• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.180-186
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• 2022

Background: In occupational studies, it is a known situation that technical and organizational attempts are used to prevent occupational accidents. Especially in the mining sector, if these attempts cannot prevent occupational accidents, personal protective equipment (PPE) becomes a necessity. Thus, in this study, the main objective is to examine the effects of the variables on the use of PPE and identify important factors. Methods: A questionnaire was implemented and structural equation modeling was conducted to ascertain the significant factors affecting the PPE use of mining employees. The model includes the factors that ergonomics, the efficiency of PPE and employee training, and PPE usage habit. Results: The results indicate that ergonomics and employee training have no significant effect (p > 0.05) on the use of PPE. The efficiency of PPE has a statistically meaningful effect (p < 0.05) on the use of PPE. Various variables have been evaluated in previous studies. However, none of them examined the variables simultaneously. Conclusion: The developed model in the study enables to better focus on ergonomics and employee training in the PPE usage. The effectiveness of a PPE makes its use unavoidable. Emphasizing PPE effectiveness in OHS training and even showing them in practice will increase employees' PPE usage. The fact that a PPE with high effectiveness is also ergonomic means that it will be used at high rates by the employee.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제11권3호
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• pp.372-377
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• 2020

Infection risks of handling specimens associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by public health laboratory services teams were assessed to scrutinize the potential hazards arising from the work procedures. Through risk assessments of all work sequences, laboratory equipment, and workplace environments, no aerosol-generating procedures could be identified except the procedures (mixing and transfer steps) inside biological safety cabinets. Appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) such as surgical masks, protective gowns, face shields/safety goggles, and disposable gloves, together with pertinent safety training, was provided for laboratory work. Proper disinfection and good hand hygiene practices could minimize the probability of SARS-CoV-2 infection at work. All residual risk levels of the potential hazards identified were within the acceptable level. Contamination by gloved hands was considered as a major exposure route for SARS-CoV-2 when compared with eye protection equipment. Competence in proper donning and doffing of PPE accompanied by hand washing techniques was of utmost importance for infection control.

• 근관절건강학회지
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.42-52
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the factors affecting compliance with personal protective equipment (PPE) use among medical device reprocessing staff. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study included 163 cleaning staff members from ten general hospitals in Seoul and Gyeonggi. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires administered between July and September 2023. Analysis included t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, Bonferroni correction, and multiple regression, conducted using SAS ver.9.4. Results: Statistically significant differences in compliance with PPE were found based on department and exposure to contamination within six months (t=-2.82, p=.007). Attitudes toward PPE (r=.22, p=.006) and awareness of the safety climate (r=.22, p=.006) showed a statistically significant positive correlation with PPE compliance. Factors influencing use of personal protective equipment by cleaning staff during medical device reprocessing were department, compliance with PPE, and awareness of the safety climate. The explanatory power of these factors was 58.0%. Conclusion: Improving PPE compliance and creating a safe cleaning environment entails fostering a supportive safety climate. Additionally, regular training that takes into consideration the characteristics of the cleaning staff, alongside continuous monitoring, is required.

• 한국지역사회생활과학회지
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• 제27권4호
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• pp.891-906
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• 2016

This study examined the working site environment of Korean native cattle raising farmers and their actual condition of wearing personal protective equipment as part of preventing disasters during agricultural work. To this end, 160 Korean cattle raising farmers were surveyed and a site visit was performed on 10 farms. According to an examination of the cattle breeding environment, the major harmful factors were in the following order: fine dust (12.8%), organic feed dust (10.3%), contact with cattle (9.7%), manure (8.2%), germs and viruses (8.1%), harmful gases (7.4), contact with obstacles (6.7), and temperature (6.6%). The current status of the rate of wearing protection was in the order of gloves (20.9%), working hats (19.7%), boots (19.6%), masks (10.9%), protective clothing (8.9%), and specialized working clothing (6.6%). Nevertheless, most Korean cattle raising farmers recognized the risks when they did not wear protective equipment and the need for wearing protectors, but they mostly did not wear personal protective equipment due to a lack of knowledge on the selection of appropriate personal protective equipment and the discomfort they experience when they put on protectors. Even when they put on protective equipment, 38% was inappropriate for the farming work environment. Given the research results, improvements on and the development of specialized working clothing and personal protective equipment to protect farmers from harmful and dangerous materials from the cattle nurturing environment is necessary. Overall, based on the study data, objectified data collection, a determination of the necessary performance elements of personal protective equipment, and R&D will be needed through an on-site current status investigation.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.103-109
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• 2011

Object: we investigated some factors which can affect workers' comprehension of chemical hazard information and their actions to protect themselves from the hazard. Method: Comprehension score of chemical hazard information and the rate of wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) was surveyed for the 109 workers from 15 factories who were exposed to N, N-dimethylformamide. Difference of the worker's comprehension score of hazard information was analyzed by education interval, work duration and the way of occupational safety and health management between self-managed or sub-contracted. Result: Mean comprehension score of N, N-dimethylformamide hazard, which was given as a short quiz composed of 10 "true" or "false" problems, was 65%. Mean percentage of wearing PPE was improved as the education program was done within a month but decreased after 6 months. Eighty seven % of workers got the chemical hazard information from the material safety data sheet placed at workplace. Conclusion: Education interval and comprehension score affected the rate of wearing PPE. The way of occupational safety and health management self-managed or sub-contracted did not affect the workers' comprehension score on hazard information nor the rate of wearing PPE.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.36-43
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• 2001

