• 대한방사선기술학회지:방사선기술과학
• /
• 제41권4호
• /
• pp.297-304
• /
• 2018

This study proposes measures and methods to reduce healthcare associated infections by comparing and analyzing the bacterial contamination level before and after putting on personal protective equipment (PPE) on the test equipment and the contact infected patients getting chest PA projections. Among the 50 inpatients who were diagnosed with C. difficile, MRSA, and VRE, 28 patients who were instructed to undergo chest PA projection and follow-up were chosen, The 3 parts that come in contact with the detector, chin, chest, and hands, were designated for all, and the bacterial contamination level before and after disinfection and before and after putting PPE was determined. Statistical analysis was performed using Medcalc version 14, and quantitative analysis was performed using paired student t-test, with statistical significance being noted at p<0.05. Results for the comparison of the mean values before and after disinfection of the detector, chin (3.000), chest (2.000), and hands (3.430), showed that the number of bacteria after disinfection was lower than it was before disinfection. Analyzing for each part before and after disinfection, there were statistically significant differences for the chin, chest, and hands (p<0.01). Results for the comparison of the mean values before and after putting on PPE, chin (2.202), chest (2.140), and hands (4.213), showed that the number of bacteria after putting on PPE was lower than it was before putting on PPE. Analyzing for each part before and after putting on PPE, there were statistically significant differences for the chin, chest, and hands (p<0.03). As a result, it was confirmed that the number of bacteria after putting on PPE was lower than it was before putting it on. In the future, expanding the research scope for contact infected patients will establish standards for quarantine guidelines depending on the way it spreads, and contribute to the prevention of healthcare associated infections.

• 한국안전학회지
• /
• 제23권6호
• /
• pp.62-69
• /
• 2008

As the concerns of dermal exposure of spray painters to isocyanates in the automobile industry, glove performance was examined like permeation rate and breakthrough time including fatigue test. Methylene chloride was used as the solvent for derivatization of the isocyanates with a 97.5% recovery. Ghost wipe pads were used to wipe the surface of the glove material after chemical penetration through the glove material placed under a disposable test cell. Several solvents were tested, such as thinner(xylene, toluene) and cleaning agent(acetone) by using a standard permeation test cell(AS/NZS standard 2161. part 10.3). Solvents accelerate chemical permeation through the gloves more quickly than pure HDI hardener products. The longest breakthrough times were from Nitrosolve gloves, not detected in 8 hours, compared with others like Latex, Neoprene, TNT and Dermo Plus. Therefore Nitrosolve gloves could be recommended as personal protective equipment in crash repair shops. In addition, revised exposure limit of korean regulation should be suggested for employee to minimize the risk of health symptoms.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• 제8권4호
• /
• pp.407-409
• /
• 2017

Air pollutants of concern include traffic-related air pollution, including particulate matter in respirable coarse and fine size fractions. There are no critical studies to date into associations between knowledge, awareness, and attitudes in using proper respiratory masks and prevalence of respiratory symptoms among urban street vendors in Thailand. In this study, we estimated adverse respiratory health outcomes among street vendors, in particular young adults, in Bangkok, Thailand, using a self-report questionnaire. Street vendors, who were not currently smoking and not having known diagnosed respiratory diseases, were recruited. They were selected from selected roadsides at Chong Nonsi, Bangkok. Participants (n = 30) reported having lower respiratory (50%), upper respiratory (37%), and other symptoms (70%). Also, 53% of participants had never used respiratory personal protective equipment (PPE: masks). Among those using PPE, all used masks not proper for particulate matter. Results suggested knowledge, awareness, and attitudes concerning proper PPE use needs to be increased among street vendors in Bangkok, Thailand.

