• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.272-282
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• 2004

Stress is a primary health promotion issue in worksite research because psychological distress is closely related not only to workers　 health status but also to their job performance. This study identified the work environment and work condition factors affecting workers　 stress symptoms among the Korean manufacturing factory workers. A total of 7,818 factory workers employed in 1,562 manufacturing companies participated in the Korean nation-wide occupational health survey conducted by the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency in 2003. Participants were selected by the stratified proportional sampling process by standardized industry classification, company size, and locations. Trained interviewers visited the target companies and interviewed the factory workers randomly selected in each company. Work environments included physical work environments (temperature, noise, hazardous organic compounds, and so on) and psychological work environments (job demands, job control, and social support at work), and work conditions included daily working hour, rest time, and so on. Men were 71.5% and the mean age was 34.0 years old. The average working period in the present company was 6.9 years. The average stress score was 26.2 under the perfect score, 50, which means the moderate level of stress. Perceived stress had significant correlations with young age, poor physical work environment, high fatigue, bad perceived health status, and high job demands in Pearson's simple correlation analysis. Perceived health status and perceived fatigue explained 21% variance of stress symptoms and the work environment factor explained 4.8% of that; however, work condition did not have the sufficient effect. In particular, psychosocial work environment variables (job demand, job control, and social support at work) had a clear effect on stress symptoms rather than the physical work environments. Poor perceived health status, severe perceived fatigue, poor physical work environment, high job demands, low social support, heavy alcohol consumption and little exercise were significantly related to high stress symptoms in the Korean manufacturing workers.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.371-377
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• 2017

Background: Social status might be a determinant of occupational health inequalities. This study analyzed the effects of social status on both work environments and health outcomes. Methods: The study sample consisted of 27,598 wage employees aged 15 years and older from among the Korean Working Condition Survey participants in 2011. Work environments included atypical work, physical risks, ergonomic risks, work demands, work autonomy, social supports, and job rewards. Health outcomes comprised general health, health and safety at risk because of work, the World Health Organization-5 Well-being Index, work-related musculoskeletal disease, and work-related injury. Multivariable logistic-regression models were used to identify the associations between social status and work environments and health outcomes. Results: Employees in the demographically vulnerable group had lower occupational status compared with their counterparts. Low social status was largely related to adverse work environments. Especially, precarious employment and manual labor occupation were associated with both adverse work environments and poor health outcomes. Conclusion: Precarious and manual workers should take precedence in occupational health equity policies and interventions. Their cumulative vulnerability, which is connected to demographics, occupational status, adverse work environments, or poor health outcomes, can be improved through a multilevel approach such as labor market, organizations, and individual goals.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.37-49
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between the COVID-19 related post-traumatic stress, nursing work environments, and the resilience among nurses in Tertiary General Hospitals. Data were collected from 155 nurses who directly cared for COVID-19 patients and were working at the K University D Hospital in D Metropolitan City using an online survey. The SPSS 28.0 program was used for data analysis. Based on the results of the survey, post-traumatic stress showed a significant negative correlation with the nursing work environments(r=-.17, p<.001), and the nursing work environments showed a significant positive correlation with the resilience of nurses(r=.20, p<.001). Through the results of this study, it is necessary to improve the nursing work environments for managing post-traumatic stress, to build an active support system by securing manpower from the government, and to develop and apply intervention programs for improving the resilience of nurses in the COVID-19 situation.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.336-347
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• 2011

Objectives: In Korea, an average of 258 workers claim compensation for their noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) on an annual basis. Indeed, hearing disorder ranks first in the number of diagnoses made by occupational medical check-ups. Against this backdrop, this study analyzed the impact of 19 types of noise-generating machines and equipment on the sound pressure levels in workplaces and NIHL occurrence based on a 2009 national survey on work environments. Methods: Through this analysis, a series of statistical models were built to determine posterior probabilities for each worksite with an aim to present risk ratings for noise levels at work. Results: It was found that air compressors and grinding machines came in first and second, respectively in the number of installed noise-generating machines and equipment. However, there was no direct relationship between workplace noise and NIHL among workers since noise-control equipment and protective gear had been in place. By building a logistic regression model and neural network, statistical models were set to identify the influence of the noise-generating machines and equipment on workplace noise levels and NIHL occurrence. Conclusion: This study offered NIHL prevention measures which are fit for the worksites in each risk grade.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.42-54
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• 2017

