• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.27 no.2 s.46
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• pp.299-312
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• 1994

This survey was performed to obtain the basic information for the prevention and management of occupational low back injury (LBI). The subjects of this survey were 952 workers (male, 892 ; female, 60) who had taken occupational LBI in some industries of Pusan area from January 1 to December 31, 1991. Observation period was 2.6 years from the beginning to the end of medical treatment. The obtained results were summarized as follows ; 1. The proportion of LBI workers was 15.9% of the workers who had taken any occpational injuries and 0.32% of all workers in this surveyed area. 2. 8.0% of the workers had taken LBI on the 1st day of employment and 55.2% of the workers were within one year, 91.4% of the workers were within 10 years according to cumulative frequency distribution. 3. Handling of heavy objects was the most common cause of LBI (32.0%) and fall down (26.9%) and slip down (16.3%) were the next in order. 4. The most common causes of both lumbar sprain and HNP were handling of heavy objects and that of lumbar fracture was fall down. 5. The mean duration for medical treatment of LBI workers was 143 days. 6. The total direct compensation cost for LBI workers was 6,736 million Won and the proportion of medical, resting, disability compensation costs were 25.0%, 37.0%, 38.0 % respectively. 7. The percentages of retreated workers and disabled workers were 11.9% (113 persons) and 22.9% (218 persons) of total LBI workers respectively.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.313-325
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• 2015

This study aims to address factors affecting economic preparation of the elderly with industrial injury using Andersen model. In addition, it is also to explore differences in accordance with changes in the employment status between regular employees and non-regular employees. The authors analyze Panel Study of Worker's Compensation Insurance(PSWCI)'s 1st wave data in the logistic regression model. The authors found gender and education were related to economic preparation. In addition, earned income, national health insurance and the degree to which pain interferes with daily life and the lives caused by industrial accidents were associated with economic preparation. But national pension was not statistically significant to economic preparation. Based on the findings, the researchers addressed political implications to enhance financial security of injured workers.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.168-174
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• 2010

South Korea's industrial injuries are decreasing overall in the last 32 years. Nevertheless, the fatal occupational injury rate is still higher than in developed countries. This study was conducted to help prevention strategies of occupational injuries for the Republic of Korea. Fatal occupational injury rates were obtained from "Industrial Accident Analysis"of the Korean Ministry of Labor. Poisson regression was used to assess time trends. Socioeconomic indicators were obtained from the Korea Labor Institute and the Statistics Korea. Fatal occupational injury rates were adjusted by year, and Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess the relationship between the socio-economic indicators and occupational injuries. In 1975, fatal occupational injury rate was 54.8 per 100,000 workers. With somewhat up and down, it was decreased to 21.0 in 2006. An annual rate of change for the years 1975-2006 was - 1.83%, and for the years 2002-2006 was -5.02%. As economic growth rate, paricipation rate for the age less than 25 and hours of work per week or year increased, fatal occupational injury rate also increased. Conversely, as GDP per capita, paricipation rate or employment rate for female, paricipation rate for the age 25 or more, hourly compensation costs for production workers and services output as percent of GDP increased, fatal occupational injury rate decreased. By the development of safety techniques and the adoption of more legislative constraints, developed economy reduce occupational injuries. Conversely, economic growth may raise occupational injuries. Therefore, prevention strategies are needed to manage both of them. We need to make an effort to prevent occupational injuries due to not only sexual differences, but also job differences between male and female. Preventive strategies are needed to consider the characteristics of younger workers. Addition to wage, other appropriate variables for work condition should be considered together. Extending work hours is need to be regulated with systemic methods.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.18-25
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• 2014

Objective : This study explored the relationships among demographic (DVs) and clinical variables (CVs), neurocognitive (NOs) and functional outcome (FO) that could be used as prognostic factors for old aged patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) undergoing or appointed disability evaluation (DE) after treatment. Methods : A total of 162 subjects with TBI above the age of 55 years undergoing DE or appointed to do so after treatments were selected. The patients were divided into two subgroups according to age : a junior elderly group 55 to 64 years old and a senior elderly group over the age of 65. NOs and FO were evaluated using the Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery and Clinical Dementia Rating scale. Results : Gender, age, and education level were shown to significantly impact the recovery of NOs after TBI. Other DVs and CVs such as area of residency, occupation, type of injury, or loss of consciousness were not found to significantly affect the recovery of NOs after TBI. Analysis of the relationships among DVs, CVs and NOs demonstrated that gender, age, and education level contributed to the variance of NOs. In FO, loss of consciousness (LOC) was included to prognostic factor. Conclusion : Gender, age and education level significantly influence the NOs of elderly patients with TBI. LOC may also serve as a meaningful prognostic factor in FO. Unlike younger adult patients with TBI, old aged patients with TBI did not show global faking-bad or malingering attitudes to DE for compensation, but assume that they could faking their performance in a test set available visual feedback.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.153-185
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• 2020

