• Title/Summary/Keyword: Safety management effort

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Estimation of an Occupational Exposure Limit for Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Manufactured in Korea (국내 일부 다중벽탄소나노튜브의 직업노출기준 추정)

  • Kim, Jong Bum;Kim, Kyung Hwan;Choi, Byung-Gil;Song, Kyung Seuk;Bae, Gwi-Nam
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.25 no.4
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    • pp.505-516
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    • 2016
  • With the development of nanotechnology, nanomaterials are used in various fields. Therefore, the interest regarding the safety of nanomaterial use is increasing and much effort is diverted toward establishment of exposure assessment and management methods. Occupational exposure limits (OELs) are effectively used to protect the health of workers in various industrial workplaces. This study aimed to propose an OEL for domestic multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) based on animal inhalation toxicity test. Basic procedure for development of OELs was examined. For OEL estimation, epidemiological study and quantitative risk assessment are generally performed based on toxicity data. In addition, inhalation toxicity data-based no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) and benchmark dose (BMD) are estimated to obtain the OEL. Three different estimation processes (NEDO in Japan, NIOSH in USA, and Baytubes in Germany) of OELs for carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were intensively reviewed. From the rat inhalation toxicity test for MWCNTs manufactured in Korea, a NOAEL of $0.98mg/m^3$ was derived. Using the simple equation for estimation of OEL suggested by NEDO, the OEL of $142{\mu}g/m^3$ was estimated for the MWCNT manufacturing workplace. Here, we used test rat and Korean human data and adopted 36 as an uncertainty factor. The OEL for MWCNT estimated in this work is higher than those ($2-80{\mu}g/m^3$) suggested by previous investigators. It may be greatly caused by different physicochemical properties of MWCNT and their dispersion method and test rat data. For setting of regulatory OELs in CNT workplaces, further epidemiological studies in addition to animal studies are needed. More advanced technical methods such as CNT dispersion in air and liquid should be also developed.

Preliminary Study on the Simulation for Urban Railway Facility Performance Assessment (도시철도시설 성능평가 시뮬레이션 구현을 위한 기초 연구)

  • Kang, Goune;Jung, Insu;Kim, Jung-yeol;Seo, MyoungBae
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.21 no.3
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    • pp.190-198
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    • 2020
  • For domestic urban railways, which have a 19.7% aging rate, a performance evaluation is necessary to establish capital improvement investment plans. The performance evaluation, which was recently enacted in the relevant law, points out the excessive time and effort for acquiring data and evaluation. This study developed a performance evaluation simulation prototype using a virtual reality (VR) method to use as training contents for railway performance evaluations. The practical use of the VR technique to reduce the working time under poor environment conditions was confirmed through a literature review. A survey and consultation were conducted for urban railway experts to determine the weight of the performance evaluation items and the facility breakdown structure. This information was utilized to develop performance evaluation sheets for simulation. Based on the evaluation sheet, a training content prototype that evaluates the performance of platform safety doors was developed using VR techniques with HTC VIVE equipment. VR simulation tests were conducted for six players, and the prototype was sufficiently advantageous for a visual confirmation of the facility information. The result is expected to be useful for engineers to understand the performance evaluation process efficiently before an actual performance evaluation of urban railway facilities.

Development of Mobile-Based Design Value Engineering(VE) Supporting System for VE Process Improvement (VE프로세스 개선을 위한 모바일 기반의 설계VE 시스템 개발)

  • Song, Chang-Young;Yang, Byong-Soo
    • Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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    • v.21 no.5
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    • pp.433-443
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    • 2021
  • Value Engineering(VE) is an organized effort to create the most value through a functional analysis and creation of alternatives. Depending on the VE job plan, a VE Workshop must be performed in a certain place within a certain period of time. A VE Workshop, which is an organized activity that aims to create the best value through functional analysis and creation of alternatives, should be held in a certain place and at a scheduled time according to the VE job plan. In the Pre-Study, VE Study and Post-Study phases of VE, functional assessments, performance evaluations and idea evaluations are driven by variable management techniques and analysis methods, respectively. Generally, VE is executed for about 3 to 5 days in a particular place to create value. However, there are many problems associated with limiting all VE processes to a specific place and schedule. Moreover, in Korea, VE teams are required to finish all VE processes in a limited time because of the short duration of VE workshops, the necessity of which has been overlooked. Therefore, an efficient VE support system is required to resolve the problem of time and space limitations. In this study, a VE support system based on the Mobile environment was developed to support the VE Workshop process. This VE support system enables participants to review design documents, drawing sheets and all VE-related documents using mobile devices. After the Workshop, participants can conveniently rearrange the result(evaluation of function and ideas) at the workshop. Not only can the members of VE team can review the design documents, drawing sheet and all VE-related documents in the step before the workshop, but also the result(evaluation of function and ideas) of the workshop can be easily rearranged in the phase after the workshop under the developed supporting system using mobile devices.

