• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.454-461
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• 2018

Background: Working conditions and psychosocial work factors have acquired an important role explaining the well-being and performance of professional drivers, including those working in the field of public transport. This study aimed to examine the association between job strain and the operational performance of public transport drivers and to compare the expositions with psychosocial risk at work of three different types of transport workers: taxi drivers, city bus drivers, and interurban bus drivers. Method: A sample of 780 professional drivers was drawn from three transport companies in Bogota (Colombia). The participants answered the Job Content Questionnaire and a set of sociodemographic and driving performance questions, including age, professional driving experience, work schedules, and accidents and penalties suffered in the last 2 years. Results: Analyses showed significant associations between measures of socio-labor variables and key performance indicators such road traffic accidents and penalties. Furthermore, multiple linear regression analysis contributed to explain significantly suffered accidents from key variables of the Job Demand-Control model, essentially from job strain. In addition, throughout post-hoc analyses, significant differences were found in terms of perceived social support, job strain, and job insecurity. Conclusion: Work stress is an issue that compromises the safety of professional drivers. This research provides evidence supporting a significant effect of job strain on the professional driver's performance. Moreover, the statistically significant differences between taxi drivers, city bus drivers, and interurban bus drivers in their expositions to work-related stress suggest the need for tailored occupational safety interventions on each occupational group.

• 한국전문물리치료학회지
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.55-62
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• 2014

For professional drivers, there is a possibility to have musculoskeletal disorders on ankle joint due to repetitive pedaling operation. Therefore, this study have focused to examine ankle active range of motion (AROM), dorsiflexor strength, and pressure pain threshold (PPT) of tibialis anterior muscle (TA) in taxi drivers compared to a age-matched control group. Thirty male taxi drivers with at least 10 years of driving experience and thirty male sedentary workers were evaluated for ankle AROM, dorsiflexor strength, and PPT of TA. Multiple independent t-tests were used to identify significant differences between two groups. For the results, taxi drivers had significantly less AROM in dorsiflexion and greater AROM in external tibial rotation compared to the control group. Also, dorsiflexor strength and PPT of TA in taxi drivers was significantly lower than in the control group. This study indicates that the repetitive ankle movements associated with driving have an effect on ankle AROM, dorsiflexor strength, and PPT of TA and may lead to work-related musculoskeletal disorders on ankle. Professional drivers may need to be educated to prevent a potential musculoskeletal disorders associated with repetitive movement.

• 환경위생공학
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• 제20권4호통권58호
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• pp.69-75
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• 2005

Professional taxi driver exposure to indoor air pollutants has been a subject of concern in recent years because of higher levels of air pollutants, comparing to the surrounding atmosphere. This study evaluated the potential exposure to respirable suspended particulate (RSP), nitrogen dioxide $(NO_2)$ and volatile organic compounds (VOCs; benzene and toluene) for professional taxi drivers inside each of 10 vehicles in Pusan, comparing weekday (Monday and Thursday) and weekend (Saturday). Indoor mean concentrations of RSP inside vehicle were $53.88\;ug/m^3\;and\;75.52\;ug/m^3$ on weekday and weekend, respectively. Measured indoor $NO_2$ concentrations were 28.32ppb and 40.69 ppb, respectively. Benzene and toluene mean concentrations inside vehicle were 5.41 ppb and 11.36 ppb, respectively. Considering no smoking of taxi drivers inside vehicle, closed window in winter, and increased usage of taxi on weekend, source of indoor air pollutants inside taxi might be mainly suggested from the number of passenger's carried, faulty exhaust systems, and engine and carburetor evaporative emissions.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제31권4호
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• pp.367-377
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• 2021

Objectives: Taxi drivers are exposed to various hazards, such as long periods of sedentary work and traffic-related air pollutants. However, studies on the health effects among taxi drivers in South Korea are insufficient. Methods: To assess subclinical hematologic change related to cardiovascular disease among male taxi drivers, we analyzed data from the second Korean National Environmental Health Survey. Fifty-nine taxi drivers and 1,912 controls were included in the analysis. Propensity score matching was performed to adjust for age, body mass index, and urinary cotinine. A total of 295 subjects were matched with 59 taxi drivers. Leukocyte count, platelet count, hematocrit, triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol land total IgE of the taxi drivers were compared with the control groups. Results: Taxi drivers showed significantly elevated blood leukocytes and platelets. Serum total IgE was significantly reduced in taxi drivers. However, blood leukocytes, platelets, and serum total IgE were not significantly correlated with work period among taxi drivers. Conclusions: Regarding the change of the blood leukocyte count, platelet count, and serum total IgE, taxi driving has the possibility to be associated with peripheral inflammation, humoral immunity and cardiovascular risk.

