• Title/Summary/Keyword: Personal Safety

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Increase of Cardiometabolic Biomarkers Among Vehicle Inspectors Exposed to PM0.25 and Compositions

  • Ramdhan, Doni Hikmat;Kurniasari, Fitri;Tejamaya, Mila;Fitri, Aidila;Indriani, Aisyah;Kusumawardhani, Adinda;Santoso, Muhayatun
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.12 no.1
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    • pp.114-118
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    • 2021
  • Background: Exposure to particulate matter (PM) emitted from vehicle exhaust might disrupt systemic function and elevate the risk of cardiovascular disease. In this study, we examined the changes of cardiometabolic biomarkers among vehicle inspectors exposed daily to PM0.25 and components. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at two vehicle inspection centers, Pulogadung and Ujung Menteng, located in East Jakarta, Indonesia. The exposed respondents were 43 workers from vehicle inspection centers, and the unexposed group consisted of 22 staff officers working in the same locations. Vehicle exhaust particulate matter was measured for eight hours using a Leland Legacy personal pump attached to a Sioutas Cascade Impactor. The used filters were 25 and 37-mm quartz filters. The particulate matter concentration was analyzed using a gravimetric method, whereas trace elements were analyzed using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence. An EEL Smoke Stain Reflectometer analyzed black carbon. Results: The personal exposure concentrations of PM0.25 were 10.4-fold higher than those in unexposed groups. Calcium and sulfur were the major components in the obtained dust, and their levels were 3.3- and 7.2-fold higher, respectively, in the exposed group. Based on an independent-samples t-test, high-density lipoprotein, triglyceride, HbA1c, total immunoglobulin E, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and nitric oxide levels were significantly different between the groups. Conclusions: In summary, it was suggested that PM0.25 exposure from vehicle exhaust might affect cardiometabolic biomarkers change.

Design of a Smart Safety Vest Incorporated With Metal Detector Kits for Enhanced Personal Protection

  • Rajendran, Salini D.;Wahab, Siti N.;Yeap, Swee P.
    • 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.

An Empirical Study on Education Process Improvement for Effective Job Training of Construction Safety Manager (건설안전관리자 직무교육 과정 개선에 관한 연구)

  • Ji, Jun Seok
    • Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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    • v.20 no.1
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    • pp.23-31
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    • 2018
  • Industrial disasters cause lots of damages from individuals to companies and country. Especially, damages caused by constructional disasters take very large portion in the whole industry and are accompanied by huge personal physical damages. For the prevention of disasters, roles of safety manager are very important and especially, effects of disaster prevention can be changed by occupational ability of construction safety manager. To improve job abilities of safety manager, job education is very important. This research suggested a model for job education management of construction safety manager and proposed improvements as a study on improvement of curriculum for vitalization of job education of construction safety manager so as to improve occupational ability of safety manager. To achieve them, this research examined standard and operation status of current job education of safety manager and the problems and suggested a model materializing job educational contents as a measure to vitalize job education system of safety manager.

The Sustainable Purchase Intention in a New Normal of COVID-19: An Empirical Study in Malaysia

  • LATIP, Muhammad Safuan Abdul;NEWAZ, Farhana Tahmida;LATIP, Siti Nur Nadhirah Abdul;MAY, Rachel Yong Yuen;RAHMAN, Ahmad Esa Abdul
    • The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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    • v.8 no.5
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    • pp.951-959
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    • 2021
  • The study investigated the effect of food safety knowledge, food safety trust and the factors influencing organic food purchase intention in the 'new normal' of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study employed non-contrived and cross-sectional methods. The data was collected in Malaysia using convenience sampling. A total of 330 valid questionnaires were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and PROCESS for hypothesis testing. The study revealed a significant relationship involving food safety knowledge on personal attitude, perceived social pressure, and perceived autonomy. Moreover, organic food purchase intention was found to be influenced by personal attitude, perceived social pressure, and perceived autonomy. Interestingly, trust in organic food safety moderated the relationship between perceived autonomy and organic food purchase intention. The study proved valuable for stakeholders and organic food producers to understand the 'new normal' COVID-19 market scenario for a sound understanding of the market and the sustainability of the organic food industry. A new research framework is proposed and validated, related to individual purchase decision in global health issues which is limited in current literature. Hence, the study contributed to a better comprehension of green consumerism mainly in the Asian market.