Development of integrated disaster mapping method (I) : expansion and verification of grid-based model (통합 재해지도 작성 기법 개발(I) : 그리드 기반 모형의 확장 및 검증)

  • Park, Jun Hyung;Han, Kun-Yeun;Kim, Byunghyun
    • Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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    • v.55 no.1
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    • pp.71-84
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    • 2022
  • The objective of this study is to develop a two-dimensional (2D) flood model that can perform accurate flood analysis with simple input data. The 2D flood inundation models currently used to create flood forecast maps require complex input data and grid generation tools. This sometimes requires a lot of time and effort for flood modeling, and there may be difficulties in constructing input data depending on the situation. In order to compensate for these shortcomings, in this study, a grid-based model that can derive accurate and rapid flood analysis by reflecting correct topography as simple input data was developed. The calculation efficiency was improved by extending the existing 2×2 sub-grid model to a 5×5. In order to examine the accuracy and applicability of the model, it was applied to the Gamcheon Basin where both urban and river flooding occurred due to Typhoon Rusa. For efficient flood analysis according to user's selection, flood wave propagation patterns, accuracy and execution time according to grid size and number of sub-grids were investigated. The developed model is expected to be highly useful for flood disaster mapping as it can present the results of flooding analysis for various situations, from the flood inundation map showing accurate flooding to the flood risk map showing only approximate flooding.

A Survey on the Workplace Environment and Personal Protective Equipment of Poultry Farmers (양계 농업인의 작업장 환경 및 개인보호구 착용 실태조사)

  • Kim, Insoo;Kim, Kyung-Ran;Lee, Kyung-Suk;Chae, Hye-Seon;Kim, Sungwoo
    • Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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    • v.40 no.6
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    • pp.454-468
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    • 2014
  • Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the actual condition of the farm work environment and personal protective equipment as part of the effort to improve livestock work for the safety and health of poultry farmers and provide basic data for establishing plans to improve and develop personal protective equipment. Methods: For this purpose, a questionnaire survey on general information about stables, the poultry work environment, accidents, the wearing of work clothes and personal protective equipment, and the level of awareness related to personal protective equipment was conducted among 148 poultry farmers. Results: As a result, it was found that poultry workplace environment was exposed to such risks as fine dusts; organic dusts; poisonous gases; odorous substances; chicken excrement; contact with chickens, bacteria or viruses; and accidents related to machine operation. Thirteen percent of respondents suffered severe respiratory diseases, and the most frequently injured sites due to accidents were the hands (25.7%), knees (23.8%), arms (17.3%), and head (10.9%). The most frequent type of accident was collisions between the body and obstacles or machinery during movement (36.4%), followed by erroneous machine operation such as feeders and electric shocks (8.5%). Regarding the wearing of work clothes and personal protective equipment, 51.7% of the respondents wore worn-out clothing or everyday clothes, whereas only 32.0% wore work clothes. The percentage of farmers who wore proper protective equipment for the work environment during poultry work was 48.4%. The most frequently used type of protective equipment was boots (38.9%), followed by mask (36.7%), gloves (36.3%), appropriate work clothes (22.6%), quarantine clothes (17.6%), helmets (13.4%), and goggles (12.6%). The rate of wearing goggles was low because they were considered inconvenient and lowered work efficiency. Furthermore, they purchased everyday products available on the market for their personal protective equipment which were not appropriate for maintaining safety in an actual harmful environment and its consequent risks. As a result of the survey of the awareness level related to personal protective equipment, their levels of awareness of accidents and attitude proved to be average or higher, but the practice of wearing protective equipment and the level of knowledge and management of personal protective equipment were lower. Conclusion: This survey found that the wearing status of personal protective equipment among poultry farmers was insufficient even though they were exposed to risks. Most respondents were aware of the necessity of wearing personal protective equipment and of the potential for accidents, but they did not wear proper protective equipment. Their wearing rate was low due to a lack of knowledge about protective equipment, as well as the inconvenience of wearing it. Therefore there is a need to improve and develop specialized personal protective equipment for respiration, hands, and eyes, as well as work clothes that can protect farmers from major harmful matter that is generated in the poultry workplace. Based on the results of this investigation, we will conduct further studies on the required performance and design directions of personal protective equipment while collecting more objective data through field-oriented assessments.

