• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.422-431
• /
• 2015

This study analyzed the dietary status of Southeast Asian workers living in South Korea in order to provide basic data to develop a program that allows workers to map desirable eating habits while living in Korea. Questionnaires were completed by 251 Southeast East Asian workers living in South Korea. From our study, we found that respondents ate three meals a day, and Vietnamese had less regular meal times than others. Thai, Cambodian, and Myanmar workers ate snacks several times a day, as they did in their own countries. For adapting Korean food, Vietnamese and Cambodian workers had difficulties due to spicy and salty flavors while Thai and Myanmar works had difficulties due to unfamiliar ingredients and cooking method. Thai workers were the fastest to adapt to Korean food, and the Thai ratio of eating homeland food daily was highest. Male respondents ate more often than women. Workers had access to cooking facilities in their house and usually ate more homeland food than workers that did not have access to cooking facilities. By providing understanding of dietary patterns of Southeast Asian workers, these results can be used as basic data to develop a program for Korean food adaptation.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.184-191
• /
• 2018

Background: Due to an increasing number of workers aged 50 years and above, the number of those employed is also on the rise, and those workers aged 50 and over has exceeded 50% of the total fatal occupational injuries. Therefore, it is necessary to implement the selection and concentration by identifying the characteristics of high-risk groups necessary for an effective prevention against and reduction of fatal occupational injuries. Methods: This study analyzed the characteristics of high-risk groups and the occupational injury fatality rate per 10,000 workers among the workers aged 50 and over through a multi-dimensional analysis by sex, employment status of workers, industry and occupation by targeting 4,079 persons who died in fatal occupational injuries from January 2007 to December 12. Results: The share of the workers aged 50 years and above is increasing every year in the total fatal occupational injuries occurrence, and the high-risk groups include 'male workers' by sex, 'daily workers' by worker's status, 'craft and related-trades workers' by occupation, and 'mining' by industry. Conclusion: The most frequent causal objects of fatal occupational injuries of the workers aged 50 years and above are found out to be 'installment and dismantlement of temporary equipment and material on work platforms including scaffold' in the construction industry and 'mobile crane, conveyor belt and fork lifts' in the manufacturing industry.

• Management & Information Systems Review
• /
• v.24
• /
• pp.73-75
• /
• 2008

The purpose of this study is to propose the human resource management strategies of non-standard workers that can contribute to accomplishing both corporate social responsibility and business purpose in efficient and effective ways. For the purpose, this researcher investigated circumstances under which Korean companies are using non-standard workers and systems related to those workers. In Korea, the Non-Standard Workers Protection Act was enacted and revised, and became effective on July 1, 2007. The main provisions of the act are as follows. First, the systems of discriminatory treatment prohibition was legally stipulated, Second, restrictions on overwork for fixed-term and part-time employees and the written statement of working conditions were compelled. Third, only 26 kinds of jobs were permitted for worker dispatch in accordance with positive list system. To achieve their business purpose, companies often use standard workers, but sometimes non-standard workers unavoidably in accordance with their business strategy. This study propose main human resource management strategies of non-standard workers such as determining the scope of jobs, strengthening legal and systematic human resource management, improving human relations, extending the grievance procedure and converting non-standard workers into standard ones.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.410-412
• /
• 2017

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious problem not only among workers who experience industrial accidents but also among workers who witness such accidents. Early intervention is needed to prevent prolonged psychological problems. There has been no study conducted regarding the psychological problems of and interventions for bystander workers in Korea. This study introduces the experience of intervention on psychological problems at the Busan Workers' Health Center workers who witnessed their colleagues' death. An investigation and an intervention were conducted according to the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) Guide. In total, 21 individuals including indirect observers showed statistical differences on scores of the Impact Event Scale Revised and the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 after the intervention. Future interventions and research involving a larger sample size over a longer period are needed. The KOSHA Guide could be a useful tool for urgent psychological intervention in the event of major workplace disasters.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.278-288
• /
• 2019

Objectives: The objectives of this study are to summary controversy over health risks among semiconductor workers, to review major cancer risk results conducted in semiconductor operation and to evaluate occupational health activities in Korea for controlling hazardous agents generated in semiconductor operations Methods: Major occupational health issues that has been social controversies among semiconductor workers since 2007 were reviewed through an extensive literature, report and article review. Results: Since a female semiconductor worker aged 22 died from leukemia in 2007, job-association of a number of former semiconductor workers with various types of cancer and rare diseases have been denied by the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service (KWCWS), but some of them were later awarded compensation as an occupational disease by the administrative court. Two epidemiologic cancer risk studies conducted in Korea found increased risks in leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma among semiconductor workers. Various legal occupational health activities taken in semiconductor industry were found to fail to assess a complex characteristics of semiconductor operations, such as drastic changes in chemical use, processes, and technology, multiple exposure. National compensation regulation also showed the limitation to evaluate job-association of semiconductor workers who had worked in semiconductor operation. Conclusions: National legal measures should be taken to improve several occupational health activities and duties for protecting workers. In addition, the KWCWS program should be revised so that all workers who meet minimal job or environment associations can be compensated.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
• /
• 2022.06a
• /
• pp.261-268
• /
• 2022