Objectives: The present study was conducted to investigate farm work environments among farmers and examine the level of management of safety and health, and to subsequently produce study result to serve as foundational data for the development of guidelines on safety and health as part of the improvement of farming work environments among farmers raising Korean native cattle. Methods: The present study conducted a survey on farm work environments and the management of safety and health with 407 farmers engaged in Korean native cattle farming in selected regions in eight provinces. It also visited 10 farmers to verify the current status of farm work. Results: The survey results showed that 16.4% of the respondents experienced safety-related accidents due to farm work. The locations of the accidents were inside the cattle shed (71.4%) and facilities outside the cattle shed (19.6%). The types of accident showed collision with animals (35.7%), collision or contact with obstacles (27.1%), and musculoskeletal accidents due to heavy object handling (12.9%). The causes of the accidents were cattle (38.3%), cultivators and tractors (25.4%), facility tools in cattle sheds (9.0%), and slippery floors (6.0%). The damaged areas were hand (21.0%), spine (19.8%), lower limb (18.5%), and foot (17.3%). A self-diagnostic survey on respiratory diseases showed that 11.5% of the respondents experienced respiratory-related symptoms. The survey on safety and health during farm work showed that wearing personal protective equipment and response to emergency situations, which were needed to prevent safety-related accidents, were relatively low compared to the level of recognition of the need and awareness of safety issues. Furthermore, the field survey identified the current status of safety and health issues such as prevention management of collision accidents with cattle, how to handle heavy objects, and wearing of personal protective equipment. Conclusions: The present study identified safety-related accidents and problems in the management of safety and health among Korean native cattle farmers. In order to address the problem, it is necessary to not only provide guidelines on safety and health management which are appropriate to the characteristics of Korean native cattle farming work, but also to study the development of personal protective equipment.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.23-37
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• 2011

This research tried to identify how different types of environments related with work-family reconciliation effects the amount of resource exchange between working mothers and their child. In this study, we applied theoretical concepts such as 'Defamiliarization'(rights of mothers to access the work force without any environmental obstacles) and 'Familiarization'(a movement trying to balance work with family and child). This study is an analysis of valid questionnaires filled out by 220 female respondent's who was holding a job and also had children attending elementary, middle, or high school at the time answering the survey questionnaire. Results of this survey are as follows. Mother's attitudes toward familiarization and child's school environments related with defamiliarization had critical effects on mother's perceived resource exchange. And in a further analysis, among the clustered groups of mothers the group which consists of mothers who try to work hardly on both work and family had the highest degree of the resource supplies to their child.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.573-588
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• 2013

The objective of this study is to investigate various jobs and foodservice environments, as well as work performances of school foodservice dietitians and nutrition teachers in accordance to the years of service in Daejeon and Chungnam provinces. A survey was conducted among school foodservice dietitians and nutrition teachers; a total of 415 from selected elementary, middle and high schools in the areas. In this study, we surveyed the participants and analyzed the current state of general characteristics, status of their job environments and foodservice environments by frequency, and the averages and differences in work performance with regard to 12 work parts and 57 works using one-way ANOVA and Duncan's multiple range test according to the years of service. Six parts among 12 work parts were significantly different in work performance according to the years of service. The 6 work parts were menu (nutrition) management, utensil recovery and management, sanitation management, foodservice administration & evaluation, dietary habit guide, and other works. The 11-15 years group ranked as the top on the total score and means of work performance. While the 16-years or more group, 6-10 years group, and under 5 years group followed consecutively. Correlation analysis between job or foodservice environments and work performances showed that work performances of school dietitians were mostly influenced by employment status, education level, and annual salary among the variables of job or foodservice environments. Other works, dietary habit guides and menu management were mostly influenced by variables of job and foodservice environments.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.149-153
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• 2003

Recently, work-related musculoskeletal disorders(WMSDs) are one of major issues in occupational safety and health in Korea. Main risk factors of WMSDs include manual handling of heavy weight loads, awkward posture, repetitive tasks, Prolonged static muscle contraction, and so on. The number of injured workers has rapidly increased and the related regulation was amended to improve the work conditions and environments. And demands for workers' compensation and improvement of work conditions and environment to prevent WMSDs have increasingly been raised. This study focused on managerial system to prevent WMSDs. Literal survey and questionnaire survey were accomplished to propose a management system in Korea for preventing WMSDs.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.169-178
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• 2015

Purpose: This study aimed to compare work-related musculoskeletal symptoms, occupational stress and nursing work environments of nurses working in patient-sitter wards and general wards. Methods: The study surveyed 240 nurses with more than one year of experience working in both patient-sitter wards and general wards. The collected data then was analyzed by SPSS statistics version 22. Results: As for the musculoskeletal symptoms, the survey showed that 85.2% and 67.8% of the nurses had such symptoms respectively in patient-sitter wards and general wards. In terms of occupational stress, no significant difference was observed between the patient-sitter ward and the general ward (t=-0.23, p=.821). Lastly, the study showed that there is a significant difference in terms of work environment considering the scores recorded 2.65 and 2.55 points respectively in patient-sitter ward and general ward (t=2.53, p=.012). Conclusion: Follow-up research should look at ways to lower the rate of experiencing work-related musculoskeletal symptoms; analyze work performances and establish work standards to lower occupational stress; and devise measures to improve the work environment for the nurses working in patient-sitter wards.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.30-39
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• 2017

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the association between psychosocial work environments and depressive symptoms among Korean registered nurses. Methods: The study population of 331 registered nurses was derived from the 2014 Korean Working Condition Survey (KWCS). Depressive symptom was assessed using the WHO-5 wellbeing index. Results: The thirty-five percentage of Korean registered nurses reported the risk for depressive symptom. Korean nurses with higher 'work-family conflict' were more likely at the risk of depression almost 1.83 (95% CI 1.04~3.20) times than their counterpart. Higher 'possibilities for development' were more likely decrease almost 60% of the risk of depressive symptom. Conclusion: Work-family conflict and possibility of development were associated with depressive symptom among Korean registered nurses. We suggest future researches identifying strategies for decreasing work-family conflict and its negative effects.