• 농촌지도와개발
• /
• 제30권2호
• /
• pp.119-129
• /
• 2023

This study aims to identify the types of safety accidents that occur during maintenance and repair operations and analyze the root causes. We used the logic tree diagramming to extract the root causes of 65 safety incidents specifically related to maintenance and repair work out of a total of 1,024 agricultural safety incidents that occurred between 2007 and 2020 collected by investigation with interviews. The extracted root causes were analyzed by categorizing them into six different safety system classifications. The results of the analysis and suggestions are as follows. Incidents related to maintenance and repair work, which can lead to irreversible safety hazards, have occurred frequently. These incidents were found to be occurring due to the overlapping of various safety system errors such as personal protective system and safety operation procedure. In the short term, it is necessary to emphasize compliance with the use of personal protective equipment, and enhancement of maintenance training. In the long term, it is necessary to establish a legal distinction for maintenance and repair work and clarify the responsible parties. Introducing a maintenance system is also crucial to prevent occupational injuries during maintenance and repair in agriculture.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• 제57권1호
• /
• pp.73-82
• /
• 2024

Objectives: The unsafe use of pesticides in agriculture represents a major hazard to human health. This study was conducted to investigate the association between pesticide exposure and health symptoms among chili farmers in northeast Thailand. Methods: This cross-sectional analytic study included 141 chili farmers in Sakon Nakhon Province, in northeast Thailand. Data regarding health symptoms were gathered using a self-report questionnaire. A medical technician tested blood cholinesterase activity using an erythrocyte method, and an occupational medicine specialist at Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand reviewed the results. Associations between personal characteristics, pesticide exposure factors, and health symptoms were analyzed using multiple logistic regression. Results: Of the 141 chili farmers studied, 66.7% experienced pesticide poisoning, as indicated by below-normal cholinesterase levels. Fatigue was the most frequently reported symptom associated with pesticide exposure, affecting 37.6% of participants. This was followed by nausea and vomiting (31.9%), dizziness (14.9%), and dry throat (14.9%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that several factors were significantly associated with adverse symptoms: amount of work experience, volume of pesticides used, use of chemical pesticides, use of leaking containers during spraying, direct pesticide exposure while working, contact with pesticide-soaked clothing, consumption of food and drinks in the fields, and blood cholinesterase level indicating risk. Conclusions: This study suggests potential health risks for chili farmers stemming from exposure to and contamination by pesticides used in agricultural practices. To mitigate these risks, it is essential to supply personal protective equipment and to implement educational programs aimed at improving protective behaviors among farmers.

• 대한통합의학회지
• /
• 제7권3호
• /
• pp.85-94
• /
• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to observe the degree of mask contamination in dental hygienist for general and oral bacteria and to identify areas of mask contamination after treatment. Methods: Masks were collected with every fifty dental hygienists who currently working in the department of preventive dentistry, prosthodontics, and orthodontics in Busan. The mask bacteria were collected in specific upper and side parts of the mask. Hand germs were collected using sterile cotton swabs, and then placed in a sterile conical tube. These were transferred to the laboratory. Hand germs and mask bacteria were incubated with nutrient broth (NB) and brain heart infusion broth (BHI) for 24 hrs and each cultured with NB and BHI plate at $37^{\circ}C$ for 48 hrs. Collected data were analyzed using the SPSS Window 20. Results: The number of bacteria was observed in the order of the department of preventive dentistry ($10.1{\times}10^5CFU/ml$), prosthodontics ($14.7{\times}10^5CFU/ml$), and orthodontics ($23.3{\times}10^5CFU/ml$) in the hand. In general bacteria, the difference of contamination was seen by the parts of the mask, but there was no significant difference. However, the oral bacteria were observed highly contaminated upper part of the mask in preventive dentistry. The mask contamination according to the medical departments was observed. Especially, the contamination of mask in preventive dentistry was significantly higher than other departments in oral bacteria. Conclusion: This study suggested that correct mask replacement and recognition of contamination areas can contribute to the prevention of infectious disease. and it would be necessary to increase hand hygiene performance to prevent cross-infection with masks. Also, this study may give an idea for making guidelines for mask management and supporting to establish clear criteria for the education program of personal protective equipment.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• 제14권3호
• /
• pp.267-271
• /
• 2023

