• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
• /
• v.6 no.3
• /
• pp.53-64
• /
• 2004

Repetition Strain Injury (RSI) is usually caused or aggravated by poor work processes and unsuitable working conditions - that involve repetitive or forceful movements or the maintenance of constrained or awkward postures. The condition is characterized by discomfort and persistent pain. There are three essential steps to eliminate or control hazards In workplace. Case and Demographic Characteristics for Work-related Injuries and illnesses Involving Days Away From Work, 2002. U.S' was examined. Causes of press operators' RSI were carpal tunnel syndrome(CTS), tendonitis, low back pain, and occupational stress. Recommendations for improvement of productivity are redesign of working conditions, exercise, prevent of RSI and avoiding stress.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.3-15
• /
• 2006

Musculoskeletal Disorders are usually caused or aggravated by poor work processes and unsuitable working conditions - that involve or repetitive or forceful movements or the maintenance of constrained or awkward postures. The condition is characterized by discomfort and persistent pain. Case and Demographic Characteristics for Work-related Injuries and Illnesses Involving Days Away From Work, 2004. U.S" was examined. Causes of musculoskeletal disorders for assembly line workers were carpal tunnel syndrome(CTS), tendonitis, low back pain, and occupational stress. Recommendations of improvement for productivity are redesign of working conditions, exercise, prevent of musculoskeletal disorders and avoiding stress.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.125-134
• /
• 2015

Objective: In this review we discuss the health effects among office workers. Background: Even if office workers are not exposed hazardous or harmful environment frequently, some problems could be happened to the office workers. Although serious occupational diseases rarely occur to the office workers, it is important to consider occupational risk factors for the office worker because the portion of the office workers is relatively high in all industries. Method: We divided possible health effects for the office workers into three categories; musculoskeletal disorders, indoor environment, and cerebro-cardiovascular diseases. We reviewed related articles, textbooks, and statistical materials non-systematically and described risk factors, related illnesses, and prevention strategies on each category. Results: Office workers have various musculoskeletal disorders to be intervened. By medical treatment, improving working environment, and ergonomic intervention, office workers can be prevented from musculoskeletal injuries. Poor indoor environment can cause many building-related illnesses or sick building syndrome. Although the etiology of some problems by poor indoor environment is not clear, it helps to maintain adequate humidity, temperature, and clarity of indoor air. Cerebro-cardiovascular diseases are a rising issue because office workers in Korea tend to work for a lot of time. To prevent the diseases, it is needed to work for adequate time, lengthen activity level, and manage other medical risk factors for the diseases. Conclusion: There is no distinct occupational disease for office workers. However, there are some aspects to consider the health effects of office workers and it is important to prevent the possible health problems. Application: A strategy against occupational diseases among office workers can be established by reviewing this article.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.331-339
• /
• 2016

Background: Occupational risk management is known as a catalyst in generating superior returns for all stakeholders on a sustainable basis. A number of companies in Ghana implemented health and safety measures adopted from international companies to ensure the safety of their employees. However, there exist great threats to employees' safety in these companies. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the level of compliance of Occupational Health and Safety management systems and standards set by international and local legislation in power producing companies in Ghana. Methods: The methodology is conducted by administering questionnaires and in-depth interviews as measuring instruments. A random sampling technique was applied to 60 respondents; only 50 respondents returned their responses. The questionnaire was developed from a literature review and contained questions and items relevant to the initial research problem. A factor analysis was also carried out to investigate the influence of some variables on safety in general. Results: Results showed that the significant factors that influence the safety of employees at the hydroelectric power plant stations are: lack of training and supervision, non-observance of safe work procedures, lack of management commitment, and lack of periodical check on machine operations. The study pointed out the safety loopholes and therefore helped improve the health and safety measures of employees in the selected company by providing effective recommendations. Conclusion: The implementation of the proposed recommendations in this paper, would lead to the prevention of work-related injuries and illnesses of employees as well as property damage and incidents in hydroelectric power plants. The recommendations may equally be considered as benchmark for the Safety and Health Management System with international standards.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.126-137
• /
• 2008

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in gender related to health status, occupational environment, occupational safety and health and hazardous chemicals use of migrant workers in Korea. Method: The survey was conducted in clinics that provided free healthcare services for migrant workers. Of the 413 respondents, 66.3% were males and 33.7% were females. Result: In the case of male migrant workers, many worker were not fluent in Korean, had illegal status in the country, and had moved jobs frequently. There were many cases in which migrant workers worked in small-scale enterprises and worked long hours. Job stress score was high for many workers and they dealt with heavy materials and risky machines. Many workers had not received proper occupational health and safety education and those that were previously injured had repeated injuries. Among the female migrant workers, many worker received low salary and shift work was common. Many worker complained of gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal illnesses and treated toxic substances. Conclusion: As a result, it will be necessary to focus on the strategies for decreasing occupational injuries from physical risk factors for males and from chemical risk factors for female migrant workers.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Navigation
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.57-68
• /
• 1993

The economy of Korea has grown up significantly in its scale. It has, therefore, become imperative to develop countermeasures to prevent work related injuries and occupational illnesses resultining from haza-rdous working conditions and handling harmful substances. A lot of cargo handling accident in port have occurred due to the characteristics of poor working environment, diversity of working place and method, fluctuation of the amount of cargo and handling of heavy, long, harmful and dangerous cargo, etc. According to '91 industrial accident analysis carried out by the ministry of labour, the number of the stevedores injured by cargo handling accident in port were 1, 432 persons (the death accident : 22 per-sons), the amount of industrial accident compensation in port was 6.7 billion won (the amount of economic loss : 33.6 billion won), and the injury occurance rate of the stevedoring industry was higher than that of the whole industry. This paper, therefore, aims to the actual status of the stevedoring industry and to extract the main cau-ses of the accidents related to cargo handling in port through factor analysis using the data of the accide-nts in the whole habour from 1990 to 1992, and to suggest the countermeasures to prevent such accident. The main causes of the accident and countermeasures are found to be as follows through the factor analy-sis : Factor1, factor2, and factor3 related to a defect of human being and management, a defect of state and environment, and an insufficiency of education and law are extracted. The short-term countermeasures to prevent these accidents are 1) to consolidate the safety and health organization in the working spot, 2) to secure a safe condition in working spot before dock work, 3) to strengthen a dock worker's safety educa-tion. The long-term countermeasures are 1) to promote a decasualisation of dock workers, 2) to modernize the cargo working methods through constructing exclusive pier and introducing exclusive cargo handling equipment, 3) to establish a exclusive dock accident prevention organization and the dock workers law. Factor 4, factor5, factor6, and factor7 related to an unfitness, a deficiency of technical knowledge, a nonfu-lfilment of safety measures, and a bad arrangement are extracted. The countermeasures to prevent these accidents are 1) to perform a complete safety inspection of cargo handling equipments and tools and to carry out the dock work according to a working plan, 2) to publish and supply technical safety books, safety instruction book, safety check list, etc., 3) to strengthen the safety patrol at the working spot in habour and to activate a safety fund, 4) to maintain always a clean workshop with the safety consciousness in which the good arragement of the working spot is considered to be the beginning of safety.