• Journal of Appropriate Technology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.238-255
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• 2020

As COVID-19, which occurred at the end of 2019, has become a global pandemic, it has emerged as an unprecedented event that quickly destroys a nation's medical and healthcare system in both developed and developing countries. In the 21st century, most of the civil society that aimed for hyperconnected society is facing a new crisis that has not been experienced so far. Indeed, lack of personal protective equipment, isolation of clustered communities, disruption of medical systems necessary for diagnosis and treatment, and disruption of educational and economic activities due to social isolation are emerging. Since the COVID-19 has occurred, many of the difficulties that have occurred in the past six months indicate the basic infrastructure a society should have particularly in a pandemic. These include personal protective equipment (PPE), decontamination and quarantine tools essential for effective response, rapid and precise large-scale diagnosis, medical devices required for patient care, and identification and fast and wide on-line networks that can be used in social isolation. In this first part, we would like to introduce some representative examples of 1) personal protective equipment, 2) prevention of personal and community health, 3) social response through big data and networks within the framework of appropriate technology.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2017

We are investigated about the state of the working circumstances and infection blocking facility within Metropolitan, Chungcheong and Gyeongsang regions in Korea. The result is as follows. The HAV vaccination rate is 35% and the HBV vaccination rate is 50% among the funeral directors. We expected that the infection risk of funeral directors was very high. Significantly, tuberculosis prevalence rate of funeral director was four times as high as the public. The wear rate of gown, mask, gloves showed relatively high than the others. The wear rate of individual protective equipments has decreased with work experience. The funeral directors have shown that there is difficult to get safe protection from infection. The personal hygiene of funeral directors and the infection blocking equipment should be strengthened institutionally. We are thought to recommend institutional support about infection management, individual protective equipment, vaccination of funeral director and guideline to avoid reversion to previous habitual behavior.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.19-32
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• 2015

Purpose: This study examined the effect of wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), positive airway pressure, and the posture of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) when conducting CPR. Methods: Twenty 119 EMTs performed 30:2 CPR on a manikin for 4 min. Imaging data were digitized with Kwon3D XP (version 4.0). Data were collected by analyzing the motion when starting in one cycle, such as pressing to the maximum and in the final position (relaxed), and were analyzed with SPSS 18.0. Results: The angle of the elbow joints was significantly reduced (p < .05). The trunk angle was statistically significantly (p < .01, p < .001) increased. The angular velocities of the shoulder joint and left elbow joint were reduced (p > .05). The angular velocity of the trunk was significantly reduced in the starting and maximum compression postures. The hand-escape time was increased. The average compression depth was increased but not significantly (p > .05). The positive airway pressure was reduced (p > .05). Conclusion: The angle of the elbow joints and the angular velocity of the trunk were reduced, and the angle of the trunk was increased. The success of CPR and positive airway pressure was reduced.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.537-542
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• 2020

Background: Personal protective equipment (PPE) has been designed in such a way to reduce accident rates. Unfortunately, existing PPE is rather ineffective as it is not able to provide warning signals when hazard is around. The integration of intelligent systems is envisaged to increase the efficiency of existing PPE. Methods: This project designed a safety vest incorporated with metal detectors which can provide immediate warning to the field workers when there is metal hazard around. This product has greater freedom of design via smart manufacturing as it involves the assembly of few commercially available parts into a single entity. Briefly, the metal detector is a do it yourself (DIY) kit, and the safety vest is purchasable from any local market. The DIY kit was connected to a copper coil and being sewed into the safety vest. Results: The metal detector induces beeping sound when there is metal hazard around. A total of 121 engineering students were introduced to the prototype before being requested to answer a survey associated with the design. Respondents have rated >3.00/5.00 for the design simplicity, ease of usage, and light weight. Meanwhile, respondents suggested that the design should be further improved by increasing the metal detection range. Conclusion: It is envisaged that the introduction of this smart safety vest will allow the workers to carry out their duties securely by reducing the accident rates. Particularly, such design is expected to reduce workplace accident especially during night time at construction sites where the visibility is low.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.17-27
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• 2020

To identify the relationship between types of employment(regular and non-regular group) and departments classification (administration, product and research group) and the levels of recognition of chemical substances, a total of 117 workers in cosmetics workplaces. Mainly, regular group and research group showed higher recognition of chemical substances (PPE, ventilation, chemical management, hazards in handling chemicals, skin contact) than non-regular group and administration, product group, but In some cases, production and administrative groups were high. Descriptive statistics(SAS ver9.2)was performed. the results of recognition of chemical substances were analyzed the mean and standard deviation by t-test, and anova, (P=0.05). These results cosmetics manufacturing workplaces have normal level of the perception of chemical substances. In most of the employment types, the regular workers showed high recognition, and the working departments showed high recognition in the research and production groups. Therefore, OEM and ODM cosmetics manufacturers regularly identify characteristics and needs of workplaces and workers, and suggest the development of experience and practiced education programs and risk assessment tools that can raise worker awareness.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.1611-1620
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• 2007

The precaution to spray with agricultural chemicals is very important, in particular personal protective equipment against pesticide in order to protect farmers# pesticide poisoning. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has proclaimed the announcement of pesticide proof clothing(PPC) in 1983, and revised it in 1987. The announcement had many performance items to achieve the high-quality protective clothing for pesticide including weight, density, force strength, dimensional change(in washing and drying), fastness(dyeing, washing, sweating and rubbing) and water resistance of clothes. Announcement of the PPC has better durability and penetration resistance function than former days, but the plenty of farmers didn#t wear it because of the intolerable heat. To increase wearing rates, the pesticide proof clothing must be estimated the water-vapour resistance. From the results, the developed PPC with polyester treated water-repellent showed the more excellent comfort than an existing PPC with nylon coated polyurethane. But the developed PPC appeared to have the low water-vapour resistance. Therefore, it is suggested that the property of pesticide penetration must be evaluated through the field test in the future study.

