• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제27권3호
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• pp.149-162
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• 2017

Objectives: Six cases of non-oral occupational methanol poisoning were found in mobile phone parts manufacturers in South Korea during the period from 22 January 2016 to 5 October 2016. We conducted this study to determine the cause of the accident including social environment factor. Methods: We interviewed the cases. Based on that, we described this poisoning accident narratively and arranged the evolution of the accident in chronological order. We used the Haddon matrix method to investigate the cause of the accident. Results: It was found that six cases were all dispatched workers who were under poor working condition including working time exceeded 12 hours a day, not given basic occupational health and safety information etc. Occupational disease associated with dispatched work was difficult to be reported. 2 cases were not able to identify the cause of the disease within one year. Conclusions: In short, the direct cause of the poisoning accident was that workers were exposed to high concentration of methanol(over 1,000 ppm). One of the main fundamental cause is that dispatched worker is rampant in the supply chain of mobile phone production. To protect dispatched workers, appropriate occupational safety health measures are needed urgently.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.140-143
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• 2018

Background: The Occupational Safety and Health Monitoring and Assessment Tool (OSH-MAT) is a practical instrument that is currently used in the German woodworking and metalworking industries to monitor safety conditions at workplaces. The 12-item scoring system has three subscales rating technical, organizational, and personnel-related conditions in a company. Each item has a rating value ranging from 1 to 9, with higher values indicating higher standard of safety conditions. Methods: The reliability of this instrument was evaluated in a cross-sectional survey among 128 companies and its validity among 30,514 companies. The inter-rater reliability of the instrument was examined independently and simultaneously by two well-trained safety engineers. Agreement between the double ratings was quantified by the intraclass correlation coefficient and absolute agreement of the rating values. The content validity of the OSH-MAT was evaluated by quantifying the association between OSH-MAT values and 5-year average injury rates by Poisson regression analysis adjusted for the size of the companies and industrial sectors. The construct validity of OSH-MAT was examined by principle component factor analysis. Results: Our analysis indicated good to very good inter-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.64-0.74) of OSH-MAT values with an absolute agreement of between 72% and 81%. Factor analysis identified three component subscales that met exactly the structure theory of this instrument. The Poisson regression analysis demonstrated a statistically significant exposure-response relationship between OSH-MAT values and the 5-year average injury rates. Conclusion: These analyses indicate that OSH-MAT is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used effectively to monitor safety conditions at workplaces.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제2권1호
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• pp.52-56
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• 2011

Objectives: The occupational accident rate was officially reported to be 0.77 per 100 workers in 2001 and 0.70 in 2009. The stagnant decrease in accident rate raises a question about the effectiveness of prevention activity because there have been active prevention efforts in the past 10 years. It is also necessary to know the exact status of occupational injuries to direct a prevention strategy. Methods: The author re-analyzed occupational injury statistics to find the reason for stagnant decreases in occupational injuries. Compensated occupational injuries cases were used to calculate fatal and non-fatal injury rates. Injuries from commuting accidents and sports activities were excluded as well as occupational diseases. The number of workers was adjusted to that of full time equivalent employees. Results: The fatal injury rate excluding injuries associated with commuting accidents, sports activities, and occupational diseases decreased from 12.59 in 2001 to 8.20 in 2009. In 2007, 67.5% of accidents that involved being caught in objects, which are mostly caused by machines and equipment, occurred in the manufacturing industry; this type of incident has decreased since 2001. The fatal and non-fatal injury rates in the manufacturing industry have continuously decreased while the rates in the service industry have not changed from 2001 to 2009. Non-fatal injuries might not be reported in many cases. The number of insured workers was underestimated as long working hours were not adjusted for in the reporting system. Conclusion: The occupational fatal injury rate has decreased and the non-fatal injury rate might have decreased during the last 10 years, although the statistics show stagnancy. The decrease of the injury rate was countervailed by various factors. Hence, the current accident rate does not reflect the actual situation of accidents in Korea. Korea needs to develop an improved system to more accurately calculate occupational fatal and non-fatal injury rates.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제6권2호
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• pp.128-133
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• 2015

Background: To investigate the relationship between musculoskeletal disorders and comorbid health problems, including depression/anxiety disorder, insomnia/sleep disorder, fatigue, and injury by accident, and to determine whether certain physical and psychological factors reduce comorbid health problems. Methods: In total, 29,711 employees were selected from respondents of the Third Korean Working Conditions Survey and categorized into two groups: Musculoskeletal Complaints or Musculoskeletal Sickness Absence. Four self-reported health indicators (overall fatigue, depression/anxiety, insomnia/sleep disorder, and injury by accident) were selected as outcomes, based on their high prevalence in Korea. We used multiple logistic regression analysis to determine the relationship between comorbid health problems, musculoskeletal complaints, and sickness absence. Results: The prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints and musculoskeletal sickness absence due to muscular pain was 32.26% and 0.59%, respectively. Compared to the reference group, depression/anxiety disorder and overall fatigue were 5.2-6.1 times more prevalent in the Musculoskeletal Complaints Group and insomnia/sleep disorder and injury by accident were 7.6-11.0 times more prevalent in the Sickness Absence Group. When adjusted for individual and work-related physical factors, prevalence of all four comorbid health problems were slightly decreased in both groups. Conclusion: Increases in overall fatigue and depression/anxiety disorder were observed in the Musculoskeletal Complaints Group, while increases in insomnia/sleep disorder and injury by accident were observed in the Sickness Absence Group. For management of musculoskeletal complaints and sickness absence in the workplace, differences in health problems between employees with musculoskeletal complaints and those with sickness absence as well as the physical and psychological risk factors should be considered.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제7권1호
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• pp.38-42
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• 2016

