• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• /
• v.35
• /
• pp.19.1-19.5
• /
• 2023

There are several types of shift work in Korea: rotating shift, 24-hour shift, day-night shift, fixed night work, and.so on. As a result of analyzing the 8th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the 6th Korean Working Condition Survey, Korean shift workers accounted for 11.6%-13.9% of wage workers. Weekly working hours of shift workers were 57.69 ± 1.73 (24-hours shift) and 49.97 ± 0.67 (fixed night shift), which were significantly longer than day workers. To prevent health consequences of night work, many countries regulate the working hours of night work not to exceed 7-9 hours a day. However, Korea does not regulate working hours for night work, and some occupations may work more hours than the prescribed overtime hours. To prevent health consequences and reduce working hours for Korean night shift workers, it is necessary to regulate the working hours of night shift workers by law.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.69-82
• /
• 2023

This study aims to examine the moderating effects of work hours between job stress and quality of life of young farmers. A survey was conducted on 618 young farmers for one month from July 1, 2022. The main analysis results are as follows. First, quality of life and job stress, quality of life and work hours had a negative correlation, and job stress and work hours had a positive correlation. Second, work hours were found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between job stress and quality of life. Third, as a result of identifying the area of significance of work hours, it was found that work hours played a role in moderating the relationship between quality of life and job stress when work hours were longer than 1.327 hours. Fourth, as a result of visualizing the moderating effect by dividing work hours into three groups: high, medium, and low, it was found that even if the level of job stress was the same, the farmers with long work hours perceived their quality of life to be worse than those with shorter work hours. It can be said that in order for young farmers to settle down and live stably in agriculture and rural areas as professionals, it is very important to actively develop and support policies to improve the working environment in the agricultural sector that can secure time to enjoy culture and leisure and relieve job stress.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.55-62
• /
• 1993

These studies were conducted to: a) investigate work patterns and productivity indices, b) rate performance levels of employees and c) determine the suggested levels of personnel and labor hours for the effective labor control in school foodservice. Eighteen elementary school foodservices in Seoul were selected in order to analyze work patterns by the work sampling methodology. Allowance time and performance rating by VTR observation was done to determine the standardized labor hours. The results were as follows. The average percentage of each work function of the total work functions such as direct work function, indirect work function and delay were 65.57%, 8.12%, 26.31% respectively. The productivity index is 0.92 min/meal. The average working and delay hours per week of the foodservice director, foodservice employees and supply person were 33.64 hours, 23.25 hours, 38.52 hours respectively. The percentage of delay hours of total labor hours for foodservice employees and supply person were 42.27% and 24.0%. The standardized work hours and the appropriate levels of foodservice employees of 17 elementary school foodservices were examined: The average rating of the foodservice employees work was 1.19 and British Insulated Calendarer Cables (BICC) allowance rate was 19.40% on the average. The total work hours of foodservice employees were 172.64 hours per week and levels of personnel were 4.53 persons. BICC allowance rate was applied: The standardized work hours per week was 180.95 hours and appropriate levels of personnel were 4.11 persons based on legal 44 working hours.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• /
• v.35
• /
• pp.21.1-21.11
• /
• 2023

Background: Recently, irregular working hours have become controversial issues in Korea. The health impact of irregular working hours on the work-related musculoskeletal pain (MSP) is scarcely researched before. We sought to investigate the association between irregular working hours and work-related MSP among South Korean workers. Methods: This study used data from the sixth Korean Working Conditions Survey in 2020. The prevalence of work-related MSP was analyzed using the χ² test. A multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the association between irregular working hours and work-related MSP. We conducted stratified analysis by gender, weekly working hours, and workers' control over their working hours. We calculated the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of work-related MSP for irregular working hours combined with weekly working hours. Results: The OR for work-related MSP was significantly higher in the population with irregular working hours than in the population with regular working hours (OR: 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.29-1.58). Irregular and long (> 52 hours/week) working hours have the highest risk of work-related MSP in both genders (in men, OR: 3.48 [95% CI: 2.53-4.78]; in women, OR: 2.41 [95% CI: 1.46-4.00]). Conclusions: Irregular working hours were associated with work-related MSP in Korea. The association was magnified with long working hours. Reform of the Korean Labor Standards Act leading to increase irregular working hours may induce adverse health outcome.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.73-79
• /
• 2024

Background: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between work-related communication devices use during work outside of regular working hours and depressive symptoms in wage workers. Methods: Data from 50,538 workers aged 15 years or older who had participated in the 6th Korean Working Condition Survey (KWCS) were used. The final sample was 32,994 wage workers. The questionnaire asked the respondents how often they used communication devices for work during work outside of regular working hours. Depressive symptoms were assessed using WHO-5 Well-Being Index. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the association between work-related communication devices use during work outside of regular working hours and depressive symptoms. Results: The rate of depressive symptoms was highest among workers who did not use work-related communication devices during work outside of regular working hours. After adjusting for socio-demographic and work-related factors, the odds ratio of depressive symptoms among workers who used communication devices when working outside of regular working hours was 1.20 (95% CI: 1.09-1.32); the odds ratio of depressive symptoms in the group not using communication devices for free-time work was 1.66 (95% CI: 1.37-2.00), which was higher than that of the reference group, that is, workers who did not work outside of regular working hours, and was statistically significant. Conclusion: Regardless of whether work-related communication devices are used, working outside of regular working hours increases depressive symptoms. The use of work-related communication devices during work outside of regular working hours can reduce the rate of depressive symptoms.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.512-517
• /
• 2019

