• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.409-418
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• 2011

Objective: This study was performed to evaluate the child-care teachers' job in relation to physical work. Background: Child-care teacher is directly related to the quality of child care. And their physical activity is higher than general education teachers because the proportion of day care is high. But analyzes of child-care teachers' job burdens and the work environment associated with physical activity is not well established. Method: To conduct this study, the child-care teachers' job was classified into 18 physical works. After classification, posture was evaluated by ergonomic posture evaluation schemes of OWAS, RULA, REBA and evaluated for each physical part. Next, musculoskeletal subjective symptoms were analyzed. Results: The results showed the following: The highest assessment on the posture evaluation was "helping children to ride a school bus", "feeding: meal/snack", "brushing children's teeth" and "arrangement of nap-stuff". The rank of high-risk assessment on the neck/trunk/leg part was arranged by: "feeding: meal/snack", "helping children to ride a school bus", "making nap", "arrangement nap-stuff" and "brushing children's teeth". The rank of high-risk assessment on the upper limbs part was arranged by: "helping children to ride a school bus", "the bust - group activity", "meal/snack time - preparing, feeding, arrangement", "nap time - preparing, arrangement", "brushing children's teeth", and "using the toilet". According to the results of each musculoskeletal subjective symptom, teachers ordered the pain area as follows: waist, shoulder, leg/feet, and neck, and they showed more pain on trunk than the upper limbs. Conclusion: To sum up the results from ergonomic posture evaluation and a subjective symptom, the following are high working pressures: "feeding: meal/snack", "the bust - group activity", "making nap", "brushing children's teeth" with deep bending and waist twisting, "helping children to ride a school bus", "brushing children's teeth" with lifting shoulder; "meal/snack time - preparing, arrangement", "nap time - preparing, arrangement", and "using the toilet" with moving or an up-down position in their job. Application: The results of this study might be information for improvement of the child-care teachers' job environment.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.59-67
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• 2009

The goal of this study is to propose the effective method of investigating the injurious factors and making improved plans that prevents the workers against musculoskeletal disorders at an diesel engine manufacturing company and the same business field with similar working conditions and process. A questionnaire were adopted to analyze the symptoms of workers' musculoskeletal disorders, and an ergonomic assessment method such as RULA, OWAS were performed to find out harmful factors of workplace and working posture. Based on the result of the evaluation, to enhance the working environment, improvement of worktable, working space, tools, and outfit was suggested, and induction of mechanical system was also suggested. It can be concluded that the method and process described in this paper could be helpful for diagnosing the musculoskeletal disorders and making improvement plans to the diesel engine fuel injection system manufacturing company and the same business field with similar working conditions and process.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.67-79
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• 2012

Objectives : The study was carried out to find out the experience of musculoskeletal disorder symptoms of dental hygienists and evaluate the risk with ergonomic evaluation method(RULA). Methods : The subjects in this study were 344 dental hygienists working at dental clinics and general hospitals in Seoul, Gyeonggi, Daejeon and Chungnam/Chungbuk. The data were collected through the self-questionnaire survey from July 26th 2010 to September 30th 2010. Results : The results showed that those who working at dental hospital, network dental clinics, with 1-5 years of clinical experience, long working hour and sitting hour, no rest hour, more physical and mental burden had higher rate of the experience of musculoskeletal disorder symptoms compared with other groups. The final score of RULA evaluation results was 6 on average requiring continuous observation and urgent demand for work improvements. According to the result of RULA evaluation by work, the orthodontic clinics were 4.5, prosthodontic clinics were 5.0, and dental surgery clinics were 6.8 being the most risky. Conclusions : The study showed high complaints rate on musculoskeletal disorders in dental hygienists. Thus, various measures including provision of proper working and rest hours, use of ergonomic working equipments, strengthening the health education for desirable working posture and the development of musculoskeletal disorder prevention program should be needed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.39-41
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• 2016

In the paper, we propose an stable walking algorithm of biped robot on the ground and working motion stabilization algorithm against external disturbances. We propose obstacle hurdling, incline walking, and going-up stairs algorithm by using infrared sensors and F/T sensors. Also, posture stabilization algorithm against external forces is designed using F/T sensors. Infrared sensors are used to detect the obstacles in he working environment and F/T sensors are used to obtain the ZMP of biped robot. The experimental results show that the biped robot performs obstacle avoidance, obstacle hurdling, walking on the inclined plane by using the proposed walking moton stabilization algorithm.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.229-233
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• 2011

