• Title/Summary/Keyword: Personal protective equipment

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3D-printed Face Shields for Healthcare Professionals Battling COVID-19 Pandemic

  • Kim, Gyeong-Man;Assefa, Dawit;Kang, Joon Wun;Gebreyouhannes, Esayas
    • Journal of Appropriate Technology
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    • v.6 no.2
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    • pp.226-237
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    • 2020
  • As the number of reported COVID-19 cases rises around the world, regions affected by the virus are taking serious measures to contain its spread. Face shields are one of the highest-need personal protective equipment (PPE) during COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond traditional face masks, as known cases of the coronavirus soar, currently there is a significant shortage of face shields around the world. In response, the protective face shields were designed and fabricated with open-source 3D modelling software and 3D printing technology, respectively. Our face shield consisted of two parts only; a reusable 3D printed headband and a visor made of transparent plastic sheet, as barrier. The resulting 3D printed face shields are affordable, lightweight, one-size-fits-most and ready-to-wear with minimal assemblies, and go on easily over glass, goggle and face mask. To ensure being donated to the healthcare professionals without risk infected by any pathogens, the 3D printed face shields were successfully be disinfected with ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI dosage of 1000 mJ/cm2) and 70% alcohol. For routine disinfection a UVGI chamber was designed and optimized to provide uniform UV-C illumination with an appreciated fluence for complete decontamination. More than 1,000 face shields were produced already and donated to the special hospitals for COVID-19 patients, quarantines, government and medical agencies in Ethiopia as well as in East-African countries. With certainty, our intention goes beyond the hospitals and other first responders, but not limited for all those who have to stay in the service or be in contact with many other people in the time of COVID-19 pandemic.

AN APPROACH FOR ESTIMATING TOTAL COST OF OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY FOR BUILDING CONSTRUCTIONS

  • Gurkan Emre Gurcanli;Nesimi Teoman Korkutan;Ugur Mungen
    • International conference on construction engineering and project management
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    • 2011.02a
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    • pp.168-175
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    • 2011
  • Construction accidents are major problem in Turkish Construction industry and especially fatally rates are very high. Current legislative system on occupational safety in Turkey enforces employers to implement safety measures as well as safety management systems. However level of consciousness in the industry is unsatisfactory and safety are perceived as extra cost and unnecessary expenditure. Moreover, especially in small residential building constructions which have a big share in the industry and unfortunately safety measures to mitigate or abate construction risks do not exist. The study focuses on small residential building construction sites and in the scope of this study, thirty building projects are examined. For each building project, project cost including labour and material costs, service and consultancy costs for mechanical, electrical systems as well as architectural and structural services, costs for supervision and finally general expenditures for construction site facilities were calculated. On the other hand, occupational safety costs for personal protective equipment, collective protective measures, consultancy and training were determined. Work breakdown structures were established and for each work item firstly occupational risks were evaluated and furthermore according to risk scores safety measures to be implemented were defined and related costs were calculated. The study gave results for total safety cost on average, in terms of percentage of total project cost (3.73% of total project cost), safety cost per man-hour (0.40 USD) and safety cost in terms of unit construction area (11.60 USD per square meter). Since safety management is a part of whole project management process, study gives suggestions and techniques to calculate safety costs and implement safety measures as a part of project management service for professionals. Authors believe that suggested approach may easily developed by the usage of more data to establish a model for estimation not only for building construction sites but also for all construction projects.

