• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.173-177
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• 2020

Background: Indoor air dampness microbiota (DM) is a big health hazard. Sufficient evidence exists that exposure to DM causes new asthma or exacerbation, dyspnea, infections of upper airways and allergic alveolitis. Less convincing evidence has yet been published for extrapulmonary manifestations of dampness and mold hypersensitivity syndrome). Methods: We investigated the prevalence of extrapulmonary in addition to respiratory symptoms with a questionnaire in a cohort of nurses and midwives (n = 90) exposed to DM in a Helsinki Obstetric Hospital. The corresponding prevalence was compared with an unexposed cohort (n = 45). Particular interest was put on neurological symptoms and multiple chemical sensitivity. Results: The results show that respiratory symptoms were more common among participants of the study vs. control cohort, that is, 80 vs 29%, respectively (risk ratio [RR]: 2.56, p < 0.001). Symptoms of the central or peripheral nervous system were also more common in study vs. control cohort: 81 vs 11% (RR: 6.63, p < 0.001). Fatigue was reported in 77 vs. 24%, (RR: 3.05, p < 0.001) and multiple chemical sensitivity in 40 vs. 9%, (RR: 3.44, p = 0.01), the so-called "brain fog", was prevalent in 62 vs 11% (RR: 4.94, p < 0.001), arrhythmias were reported in 57 vs. 2.4% (RR: 19.75, p < 0.001) and musculoskeletal pain in 51 vs 22% (RR: 2.02, p = 0.02) among participants of the study vs. control cohort, respectively. Conclusion: The results indicate that the exposure to DM is associated with a plethora of extrapulmonary symptoms. Presented data corroborate our recent reports on the health effects of moist and mold exposure in a workplace.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.140-145
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• 2012

Objectives: To understand the personal experiences of mine workers that have experienced job relocation due to silicosis at the Andina Division of Corporaci$\acute{o}$n Nacional del Cobre (CODELCO), Chile. The purpose of the study was to provide useful information for the development of new local, business and public policies for the care of workers with silicosis. Methods: A qualitative study based on a practical case study of 5 workers. The information was collected by means of structured individual interviews. The method of analysis was phenomenology. Results: The corporal axis was the most commented upon. It included awareness of the illness, body pains, fatigue, and antagonistic mood disorders (sadness, or the difficulty in finding meaning in life). As far as personal relationships, there was evidence of strong relationships with family, coworkers and friends, as well as extended family. Over all, the experience of relocation was positive with periods of impatience and uncertainty. The job reassignment provided a new and pleasant context for the relocated workers and in the process improved their perception of their quality of life. Conclusions: A multidisciplinary team should attend mine workers relocated because of silicosis by addressing the mental and physical aspects of their disease, along with the integral participation of close family members. It is suggested that this investigation be maintain over time to record the personal experiences in the medium-term, adding new cases with the intention of shedding more light on the phenomenon being studied. As a preventive measure, continual workshops are needed on the proper use of respiratory protection in addition, a group of monitors is required.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.90-97
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• 2018

As the result(also after it's been carried out the damping force test with 800ea lateral dampers of 50ea trainset from entering heavy maintenance workshop to implement heavy maintenance inspection cycle, there were 86.25%(650ea) which were out of $350kg{\pm}15%$ of the standard value of damping force compared to the reference value. After the implementation of heavy maintenance inspection cycle, it's been examined damping force test with total samples 32ea(samples 8ea per a trainset) from actual running EMU 4ea trainset. As the result, percent defective was 84.4%(27ea), which was a very high level. System. The lateral damper's the failure cause of damping force defective was oil leakage caused by tearing crack of oil seal and foreign material in oil iron 473 ~ 1932 times higher than that of new oil, copper 36 ~ 98 times higher than that of new oil reduced oil amount cycling damping valve. It resulted from the change cause of damping force. In the static analysis on the shape of lateral damper oil seal's the existing and improved product, the stress of the improved product was smaller than that of the existing product. In the fatigue analysis, the existing product showed a low life in the upper area. However, in case of the improved product, it could be confirmed that the destruction did not occur up to the specified 1.0e + 006 cycles and the lifetime was further improved in most areas.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.42-52
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• 2018

