• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.259-268
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• 2019

One of the most effective methods to consistently ensure the safety of a tap water supply can be achieved by application of a comprehensive risk assessment and risk management approach for drinking water supply systems. This approach can be termed water safety plans(WSP) which recommended by WHO(world health organization) and IWA(international water association). For the introduction of WSP into Korea, 150 hazards were identified all steps in drinking water supply from catchment to consumer and risk assessment tool based on frequency and consequence of hazards were developed. Then, developed risk assessment tool by this research was implemented at a water treatment plant($Q=25,000m^3/d$) to verify its applicability, and several amendments were recommended; classification of water source should be changed from groundwater to stream to strengthen water quality monitoring contaminants and frequencies; installation of aquarium to monitor intrusion of toxic substances into raw water; relocation or new installation on-line water quality analyzers for efficient water quality monitoring; change of chlorination chemical from solid phase($Ca(OCl)_2$) to liquid phase(NaOCl) to improve soundness of chlorination. It was also meaningful to propose hazards and risk assessment tool appropriate for Korea drinking water supply systems through this research which has been inconsistent among water treatment authorities.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.35-43
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• 2024

With continuous advancements in industry, science, and technology, there is a steady increase in the number and utilization of new chemicals. The growing societal emphasis on chemical safety management is paralleled by an increasing public demand for robust safety measures. While various ministries at the government level oversee the safety management of chemical substances, the occurrence of accidents related to chemical substances remains frequent each year due to problems such as aging facilities and careless handling. Upon analyzing domestic chemical accident cases, incidents occurred predominantly in the sequence of leakage, explosion, fire, and others. The main causes of these accidents were examined, revealing facility defects and non-compliance with safety management as the primary contributing factors. In this study, Hazard and Operability Analysis (HAZOP) was employed to identify hazardous risk factors associated with the handling of hydrofluoric acid in workplaces, and a risk assessment was performed using Bow-Tie method. Based on the results of this study, it is expected to enhance safety management plans aimed at preventing chemical accidents in workplaces dealing with similar facilities. Ultimately, these insights contribute to the development of an advanced chemical safety management system, capable of proactively preventing potential chemical accidents.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.68-77
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• 2013

Derived Investigation levels(DILs) were calculated to protect the workers from the effects of both radiological hazard and chemical toxicity by uranium intake. Investigation Levels(ILs) of committed effective dose of 2 mSv $y^{-1}-6$ mSv $y^{-1}$ and uranium concentration of 0.3 ${\mu}g$ $g^{-1}$ in kidney, based on Korean Nuclaer Safety Act, Korean Occupational Safety and Health Act and current scientific studies of uranium intake were assumed. DILs of radiological hazard and chemical toxicity were then calculated based on the concentration of uranium in air of workplace, the lung monitoring and urine analysis, respectively. As a result, in case of the nuclear fuel fabrication plant where 3.5% enriched uranium is handled, derived investigation level(DIL) for the control of the concentration of uranium in the air of workplace assumed with 15-min acute inhalation was 0.6 mg $m^{-3}$ for all types of uranium. DILs for the control of the average concentration of uranium in air of workplace, assuming an 8-hour workday, were 15.21 ${\mu}g$ $m^{-3}$ of Type F uranium, 0.41-1.23 Bq $m^{-3}$ and 0.13-0.39 Bq $m^{-3}$ for Type M and Type S uranium, respectively. DILs for the lung monitoring assumed with a period of 6-month interval were 0.37-1.11 Bq and 0.39-1.17 Bq in acute and chronic inhalation for Type M, respectively and 0.30- 0.91 Bq and 0.19-0.57 Bq in acute and chronic inhalation for Type S, respectively. Since a detection limit of typical germanium detector for the measurement of 235U activity is 4 Bq, DILs calculated for the lung monitoring were not appropriate. DILs for urine analysis, for which an interval was assumed to be 1 month, were 14.57 ${\mu}g$ $L^{-1}$ based on chemical toxicity after acute inhalation. In addition, acute and chronic inhalation of Type M were calculated 2.85-8.58 ${\mu}g$ $L^{-1}$ and 1.09-3.27 ${\mu}g$ $L^{-1}$ based on the radiological hazard, respectively.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.360-369
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• 2017