Background: Rest breaks at work are reported to reduce fatigue and job stress. Apartment janitors in Korea who perform night shift work and work long hours can be exposed to various health problems (HPs). However, few studies have evaluated relationships between their rest breaks and HPs. This study was conducted to examine the relationships between long working hours, shift work, and insufficient rest breaks and HPs among Korean apartment janitors. Methods: Data on 1,212 selected male apartment janitors were obtained from the 3rd and 4th Korean Working Conditions Surveys. Demographic and occupational characteristics were collected using self-reported questionnaires. Rest breaks at work were classified as "sufficient" or "insufficient." Long working hours were considered as working more than 60 hours per week. Zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) regression was performed to investigate the effects of shift work and long working hours on HPs and the effects of rest breaks on relationships between HPs and long working hours and shift work. Results: Among those with insufficient rest breaks at work, significant associations were found between long working hours and the risk of HPs [odds ratio (OR) = 1.489; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.038-2.136] and work-related HPs (WRHPs) [OR 1.621; 95% CI = 1.156-2.272], and between shift work and HPs [OR = 1.603; 95% CI = 1.084-2.372]. These relationships became nonsignificant when sufficient rest breaks were provided. Conclusion: It is important to provide breaks at work to reduce HPs because of long working hours and shift work among aged workers such as apartment janitors.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.19-28
• /
• 2003

Objectives : This study was to investigate the relationship analysis in VDT(visual display terminal) of work hours. Methods : Questionnaires were completed by 41 women in VDT operations. The information was used to estimate multiple regression for the VDT of work hours related factors association. Results : The prevalence of the VDT of work hours was significantly higher in the shoulder which followed by the neck, the hand and fingers, the arms, the lowback, the back. The VDT of work hours decreased with aging. The VDT of work hours increased with work duration, single, lower among habitual exercise. The desk height, the seat pan height, the posture on the sitting, the elbow angle all did not meet the recommended criteria. Conclusions : Data from this study support a statistically significant association with satisfaction for occupation.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.165-178
• /
• 2021

Purpose: To analyze nurses' shift work according to the government guidelines for night work and their perceptions of their work schedules. Methods: The study sample included 487 nurses who provided information on their schedules, including the normal working hours of each shift, and overtime per shift during September 2020. Nurses' perceptions were measured in terms of satisfaction, appropriateness for work-life balance, and fairness to their work schedule. Results: One-third of the respondents worked more than 40 hours per week. The average overtime hour was 1.14 hours per shift. Unsocial hours (8 pm to 6 am on weekdays, midnight to midnight on weekends and public holidays) accounted for 56.4% of all working hours. During their last night shift, on average, nurses worked 9.62 hours and had a break of 39 minutes, although 20.5% reported no break. Sixty-eight percent of nurses had at least one between-shift break shorter than 48 hours after a consecutive night shifts. Fifty-seven percent were satisfied with their schedule. One-third perceived their schedule as appropriate for work-life balance, and two-thirds perceived that days off on weekends and nights were fairly distributed within the unit. Working and overtime hours had an inverse relationship with all three aspects of nurses' perceptions. A higher proportion of unsocial hours and having no breaks during the night shift were associated with lower perceptions of fairness. Conclusion: Reducing working hours, ensuring breaks during night shifts, and increasing rewards for unsocial hours are required to improve nurses' perceptions and reduce turnover due to shift work.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
• /
• v.48 no.9
• /
• pp.79-87
• /
• 2010

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether employed mothers' extended working hours have effects on childcare style and work-family conflicts. The data came from the 2007 Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Family(KLoWF) of the Korean Women's Development Institute. 475 females with preschoolers or elementary-school children were used in this study. The major findings can be summarized as follows: (1) Weekly average working hours varied by education, salary, and the presence of preschoolers. (2) The time of childcare was significantly shorter in mothers who work more than 50 hours/week (3) Mothers who worked more than 50 hours/week felt significantly high work-family conflict. These analyses pointed to the importance of obeying the law related to working hours as the most important thing to sustain work-family balance. Institutional foundations should be enabled to keep legal working hours.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.17-22
• /
• 2022

Background: This study aimed to identify work-related risk factors, including long working hours and night/shift work, for unmet health care need using data of a representative panel of Korean adults. Methods: Associations between work-related factors and unmet health care need were analyzed using data of 3,440 participants (10,320 observations) from the 2011-2013 Korean Health Panel Study. A generalized estimating equation was used for the analysis of repeated measures. Results: The prevalence of unmet health care was 16.6%. After adjusting sex, age, socioeconomic status, work characteristics, and working more than 60 hours per week (odds ratio [OR]: 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.23-1.65) or 50-59 hours per week (OR: 1.26, 95% CI: 1.08-1.46) instead of 40-49 hours per week and night/shift work (OR: 1.27, 95% CI: 1.06-1.51) were associated with unmet health care need. Conclusion: Long working hours and night/shift work are risk factors for unmet health care need among the Korean working population.