Classification of submitted KSNMT dissertation (대한핵의학기술학회 투고 논문 분류)

  • Han, Dong-Chan;Lee, Hyuk;Hong, Gun-Chul;Ahn, Byeong-Ho;Choi, Seong-Wook
    • The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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    • v.21 no.1
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    • pp.65-69
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    • 2017
  • Purpose KSNMT(Korea Society of Nuclear Medicine Technology) stepping first step in 1997, has published first journal related with nuclear medicine technology in 1985. With classifying In Vivo Session Dissertation reported in the entire journal, trend of the Dissertation will be studied. Materials and Methods Dissertations which published from 1985 to first half of 2016 in the journal are classified with presentation form and with scanner, And all the data is organized with Excel program. Through the data, the number of dissertations published in each year, the number of dissertation published in details, and keyword distributions in each period are analyzed. Results The number of In-vivo section dissertations was 1151 and the number of In-vivo section dissertations that have common subject with In-vitro section was 28. The number of In-vivo section dissertation in 1980s was 46, in 1990s was 149, in 2000 was 467 and from 2010 to the first half of 2016 was 517. The number of dissertation with original articles was 571, with abstract was 529, with symposium was 31, with special lecture was 25, with review was 11, with interesting image was 7, with poster was 3 and with case report was 2. With symposium and special lecture excluded, which count 56, the number of dissertation with PET was 319, with Planar was 302, with SPECT was 172, with radiopharmaceutical was 113, with guard and safety management 103, with BMD was 28, etc. was 86. The number of dissertation about oncology was 201, about scanner was 179, about cardiovascular and circulatory system was 102, about safe environment was 82, about musculoskeletal system was 76, about nervous nuclear medicine was 66, about quality assurance was 61, about genitourinary system was 56, about endocrine system was 49, about digestive system was 44, about Therapy, about industrial safety was 24, about molecular imaging was 15, infection and inflammation was 9, about respiratory system was 8 and etc. was 108. The mostly used keyword through 1999 to 2005 was PET and through 2006 to 2016 was PET/CT. Conclusion To encourage various dissertations to be submitted, Korea Society of Nuclear Medicine should analyze date about not only about dissertations that are already published, but also about various research materials. Moreover, Korea Society of Nuclear Medicine also have to provide technical support such as sharing big data from homepage and systematical support to its member to publish dissertation that has high impact factor. It is important each individual researcher to have continuing effort as well as each organization cooperation.

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Management of Critical Control Points to Improve Microbiological Quality of Potentially Hazardous Foods Prepared by Restaurant Operations (외식업체에서 제공하는 잠재적 위험 식품의 미생물적 품질향상을 위한 중점관리점 관리방안)