Objectives: The organizational culture of small-scale enterprises is influenced by a lack of awareness of industrial accidents and a business-oriented culture. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to establish a correlation between chemical awareness and worker safety, which is the reason why a company's safety environment is responsible for human factor accidents. Methods: The research model established the organizational culture, human relationships, organizational relationships, workplace culture, safety climate, and safety parameters, all of which affect the perception of chemical substances, then established safety rankings, communication, safety regulations, and safety support. Results: In order to derive the results of this study, the satisfaction level was mostly derived from the degree of engagement (+) depending on the number of years worked, in the hierarchical regression analysis. During work with chemicals, the number of years spent on the level of the service was determined by the influence of the chemical (-). Based on this company, the occurrence of chemical accidents caused by chemical materials was felt to be felt at the risk of causing the hazard to be felt, the absence of physical damage was excluded from the variables. The other variables detected in the variables were $62.8{\pm}24.4$. Conclusion: As a result, it is necessary to develop a statistical model for the verification of the hierarchical regression analysis, and the relationship between safety and awareness of the dangers of chemicals and biological agents requires periodic safety training. Job satisfaction was found to be higher if the level of awareness was sufficient.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.584-588
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• 2016

The current study was carried out to investigate total and inorganic arsenic (As) concentrations in 112 rice samples (husked rice and polished rice) grown around the abandoned mining areas and to estimate the potential health risk through dietary intake of rice in Korea. Mean concentrations of total As in husked rice and polished rice were 0.23 and $0.13mg\;kg^{-1}$, respectively. Also, average inorganic As concentrations in husked rice and polished rice were 0.09 and $0.05mg\;kg^{-1}$, respectively. These levels are lower than the standard guideline value ($0.2mg\;kg^{-1}$) for inorganic As in polished rice recommended by Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and Codex. For health risk assessment, the average values of cancer risk probability was $5.7{\times}10^{-5}$ which was less than the acceptable cancer risk of $10^{-6}{\sim}10^{-4}$ for regulatory purpose. Also, hazard quotient values were lower than 1.0. Therefore, these results demonstrated that human exposure to inorganic As through dietary intake of rice collected from abandoned mining areas might not cause adverse health effects.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.350-358
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• 2022

Objectives: For chemical risk assessment in workplaces, it is necessary to determine a reference value through hazard assessment. In general, OEL (Occupational Exposure Limit) is used for this value. However, since chemicals with OEL were not enough, the concept of DNEL (Derived No Effect Level) was introduced in chemical safety assessment. In this study, the possibility and approach of applying DNEL for chemical risk assessment in domestic workplaces were investigated. Methods: The characteristics of OEL and DNEL were investigated. In addition, ACGIH TLV and GESTIS DNEL were compared and the corresponding scopes were analyzed among the chemical substances notified in South Korea. Results: OEL and DNEL are similar concepts reflecting reference values that should not be exposed based on health effects. While their evaluation and derivation are determined based on similar information and procedures, they may vary depending on the responsible actor, data availability, principles of judgment, and more. As a result of the comparative analysis of ACGIH TLV and GESTIS DNEL, it was confirmed that there is some correlation between TWA and DNEL. The conservatism of DNEL was around 50%. Additionally, it was found that the available range of DNEL among chemicals in South Korea is considerable. Conclusions: This study showed that DNEL can be applied when assessing the risk of chemical substances in domestic workplaces considering several regards. However, since this is not the same level as OEL, we have proposed a proper approach to carry out risk assessment step by step.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.391-401
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• 2010

A reduction in risk of occupational exposure to chemical hazards within the workplace has been the focus of attention both through industry initiatives and legislation. The aims of this study were to develop an exposure matrix by industry and process, and to apply this matrix to control the risk of occupational exposure to Dichloromethane (DCM). The exposure matrix is a tool to convert information on industry and process into information on occupational risk. The exposure matrix comprised industries and processes involving DCM, based on an exposure database provided by KOSHA (the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency), which was gathered from a workplace hazards evaluation program in Korea. The risk assessment of the exposure matrix was performed using Hallmark risk assessment tool. The results of the risk assessment were indicated by a Danger Value (DV) calculated from the combination of hazard rating (HR), duration of use rating (DUR), and risk probability rating (RPR) of exposure to the chemical, and were divided into four control bands which were related to control measures. The applicability of the risk assessment of the exposure matrix was evaluated by a field study, and survey of the employees of the exposure matrix groups. Among 45 industries examined, this study found that greater attention should be paid to two industries: the manufacture of other optical instruments and photographic equipment, and the manufacture of printing ink, and to one process among 47 examined, the packing process in the manufacture of printing ink, because these were regarded as carrying the highest risk. This tool of a risk assessment for the exposure matrix can be applied as a general exposure information system for hazard control, risk quantification, setting the occupational exposure limit, and hazard surveillance. The exposure matrix includes workforce data, and it provides information on the numbers of exposed workers in Korea by agent, occupation, and level of exposure and risk.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.2
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• pp.229-236
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• 2022