• Journal of the Regional Association of Architectural Institute of Korea
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.25-32
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• 2018

According to the data released by Korea Occupational Safety & Health Agency, construction workers suffering from falling disaster have been increasing continuously for the last five years, and in fact, small and medium construction companies' falling disaster forms over 97% of all every year. This means that to reduce falling disaster significantly, it is needed to get rid of disaster taking place in small and medium construction companies. Here, this study aims to analyze various causes of falling disaster in small and medium construction companies, examine how those factors are correlated with one another, and suggest how to manage the risk of falling disaster effectively. According to the study results, main factors influencing falling disaster in small and medium construction companies are found as follows: Situational Awareness/Risk Perception, Fatigue/Alertness, Communications, Equipment/Facilities, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in the Direct Level, Management/Supervision, Education/Training, and Planning in the Organizational Level, and Management's Commitment to Safety in the Policy Level.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.225-235
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• 2010

This study was aimed to assess the status of working environment, health care management status and cause of exposure in manufactories using dimethylformamide (DMF). For the purpose, airborne concentration of DMF in the workplaces and N-methylformamide (NMF) in worker's urine were measured with job type and process. In addition, management of local exhaust ventilation system (LEV) and personal protective equipment (PPE) was evaluated at 35 work places (107 workers) located in Busan and Gimhae area. Mean DMF concentrations in work places by job type and process were of high level measured in printing and record media reproduction (5.23 ppm) and flaking process (2.48 ppm). Workers in adhesive job were measured a large amount of urine NMF (21.59 mg/${\ell}$). 98.1% of DMF handling workers were provided respirators, but 67.3% of those workers used them. The main reasons for not using respirators were inconvenience and difficulty of breathing. Airborne concentrations of DMF were higher in the workplaces in which LEVs were working abnormally, but there was not statistically significant. In addition, the urine NMF levels were correlated with management of LEV within the workers who did not use the respirators (p<0.048). These results implied that LEV should be installed and maintained properly to protect the workers from the exposure to DMF. Management of PPE should be also necessary to protect the workers from chemical hazards.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.268-277
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• 2012

Objectives: 1) To determine mercury levels in urine samples from garbage workers in Southern Thailand, and 2) to describe the association between work characteristics, work positions, behavioral factors, and acute symptoms; and levels of mercury in urine samples. Methods: A case-control study was conducted by interviewing 60 workers in 5 hazardous-waste-management factories, and 60 matched non-exposed persons living in the same area of Southern Thailand. Urine samples were collected to determine mercury levels by cold-vapor atomic absorption spectrometer mercury analyzer. Results: The hazardous-waste workers' urinary mercury levels (10.07 ${\mu}g/g$ creatinine) were significantly higher than the control group (1.33 ${\mu}g/g$ creatinine) (p < 0.001). Work position, duration of work, personal protective equipment (PPE), and personal hygiene, were significantly associated with urinary mercury level (p < 0.001). The workers developed acute symptoms - of head-aches, nausea, chest tightness, fatigue, and loss of consciousness at least once a week - and those who developed symptoms had significantly higher urinary mercury levels than those who did not, at p < 0.05. A multiple regression model was constructed. Significant predictors of urinary mercury levels included hours worked per day, days worked per week, duration of work (years), work position, use of PPE (mask, trousers, and gloves), and personal hygiene behavior (ate snacks or drank water at work, washed hands before lunch, and washed hands after work). Conclusion: Changing garbage workers' hygiene habits can reduce urinary mercury levels. Personal hygiene is important, and should be stressed in education programs. Employers should institute engineering controls to reduce urinary mercury levels among garbage workers.

• The Korean Journal of Food & Health Convergence
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.11-16
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• 2019

The construction environment has been declared as a hazard prone area due to high number of accident and death. The study aims to identify influential factors that contribute to poor safety practices and its consequences on construction workers in Cape Coast Metropolis. Seventy respondents were taken as the sample size for the study. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze the data obtained from the field. Findings show that poor site management, working without safety gadgets, failure to use their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and negligence of workers were the main causes of accidents on sites. Poor site management had the highest ranking among the seven variables. Effects of poor safety practices on building construction site and delays in work execution were due to injury of workers, extra cost due to payment of compensation to injured victims, not motivated due to injury of worker and declined reputation of firm. Management team should motivate workers for safe work done, provide adequate PPE for their workers on site and have documented health and safety policy on site. Site authorities and management team should be on site regularly to ensure proper safety practices on construction site.