Field Attenuation of Foam Earplugs

  • Copelli, Fran;Behar, Alberto;Le, Tina Ngoc;Russo, Frank A.
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.184-191
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    • 2021
  • Background: Hearing protection devices (HPDs) are often used in the workplace to prevent hearing damage caused by noise. However, a factor that can lead to hearing loss in the workplace is improper HPD fitting, and the previous literature has shown that instructing workers on how to properly insert their HPDs can make a significant difference in the degree of attenuation. Methods: Two studies were completed on a total of 33 Hydro One workers. A FitCheck Solo field attenuation estimation system was used to measure the personal attenuation rating (PAR) before and after providing one-on-one fitting instructions. In addition, external ear canal diameters were measured, and a questionnaire with items related to frequency of use, confidence, and discomfort was administered. Results: Training led to an improvement in HPD attenuation, particularly for participants with poorer PARs before training. The questionnaire results indicated that much HPD discomfort is caused by heat, humidity, and communication difficulties. External ear canal asymmetry did not appear to significantly influence the measured PAR. Conclusion: In accordance with the previous literature, our studies suggest that one-on-one instruction is an effective training method for HPD use. Addressing discomfort issues from heat, humidity, and communication issues could help to improve the use of HPDs in the workplace. Further research into the effects of canal asymmetry on the PAR is needed.

A Study on the Headway of the Personal Rapid Transit System (개인고속이동(Personal Rapid Transit) 시스템의 운전시격에 대한 연구)

  • Shin Ducko;Kim Yong-Kyu;Lee Jun-Ho
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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    • v.8 no.6 s.31
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    • pp.586-591
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    • 2005
  • We deal with the headway which effects on the performance of the PRT(Personal Rapid Transit) system and the system safety. The headway, time between passage of one vehicle and the next, is one of the important factors to assess the line capacity, which has a cue to solve the problem of the congestion in public transportation. To decide the headway there are many important factors, especially such as the failure vehicle deceleration rate, the following simple analytical equation can be made to assess the relation between the line speed and the minimum headway. In this paper we employ a numerical analysis method using a simple analytical equations for the evaluation of the minimum headway and show simple simulation results.

Survey on the Personal Magnetic Field Exposure of Sample Koreans from Living Environment (생활환경에서의 표본 한국인의 개인자계 노출량 조사)

  • 주문노;양광호;명성호
    • The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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    • v.53 no.2
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    • pp.97-102
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    • 2004
  • The objective of this survey is to characterize personal magnetic field exposure of the general population in Korea. Participants for the survey on magnetic field exposure were selected randomly in some occupations. Those wore the magnetic field meter for about 25∼28 hours and the measured data were stored in the meter. In this first step survey, the number of participant is 244 and for the second step, about 400 participants will be surveyed in the near future. The statistics of the 24-hour exposure data are the major concern of this survey. However the survey provided the opportunity to analyze exposures corresponding to different types of activities. It was analyzed by separating periods of time corresponding to the following activities: entire 24-hour period, in bed, at work and by occupation. Therefore the database will be able to be established to analyze the status of personal magnetic field exposure and safety.