Background: The objective of this study is to identify the working conditions and health status of Vietnamese male migrant workers in Republic of Korea, in comparison to the Korean general population. Methods: We conducted our survey through the Migrant People Center, and we received completed questionnaires from 87 male Vietnamese migrant workers. The questionnaire employed was identical to those used in the Korean Working Conditions Survey and the 2020 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The collected data from the Vietnamese migrant workers was then compared with the Korean reference population using indirect age-standardization. Results: Vietnamese male workers demonstrated a higher prevalence of health problems including hearing problems (age-standardized prevalence ratio (aSPR) 13.22, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.07-20.4), skin problems (aSPR 13.49, 95% CI: 8.07-20.4), and low back pain (aSPR 8.40, 95% CI: 6.50-10.69). Elevated exposure to workplace hazards such as chemicals (aSPR 2.36, 95% CI: 1.51-3.51), organic solvents (aSPR 2.22, 95% CI: 1.44-3.28), handling of heavy objects (aSPR 1.67, 95% CI: 1.24-2.21), and high temperatures (aSPR 1.96, 95% CI: 1.46-2.57) was observed among them. Additionally, they faced a higher risk of no personal protective equipment (aSPR 2.53, 95% CI: 1.26-4.52) and a greater prevalence of unmet medical needs (aSPR 7.14, 95% CI: 4.74-10.32). Conclusion: Our findings highlight the elevated workplace hazards, health problems, and unmet medical needs among Vietnamese male workers compared to the Korean reference population. These findings underscores the urgency for enhanced scrutiny over working conditions and protective equipment provision, coupled with efforts to improve healthcare accessibility and worker education.

• 한국군사과학기술학회지
• /
• 제18권3호
• /
• pp.335-342
• /
• 2015

Laboratory facilities for biology are designed as biosafety level 1, biosafety level 2, biosafety level 3, and biosafety level 4. Biosafety level designations are based on a composite of the design features, construction, containment facilities, equipment, practice and operation procedures required for working with agents from the various risk groups. Generally, biosafety level 3 means the facility that is appropriate for the experiments using pathogens which can cause serious diseases by aerosol transmission. The biosafety level assigned for the specific work to be done is driven by professional judgement based on a risk assessment, rather than by automatic assignment according to the particular risk group designation of the pathogenic agents to be used. In this paper, we introduced the biosafety level 3 facility operated in ADD(Agency for defense development). It contains the overview of facility, microbiological experiment, animal experiment, decontamination and waste disposal. Biosafety level 3 laboratory in ADD has served the vital role in the research of biological agents and antidote development.

• 한국안전학회지
• /
• 제35권2호
• /
• pp.17-27
• /
• 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.

• 한국환경보건학회지
• /
• 제34권2호
• /
• pp.153-160
• /
• 2008

Personal noise exposure was assessed in railroad operators working in 40 operation units including the Gyeongbu line, Honam line, and Janghang line between 2004 and 2006. 8-hour TWA were assessed based on the MOL (Ministry of Labor) guideline on noise evaluation, and 17% of these measurements exceeded 85 dBA while 70% were over 80 dBA. When the ACGIH TLV is adopted, 40% of measurements were over TLV (85 dBA). The noise exposure risk of railroad operators was higher for diesel locomotive operation and longer operational distances; in addition, the risk was higher for passenger car operation compared to freight car driving. Given that in Korea, over the past 30 years diesel locomotives have provided most of the railway's motive power and that hearing protective equipment is not likely to be used by workers during operation, railroad operators are at a high risk of noise-induced hearing loss. The result of audiometric test among 568 railroad operators showed that 32.6% of those tested had a hearing threshold shift of more than 40 dB. In conclusion, this study calls for more fundamental measures including noise control countermeasures within the operation areas, development of equipment that generates less noise and adopting limitation on the operation distance for a work shift.