• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.47-58
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• 2013

Objective: The aim of this study is to review the job stress measurement for applying in nuclear power plants(NPPs). Background: The standard and guideline to evaluate and manage the job stress is insufficient in NPPs. Although job stress might have a negative effect on task performance particularly it can be related with human error in NPPs. Method/Results: This paper considered the objective and subjective stress measurements. One of the questionnaire(Korean Occupational Stress Scale) and the experiment method was investigated to apply in NPPs. KOSS was analyzed about the inter item consistency and correlation with the workload, and relative importance. In the objective evaluation considered the experiment method for the physical and mental job stress and analyzed from the phased point of view. Conclusion/Application: The measurement and criteria to evaluate job stress for operators must be complemented on the job characters and environments in NPPs. This study may support to confirm and manage the job stress in NPPs. The study of more specific methodology on job stress in NPPs is required on the basis of this paper.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.129-138
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• 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 Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.204-211
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• 2012

In this study, appropriate preventive measures are suggested as follows by analyzing industrial accident cases occurred for five years of company J and workers' survey. First, personnel management including meticulous shift work and rotation task for older workers should be made strictly in terms of safety and health management. Second, Industrial disasters occurred more in spring than in other seasons, so safety management will have to be enhanced in spring. That is, to reduce industrial disaster various occupational safety and health activities to prevent spring fatigue are needed. Third, to improve safety consciousness of workers, penalties for those who have not received safety training and for people without protective equipment are required. Also, hazard prediction training such as Tool Box Meeting shall be proceeded. Fourth, building of proactive safety culture that the workers themselves handle risk factors is urgent. Fifth, the company-wide safety and health programs including safety awards and cases presentation are needed to be planned.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2010

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different shoe-heel heights on the surface electromyographic (EMG) activity of vastus medialis (VM) and vastus lateralis (VL) during treadmill walking in female patients with patellofemoral pain (PFP). Nineteen women with PFP participated in this research. EMG signals were recorded from the VM and VL of both sides and were compared during the treadmill walking. The subjects walked on a treadmill wearing shoes of three different heel heights: 1 cm, 3 cm and 7 cm. Each subject walked on a treadmill for five minutes at a speed of 2 km/hour with three minutes resting intervals between consecutive trials. The data were analyzed by one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance. The results of the present study indicate that EMG data of the VM and VL of female patients with PFP did improve with an increase in the height of the shoe heel, which were statistically significant. Additionally, the EMG activity of VM increased more dramatically than that of VL associated with the task of walking with high-heeled shoes on the treadmill. This study suggests that the type of high-heeled shoes is related to the VM and VL muscle activation patterns contributing to knee joint pathologies in female patients with PFP.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.190-199
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this case study is to assess the current airflow and find the ideal ventilation conditions in tank reactors for minimizing the possibility of exposure respiratory dusts(size of $2.5{\mu}m$, $10{\mu}m$) when workers exchange catalysts in the tank reactors. Methods: A Numerical study was performed to determine ideal ventilation conditions, We considered two sizes of airborne respiratory particles($2.5{\mu}m$, $10{\mu}m$) at 12points from the bottom of tank reactor. We changed input & output ventilation conditions and analyzed the particle motion in the tank reactor. The star-ccm+, computational fluid dynamics tool was used to predict air & particle flow patterns in the tank reactor and a numerical simulation was achieved by applying the realized ${\kappa}-{\varepsilon}$ turbulence model and the Lagrangian particle tracking method. Results: From the results, the increase of recirculation air had a significant impact on removing dusts because they are removed by HEPA filter. To the contrary, Increasing the clean air quantity or changing the input position of clean air is not good for workers because it causes the exit of respiratory dusts through workers' entrance or cause it to remail suspended in the air in the workplace tank.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute Of Construction Engineering and Management
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• autumn
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• pp.201-207
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• 2001