• 대한시과학회지
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.505-511
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• 2018

목적 : 만 65 세 이상 고령운전자와 50 ~ 65 세 이전의 예비고령 운전자의 시각적 기능을 검사하고, 일반인과 직업 운전자를 구분하여 그 차이점을 연구하고자 한다. 방법 : 본 연구에 참여한 대상자는 만 65 세 이상 고령운전자(40 명), 만 65 세 이하 운전자(67 명)이었다. 모든 대상자들은 안과적 질환이 없고, 운전 경력은 5년 이상이었다. 기본적인 데이터(성별, 직업, 연령, 건강상태)와 함께 시각기능 데이터 (대비감도, 정적 및 동적 입체시, 시력회복시간, 눈부심 지수)등을 측정하였다. 결과 : 명소시 조건에서의 대비감도는 전반적으로 버스군에서 가장 좋은 감도를 보였으며, 12 cpd와 18 cpd의 주파수에서 일반 1.57, 버스 1.70으로 그 차이 값이 통계적으로 유의하게 나타났다(p<0.05). 암소시 조건에서는 65 세 이상 고령층에서는 주파수가 높아질수록 일반군과 택시군에서 유의한 차이를 보여주었다(p<0.05). 눈부심 후 시력회복시간은 통계적으로 유의한 차이를 보이지는 않았다. 다만 연령대가 증가할수록 시간이 길어지는 경향은 보였다. 눈부심 지수에 관한 결과는 65 세 이상의 일반군에서 운전에 방해가 되는 눈부심에 해당하는 지수 3에 가까운 결과를 보였고, 택시 및 화물 운전군에서는 양호한 눈부심에 해당하는 지수 5에 가까운 결과 값을 보여주었다(p<0.05). 결론 : 고령자들의 시기능을 분석한 결과, 나이가 들수록 대부분의 시기능이 저하되는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 따라서 65 세 이상의 고령 운전자의 안전운전을 위해서는 현재 시행되어지고 있는 시력, 색각 검사 외에도 운전 환경과 연관되어 있는 시기능인 대비감도, 눈부심, 입체시력 등의 시각기능 검사가 추가적으로 고려되어야 할 것으로 보인다.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제27권1호
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• pp.20-26
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• 2001

personal nitrogen dioxide(NO$_2$) exposures for 31 professional drivers were measured using passive sampler and time activity diary in Asan and Chunan area, and were estimated using time-weighted average model. Mean concentrations of driver’s indoor and outdoor were 24.7$\pm$10.7 ppb and 23.3$\pm$8.3 ppb, respectively with indoor/outdoor of 1.1. Mean personal NO$_2$ exposure was 30.3$\pm$9.7 ppb. Personal NO$_2$ exposures were strongly correlated with indoor car NO$_2$ levels ($R^2$=0.80) rather than residential indoor NO$_2$ level ($R^2$=0.55). and outdoor NO$_2$ level ($R^2$=0.50). The driver’s NO$_2$ exposure using LP-gas with 24.4$\pm$8.0 ppb were statistically different from those using diesel with 36.3$\pm$14.1 ppb(p<0.01). The effect of driver’s smoking for personal NO$_2$ exposure was not found. It was considered that the main NO$_2$in driver is transportation. Since drivers mostly spent their times in indoor and inside car, time-weighted average model could be used to estimated personal NO$_2$ exposure using time activity diary, Though we did not measure all microenvironments, the estimated personal NO$_2$ exposures with 26.9$\pm$10.2 ppb were statistically correlated with measured personal NO $_2$ exposures30.3$\pm$9.7 ppb ($R^2$=0.89). The mean and standard deviation of personal NO$_2$ exposure using Mote-Carlo simulation were 26.6$\pm$7.2 ppb.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.148-154
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• 2022