Background: Maintenance operations on-board ships are highly demanding. Maintenance operations are intensive activities requiring high man-machine interactions in challenging and evolving conditions. The evolving conditions are weather conditions, workplace temperature, ship motion, noise and vibration, and workload and stress. For example, extreme weather condition affects seafarers' performance, increasing the chances of error, and, consequently, can cause injuries or fatalities to personnel. An effective human error probability model is required to better manage maintenance on-board ships. The developed model would assist in developing and maintaining effective risk management protocols. Thus, the objective of this study is to develop a human error probability model considering various internal and external factors affecting seafarers' performance. Methods: The human error probability model is developed using probability theory applied to Bayesian network. The model is tested using the data received through the developed questionnaire survey of >200 experienced seafarers with >5 years of experience. The model developed in this study is used to find out the reliability of human performance on particular maintenance activities. Results: The developed methodology is tested on the maintenance of marine engine's cooling water pump for engine department and anchor windlass for deck department. In the considered case studies, human error probabilities are estimated in various scenarios and the results are compared between the scenarios and the different seafarer categories. The results of the case studies for both departments are also compared. Conclusion: The developed model is effective in assessing human error probabilities. These probabilities would get dynamically updated as and when new information is available on changes in either internal (i.e., training, experience, and fatigue) or external (i.e., environmental and operational conditions such as weather conditions, workplace temperature, ship motion, noise and vibration, and workload and stress) factors.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.203-209
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• 2014

Background: Coal mining is of significant economic importance to the Australian economy. Despite this fact, the related workforce is subjected to a number of psychosocial risks and musculoskeletal injury, and various psychological disorders are common among this population group. Because only limited research has been conducted in this population group, we sought to examine the relationship between physical (pain) and psychological (distress) factors, as well as the effects of various demographic, lifestyle, and fatigue indicators on this relationship. Methods: Coal miners (N = 231) participated in a survey of musculoskeletal pain and distress on-site during their work shifts. Participants also provided demographic information (job type, age, experience in the industry, and body mass index) and responded to questions about exercise and sleep quality (on-and off-shift) as well as physical and mental tiredness after work. Results: A total of 177 workers (80.5%) reported experiencing pain in at least one region of their body. The majority of the sample population (61.9%) was classified as having low-level distress, 28.4% had scores indicating mild to moderate distress, and 9.6% had scores indicating high levels of distress. Both number of pain regions and job type (being an operator) significantly predicted distress. Higher distress score was also associated with greater absenteeism in workers who reported lower back pain. In addition, perceived sleep quality during work periods partially mediated the relationship between pain and distress. Conclusion: The study findings support the existence of widespread musculoskeletal pain among the coal-mining workforce, and this pain is associated with increased psychological distress. Operators (truck drivers) and workers reporting poor sleep quality during work periods are most likely to report increased distress, which highlights the importance of supporting the mining workforce for sustained productivity.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.397-408
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• 2021

The construction industry has the highest occupational accidents/injuries and has experienced the most fatalities among entire industries. Korean government installed surveillance camera systems at construction sites to reduce occupational accident rates. Construction safety managers are monitoring potential hazards at the sites through surveillance system; however, the human capability of monitoring surveillance system with their own eyes has critical issues. A long-time monitoring surveillance system causes high physical fatigue and has limitations in grasping all accidents in real-time. Therefore, this study aims to build a deep learning-based safety monitoring system that can obtain information on the recognition, location, identification of workers and heavy equipment in the construction sites by applying multiple object tracking with instance segmentation. To evaluate the system's performance, we utilized the Microsoft common objects in context and the multiple object tracking challenge metrics. These results prove that it is optimal for efficiently automating monitoring surveillance system task at construction sites.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.142-161
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to report the effect and safety of traditional Korean medicine (TKM) for enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) after gynecological surgery. Methods: The study is conducted by analyzing the medical records of the hospitalized patients in TKM hospital. Eighty-six patients were enrolled who received TKM for ERAS after gynecological surgery from January 2015 to April 2018. We performed statistical analysis by using SPSS ver. 25.0. To prove the effect and safety of TKM for ERAS, we analyzed symptoms and Hemoglobin (Hb), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and serum creatinine (Cr) with glomerular filtration rate (GFR). In addition, we checked other adverse reactions that the patients complained to prove the safety of TKM for ERAS. Results: Among symptoms of pain, there was a statistically significant decrease in abdominal pain, lower back pain, and shoulder pain. Other symptoms showed statistically significant improvement in fatigue, abdominal tympanosis, operation-site discomfort, dizziness, urinary discomfort, throat discomfort, constipation, dyspepsia and colporrhagia. Anemia in both ferritin combination treatment group and herbal medicine only group showed significant improvement. There was no liver damage or renal damage by TKM. Conclusions: The result has shown that TKM for ERAS after gynecological surgery is effective and safe. The further study of TKM for ERAS with more patients is needed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.40-47
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• 2019

