• 대한인간공학회지
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• 제29권4호
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• pp.479-486
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• 2010

Automobile-related industries have been a few of leading ones among domestic industries reporting high rates of musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD's). In this paper, major ergonomic aspects of automobile-related works were reviewed with reference to WMSD's. According to the result, high repeatability of works with as short as 1 minute or less, awkward postures required, excessive forces, and vibrations due to power tools were drawn out as major physical factors. To eliminate or mitigate those factors - at least in automobile-related industries - ergonomic approach has tried for more than a decade. With all, however, ergonomists still seem to confront with several problems to be solved such as development of appropriate assessment tools, enhancement of work improvement activities, system establishment for continuous prevention and management of WMSD's. As lots of previous researches declared, it was concluded that ergonomic approach would collaborate with other approaches such as ndustrial medicine considering physical factors as well as psychosocial factors, and that the necessity of an integrated Occupational Safety and Health Management System(OHSMS) was mentioned.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제7권4호
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• pp.259-267
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• 2016

Work-related musculoskeletal injuries and disorders (WMSD) are a significant issue in the health care sector. Allied Health professionals (AHP) in this sector are exposed to physical and psychosocial factors associated with increased risk of developing a WMSD. Clarification of relevant hazard and risk factors for AHP is needed to improve understanding and inform WMSD risk management. A systematic analysis of the literature was undertaken to determine prevalence and risk factors for WMSD in AHP. Databases of Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL (EBSCO), EMBASE and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were reviewed. This quality of articles was low. Outcome measures were varied, with prevalence rates of WMSD reported from 28% to 96% over a one-year time period. The lower back was the most commonly affected body part. Relevant factors identified with the development of WMSD included inexperience in the role and area of employment. Future research needs to focus on undertaking high quality prospective studies to determine the factors associated with WMSD development in AHP.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제19권4호
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• pp.390-402
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• 2009

This study aimed to examine the general characteristics of individual workers, psychosocial working environment, and ergonomic risk factors which affect the status of musculoskeletal disorders. Self-report was carried out for musculoskeletal symptoms and ergonomic risks in working environment in 856 production workers in 16 small to medium sized manufacturing companies. Musculoskeletal symptoms were examined with a standardized questionnaire, and ergonomic risks were evaluated with a qualitative self-administered instrument for the tasks related to musculoskeletal disorders. Major findings were as follows: 1) Complaint rate for musculoskeletal symptoms was higher in female, aged, married workers with longer working hours, less leisure/hobby activity, longer household working hours and history of disease or accident. 2) Complaint rate for musculoskeletal symptoms was significantly higher in workers with dissatisfaction, difficult tasks, and no self-control at work. 3) Complaint rate for musculoskeletal symptoms was significantly higher in workers involved in tasks with major ergonomic risk factors, and handling heavy equipment. 4) Explanatory power increased the model with the musculoskeletal symptoms as dependent variable and demographic variables, psychosocial working environment and ergonomic risk factors included, and total explanatory power of 18.6% revealed the significant effect. Based on the results, we can conclude that musculoskeletal symptoms in manufacturing workers are associated with individual demographic characteristics, psychosocial working environment and ergonomic risk factors.

• 보건의료산업학회지
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.47-56
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• 2018

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to compare the characteristics of nursing work environments based on department type and to investigate the relationship between work environment and job satisfaction. Methods : The participants were 420 nurses from the ward, emergency room, intensive care unit, and operation room. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, ANOVA, Scheffe's test, and multiple regression test using the SPSS Win. 18.0 program. Results : The results were as follows: There was a significant difference in possibilities for development, meaning of work, recognition(reward), role clarity, and social community at work based on department type. The factors that influenced job satisfaction were influence, meaning of work, recognition(reward), role conflicts, and quality of leadership and these differed based on department type. Conclusions : The results of this study indicate that nursing work environments vary based on the type of hospital department. Therefore, it is necessary to develop diverse strategies for human resource management considering the type of department.

• 대한간호학회지
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• 제40권5호
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• pp.650-661
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• 2010

Purpose: Work-related anxiety and depression are frequent work-related mental health problems. In this study the relationship between workplace violence and work-related anxiety and/or depression among Korean employees was evaluated. Methods: Data were obtained from the Korean Working Condition Survey of 2006. Participants were 9,094 Korean workers aged 15-64 yr. Multiple logistic regression using SAS version 9.1 was used. Results: The incidence of work-related anxiety, work-related depression and workplace violence were 4.5%, 3.5%, and 1.8% respectively. When personal and occupational risk factors were adjusted, workplace violence was significantly associated with work-related anxiety and depression (OR for anxiety: 4.07, CI: 2.62-6.34; OR for depression: 4.60, CI: 2.92-7.25). Work-related anxiety was significantly related to type of employment, working period at present workplace, work time, shift work, job demand, and social support from superiors. Factors influencing work-related depression were gender, education, alcohol consumption, company size, type of employment, working period at present workplace, work time, shift work, and job demand. Conclusion: To promote psychological health in workers there is a need to develop work-related anxiety and depression prevention programs and to decrease in workplace violence. In developing these programs, consideration should be given to personal factors, working conditions, and psychosocial working environments.