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Development and Evaluation of a Web-based Education Program for Nursing Students on Control of Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus Infection (간호학생을 위한 웹기반 VRE 감염관리 교육프로그램의 개발 및 효과)

  • Gong, Ju;Kang, Ji-Yeon
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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    • v.19 no.1
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    • pp.122-133
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    • 2012
  • Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a web-based education program on control vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) infections and to identify the effects of the program on knowledge and performance of nursing students. Methods: The web-based VRE infection control education program was developed by using the network-based instructional systems design model. The nursing students in the experimental group could access this web-based education program at any time, and as many times as they wanted, during the clinical training period. Effects were evaluated by assessing knowledge and performance of VRE infection control measures during the clinical training period. Results: The contents of the education program included diagnosis, transmission, and treatment of VRE, contact precautions, hand washing, personal protective equipment, environment management, and quizzes. The lecture portion was filmed in a virtual screen studio using flash animation, video, and sound effects, and it was uploaded on an internet site. The knowledge and performance scores of the experimental group after using the education program were significantly higher than those of the control group. Conclusion: The results suggest that the web-based VRE infection control education program is an effective educational method to enhance knowledge and performance of VRE infection control measures.

A Study on the Shock Absorption Performance of the Safety Helmet using Coefficient of Restitution (반발계수를 이용한 안전모의 충격 흡수 성능에 관한 연구)

  • Shin, Woon-Chul
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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    • v.27 no.5
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    • pp.30-34
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    • 2012
  • A safety helmet is a personal protective equipment to protect the head from falling and flying objects. A safety helmet has the maximum delivered impact force as shock absorption performance, the lower delivered impact force the better performance, which was not a controlled variety during manufacturing safety helmet. Accordingly there were some difficulties in establishing the standard for improved performance as there was not a clear controllable impact force for improved performance. In this study the shock absorption performance was intended to be found as coefficient of restitution related to impulse. As a research method, a coefficient of restitution during the absorption of shock was calculated using the impulse transferred to pharynx utilizing the safety helmet shock absorption performance testing device based on the theory of momentum and impulse. The estimated impulsive force curve was derived assuming that shock was not absorbed using the measured data. The sample was selected as tested goods of ABS material for safety certification available mainly in the market. As a result of study, the maximum delivered impact force of safety helmet made by a domestic safety certified a company was 735 N, and its coefficient of restitution proved to be 0.64. The smaller coefficient of restitution is, the lower maximum delivered impact force and the higher shock absorption performance. The coefficient of restitution can be used as a performance index of safety helmet.

Oxidative DNA Damage from Nanoparticle Exposure and Its Application to Workers' Health: A Literature Review

  • Rim, Kyung-Taek;Song, Se-Wook;Kim, Hyeon-Yeong
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.4 no.4
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    • pp.177-186
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    • 2013
  • The use of nanoparticles (NPs) in industry is increasing, bringing with it a number of adverse health effects on workers. Like other chemical carcinogens, NPs can cause cancer via oxidative DNA damage. Of all the molecules vulnerable to oxidative modification by NPs, DNA has received the greatest attention, and biomarkers of exposure and effect are nearing validation. This review concentrates on studies published between 2000 and 2012 that attempted to detect oxidative DNA damage in humans, laboratory animals, and cell lines. It is important to review these studies to improve the current understanding of the oxidative DNA damage caused by NP exposure in the workplace. In addition to examining studies on oxidative damage, this review briefly describes NPs, giving some examples of their adverse effects, and reviews occupational exposure assessments and approaches to minimizing exposure (e.g., personal protective equipment and engineering controls such as fume hoods). Current recommendations to minimize exposure are largely based on common sense, analogy to ultrafine material toxicity, and general health and safety recommendations.

A Study of Emergency Response for the Leakage Accident of Hazardous and Noxious Substances in a Port (항만에서의 위험·유해물질(HNS) 누출사고 대응에 관한 연구)