Background: Bus driving is a mentally demanding activity that requires prolonged attention to ensure safety. The aim of the study was to assess mental fatigue caused by driving a public bus and to find a profile of workers at higher risk. Methods: We evaluated changes of critical flicker fusion (CFF) (index of central arousal) and heart rate variability (HRV) (index of autonomic balance) in a 6-hour driving shift on a real route, in 31 professional bus drivers, and we tested the influence of personal factors such as sleep quality, BMI, and age. Paired t-test was used to test differences of CFF and HRV between both initial and final phase of driving, while multiple linear regression tested the influence of personal variables on the indexes of mental fatigue. Results: Results showed that CFF significantly decreased after 6 hours of bus driving (41.91 Hz, sd 3.31 vs. 41.15 Hz, sd 3.15; p = 0.041), and heart rate significantly decreased in the final phase of driving, with respect to the initial phase (85 vs. 78 bpm, p = 0.027). Increasing age (beta = -0.729, p = 0.022), risk of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (beta = -0.530, p = 0.04), and diurnal sleepiness (beta = -0.406, p = 0.017) showed a significant effect on influencing mental fatigue. Conclusion: Elderly drivers at higher risk of sleep disorders are more prone to mental fatigue, when exposed to driving activity. Monitoring indexes of central arousal and autonomic balance, coupled with the use of structured questionnaires can represent a useful strategy to detect profile of workers at higher risk of mental fatigue in such duty.

• 한국자동차공학회논문집
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• 제15권4호
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• pp.161-170
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• 2007

As one of the major handling performances of the vehicle and tire, the steering feel is very important in the high speed where safety and refinement is a major concern for the drivers. This paper presents both subjective and objective techniques for the assessment of the steering feel including the on-center feel and steering response. For this, subjective evaluation method of the steering feel was studied at first and then objective parameters were selected by considering the process by which the steering feel is evaluated subjectively. From statistical analysis of subjective and objective data for the several vehicles and professional drivers, it was found that the subjective assessment of the steering feel could be successfully explained by means of the suggested objective parameters. Also, the main objective parameters related to the subjective assessment of the steering feel could be found.

• 한국전문물리치료학회지
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• 제4권2호
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• pp.18-35
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• 1997

The purpose of this study were to determine causes of low back pain in bus drivers who usually work in prolonged sitting position and to find the relationship of back pain with general characteristics and work environmental characteristics, stress symptoms, to com맹re lordosis angle of habitual driving posture and resting posture in low back pain group and non-low back pain group, and to use this result as a basis for improvement of work environment and comprehensive rehabilitative management of low back pain. Ninety-eight bus drivers were selected from the membership of an urban transit union in Seoul. These informations were collected from May 1, 1997 to May 25, 1997 by means of structured questionnaires and X-ray findings. These data were analyzed by $x^2$ test, t-test, logistic regression using SAS. The major results were as follows: 1. Of the respondents, 66.3% of bus drivers were found to be experiencing back pain. 2. Of the respondents of low back pain groups, 78.5% reported that major cause of low back pain was due to prolonged sitting. 3. The group with experiences of frequent or continuous vibration had more low back pain (p<0.05). There were no significant differences among other work environmental factors. 4. Average stress score was significantly higher in the group with low back pain than in the group without low back pain (p<0.05). 5. The results of the logistic regression analyses were statistically significant vibration from seat and stress score among the risk factors (p<0.05). 6. Averaged lordosis angle of habitual driving posture was $7.6{\pm}14.9$ degrees in low back pain group, $16.5{\pm}8.7$ degrees in non-low back pain and averaged lordosis angle of resting sitting posture was $10.8{\pm}13.7$ degrees in low back pain, $18.9{\pm}9.6$ degrees in non-low back pain group but the difference in mean lordosis angles of two groups was not statistically significant. The results of this study indicate that professional drivers developed chronicity of low back pain due to unfit seat, poor habitual posture and stress from vibration or other risk factors. Therefore, there is need to improve work environment, i.e. enough resting, to set a seat to support lumbar spine properly and to provide comprehensive rehabilitation program including early diagnosis, proper treatment and education for self help management.

• 한국정밀공학회지
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• 제29권10호
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• pp.1149-1156
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• 2012

In this study, we proposed the most efficient driving posture based on the analysis of quantitative muscular strength and fatigue degree according to posture. Since driving include complicated actions required by a variety of ability and cause by extremes concentration or strain, drivers tend to feel tired easily. However, drivers can't recognize the fatigue degree by themselves. Moreover, the method for measuring the quantitative fatigue degree exactly is quite difficult to be secured. 9 professional bus drivers were participated. We analyzed the quantitative legs' muscular strength when operating each pedal. And then we also analyzed the muscular strength and muscular fatigue degree according to driving pattern during bus driving. Therefore, we suggested the most efficient driving posture.