression. Conclusions: We could confirm the superior effectiveness of an intensive rehabilitation program compared to conventional rehabilitation therapy in patients with traumatic low back injuries.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.175-183
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• 2012

Objectives: Controversy regarding the relationship between exposure to Agent Orange and disease has progressed for more than four decades, both at home and abroad. Recently, the allegation by US veteran Steve House of the burial of Agent Orange at the US Army base Camp Carroll located in Waegwan-eup, Korea, has emerged. We reviewed published articles and reports related to Agent Orange. Methods: Articles and reports were collected online using the keywords 'agent orange' and 'health' and then reviewed. Results: A number of epidemiologic studies have reported disease outcomes due to exposure to Agent Orange, while others were unable to establish a link to the injuries of veterans of the Vietnam War. This can be explained by the fact that accurate exposure assessment should be carried out since exposure misclassification in epidemiologic studies can affect estimates of risk. In the case of the burial of Agent Orange at Camp Carroll, an exposure pathway could be through underground water supplies, which differs from the cases of Vietnam and Seveso in Italy. Conclusion: There still remains a dispute among academics regarding the relationship between exposure to Agent Orange and disease, although Agent Orange is a highly toxic chemical. This dispute indicates that accurate exposure pathway and exposure assessment is needed.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.259-267
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• 2016

Work-related musculoskeletal injuries and disorders (WMSD) are a significant issue in the health care sector. Allied Health professionals (AHP) in this sector are exposed to physical and psychosocial factors associated with increased risk of developing a WMSD. Clarification of relevant hazard and risk factors for AHP is needed to improve understanding and inform WMSD risk management. A systematic analysis of the literature was undertaken to determine prevalence and risk factors for WMSD in AHP. Databases of Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL (EBSCO), EMBASE and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were reviewed. This quality of articles was low. Outcome measures were varied, with prevalence rates of WMSD reported from 28% to 96% over a one-year time period. The lower back was the most commonly affected body part. Relevant factors identified with the development of WMSD included inexperience in the role and area of employment. Future research needs to focus on undertaking high quality prospective studies to determine the factors associated with WMSD development in AHP.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.205-216
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore relationship among pain, body image and satisfaction in hand-injured workers. Methods: Using a sample of 96 out-patient workers with hand injuries, pain, body image and satisfaction were measured by VAS and Modified Jung Keum-hee's Tennesee Self Concept Scale. Repeated measured ANOVA and a Bonferroni correction for multiple statistical testing during post hoc analyses were conducted to evaluate relationship among pain, body image and satisfaction in hand-injured workers. Result: Functional satisfaction(r=.46, p<.001) and appearance satisfaction(r=.55, p<.001) significantly increased by treatment satisfaction. Functional satisfaction(r=.35, p=.001) and appearance satisfaction(r=.31, p=.002) increased by body image. But treatment satisfaction(r=-.20, p=.049), functional satisfaction (r=-.34, p=.001) and appearance satisfaction (r=-.39, p<.001) significantly decreased by pain. Conclusion: Poor pain management was related to bad body image and treatment satisfaction. Therefore, interventions targeting at pain management are needed for hand-injured workers.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.38-42
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• 2018

A case of surgically treated intervertebral disc extrusion with intraoperatively confirmed intradiscal hematoma in a 30-year-old physical trainer is presented. Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging revealed downward migrating disc herniation, without definite suggestive findings of intradiscal hematoma. Intervertebral disc herniation with concomitant intradiscal hematoma is extremely rare, but could occur in patients who have excessive axial stress to the spine occupationally. In our case, the patient was an occupational physical trainer who had repetitive minor trauma to the lumbar spine. Although the patient did not have any clear history of major trauma to the spine, the intraoperative findings revealed intradiscal hematoma, which is very rare. The presence of intradiscal hematoma is to be suspected even when preoperative imaging studies shows indefinite findings of hematoma, considering the change in signal intensity of hematoma by time.