In principle, even if serious consequences such as death or serious injury of a patient occur as a result of a medical accident, if the medical malpractice of a health care worker is not recognized, the health care worker is not held liable for said consequences. However, with the opening of the Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency on April 7, 2012, a system was established to compensate health care personnel for their medical malpractices only in the case of "injuries caused by medical accidents in the course of childbirth" (hereinafter referred to as "program for compensation of medical accidents"). Article 46 paragraph 1 of the current Medical Dispute Mediation Act, which is the basis of the Force Majeure Medical Accident Compensation System, stipulates that "medical accidents under delivery" claims are to be determined by the Medical Accident Compensation Review Committee are subject to the compensation project. And the details of the compensation, ratio of sharing financial resources for compensation, scope of compensation, and the guidelines and procedure for the payment of compensations are prescribed by Presidential Decree. In other words, the Presidential Decree requires the state to pay 70 percent of the compensation funds, and 30 percent of the above funds among health care providers. The Constitutional Court has decided on the 2015Hun-Ga13 that the scope of the health care institution's founders and the share of the compensation funds cannot be directly determined by the law, and that the portion delegated by the Presidential decree does not violate the Principle of Legal Protection nor Comprehensive Nondelegation Doctrine. However, this can be seen as an exclusion of accountability for force-induced delivery accidents even if there is no negligence of the medical staff. If the nature of the system is a type of social security system with a social compensatory nature, it could consider eliminating the health care innovator's cost-sharing provisions, leaving the full cost to the state. However, it is also necessary to review institutional protocols that strengthen the efforts of medical institutions in areas such as analysis of the causes of medical accidents and measures to prevent their recurrence. In addition, I think that the conclusion of the Act is in line with the purpose of the Comprehensive Wage Support Regulations that at minimum the law sets an upper limit of the compensation funds that are to be paid by health and medical institutions. Moreover, it is reasonable for the Medical Accident Compensation Review Committee to specify gestational age and weight of births, which are the criteria for compensation, under the Enforcement Decree of the Medical Dispute Mediation Act, in relation to the criteria for payment of contributions by the Medical Accident Compensation Review Committee, and to set the detailed criteria.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.254-264
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• 2015

Background: Pain medicine often requires medico-legal involvement, even though diagnosis and treatments have improved considerably. Multiple guidelines for pain physicians contain many recommendations regarding interventional treatment. Unfortunately, no definite treatment guidelines exist because there is no complete consensus among individual guidelines. Pain intervention procedures are widely practiced and highly associated with adverse events and complications. However, a comprehensive, systemic review of medical-dispute cases (MDCs) in Korea has not yet been reported. The purpose of this article is to analyze the frequency and type of medical dispute activity undertaken by pain specialists in Korea. Methods: Data on medical disputes cases were collected through the Korea Medical Association mutual aid and through a private medical malpractice liability insurance company. Data regarding the frequency and type of MDCs, along with brief case descriptions, were obtained. Results: Pain in the lumbar region made up a major proportion of MDCs and compensation costs. Infection, nerve injury, and diagnosis related cases were the most major contents of MDCs. Only a small proportion of cases involved patient death or unconsciousness, but compensation costs were the highest. Conclusions: More systemic guidelines and recommendations on interventional pain management are needed, especially those focused on medico-legal cases. Complications arising from pain management procedures and treatments may be avoided by physicians who have the required knowledge and expertise regarding anatomy and pain intervention procedures and know how to recognize procedural aberrations as soon as they occur.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.179-214
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• 2012

