• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제12권4호
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• pp.479-489
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• 2021

Background: During 2011, a study was undertaken to assess safety conditions in Serbian underground coalmines by analysis of injury data. The study covered all Serbian coalmines, identified week spots from the aspect of safety, and recommended possible courses of action. Since then, Serbia has made changes to safety and health legislation; all coalmines introduced new preventive measures, adopted international standards, and made procedures for risk management. After 10 years a new study has been performed to analyze the impact of these changes. Materials and methods: In this study, the injuries that have occurred in the Serbian underground coal mines over the last 20 years were analyzed. Statistical data analysis was performed by IBM SPSS Statistics v23. The injuries that occurred in the last ten years were compared with the results of the previous study (2000-2009). The average values of injury rates for both periods were compared for each of the categories (severity, age, body part, qualification), and the results were presented as absolute difference or percentile difference. Results: The results showed reduction in the number of injuries in the category of 20-30 years old workers, where the new training procedures for workers, which were set by mandatory legal regulations, certainly contributed. They also showed an increase in the number of injuries in the category of old workers, which indicates that the law did not have a positive effect on this category. Conclusion: The total number of injuries is still high; therefore, it is necessary to introduce mechanization and automation in mines and have a better policy for older workers who retire later nowadays.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.381-387
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• 2018

Background: Physician behaviors that undermine a culture of safety have gained increasing attention as health-care organizations strive to create a culture of safety and reduce medical errors. We developed, implemented, and assessed a course to teach physicians skills regarding effective coping and interpersonal communication skills and present our results regarding outcomes. Methods: We examined a professional development program specifically designed to address unprofessional or distressed behaviors of physicians, and we evaluated the impact on burnout, quality of life, and emotional flooding scores of the physicians. Assessments of burnout, quality of life, and emotional flooding were assessed preintervention and postintervention. Results: Results demonstrated statistically significant reductions over time in physicians' emotional flooding and emotional exhaustion (EE). Specifically, using a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test, results revealed that flooding scores at follow-up were statistically significantly lower than at baseline, V = 590, p < 0.05, and EE and personal accomplishment distributions were found to significantly deviate from normal as indicated by Shapiroe-Wilks tests (p < 0.05). A Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated that EE scores were significantly higher at baseline compared to follow-up 1, V = 285, p < 0.05. Conclusion: We conclude that the physician participants who enrolled in the educational skills training program improved scores on emotional flooding and EE and that this may be indicative of improved skills related to their experiences and learning in the program. These improved skills in physicians may have a positive impact on the overall culture of safety in the health system setting.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.66-73
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• 2021

Background: The objective was to assess the knowledge level, attitude, and practice of health care workers towards standard precautions, and to identify the related factors. Furthermore, it was attempted to identify the proportion of having the experience of needle stick injuries (NSIs) and associated factors among participants. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a teaching hospital among 233 health workers using a self-administrated questionnaire. The questionnaire included eight knowledge items, seven practice items, and five attitude items. Based on the mean score of each category, responses were grouped into "satisfactory" and "unsatisfactory". Univariate, bivariate, and multivariable logistic regression analyses were done. Results: The mean age of the participants 32.95 (SD ± 9.70) and 62.2% of them were women. 57.5% of the staff had a satisfactory level of correct knowledge (>5 correct answers), 37.3% had a satisfactory positive attitude (>3 correct answers), and 30.9% had a satisfactory practice (>3 correct answers) towards standard precautions. The occupation was one of the predictors as doctors were less likely to have satisfactory knowledge and practice compared to nurses (OR = 0.269, 95% CI: 0.10-0.70 and OR = 0.248, 95% CI: 0.08-0.77, respectively). Out of 174 participants, 31.6% of them reported experiencing NSIs and support staff were 71% less likely to experience NSIs compared to nurses & paramedics. Conclusion: The findings revealed a substandard adherence of standard precautions among participants, which highlighted the necessity of the provision of a periodic, tailored training program based on the occupation and risk exposure.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제47권1호
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• pp.101-109
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• 2021