Construction accidents are very serious comparing to its workers. These kind of accidents consist in the particularity of construction. The accident prevention task in construction requires both into immediate approach and longer range approach of instruction, training and education. Information concerning each individual accident, if the information of investigation has been done well, it provides information of prevention accident. At this point, this paper by examining 800 cases of serious accident researched by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency from Jan. 1992 to Dec. 2000 specifically targeting apartment and building construction develops the construction information system to suggest the proper information of construction safety.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.71-79
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to analyze the presence of ipsilesional movement deficit, with segmental performance in each proximal or distal upper extremity. The visuoperceptual complex task of the ipsilesional upper extremity was investigated in patients with unilateral brain damage and a control group of healthy sex-age-matched controls. Tracking movements were tested in the proximal and distal upper extremities. Movements were measured by the accuracy index, which was normalized to each subject's own range of motion and took into account any differences between subjects in the excursion of the tracking target. The findings revealed that stroke patients experienced difficulties with tracking movement of both proximal and distal segments in the upper extremities on the so-called "non-affected side", irrespectively of the extent of patient's age, time since onset, or severity of contralateral upper extremity. Therefore, the unilateral brain damage affected ipsilateral motor function of the proximal and distal upper limbs in the performance of complex motor tasks, requiring central processing and the higher order cognitive function in the integrity of both hemispheres.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.549-555
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• 2013

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of drilling on the ceiling in three different postures (standing, standing on the ladder and supine on the height adjusted board) and the subjective responses of perceived discomfort after the drilling. Background: Overhead work has been identified as a major occupational risk factor and has been a main research subject. Method: Ten young participants drilled 20 holes at the pre-marked places on the ceiling in three different postures. The drilling duration, resting and drilling heart rate were measured. The levels of perceived discomfort at neck, shoulder, elbow, hand and overall body were asked at the end of each task. Results: The working posture affected the heart rate after the drilling. Perceived discomfort in the neck decreased significantly in supine compared to drilling on the ladder. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that drilling in supine can be an alternative way to reduce the drilling heart rate and the level of perceived discomfort in the neck without sacrificing the productivity. Application: The results of this study would be considered when drilling on the ceiling is required in construction workers.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.273-278
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• 2013

Objective: This study aims to analyze and evaluate fatigue in upper trapezius muscles of adults when inputting text on a smart phone, thereby examining the risk of cumulative trauma disorders in the musculoskeletal system of the upper extremity. Method: Forty-five healthy adults were divided equally into three groups: a smartphone group, a notebook group, and a desktop group. A surface electromyogram was placed on the upper trapezius muscle of each participant, after which they inputted text for ten minutes within an ergonomic setting; their side posture was recorded on video and analyzed. Results: The spectral edge frequency values for the smartphone group, as recorded from the upper right trapezius muscles on the surface electromyogram, showed a significant decrease(p<.05). Regarding the RULA, all three groups had results indicating "action level 2". Conclusion: All three groups had results indicating "action level 2" according to the RULA, which means that additional research on the posture of the participants while performing tasks is necessary, and their posture needs to be corrected. In particular, the smartphone group has the highest levels of fatigue in the upper trapezius muscles, suggesting that the task of inputting text on a smartphone is a high risk for causing cumulative trauma disorders.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.153-159
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• 2014

Low back pain is one of major issues in musculoskeletal diseases mainly caused by MMH (Manual Material Handling) tasks. In Korea, the standards of NIOSH(National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) Lift Equations in U. S. A. have been most widely used. However, there is no standard in case the height of one feet is higher than that of another one. Moreover, since the standards are developed in U. S. A., there are many limitations for the applicability of Korean workers. In this study, MVC(Maximum Voluntary Contraction) for four postures are measured and an empirical model based on SVR(Support Vector Regression) is constructed. Constructing SVR model, PSO(Particle Swarm Optimization) is employed to investigate the optimal parameters of SVR. The results show that the performance of this empirical model is approximately accurate, even if the deviation of experimental values is large due to the individual differences. This empirical model may contribute to establish the standards of MMH tasks in Korea.