  • Woo, Young Jin;Lee, Chang Jun
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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    • v.31 no.6
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    • pp.32-38
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    • 2016
  • In general, lots of containers including various dangerous materials are transported to the port located in big cities such as Busan where massive residents live. Thus, it's really important how to make the emergency response for the leak accidents of dangerous materials and evaluate the direct or indirect damages to adjacent areas. In this study, in order to make reasonable emergency plans, CA (Consequence Analysis) is employed after selecting a key hazardous and noxious material, hydrogen fluroide. This material accounts for the third largest portion of cargo volume among all dangerous materials and can cause a huge damage in case of leakages. As a case study, Busan North port is selected as a test port since the portion of dangerous materials is higher than that of other ports in Busan. It is assumed that 1 ton of hydrogen fluoride is spilled at Busan North port. CA is performed to assess the impact of this accident. Throughout CA, the ERPG-2 range of a leak accident can be evaluated and this result can be used for decision making tools for mitigating the impact of a leak accident. To mitigate the damage of this accident, suitable a protective equipment and resident evacuation procedures should be prepared. Finally, this study can provide a systematic approach to make the emergency plan for reducing economical and personal losses.

A study on the perception and needs about dental infection control of the dental patients (치과내원환자의 치과감염관리에 대한 인식 및 요구도에 관한 연구)

  • Lee, Kyeong-Hee;Yang, Ji-Eun;Mun, Seon-Ho;Kim, Ji-Eun
    • Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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    • v.17 no.3
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    • pp.343-354
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    • 2017
  • Objectives: The purpose of this study was to provide a satisfactory and reliable dental care service for the patients and to establish a plan to raise the perception about dental infection control. Methods: The perception of infection control in the dental clinic of the patients was examined who visited to dental clinics, over 20 years old and living in Seoul and Gyeonggi province since December 2016. The questionnaire was used as the survey tool, and 274 questions in the questionnaire were analyzed. Results: Results of examined factors affecting the perception of dental infection control in dental clinics show that the perception of infection control in dental clinics is affected by the degree of university graduates (p<0.05), full-time workers (p<0.01), housewives (p<0.001), and oral health concerns (p<0.05), the perception of infection control of dental medical personnel (p<0.001) in order. Conclusions: Dental medical personnels must thoroughly wash their hands, wear uniforms, wear personal protective equipment, and thoroughly clean and disinfect the interior of a dental clinic.

Contractors' Perception towards Safety and its Consequences on Construction Workers in Cape Coast Metropolis

  • Mustapha, Zakari
    • 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.

A Study on the Measurements, Moldeling, and Passive Filter Application of Neutral Hormonic Currents by Field Tests (현장시험에 의한 중성선 고조파 전류 측정, 모델링 및 수동필터 적용에 관한 연구)

  • 김경철;강윤모;이일무
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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    • v.17 no.1
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    • pp.103-111
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    • 2003
  • With the proliferation of nonlinear loads such as personal computer in an educational building, high neutral harmonic currents have been observed. High neutral currents in three-phase four ire distribution power systems can cause tots of harmonic problems such as overloaded neutral conductors and malfunction of protective equipment. On-site measurements of harmonic currents and voltages were made and the corresponding equivalent circuits was developed. The circuit model under study was simulated numerically and graphically through the use of the software MATLAB. Simulation results verifying the effect of a single-tuned passive filter for the neutral harmonic current reduction are presented.

Study on Remedies of Convergence Design for Personalized Fire Helmets (개인 맞춤형 소방용 헬멧의 융합 디자인 방안 연구)

  • Ahn, Yong Jun;Kang, Myung Chang;Lee, Tae Gu
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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    • v.33 no.5
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    • pp.371-376
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    • 2016
  • Safety related workers, such as firefighters, have to wear a protective helmet. The Development of Helmets for safety is in progress to promote the wearable device industry. Several accidents caused by negligence in recent days have raised public attention to safety. For this reason, the amount of national budget funding for the study of fire-fighting and smart safety helmets has increased. However, most previous studies have focused on safety, rather than the application of new technologies based on physical attributes, especially the characteristics of head shape and size, even though fire helmets play the critical role of protection from flames and external shocks etc. in an emergency. This paper will present the smart technologies and newly developed designs for safety helmets that are personalized for each firefighter, based on the characteristics of their head, and will help a rescue operation to be much more safe and efficient.