• 대한인간공학회지
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• 제29권4호
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• pp.405-422
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• 2010

Occupational musculoskeletal disorders currently account for the largest proportion of the occupational illnesses in Korea. In this research, status of musculoskeletal disorders among the occupational illnesses was examined through workers' compensation claims data. Types and characteristics of musculoskeletal disorders were looked at other data set as well. The data sets included epidemiological investigation data reported by Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, and data collected from occupational disease surveillance reports and Korean occupational health-related scientific journals. Number of cases, incidence rate and insurance benefits for occupational musculoskeletal disorders in Korea are increasing every year. In addition, musculoskeletal disorders occurrence is shifted from large enterprises group to small-and-medium group, from manufacturing to service sector, and from production workers to office and professional workers. Although low back pain is still most common, its occurrence characteristics is gradually shifted from traumatic to cumulative while musculoskeletal disorders are somewhat seemingly moved from lumbar to upper limb body part. Musculoskeletal disorders were observed to be more diverse and prevalent in epidemiological investigations or surveillance data rather in workers' compensation claims data. Musculoskeletal disorders occurrence is related to demographic factors, occupational psychosocial factors, and ergonomic risk factors at workplace for which appropriate preventive measures needed to be made accordingly.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.371-382
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• 2014

Objectives: This study was undertaken in order to examine how musculoskeletal disorder(MSD) symptoms were affected by particular factors and then to explore control strategies to prevent MSDs in general hospital nurses. Materials: This, as part of a large study, was conducted using a set of information on literature review, questionnaire survey and focus group interview. It obtained prevalence and factors of MSD symptoms and examined how MSD symptoms were distributed and affected by the factors in nurses working at 15 general hospitals across Korea. The factors were personal factors, work organization, nursing tasks, physical factors and psychosocial factors. Results: A total of 501 nurses were determined as subjects. The highest MSD symptom prevalence was 61% for the shoulder, among body parts, followed by leg/feet(55%), low back(51%), neck(42%), wrist(38%), and elbow(21%). Prevalence for the whole body was 80%. Odds ratios ranged from 0.4 to 22.4 in logistic regression analyses. The symptoms were significantly attributed to factor variables such as body mass index, current health status, daily work time, nursing task, pooled-physical factors, ergonomic factors, work load, interpersonal conflict, and job insecurity. Conclusions: Two or more factor variables were significant, depending on body part, for MSD systems in the general hospital nurses. It was noticeable that physical factors, such as pooled-physical factors, ergonomic factors or work load, were selectively significant for MSD symptoms in all body parts, indicating that such information should be used for prevention of MSDs in the hospital sector.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제6권1호
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• pp.35-38
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• 2015

Background: Organizational changes that involve healthcare hospital departments and care services of health districts, and ongoing technological innovations and developments in society increasingly expose healthcare workers (HCWs) to work-related stress (WRS). Minimizing occupational exposure to stress requires effective risk stress assessment and management programs. Methods: The authors conducted an integrated analysis of stress sentinel indicators, an integrated analysis of objective stress factors of occupational context and content areas, and an integrated analysis between nurses and physicians of hospital departments and care services of health districts in accordance with a multidimensional validated tool developed in Italy by the National Network for the Prevention of Work-Related Psychosocial Disorders. The purpose of this retrospective observational study was to detect and analyze in different work settings the level of WRS resulting from organizational changes implemented by hospital healthcare departments and care services of health districts in a sample of their employees. Results: The findings of the study showed that hospital HCWs seemed to incur a medium level risk of WRS that was principally the result of work context factors. The implementation of improvement interventions focused on team development, safety training programs, and adopting an ethics code for HCWs, and it effectively and significantly reduced the level of WRS risk in the workplace. Conclusion: In this study HCW resulted to be exposed to occupational stress factors susceptible to reduction. Stress management programs aimed to improve work context factors associated with occupational stress are required to minimize the impact of WRS on workers.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.3-20
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• 2019

This review aimed to identify risk factors for occupational accidents and illnesses among young workers in the Nordic countries and to attain knowledge on specific vulnerable groups within the young working force that may need special attention. We conducted a systematic review from 1994 to 2014 using five online databases. Of the 12,528 retrieved articles, 54 met the review criteria and were quality assessed, in which data were extracted focusing on identifying occupational safety, health risk factors, and vulnerable groups among the young workers. The review shows that mechanical factors such as heavy lifting, psychosocial factors such as low control over work pace, and organizational factors such as safety climate are all associated with increased injury risk for young Nordic workers. Results show that exposures to chemical substances were associated with skin reactions, e.g., hand eczema. Heavy lifting and awkward postures were risk factors for low back pain, and high job demands were risk factors for mental health outcomes. The review identified young unskilled workers including school drop-out workers as particularly vulnerable groups when it comes to occupational accidents. In addition, apprentices and young skilled workers were found to be vulnerable to work-related illnesses. It is essential to avoid stereotyping young Nordic workers into one group using only age as a factor, as young workers are a heterogeneous group and their vulnerabilities to occupational safety and health risks are contextual. Politicians, researchers, and practitioners should account for this complexity in the education, training and organization of work, and workplace health and safety culture.

• 한국직업건강간호학회지
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.138-152
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• 2005

Purposes: The purposes of this study are to investigate the definition, components, prevalence, and associated factors of metabolic syndrome and suggest the management strategies for workers. Method: This study was conducted by literature review. Results: Metabolic syndrome by the NCEP-ATP III is the clustering of three or more of five conditions: abdominal obesity, high triglycerides, low levels of HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, and high glucose(blood sugar). The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome by modified NCEP-ATP III in South Korean workers was about 20 to 25%. Metabolic syndrome is caused by many associated factors, namely, age, family history, socioeconomic status, job strain, shift work, psychosocial distress, bad health behaviprs and so on. Conclusions: To prevent metabolic syndrome at worksites, multifactorial risk factor assessments and preventive approaches are required. Socioeconomic factors such as education, working status should be nationally importantly considered for the health inequality of workers. Occupational health nurse, at first, can start weight control, smoking cessation program. stress management, the improvement of work environment. Next stage, early diagnosis and treatment for metabolic risk group can be performed.