Background: Truck driving is known as one of the occupations with the highest accident rate. This study investigates the characteristics of traffic collisions according to road types (expressway and rural road). Methods: Classifying 267 accidents into expressway and rural road, we analyzed them based on driver characteristics (age, working experience, size of employment), time characteristics (day of accident, time, weather), and accident characteristics (accident causes, accident locations, accident types, driving conditions). Results: When we compared the accidents by road conditions, no differences were found between the driver characteristics. However, from the accident characteristics, the injured person distributions were different by the road conditions. In particular, driving while drowsy is shown to be highly related with the accident characteristics. Conclusion: This study can be used as a guideline and a base line to develop a plan of action to prevent traffic accidents. It can also help to prepare formal regulations about a truck driver's vehicle maintenance and driving attitude for a precaution on road accidents.

• 한국직업건강간호학회지
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.106-113
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• 2020

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze industrial accident compensation insurance coverage and industrial accidents among concrete mixer truck drivers. Methods: Original data on industrial accidents from 2012 to 2017 were analyzed through descriptive statistics. Results: Industrial accident compensation insurance coverage was 44.6% in 2017. Most concrete mixer truck drivers were affiliated with small businesses. A total of 61 industrial accidents occurred in 2012, 65 in 2014, and 80 in 2017. The major types of industrial accident were falls, slips, and crushes. Conclusion: Because concrete mixer truck drivers are at high risk for industrial accidents, industrial accident compensation insurance coverage and industrial accident prevention should be strongly enforced.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제19권4호
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• pp.363-369
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• 2009

The total number of confined space accident cases from 1999 to 2007 in Korea were 220, causing 353 injuries and 212 casualties. Out of 220 cases, 44(20.0%) occurred in sewage treatment facilities and 40(18.2%) occurred in both manholes and containers. When the main causes of confined space accidents were classified, oxygen deficiency accounted for 69 cases(31.4%), carbon monoxide, 48(21.8%), hydrogen sulfide, 40(18.2%), and organic solvent, 32(14.5%). Improvement of occupational accident statistics is necessary in order to report accurate and precise data for confined space accidents. The structure of confined space must be considered when selecting gas to be measured.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제29권4호
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• pp.147-152
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• 2014

The purpose of this study, the overall occupational safety and health status and identify the characteristics of the workers engaged in the field of quick services, substitute driving services, home delivery, caregiver, film and television arts, to take appropriate measures to prevent industrial accidents, profession and working environment, safety recognition and education, and safety activities, accident experience and job stress survey. Survey using a structured questionnaire, 846 people directly interview research. Safety consciousness level of himself or herself was "fair level" of 3.19 points and those of colleagues and the general public were evaluated to be low as 2.84 points and 2.54 points, respectively. During the last 12 months, 21.3% of total workers in 5 job categories have received an industrial safety health education for job-related accident or disease and 87.6% of workers engaged in caregiver have received an industrial safety health education for job-related accident or disease. The proportions for delivery worker, substitute driving service and quick service/cultural art were 26.4%, 12.1% and below 10%, respectively. Frequency of having received an education was 5.7 days on average and education hour was 9.2. Regarding cases of having experienced job-related accident or having been exposed to job-related disease over the past 1 year, 17.0% of total respondents have experienced accident and 21.3% have experienced job-related disease. Preventive education for occupational safety is required to be expanded and strengthened. Except caregiver, the proportion of having received an information and education for safety rules and hazardous factors. Safety education is urgently required in order to prevent and reduce accident. Safety and health guideline is required to be developed and disseminated in order to prevent accident in advance.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제37권6호
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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.

• 한국재난정보학회 논문집
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.333-342
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• 2022

연구목적: 중소기업에서 「안전보건경영시스템」의 유지와 실행만으로 「중대재해처벌법」의 요구사항에 적합하도록 「중대재해처벌법」과 「안전보건경영시스템」연계방안을 제시하고자 한다. 연구방법: 문헌조사와 같이 이론적 접근을 수행한다. 먼저 이론적 접근으로 「중대재해처벌법」의 안전보건관리체계를 살펴보고, 「안전보건경영시스템」의 요구사항을 분석하였으며, 그리고 2024년 「중대재해처벌법」이 적용되는 5인 이상 49인까지의 중소기업의 통계와 사고 사망자수를 조사하였다. 연구결과: 「안전보건경영시스템 (ISO 45001)」요구사항과 「중대재해처벌법」의 안전보건관리체계의 연계하는데 문제점이 발견되지는 않았다. 결론: 「안전보건경영시스템」인증을 받기 위한 시스템 구축과 실행으로 「중대재해처벌법」의 안전보건관리체계의 요구사항을 충족할 수 있으리라고 판단된다.