• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.90-104
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• 2000

This study was carried out to investigate the current state of occupational health management and characteristics of employees working in small-scale-enterprises (SSE) employing less than 50 workers. Samples were chosen among the two thousands employees working in 838 factories where located in Youngdungpo-Ku, Seoul, Korea. The study results were as followed: 1. Most factories investigated in the study were manufactures (68.6%) which were established in 5 to 10 years ago (29.2%), employing less than 5 workers (72.9%) and registered in accident compensation insurance (23.0%). 2. Health screening was undertaken in 24.9% workplaces for periodic health examination and in 1.5% for special health examination. Environmental monitoring was done in 3.3% factories. Very few factories displayed Material Substance Data Sheet (MSDS) in 3.1% among the total factories. 3. Workplaces usually had their own toilets in 75.9% and washing basin in 58.6% as types of sociowelfare facilities. 4. Employees responded in the study were mostly in the range of age from 30 to 39 in 34.7%. male in 84.8%. the married in 70.3%. manual workers in 42.0%. mostly working regularly 51 hours per a week in 48.2% and earned 710.000 Won to 1.000.000 Won per month in 35.0%. Medical utilization for employees were covered by factories sponsored medical insurance in 12.7% and by provincial sponsored medical insurance in 83.4%. 5. Two point six percents of employees were suffered by diseases. The health complaints indicated were mainly digestive problems in 46.7% and hypertension in 24.4%. 6. Employees wore personal protective equipments for work such as gloves in 48.1%. safety shoes in 30.5%. ear plug in 5.5% and mask in 6.9%. Based on the results of study, we recommend that various types of occupational health management should be developed according to workplace working condition of each factory. In addition to the development of occupational health strategies. we think that it is more important to monitor and to allocate how effectively they operate each other on the basis of longitudinal continuity. Besides, we would like to insist that these all management effort should be focused on prevention of disease and occupational health education of employees.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.935-939
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• 2000

Objective : Traumatic disc lesion is a lesion with tremendous controversies. The causal relationships of this lesion are not established along with pathogenesis, diagnostic criteria, methods of treatment and the outcome. However, a significant number of patients with back pain after a trauma underwent spinal operations under the diagnosis of traumatic disc lesions. Such an ill-directed operation eventually produce a person with an iatrogenic disability. We present two illustrative cases, and tried to make a preventive method. Methods : We examined the path from mild trauma after a road traffic accident into the iatrogenic disability in two illustrative cases, who requested disability assessment and medical appraisement. We evaluated the reason and background for such an unwanted outcome and tried to find a method to reduce or prevent it by a literature review. Results : These two patients were admitted to the hospital with the diagnosis of lumbar sprain after a road traffic accidents. They eventually underwent spinal surgery under another diagnosis such as traumatic disc herniation or internal disc disruption. They stayed at the hospital for more than six months and finally lost their jobs. They became the disabled at last. Although they complained back pain, they never insisted by themselves that their symptoms were due to the traumatic disc lesion. To prevent such an iatrogenic disability, the doctors should assist them to go-back to the workplace promptly instead of a reckless extension of the treatment period. It may be necessary to evaluate the certificates to extend the treatment period with an additional diagnosis by a medical expert. To reduce the unnecessary long-term admission, a new billing system such as a partial share for the high cost of the treatment by the patients may be needed. Conclusion : It is not the patient but the doctors, who has the responsibility to avoid the unnecessary operations. All treating doctors should try to reduce or prevent such an iatrogenic complication caused by ourselves before we are forced to do so.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.245-253
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• 2007

This research was performed to evaluate the airborne personal concentration of hazardouse materials during the process of ship construction and surveyed from May 23 to June 30, 2007 in Kyungnam West Distirct, Korea. The subject was 94 ship construction workers exposed to welding fume and respirable particulate. The airborne concentrations of those were compared to Permissible Exposure Limit(PEL) from the Ministry of Labor in Korea. The airborne concentration of 23 samples(48.9%) of welding fumes was less than $5mg/m^3$, that of 16 (34.0%) was between 5 and $10mg/m^3$, and that of 8 (17.0%) was greater than $10mg/m^3$. The airborne concentration of 27 (57.4%) of respirable particulate masses was less than $5mg/m^3$ and the othere are greater than $5mg/m^3$. The welding fumes were identified containing the heavy metasl such as Fe, Mn, Zn, Mg, Ca, and Cu. The respirable particulates has similiar tendency with welding fumes in the component of heavy metals. But the concentration of Ca, Cu, Cr, and Ni turned out to be higher in welding fumes. Twenty (42.6%) of the 47 samples of welding fumes were exceeded PEL. In the heavy metals in welding fumes, ten (21.3%) of the 47 samples of Mn were exceeded PEL. Based on the results, the higher airborne hazardous materials were still exposed to wokers in ship construction process. It is suggested that the appropriate engineering control be applied to minimize the exposed cocnetration in ship building processes.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.99-108
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• 2011