Recently, the scale of buildings has been increasing because of the high-rise trend and complexity of underground spaces. A significant number of steel structures have therefore been adopted for building construction. Since workers need to work in high places to install steel beams, many industrial accidents easily occur during steel-frame work. Furthermore, considering the increasing trend of building steel structures, the safety of the workers during the steel beam erection work is of concern. To improve the safety, a new type of joint, located between the steel column and beam, which can eliminate the need for working at the elevated height during steel beam erection has been developed in Korea. Using the newly developed technology in the construction field, the safety performance needs to be evaluated. This study presented the safety evaluation approach for the newly developed technology from the literature review, and applied the method to a self-supported steel joint. The result showed that applying the self-supported steel joint improved the safety of the steel erection work in terms of working posture, working environment, and risk exposure time.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.59-71
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the ergonomic risk factors of 119 emergency medical technicians (EMT) with musculoskeletal disorders, performing emergency medical services (EMS) procedures in a firefighter combat challenge. Methods: The evaluated EMT procedures were cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) & intubation, trauma patient assessment, and intravenous (IV) injection. Measurement of working posture was done during training. Results: In CPR & intubation, OWAS-score was 2 (mean 1.9, maximum 4), requiring correction action, while REBA-score was 11 (mean 7.28, maximum 11), requiring immediate improvement. In trauma patient assessment & IV injection, OWAS-score was 4 (mean 2.9, maximum 4), requiring immediate correction action, while the REBA score was 7 (mean 7.5, maximum 11), requiring improvement. Conclusion: Both OWAS score and REBA-score showed improvement of posture and high-risk of musculoskeletal disorders. Occupational health management in EMS procedures during combat challenge and effective injury prevention program in fire stations are warranted.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.45-56
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to evaluate perceived discomfort of working postures in terms of upper body (back, shoulder, and elbow) flexions when an external load varies. Eighteen subjects participated in an experiment of appraising perceived discomfort of varying upper body postures with three levels of external loads given. The ANOVA results showed that the perceived discomfort of upper body postures was significantly affected by the external load. It was also apparent that the interactions between external load and upper body posture were significant (p< 0.001). The result implies that a new posture classification scheme for workload assessment methods may be in need to reflect such interactions between external load and upper body posture. In order to support the statement, a regression model of perceived discomfort of upper body postures obtained from the experiment was developed and compared to that of perceived discomfort of seven work-related postures found in automobile assembly operations. The correlation coefficient between predicted and actual values of perceived discomfort was about 0.96. It is expected that the result help to properly estimate the body stress resluting from worker's postures and external loads and can be used as a valuable design guideline on preventing work-related musculoskeletal diseases in industry.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.121-130
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• 2014

To devise a plan to efficiently control and cope with musculoskeletal disorders, this study conducted a self-administered survey among dental hygienists working at dental clinics in Daegu. The data were collected from December 1, 2013 to February 28, 2014, and drew the following conclusions. For body posture for medical procedures, at lower levels in their careers, the hygienists' head and back were more bent; at higher levels in their careers, the their shoulders, body and hips were more bent; and at higher levels in their careers, their assistance posture in general was more bent. Hygienists with longer years of experience had more pain in the neck and the arms/elbows. Respondents engaged in medical treatment services were more likely to have pain in their arms/elbows, and those engaged in assisting in medical treatment and consulting and insurance services were more likely to have pain in their necks. It is necessary to recognize the seriousness of musculoskeletal disorders, provide specific education through supplementary training and relevant seminars, and avoid repetitive use of the same muscle or joint through environmental improvement of dental clinics, and personal efforts should be made to maintain good posture.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.1019-1030
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• 2011

The aim of this study was to develop a pattern of flight attendant uniform shirts to provide better comfort for their work postures. Flight attendants' work postures were evaluated to determine the problems of clothing and mobility during their work. The pattern of the flight attendants' uniform shirt was altered by applying dynamic wearing ease(DWE). DWE was calculated from four standardized dynamic postures and a static posture. An experimental garment was made with the altered postures. The researcher redesigned the pattern of the uniform shirts, which minimizes physical limitations in movements. The fit and mobility of the shirts were evaluated. Results of this study are as follows. First, the five representative work postures were selected by "clothing stress" and "repetitiveness." These postures included raised arms, twisting midriff and shoulder postures. Five representative postures were selected by using the ergonomic posture assessment device index(OWAS). Second, the experimental garment was developed by applying DWE across the back and at armhole depth, back length, and side length. Third, the fit and mobility of the experimental garments and the original uniform shirts were compared at the flight working environment set and 5 dynamic body postures of raising arms. The experimental garments made with an altered pattern provided better fit and mobility than the original sample shirts.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.475-480
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• 2013

Objective: In this study, virtual reality was adopted to consider ergonomic factors in yacht design. Virtual human which is the same actual human was created in virtual environment using Digital Human Modeling which has been used in the manufacturing communities to design better workplaces and maximize the safety of workers. Background: During the past 40 years yachting has expanded from being, generally speaking, a minority sport - too expensive for the large majority of people - into a major recreational activity practiced by millions all over the world. Many new yacht designs have appeared and number of professional, as well as amateur designers has increased steadily. But they had not considered ergonomic factors in yacht design. Method: Worker's posture, traffic line and workload had been analyzed in sailing yacht. After the caution level was evaluated, we pointed out clues which had high workload and interference. To reduce workload, we applied ergonomic principles for improving working conditions and environments in Digital Human Model. Results: We found the space problems and workload of postures. Conclusion: (1) Unnatural posture of crews was sustained. (2) Workload that occurs in the human body was overloaded. (3) Crew's work space was very narrow. Application: This study will be applied the new ergonomic design of yacht.