  • Chun, Hae-Yeon;Choi, Jung-Hwa;Kwak, Tong-Kyung
    • Korean journal of food and cookery science
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    • v.30 no.6
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    • pp.774-784
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    • 2014
  • The purpose of this study was to present management guidelines for critical control points by analyzing microbiological hazardous elements through screening Potentially Hazardous Foods (PHF) menus in an effort improve the microbiological quality of foods prepared by restaurant operations. Steamed spinach with seasoning left at room temperature presents a range of risk temperatures which microorganisms could flourish, and it exceeded all microbiological safety limits in our study. On the other hand, steamed spinach with seasoning stored in a refrigerator had Aerobic Plate Counts of $2.86{\pm}0.5{\log}\;CFU/g$ and all other microbiological tests showed that their levels were below the limit. The standard plate counts of raw materials of lettuce and tomato were $4.66{\pm}0.4{\log}\;CFU/g$ and $3.08{\pm}0.4{\log}\;CFU/g$, respectively. Upon washing, the standard plate counts were $3.12{\pm}0.6{\log}\;CFU/g$ and $2.10{\pm}0.3{\log}\;CFU/g$, respectively, but upon washing after chlorination, those were $2.23{\pm}0.3{\log}\;CFU/g$ and $0.72{\pm}0.7{\log}\;CFU/g$, respectively. The standard plate counts of baby greens, radicchio and leek were $6.02{\pm}0.5{\log}\;CFU/g$, $5.76{\pm}0.1{\log}\;CFU/g$ and $6.83{\pm}0.5{\log}\;CFU/g$, respectively. After 5 minutes of chlorination, the standard plate counts were $4.10{\pm}0.6{\log}\;CFU/g$, $5.14{\pm}0.1{\log}\;CFU/g$ and $5.30{\pm}0.3{\log}\;CFU/g$, respectively. After 10 minutes of chlorination treatment, the standard plate counts were $2.58{\pm}0.3{\log}\;CFU/g$, $4.27{\pm}0.6{\log}\;CFU/g$, and $4.18{\pm}0.5{\log}\;CFU/g$, respectively. The microbial levels decreased as the time of chlorination increased. This study showed that the microbiological quality of foods was improved with the proper practices of time-temperature control, sanitization control, seasoning control, and personal and surface sanitization control. It also presents management guidelines for the control of potentially hazardous foods at the critical control points in the process of restaurant operations.

A Study on Piracy Matters and Introduction of the Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel on Board Ships (해적사건 대응을 위한 무장경비원제도 도입방안에 관한 연구)

  • Roh, Ho-Rae
    • Korean Security Journal
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    • no.41
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    • pp.293-326
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    • 2014
  • Piracy is a worldwide issue, but the deteriorating security situation in the seas off Somalia, the Gulf of Aden and the wider Western Indian Ocean between 2005 and 2012 and in the increasing number of attacks in the Gulf of Guinea are a major problem. The depth of concern for the problem internationally is amply demonstrated by the levels of co-operation and coordination among naval and other forces from several countries that have assembled in the west Indian Ocean region and the Gulf of Aden to escort ships carrying humanitarian aid to Somalia and to protect vulnerable shipping. Notwithstanding this unprecedented effort, the vast sea area in which the pirates now operate makes it difficult to patrol and monitor effectively, particularly with the limited resources available. More resources, in the form of naval vessels and aircraft, are needed and at every opportunity the IMO encourages Member Governments to make greater efforts to provide the additional naval, aerial surveillance and other resources needed through every means possible. IMO provide interim guidance and recommendations to be taken into account when considering the use of PCASP(privately contracted armed security personnel) if and when a flag State determines that such a measure would be lawful and, following a full risk assessment, appropriate. The interim guidance and recommendations of IMO are not intended to endorse or institutionalize the use of armed guards. Therefore, they do not represent any fundamental change of policy by the Organization in this regard. It is for each flag State, individually, to decide whether or not PCASP should be authorized for use on board ships flying their flag. If a flag State decides to permit this practice, it is up to that State to determine the conditions under which authorization will be granted. Therefore, Korea should be introduced rationally PCASP for safe shipping. PCASP on board ships is much the same to special guard personnel of security services industry act. Act plan of Oceans and fisheries ministry on PCASP collides with special guard personnel system of National Police Agency. Rather than new law making, PCASP regukations have to be included in security services industry act. Management Agency of PCASP is to not Oceans and fisheries ministry, but Central Headquarters Korea Coast Guard of Public Safety and Security Ministry because of specialty and closely connection.

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An Analysis of the Moderating Effects of User Ability on the Acceptance of an Internet Shopping Mall (인터넷 쇼핑몰 수용에 있어 사용자 능력의 조절효과 분석)