Almost all companies have paid much attention to the safety management ranging from maintenance to operation even at the stage of designing in order to prevent accidents, but fatal accidents continue to increase throughout the world. In particular, it is essential to systematically prevent such fatal accidents as fire, explosion or leakage of toxic gas at factories in order to not only protect the workers and neighbors but also prevent economic losses and environmental pollution. Though it is well known that accident probability is very low in NPP(Nuclear Power Plants), the reason why many researches are still being performed about the accidents is the results may be so severe. HRA is the main process to make preparation for possibility of human error in designing of the NPP. But those techniques have some problems and limitation as follows; the evaluation sensitivity of those techniques are out of date. And the evaluation of human error is not coupled with the design process. Additionally, the scope of the human error which has to be included in reliability assessment should be expanded. This work focuses on the coincidence of human error and mechanical failure for some important performance shaping factors to propose a method for improving safety effectively of the process industries. In order to apply in these purposes into the thesis, I found 63 critical Performance Shaping Factors of the eight dimensions throughout studies that I executed earlier. In this study, various analysis of opinion of specialists(Personal Factors, Training, Knowledge or Experience, Procedures and Documentation, Information, Communications, HMI, Workplace Design, Quality of Environment, Team Factors) and the guideline for construction of PSF were accomplished. The selected method was AHP which simplifies objective conclusions by maintaining consistency. This research focused on the implementation process of PSF to evaluate the process of PSF at each phase. As a result, we propose an evaluation model of PSF as a tool to find critical problem at each phase and improve on how to resolve the problems found at each phase. This evaluation model makes it possible to extraction of PSF succesfully by presenting the basis of assessment which will be used by enterprises to minimize the trial and error of construction process of PSF.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.155-162
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate effects of management support for health and safety on workers' safety perception. Since the 1990s, Korea's national competitiveness has been rising rapidly, but efforts to prevent and cope with industrial accidents are still insufficient. Particularly there is a big movement to strengthen corporate responsibility for serious accidents in the 2020s. In this study structural equation model(SEM) was constructed and quantitatively analyzed in order to know how management's support affects the organization, system, and communication related to safety and health in the company, and ultimately how it has an effect on workers' safety perception. 4,169 questionnaires conducted by the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health were used as observation variables, and 5 hypotheses were established and were verified in SEM. As management support increases, organization & institution for a safe workplace, communication related with safety and health within the company become more active. Finally management support has a positive effect on workers' safety perception. The results of this study imply that management needs to increase awareness of the importance of safety and health before all measures such as organizations, institutions, and communication related to safety and health.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.583-597
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• 2014

Fire caused by heater has various causes as many as the types of heater. also, lots of damage of human life and property loss are caused, since annually continuous fire accident by heater in traditional market is frequently occurring. There are not many cases of fire due to heater in most of residential facilities such as general house, apartments, etc., because they are supplied with heating boiler, however the restaurant, store and office of the market, sports center, factory, workplace, etc. still use heater, e.g. oilstove, electric heater, etc., so that they are exposed to fire hazard. Also, when investigating the number of fire due to heater, it was analyzed to occur in order of home boiler, charcoal stove, oilstove, gas heater/stove, electric stove/heater, the number of fire per human life damage was analyzed in order of gas heater/stove, oil heater/stove, electric heater/stove, briquette/coal heater. Also, gas and oil related heater were analyzed to have low frequency, however, with high fire intensity. Therefore, this research aimed at considering more scientific fire inspection and identification approach by reenacting and reviewing fire outbreak possibility caused by combustibles' contact and conductivity under the normal condition and abnormal condition in respect of ignition hazard, i.e. minimum ignition temperature, carbonization degree and heat flux along with it, due to oilstove and electric stove, which are still frequently used in public use facility, traditional market, and, of which actual fire occurrence is the most frequent. As the result of reenact test, ignition hazard appeared very small, as long as enough heat storage condition is not made in both test objects(oilstove/electric stove), however carbonization condition was analyzed to be proceeded per each part respectively. Eventually, transition to fire is the ignition due to heat storage, so that it was analyzed to ignite when minimum heat storage temperature condition of fire place is over $500^{\circ}C$. Particularly, in case of quartz pipe, the heating element of electric stove, it is rapidly heated over the temperature of $600^{\circ}C$ within the shortest time(10sec), so that the heat flux of this appears 6.26kW/m2, which was analyzed to result in damage of thermal PVC cable and second-degree burn in human body. Also, the researcher recognized that the temperature change along with Geometric View Factor and Fire Load, which display decrease of heat, are also important variables to be considered, along with distance change besides temperature condition. Therefore, the researcher considers that a manual of careful fire inspection and identification on this is necessary, also, expects that scientific and rational efforts of this research can contribute to establish manual composition and theoretical basis on henceforth fire inspection and identification.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.23-43
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• 1997