The Half-depth precast deck is a structural system that utilizes pre-cast panels pre-built at the factory as formwork at the construction stage and as a major structural member at the same time after completion. These systems have joints between segments, and the detail and performance of the joints are factors that have a very large impact on the quality, such as the constructability and durability of the bridge decks. In this study, strength performance evaluation was performed for improved joints using connecting rebar by experimental method. Static loading tests were conducted on the test specimen with improved joint, those with existing joint and those without joint. The test results of the specimens were compared to each other, and the flexural strength required by the design was compared. The flexural strength required in the design was presented by finite element analysis. It has been shown that the flexural strength of the specimens with joints were more than twice that required by the design. But the flexural strength of the specimen with existing joint was about 84% of that without joint. The flexural strength of the specimen with improved joints was a nearly similar degree of that compared to the specimen without joint. And a comparison of the moment-deflection relationship curves of the two specimens also shows a very similar flexural behavior. It is confirmed that improved joint has sufficient flexural strength. In addition to strength, the bridge decks require serviceability, such as deflection and cracking, and in particular, fatigue resistance due to repetitive live loads is an important performance factor. Therefore, further verification studies are required.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.543-549
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• 2020

Background: The working conditions of bus drivers are difficult; they lead to occupational diseases and require careful study, particularly in Ukraine. The objective of the article is the description of occupational health risks of passenger bus drivers that lead to deteriorating health. Methods: The risk assessment was performed using a modified Risk Score method, which allowed determining the generalized level of danger to the driver's health. The hygienic hazards level was assessed as based on Stevenson's law, which was generalized later. Results: Based on the modification of the Risk Score method, it was possible to depart from expert assessments method of the risk level and calculate the general indicator based on the degree of dependence of the impact on the human body on its intensity, proposed by V. Minko. This allows objective determining of the impact of hygiene hazards on the health of the driver and to predict the occurrence of occupational diseases associated with the cardiovascular system, musculoskeletal system, and partial or complete disability due to the accumulation of emotional fatigue. The hazard assessment was carried out for three brands of passenger buses common in Ukraine, in which the driver is exposed to the dangers of fever, vibration, noise, harmful impurities in the bus cabin, and emotional load. Conclusion: The health of drivers in the cabins of passenger buses is most affected by hygiene hazards: fever, vibration, and emotional stress. The generalized level of risk is calculated by the modified method of Risk Score is 0.83; -0.99, -0.92 respectively.

• Journal of Auto-vehicle Safety Association
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.57-69
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• 2022

Recently, as interest in self-driving cars has increased worldwide, research and development on the Advanced Driver Assist System is actively underway. Among them, the purpose of Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) is to minimize the driver's driving fatigue through the control of the vehicle's longitudinal speed and relative distance. In this study, for the research of the ACC test in the real environment, the real-road test was conducted based on domestic-road test scenario proposed in preceding study, considering ISO 15622 test method. In this case, the distance measurement method using the dual camera was verified by comparing and analyzing the result of using the dual camera and the result of using the measurement equipment. As a result of the comparison, two results could be derived. First, the relative distance after stabilizing the ACC was compared. As a result of the comparison, it was found that the minimum error rate was 0.251% in the first test of scenario 8 and the maximum error rate was 4.202% in the third test of scenario 9. Second, the result of the same time was compared. As a result of the comparison, it was found that the minimum error rate was 0.000% in the second test of scenario 10 and the maximum error rate was 9.945% in the second test of scenario 1. However, the average error rate for all scenarios was within 3%. It was determined that the representative cause of the maximum error occurred in the dual camera installed in the test vehicle. There were problems such as shaking caused by road surface vibration and air resistance during driving, changes in ambient brightness, and the process of focusing the video. Accordingly, it was determined that the result of calculating the distance to the preceding vehicle in the image where the problem occurred was incorrect. In the development stage of ADAS such as ACC, it is judged that only dual cameras can reduce the cost burden according to the above derivation of test results.