There are two opinions on the legal characteristics of damages for non-pecuniary loss, a private sanctions theory and complementary function of damages for non-pecuniary loss, briefly. There is a close connection between the legal characteristics and the function of damages for non-pecuniary loss. The functions of damages for non-pecuniary loss are consist of satisfaction, prevention( sanctions) and complementation. Several cases of medical injury relief reported to Korea Comsumer Agency are categorized as follows, 1) cases of death after having an operation, 2) diagnosed with disability after a medical accident, 3) extended damages happening related to delayed diagnosis, 4) et cetera(a plastic surgery, a treatment with oriental medicine), and the damages for non-pecuniary loss in respect to each cases are examined. In the case of occurring death or disability, Korea Comsumer Agency has set up guidelines for assessment of damages for non-pecuniary loss by classifying into major and collateral violation for a duty of care. Furthermore, the damages for non-pecuniary loss in the case of all sorts of cancers, are assessed in accordance with the degree of responsibility subsequent to dividing cancer into good and poor prognosis. When it comes to a complementary function of damages for non-pecuniary loss in the actual work, it is hard to assess the damages as it is difficult to objectify non-pecuniary loss, such as emotional distress. Though compensation for damages is major legal characteristics of consolation money, preventing a damage(private sanctions) through consolation for a victim or sanctions against an assailant also has great significance. Therefore, it is necessary to approach flexibly for mutual agreement by considering specialty( concrete facts) of individual issue thoroughly. If considering this aging society that limits the possible age for work to 60 years old, it is needed to have a complementary function of consolation money in mind not to make it less meaningful for victims due to small sum of consolation money.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.133-137
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• 2016

The aims of this study were to analyze the Korean fire fighters' applications for the public worker's compensation between 2011 and 2013 and to suggest a feasible solution for prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The Korean Ministry of Public Safety and Security provided the complete list of fire fighters' application from January 2011 to December 2013. 510 applicants with chief complaint of musculoskeletal disorders were screened out of all 1596 applicants. Male applicants were 92%. Fire fighters in their early 40's applied most frequently, followed by those in early 30's. Musculoskeletal disorders of fire fighters were reported most frequently in May and June. Regionally, Seoul had most applicants and Jeonbuk showed the highest prevalence. Low back was the most frequently reported body part followed by the knee. Ligament was insured most frequently followed by vertebral disc and bone. The fire fighter's injury occurred while fire extinguish (38.3%), emergency medical service (37.7%), rescue (12.4%), and other duties. Result of this study suggests further investigation on the large variation in regional prevalence and on the injury mechanism of musculoskeletal disorders especially during the fire extinguish and emergency medical service.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.383-422
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• 2008

Considering above, It might be efficient that medical disputes would be settled by the intervention, the agreement, and the administrative relief that reflect mediators' opinion, who have rich social experience as well as specialized knowledge. Therefore, KCA needs to strengthen its function of mediation and improve relevant systems to become an effective settlement institution. And although Oriental medicine disputes have mainly given ex post facto explanations so far, administrative efforts such as policy development or legislation should be made for the high quality of Oriental medical services offered because an efficient way saving social or economic costs caused by the dispute would be precautionary measures. The traditional Oriental medicine is featured with the lack of baseline examination, the uncertainty of medical mistakes, the difficulty in clarifying and proving facts, the hardship of injury conformation and causality because of the characteristics of Oriental medicine, and the relative lightness of physical damages. Actually, there has been few legal settlements in Oriental medical disputes since the compensation, itself, compared to the lawsuit cost, is relatively much lower without practical benefits.

• The Korean Journal of Food & Health Convergence
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.11-16
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• 2019

The construction environment has been declared as a hazard prone area due to high number of accident and death. The study aims to identify influential factors that contribute to poor safety practices and its consequences on construction workers in Cape Coast Metropolis. Seventy respondents were taken as the sample size for the study. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze the data obtained from the field. Findings show that poor site management, working without safety gadgets, failure to use their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and negligence of workers were the main causes of accidents on sites. Poor site management had the highest ranking among the seven variables. Effects of poor safety practices on building construction site and delays in work execution were due to injury of workers, extra cost due to payment of compensation to injured victims, not motivated due to injury of worker and declined reputation of firm. Management team should motivate workers for safe work done, provide adequate PPE for their workers on site and have documented health and safety policy on site. Site authorities and management team should be on site regularly to ensure proper safety practices on construction site.