An experimental investigation was conducted on the influences of median size, dust concentration, dust condition (cloud and layer) for the fire and explosion hazard assessment of dusts with the same powder property. For this purpose, tests have been performed in accordance with 20 L explosion sphere, thermogravi- metric analyze, combustion rate tester (UN method). We investigated the explosion characteristics and flame propagation velocity (FPV) in dust cloud and the flame spread velocity(FSV) over dust layer on 8 dust samples with different particle sizes of 4 types of dusts (Sugar, Mg, Al, Zr). An explosion hazard increased with decreasing particle size in Mg and Al dust clouds, but sugar did not show the effect of explosion hazard due to particle size change in dust clouds. The flame propagation velocity (FPV) of suspended dusts increased significantly when the particle size decreased from micro to nano than the variation of particle size in micro range. The flame spread velocity (FSV) over dust layer showed a tendency to increase over the inclined dust layers (30° slope) rather than the horizontal dust layers (0° slope). The flame spread rate (FSV) over dust layers increased on the inclined dust layer (30° slope) rather than the horizontal dust layer (0° slope) and was higher upward flame than the downward flame in condition of inclined dust layers(30° slope).

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.450-457
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• 2004

In this research, the automatic synthesis of knowledge models is proposed. which are the basis of the methods using qualitative models adapted widely in fault diagnosis and hazard evaluation of chemical processes. To provide an easy and fast way to construct accurate causal model of the target process, the Role-Behavior modeling method is developed to represent the knowledge of modularized process units. In this modeling method, Fault-Behavior model and Structure-Role model present the relationship of the internal behaviors and faults in the process units and the relationship between process units respectively. Through the multiple modeling techniques, the knowledge is separated into what is independent of process and dependent on process to provide the extensibility and portability in model building, and possibility in the automatic synthesis. By taking advantage of the Role-Behavior Model, an algorithm is proposed to synthesize the plant-wide causal model, Fault-Causality Graph (FCG) from specific Fault-Behavior models of the each unit process, which are derived from generic Fault-Behavior models and Structure-Role model. To validate the proposed modeling method and algorithm, a system for building FCG model is developed on G2, an expert system development tool. Case study such as CSTR with recycle using the developed system showed that the proposed method and algorithm were remarkably effective in synthesizing the causal knowledge models for diagnosis of chemical processes.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.345-352
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• 2015

Background: Goal-oriented communication of risk of hazards is necessary in order to reduce risk of workers' exposure to chemicals. Adequate training of workers and enterprise priority setting are essential elements. Cleaning enterprises have many challenges and the existing paradigms influence the risk levels of these enterprises. Methods: Information on organization and enterprises' prioritization in training programs was gathered from cleaning enterprises. A measure of enterprises' conceptual level of importance of chemical health hazards and a model for working out the risk index (RI) indicating enterprises' conceptual risk level was established and used to categorize the enterprises. Results: In 72.3% of cases, training takes place concurrently with task performances and in 67.4% experienced workers conduct the trainings. There is disparity between employers' opinion on competence level of the workers and reality. Lower conceptual level of importance was observed for cleaning enterprises of different sizes compared with regional safety delegates and occupational hygienists. Risk index values show no difference in risk level between small and large enterprises. Conclusion: Training of cleaning workers lacks the prerequisite for suitability and effectiveness to counter risks of chemical health hazards. There is dereliction of duty by management in the sector resulting in a lack of competence among the cleaning workers. Instituting acceptable easily attainable safety competence level for cleaners will conduce to risk reduction, and enforcement of attainment of the competence level would be a positive step.