Objectives: The objectives of this study are to introduce the development process of work situations and types in the revised regulations on wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) for hazardous chemical handlers, analyze the implementation of the regulations, and then provide basic data for future education strategies. Methods: The development process of work situations for regulation was explained through a flowchart by year. In 2018, a survey of 30 chemical managers and 201 managers and handlers was conducted based on recognition of work situations and the related regulations. In 2019, 91 chemical managers and 204 handlers were surveyed to find the degree of compliance with regulations, direction for improvement of understanding the regulations, and training methods. Results: Only 78.0% of chemical managers and 66.7% of handlers said they were aware of the regulations (p<0.05). Just 79.0% of handlers knowing the regulations said they would wear PPE in compliance with these regulations. Therefore, the best way to make workers wear proper PPE in accordance with regulations is to strengthen the promotion of education on regulations. In order to improve the quality of education, 51.7% of managers and 33.3% of handlers cited educational content (video, ppt, etc.) as the top priority. Conclusion: This study suggested that more educational opportunities should be provided and educational content should be developed in order for workers handling hazardous chemicals to wear PPE as prescribed in regulations.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.86-92
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• 2022

Background: A laboratory where chemicals are handled can be considered a hazardous environment, and hence, prudent practices should be strictly enforced. If not, deadly accidents and incidents could occur due to a lack of safety practices and poor safety culture. The purpose of this study is to analyze the existing safety culture and propose potential recommendations to enhance the level of safety education in the chemical laboratories in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. Methods: A survey questionnaire was administered among the laboratory supervisors of the chemical laboratories in the Western Province of Sri Lanka in 2019. Results: Even though 80 surveys were distributed among prospective participants, only 46 surveys were submitted, which is 58% of the response rate. Most of the individuals who participated in the survey were females below 35 years old, and approximately 96% of the participants had at least one year of working experience in the same laboratory setting. The majority considered safety as an important factor that requires further improvements with third-party safety inspections; however, 54% of the respondents mentioned that those inspections were conducted by the employees from their laboratory. Conclusion: From the study, it has been discovered that employees have knowledge of safety culture to a certain extent. A significant percentage (83%) of participants believed that further safety measures are required for a safer laboratory. However, the study revealed that the attitudes of some employees should be changed to have a better safety culture. Hence the authors would like to suggest having annual training sessions and well-formulated safety policies to improve the safety culture.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제32권2호
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• pp.182-194
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• 2022

Objectives: This study evaluates and recommends the priority of policy implementation to improve the fire protection clothing management system used by firefighters and the reduction of cross-contamination from contaminated clothing at the scene of a fire. Methods: It consisted of 7 experts and conducted three interviews and two modified Delphi surveys. Through the results of previous research and interviews with experts, a plan to reduce cross-contamination of fire suits and improve the management system was first derived. An improvement plan was presented in the four areas including resources, management, fire protection related work, and laws and regulations, and the priority of policy implementation was derived by analyzing the importance and practicality of the policy at the same time. Results: As a result of the analysis, the first priority was education on the health effects of pollutants at the disaster scene for firefighters, and the second priority was the addition of SOP for the primary decontamination of on-scene personal protective equipment in preparation for the health effects of the disaster scene, and education for fire suppression and rescue workers. The next step was to improve the management system of personal protective equipment such as fire suits and develop a training course for systematic operation. Conclusions: This findings could be used in the implementation of mid- to long-term firefighting policies for the systematic operation and establishment of a systematic management system for personal protective equipment such as fire protective suits.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제14권3호
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• pp.317-324
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• 2023

Background: COVID-19 pandemic represented a unique stressful event that affected the physical health and psychological well-being (PWB) of individuals and communities. Monitoring PWB is essential not only to clarify the burden on mental health effects but also to define targeted psychological-supporting measures. This cross-sectional study evaluated the PWB of Italian firefighters during the pandemic. Methods: Firefighters recruited during the pandemic period filled out a self-administered questionnaire, the Psychological General Well-Being Index, during the health surveillance medical examination. This tool is usually used to assess the global PWB and explores six subdomains: anxiety, depressed mood, positive well-being, self-control, general health, and vitality. The influencing roles of age, gender, working activities, COVID-19, and pandemic restrictive measures were also explored. Results: A total of 742 firefighters completed the survey. The aggregate median PWB global score was in the 'no distress"" range (94.3 ± 10.3), which was higher than that observed in studies conducted using the same tool in the Italian general population during the same pandemic period. Similar findings were observed in the specific subdomains, thus suggesting that the investigated population was in good PWB condition. Interestingly, significantly better outcomes were detected in the younger firefighters. Conclusion: Our data showed a satisfactory PWB situation in firefighters that could be related to different professional factors such as work organization and mental and physical training. In particular, our results would suggest the hypothesis that in firefighters, maintaining a minimum/moderate level of physical activity (consisting of even just going to work) might have a profoundly positive impact on psychological health and well-being.