In road work zones, pedestrian workers' habituated inattention to warning alarms from construction vehicles can lead to fatal accidents. Previous studies have theorized that human factors such as personality traits may affect workers' inattentiveness to workplace hazards. However, there has been no study that directly examined how road construction workers' personality traits affect their attention to warning alarms within a work zone and the likelihood of engagement in a struck-by accident. This study examines how workers' sensation-seeking (especially boredom susceptibility) is related to inattention to warning alarms while performing a task in road work zones. An experiment with actual road construction workers was conducted using a virtual road construction environment. Workers' attention to repeatedly presented warning alarms was measured using eye-tracking sensors. In response to workers' frequent inattentive behaviors, a virtual accident was simulated. Results revealed a significant association between boredom susceptibility and workers' engagement in the virtual accident, a consequence of inattentiveness to warning alarms. The findings suggest that workers' personality traits predispose them to tune out warning alarms and become vulnerable to accidents in road work zones. The findings of this study can be used to develop targeted interventions aimed at preventing workers' inattention to repeatedly exposed workplace hazards, thereby contributing to reducing fatal accidents in road work zones.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.12 no.6
• /
• pp.773-781
• /
• 2007

The objective of this study was to investigate the nutritional and health status of women industrial workers by working fields. One hundred forty eight (105 lead and 43 office) workers were recruited from March 2005 to October 2005. Information on age, education, smoking and drinking status were collected using questionnaire and nutrient intake and diet quality of workers were assessed by average of two-day 24 hr recall method. Biochemical indexes including blood lead level (PbB), indexes for iron status, serum calcium (Ca) and serum lipid profiles were analyzed from fasting venous blood or serum. Results showed that education level of lead workers was lower than that of office workers (p<0.05), but nutrient intake levels were not significantly different by working fields. Overall nutritional status of the subject were good except for calcium, vitamin $B_2$, C and folic acid intakes. PbB of lead workers were significantly higher than that of office workers while mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and serum Ca levels were significantly lower in lead workers. MCHC was positively correlated with zinc intake (r=0.166) and serum Ca was positively correlated with vitamin C intake (r=0.179). This study confirms that lead workers need extra care to keep their health and nutritional management especially for the nutrients known to interact with lead. Tailored nutrition education for workers at specific working fields needs to be more focused for the improvement of health status of industrial workers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.96-104
• /
• 2012

The objective of this study is to compare on the occupational injury rate and mortality rate of all workers and foreign workers. By doing so, this study seeks to find out the improvements necessary to secure the basic safety net for foreign workers, as well as to find out the legal and institutional measures in place to make timely political intervention and protect the health of foreign workers. The status of foreign workers in Korea, their employment trends by industries, and occupational accident types and scales of Korean and foreign workers were analyzed from 2005 to 2009. Each year, foreign workers' occupational injury rate was much lower than Korea's overall occupational injury rate. But when analyzed by industry, occupational injury rate (death rate per 10,000 workers) of manufacturing industry was about 2 to 5 times higher than the overall occupational injury rate in Korea. Also, construction industry showed 3 to 16 times higher rate than the rate of overall industries. Although the death rate per 10,000 workers showed a declining yearly trend, foreign workers' occupational injury rate has the tendency to increase gradually. In particular, occupational injury rates and death rates per 10,000 workers were considerably high in the manufacturing and construction industries.

• 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.9 no.4
• /
• pp.416-420
• /
• 2018

Background: Urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) has been widely used as a biomarker of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in occupationally exposed workers. The objective of this study is to investigate the concentration of urinary 1-OHP among charcoal workers as subjects and non-charcoal workers as controls. Methods: Early morning urine samples were collected from 68 persons (25 charcoal workers in Igbo-Ora, 20 charcoal workers in Alabata, and 23 non-charcoal workers) who volunteered to participate in this study. 1-OHP determination in urine samples was carried out using high performance liquid chromatography after hydrolysis. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis at p < 0.05. Results: The mean urinary 1-OHP concentration (${\mu}mol/mol$ creatinine) among charcoal workers at Igbo-Ora and Alabata and non-charcoal workers were $2.22{\pm}1.27$, $1.32{\pm}0.65$, and $0.32{\pm}0.26$ (p < 0.01). There existed a relationship between respondent type and 1-OHP concentration. Charcoal workers were 3.14 times more at risk of having 1-OHP concentrations that exceed the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists guideline of $0.49{\mu}mol/mol$ creatinine than non-charcoal workers (relative risk = 3.14, 95% confidence interval: 1.7-5.8, p < 0.01). Conclusion: Charcoal workers are exposed to PAHs during charcoal production and are at risk of experiencing deleterious effects of PAH exposure. Routine air quality assessment should be carried out in communities where charcoal production takes place. Assessment of urinary 1-OHP concentration and use of personal protective equipment should also be encouraged among charcoal workers.