The work-related diseases due to continuous overwork are mainly cerebro- and cardio-vascular ones, which is commonly called 'Karoshi', death from overwork. Many factors are capable for Karoshi : occupational stress in relation to technological renovation and industrial rationalization, competitive social structure, and accumulated fatigue accured to long time or irregular working. And its occurence is on the rise. The World Labor Report 1993 released by ILO, pointed out the diseases related to overwork and stress as one of the most important occupational health problem. In Korea, social awareness of Karoshi is at an infant stage, and reliable statistics for its occurence are not compiled in a convenient manner. Despite the rising Karoshi, there are no reliable clauses in workmen's compensation enough to settle down the disputes. Therefore, it is not uncommon that the Labour Ministry and Civil Court find difficulties in reaching an agreement. This study was intended to provide proper compensation and prevention program for workers by suggesting reasonable compensation clauses for the death from overwork. This study consists of two comparative reviews on the compensaton clauses for the death from overwork. One is to review legal standards of Karoshi among three countries, such as Korea, Japan and Taiwan. The other is to investigate the cases of Karoshi in Korea, 121 cases identified at the Labor Welfare Corperation and the Labour Ministrial process of examination and reexamination, and 73 leading cases at the High Court of Justice. The main findings of the study are as follows : 1. Comparisons of comperative review on compensation clauses for the death from overwork among three countries. 1) All of three countries have the same kinds of disease for compensation, which were cerebro-and cardiao-vascular diseases, while for cardiac disease group, Korea has the smaller number of diseases for compensation than Japan. 2) As for the definition of overwork, the three countries share equally that overload for one week prior to collapse is considered as an important factor, but accumulated chronic fatigue is disregarded. 3) As the basis of overwork, in Japan, there is a tendency to move from the conditions of an ordinary healthy adult to those of the individual concerned in Japan, whereas there is no such concern yet in Korea. 4) All the three countries use a common standard of medical judgement in demonstrating causal relationship between a job and a disease. However, Korea is progressive in the sense that in the case of CVA at worksite, the worker himself has no obligation to prove the cause. 2. The results of a comparative review on excutive decisions by Labor Ministry and judicial decisions by the Court in Korea : A judicial decision is based on the legalistic probability, but a excutive decision is not. Therefore, excutive decisions have such restrictions that : 1) TIA (transitory ischemic cerebral attack) and myocarditis are excluded from compensation, and there is little consistency of decision in the case of cause-unknown death. 2) There is a tendency not to compensate for the death from overwork since the work terms such as repeated long-time working, shift work or night-shift work are not considered as overloading. 3) There is a tendency to regard the conditions of a ordinary healthy adult rather than those of the individual concerned(age, existing diseases, health state, etc.) as the comparative basis of overload. 4) There remains a tendency not to compensate for the death from overwork in the case of collapse occuring out of workplace, on the ground of 'on the course of working' and 'in the cause of accident'. Through the study, the fact manifests itself that Korea's compensation clauses for work-related diseases due to overwork are very restrictive. So, it is necessary to extend the Labor Ministry's clauses of compensation for the death from overwork following to the recent changes of other countries and internal judicial decisions. This is very important in the perspective of occupational health that aims at health promotion of workers including prevention of the Karoshi.