• 대한통합의학회지
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.101-110
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• 2024

Purpose : The purpose of this study provided an overview of the general status and recent intervention approaches in overseas research related to feeding problems in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This review aims to explore interventions for feeding problems in order to provide higher quality follow-up research directions and implications, particularly focusing on providing recommendations for future research in the context of domestic studies. Methods : Analyzing studies published in international journals from 2017 to 2023. This review involved six selected articles, through Embase, Pubmed, RISS, KISS database search engine. A literature analysis that includes inclusion and exclusion criteria, six selected articles were examined. The literature analysis categorized the general status of the research and intervention approaches and treatment components into intervention, treatment settings and therapists, and dependent variables, respectively. Results : Among feeding intervention approaches, parent education interventions based on behavioral therapy had the highest proportion, followed by multidisciplinary interventions. To maintain the effectiveness of interventions over the long term and to generalize them to the home environment, parent education that utilizes parents as mediators is considered a crucial factor. The most commonly observed effects as dependent variables were changes in the consumption of disliked foods, health foods and alterations in feeding behavior. Conclusion : This study introduces various intervention approaches for addressing feeding problems in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), focusing on the positive effects demonstrated by active intervention research in abroad. Furthermore, it underscores the need for additional research in Korea to validate the efficacy of these feeding intervention methods. Lastly, the study outlines future research directions aimed at developing feeding programs to support children with ASD and their families coping with feeding issues.

• 한국전자통신학회논문지
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.219-228
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• 2017

본 연구는 테블릿 pc 어플리케이션을 사용한 인지훈련이 인지 손상이 있는 아급성 뇌졸중 환자의 인지기능, 일상생활 및 만족감에 미치는 영향을 알고자 하였다. 인천에 소재한 I병원에 입원 중인 14명의 아급성 뇌졸중 환자들이 본 연구에 참여하였다. 14명의 대상자들은 실험군과 대조군으로 7명씩 무작위 배정되었다. 두 그룹의 대상자들은 모두 전통적인 인지치료를 4주간 주 5회, 1일 30분의 중재를 받았으며, 실험군은 테블릿 pc 어플리케이션을 사용한 인지훈련을 30분씩 추가적으로 실시하였다. 평가는 중재 전과 후에 한국판 간이 정신상태 검사, 한국판 몬트리올 인지평가, 수정된 바델 지수, 시각 상사 척도를 사용하여 인지기능, 일상생활, 만족감을 측정하였다. 연구 결과, 두 그룹은 중재 전과 후로 몬트리올 인지평가와 수정된 바델 지수에서 유의한 향상을 보였다(p<.05). 두 그룹 간 변화량 비교에서 실험군은 대조군보다 몬트리올 인지평가에서 유의한 향상을 보였다(p<.05). 두 그룹 간 만족감 비교에서 실험군과 대조군은 유의한 차이가 없었다(p>.05). 본 연구의 결과를 통하여 테블릿 pc 어플리케이션을 사용한 인지훈련은 아급성 뇌졸중 환자의 인지기능 향상에 긍정적인 효과를 기대할 수 있는 중재법으로 사료된다.

• 재활치료과학
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• 제8권4호
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• pp.41-51
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• 2019

목적 : 본 예비 연구는 가상현실 기반의 일상생활활동 훈련이 외상성 뇌손상 환자의 일상생활활동 및 재활동기에 미치는 영향을 알아보고자 한다. 연구방법 : 본 연구는 7명의 외상성 뇌손상 환자를 대상으로 중재 전-후 설계를 수행하였다. 대상자들은 하루 30분, 주 2~3회, 4주간 가상현실 기반의 일상생활활동 훈련을 수행하였다. 중재 전과 후로 평가를 수행하였다. 측정은 수정바델지수, 기능적 독립척도(인지), 의지 설문지가 평가되었다. 중재 전과 후의 변화는 윌콕슨 부호순위 검정으로 분석하였고, 상관관계는 스피어만 상관분석을 이용하였다. 결과 : 중재 후, 외상성 뇌손상 환자는 한국판 수정바델지수에서 유의한 향상을 보였다(p<.05). 기능적 독립척도(인지)와 재활동기는 유의한 변화가 없었다(p>.05). 기능적 독립척도(인지)는 재활동기와 유의한 상관이 있었다(p<.05, r=.755). 기능적 독립척도(인지)의 사회인지영역은 재활동기와 유의한 상관이 있었다(p<.05, r=826). 결론 : 가상현실 기반의 일상생활활동 훈련은 일상생활활동 수행능력을 향상시킬 수 있으나, 사회인지와 재활동기의 개선여부가 가능한지에 대해서는 연구가 더 필요하다.