  • Suh, Kun-Soo
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.27-55
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    • 2008
  • Due to the increasing and intensifying competition in the Internet shopping market, it has been recognized as very important to develop an effective policy and strategy for acquiring loyal customers. For this reason, web site designers need to know if a new Internet shopping mall(ISM) will be accepted. Researchers have been working on identifying factors for explaining and predicting user acceptance of an ISM. Some studies, however, revealed inconsistent findings on the antecedents of user acceptance of a website. Lack of consideration for individual differences in user ability is believed to be one of the key reasons for the mixed findings. The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and several studies have suggested that individual differences in ability plays an moderating role on the relationship between the antecedents and user acceptance. Despite the critical role of user ability, little research has examined the role of user ability in the Internet shopping mall context. The purpose of this study is to develop a user acceptance model that consider the moderating role of user ability in the context of Internet shopping. This study was initiated to see the ability of the technology acceptance model(TAM) to explain the acceptance of a specific ISM. According to TAM. which is one of the most influential models for explaining user acceptance of IT, an intention to use IT is determined by usefulness and ease of use. Given that interaction between user and website takes place through web interface, the decisions to accept and continue using an ISM depend on these beliefs. However, TAM neglects to consider the fact that many users would not stick to an ISM until they trust it although they may think it useful and easy to use. The importance of trust for user acceptance of ISM has been raised by the relational views. The relational view emphasizes the trust-building process between the user and ISM, and user's trust on the website is a major determinant of user acceptance. The proposed model extends and integrates the TAM and relational views on user acceptance of ISM by incorporating usefulness, ease of use, and trust. User acceptance is defined as a user's intention to reuse a specific ISM. And user ability is introduced into the model as moderating variable. Here, the user ability is defined as a degree of experiences, knowledge and skills regarding Internet shopping sites. The research model proposes that the ease of use, usefulness and trust of ISM are key determinants of user acceptance. In addition, this paper hypothesizes that the effects of the antecedents(i.e., ease of use, usefulness, and trust) on user acceptance may differ among users. In particular, this paper proposes a moderating effect of a user's ability on the relationship between antecedents with user's intention to reuse. The research model with eleven hypotheses was derived and tested through a survey that involved 470 university students. For each research variable, this paper used measurement items recognized for reliability and widely used in previous research. We slightly modified some items proper to the research context. The reliability and validity of the research variables were tested using the Crobnach's alpha and internal consistency reliability (ICR) values, standard factor loadings of the confirmative factor analysis, and average variance extracted (AVE) values. A LISREL method was used to test the suitability of the research model and its relating six hypotheses. Key findings of the results are summarized in the following. First, TAM's two constructs, ease of use and usefulness directly affect user acceptance. In addition, ease of use indirectly influences user acceptance by affecting trust. This implies that users tend to trust a shopping site and visit repeatedly when they perceive a specific ISM easy to use. Accordingly, designing a shopping site that allows users to navigate with heuristic and minimal clicks for finding information and products within the site is important for improving the site's trust and acceptance. Usefulness, however, was not found to influence trust. Second, among the three belief constructs(ease of use, usefulness, and trust), trust was empirically supported as the most important determinants of user acceptance. This implies that users require trustworthiness from an Internet shopping site to be repeat visitors of an ISM. Providing a sense of safety and eliminating the anxiety of online shoppers in relation to privacy, security, delivery, and product returns are critically important conditions for acquiring repeat visitors. Hence, in addition to usefulness and ease of use as in TAM, trust should be a fundamental determinants of user acceptance in the context of internet shopping. Third, the user's ability on using an Internet shopping site played a moderating role. For users with low ability, ease of use was found to be a more important factors in deciding to reuse the shopping mall, whereas usefulness and trust had more effects on users with high ability. Applying the EML theory to these findings, we can suggest that experienced and knowledgeable ISM users tend to elaborate on such usefulness aspects as efficient and effective shopping performance and trust factors as ability, benevolence, integrity, and predictability of a shopping site before they become repeat visitors of the site. In contrast, novice users tend to rely on the low elaborating features, such as the perceived ease of use. The existence of moderating effects suggests the fact that different individuals evaluate an ISM from different perspectives. The expert users are more interested in the outcome of the visit(usefulness) and trustworthiness(trust) than those novice visitors. The latter evaluate the ISM in a more superficial manner focusing on the novelty of the site and on other instrumental beliefs(ease of use). This is consistent with the insights proposed by the Heuristic-Systematic model. According to the Heuristic-Systematic model. a users act on the principle of minimum effort. Thus, the user considers an ISM heuristically, focusing on those aspects that are easy to process and evaluate(ease of use). When the user has sufficient experience and skills, the user will change to systematic processing, where they will evaluate more complex aspects of the site(its usefulness and trustworthiness). This implies that an ISM has to provide a minimum level of ease of use to make it possible for a user to evaluate its usefulness and trustworthiness. Ease of use is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the acceptance and use of an ISM. Overall, the empirical results generally support the proposed model and identify the moderating effect of the effects of user ability. More detailed interpretations and implications of the findings are discussed. The limitations of this study are also discussed to provide directions for future research.