This study is intended to estimate influences upon life cycle of ESPE(Electro Sensitive Protective Equipment) which is kinds of commonly used in press in domestic industry. First the field survey is executed to workers and safety managers at work places. In the survey, the main primary factors influenced the lift cycle of ESPE were vibration due to overload work in workplace. Second, int results showed that 37$m/s^2$ acceleration in press work would lead to the life of 132 for 8 hours work per day. Therefore, the vibration of press inflicted significant effect on the lift of ESPE.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.277-281
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• 2005

Air-line mask is an important personal protective equipment for workers working under hazardous surroundings in which a fixed ventilation system is difficult to be installed. If the air-line mask make loud noise, works wearing the mask may be faced with health problems such as noise induced hearing loss(NIHL). The purpose of this study is to introduce a low noisy technology for workers using air-line mask. A traditional type air-line has been improved to an advanced air-line mask with lesser noise. In the mask, air suppling conduits consists of multi tubes are placed inside of the front of the safety helmet. The noise level reduced from 80dB(A) to less than 80dB(A) when measured by KS A 0701 method at Center for Safety Inspection, Testing and Certification for KOSHA. It is suitable for related regulation[Article 35 of the Industrial Safety and Health Act(Test of Personal Protective Equipment)]. While workers working in noise level of over 90dB(A), they may expose to 82dB(A) or less when they wear the advanced masks. This type masks can be an alternative for works suffering from loud noise generated by traditional air-line masks.

• 국제학술발표논문집
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• The 9th International Conference on Construction Engineering and Project Management
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• pp.721-727
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• 2022

Construction safety remains an ongoing concern, and project managers have been increasingly forced to cope with myriad uncertainties related to human operations on construction sites and the lack of a skilled workforce in hazardous circumstances. Various construction fatality monitoring systems have been widely proposed as alternatives to overcome these difficulties and to improve safety management performance. In this study, we propose an intelligent, automatic control system that can proactively protect workers using both the analysis of big data of past safety accidents, as well as the real-time detection of worker non-compliance in using personal protective equipment (PPE) on a construction site. These data are obtained using computer vision technology and data analytics, which are integrated and reinforced by lessons learned from the analysis of big data of safety accidents that occurred in the last 10 years. The system offers data-informed recommendations for high-risk workers, and proactively eliminates the possibility of safety accidents. As an illustrative case, we selected a pilot project and applied the proposed system to workers in uncontrolled environments. Decreases in workers PPE non-compliance rates, improvements in variable compliance rates, reductions in severe fatalities through guidelines that are customized according to the worker, and accelerations in safety performance achievements are expected.

• 복식문화연구
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• 제27권1호
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• pp.1-10
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• 2019

Firefighters wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for protection from environmental hazards. However, due to the layers of protective functions, the PPE inevitably adds excessive weight, bulkiness, and thermal stress to firefighters. This study investigated the adverse impact of wearing PPE as an occupational stressor on the firefighter's cognitive functioning. Twenty-three firefighters who had been involved in firefighting at least for 1 year were recruited. The overall changing trend in the firefighter's cognitive functioning (short-term memory, long-term memory, and inductive reasoning) was measured by the scores of three standardized cognitive tests at the baseline and the follow-up, after participating in a moderate-intensity physical activity, wearing a full ensemble of the PPE. The study findings evinced the negative impact of the PPE on the firefighter's cognitive functioning, especially in short-term memory and inductive reasoning. No significant influence was found on the firefighter's long-term memory. The results were consistent when the participant's age and BMI were controlled. The outcomes of the present study will not only fill the gap in the literature, but also provide critical justification to stakeholders, including governments, policymakers, academic communities, and industry, for such efforts to improve human factors of the firefighter's PPE by realizing the negative consequences of the added layers and protective functions on their occupational safety. Study limitations and future directions were also discussed.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제42권6호
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• pp.419-429
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• 2016

Objectives: According to the new Chemical Control Act from the Korean Ministry of Environment (2014-259), workers handling hazardous chemicals should wear personal protective equipment (PPE). However the act simply states in basic phrases that every worker handling one or more of the 69 listed chemicals should wear PPE and does not consider the unique hazard characteristics of chemicals and work types. The main purpose of this study is to provide basic data to revise the act to suit particular work processes and situations. Methods: The hazard rank of the substances was classified based on hazardous characteristics such as LC50 and vapor pressure using matrix analysis. The workplace exposure risk of the substances was also determined through a matrix analysis based on the previously determined hazard ranks and the demands of manual handling together with the likelihood of accident frequency of the operation combined with the exposure of workers during spill accidents. Results: To meet the demands for developing subsequent guidelines for the risk-based application of PPE in hazardous workplaces, this study sorted the 69 listed chemicals into five hazardous categories based on their LC50 and vapor pressures, and also assigned exposure categories according to exposure vulnerability for various types of work which are frequently performed throughout the life cycle of the chemicals. Conclusion: In the next study, an exposure risk matrix will be produced using the hazard rank of chemicals and workplace exposure risk, and then PPE will be selected to suit the categories of the exposure risk matrix.