Design and Implementation of Smart Vest for the Safety of Personal Mobility Device Users

  • Han, Sungjun;Kim, Younghoon;Park, Haebin;Choi, Woosung;Park, Eunju;Lim, Hankyu
    • Journal of Advanced Information Technology and Convergence
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    • v.10 no.1
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    • pp.85-97
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    • 2020
  • As a solution to the rapid urbanization problem, interest in and use of personal mobility devices such as bicycles and electric kickboards are increasing, and accidents are also rising every year. In this study, a smart vest to prevent traffic accidents and promote safe driving of personal mobility users was designed and implemented. Unlike the existing products on the market that indicate directions using buttons, the smart vest designed and implemented in this study indicates the moving direction by shaking a bracelet and displays the direction by LEDs on the vest. Therefore, this product was designed and implemented to be safer and differentiated from other existing products.

Research on Winter Working Environment and Working Clothes at a Construction Site (겨울철 건설현장의 작업 및 의복 환경 실태 조사)

  • Jeong, Jeong-Rim;Kim, Hee-Eun;Rissanen, Sirkka
    • Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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    • v.11 no.1
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    • pp.174-179
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    • 2009
  • The purpose of this study is to research the actual condition of working environment, working clothes and personal protective equipments on workers at a construction site in winter. The one to one interview by questionnaire was performed with 33 males and 2 females workers of a construction site in Daegu at $1.3^{\circ}C$ air temperature, 28% R.H., 4.7m/sec air velocity. The questionnaire consisted of 21 questions including 4 personal characteristics questions, 12 working environment/performance questions and 5 working clothes/personal protective equipments questions. It was modified from the original questionnaire developed by Finnish Institute Occupational Health. We found that physical stress of workers increased and the ability of performance decreased. The workers felt the coldest at hands/fingers, feet/toes and the face part of cheek, nose and ears. They rarely wore thermal clothing for winter and answered that the thermal gloves for winter did not provided enough warmth. Even if the workers recognized the necessity of personal protective equipments for their safety, they did not wear them for efficiency of working performance. These results will be useful elementary materials for development of working clothes and personal protective equipments from the viewpoint of improving both working performance and comfort.

Effects of Food Safety Management Support of Center for Children's Foodservice Management on Foodservice Facilities for Children in Busan Area (부산 일부 지역의 어린이 급식시설에 대한 어린이급식관리지원센터의 위생.안전 관리 지원 효과)

  • Kim, Sung-Hye;Oh, Eung-Young;Han, Jin-Suk
    • Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.261-274
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    • 2014
  • The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of food safety management support in the Center for Children's Foodservice Management (CCFSM) on foodservice facilities for children in Busan area. We assessed the status of hygiene and safety practices of institutional and non-institutional foodservice on a quarterly basis by using an inspection checklist for food hygiene and safety developed by dieticians from February to December in 2013. The subjects were 103 children's foodservices, including 37 institutional and 66 non-institutional foodservices. Inspection checklist consisted of nine categories with 39 checklists; general characteristics, personal hygiene, ingredient control, menu planning, cooking processing control, serving management, washing, disinfection and storage control, and environment and safety management. The average score of each field (pre-supporting/post-supporting) in institutional foodservice was 0.56/0.92 for personal hygiene, 0.55/0.87 for ingredient control, 0.76/0.97 for menu planning, 0.53/0.89 for processing control, 0.27/0.67 for serving management, 0.47/0.91 for washing, disinfection and storage control, and 0.61/0.91 for environment management and 0.64/0.94 for safety management. In non-institutional foodservice, the average score of each field (pre-supporting/post-supporting) was 0.49/0.80 for personal hygiene, 0.52/0.75 for ingredient control, 0.78/0.97 for menu planning, 0.42/0.76 for processing control, 0.32/0.61 for serving management, 0.57/0.88 for washing, disinfection and storage control, and 0.46/0.82 for environment management and 0.73/0.88 for safety management. The average scores of all categories (pre-supporting/post-supporting) were 0.57/0.91 in institutional foodservice and 0.53/0.82 in non-institutional foodservice. The effects of management support in CCFSM on institutional foodservice were higher than those of non-institutional foodservice. Based on these results, we found that management support in CCFSM on foodservice facilities for children had a significantly positive effect on status of hygiene and safety practice regardless of foodservice facility size.