• Korean Journal of Hazardous Materials
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.23-29
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• 2018

The fire and explosion properties necessary for waste, safe storage, transport, process design and operation of handling flammable substances are lower explosion limits(LEL), upper explosion limits(UEL), flash point, AIT( minimum autoignition temperature or spontaneous ignition temperature), fire point etc., An accurate knowledge of the combustion properties is important in developing appropriate prevention and control measures fire and explosion protection in chemical plants. In order to know the accuracy of data in MSDSs(material safety data sheets), the flash point of phenol was measured by Setaflash, Pensky-Martens, Tag, and Cleveland testers. And the AIT of phenol was measured by ASTM 659E apparatus. The explosion limits of phenol was investigated in the reference data. The flash point of phenol by using Setaflash and Pensky-Martens closed-cup testers were experimented at $75^{\circ}C$ and $81^{\circ}C$, respectively. The flash points of phenol by Tag and Cleveland open cup testers were experimented at $82^{\circ}C$ and $89^{\circ}C$, respectively. The AIT of phenol was experimented at $589^{\circ}C$. The LEL and UEL calculated by using Setaflash lower and upper flash point value were calculated as 1.36vol% and 8.67vol%, respectively. By using the relationship between the spontaneous ignition temperature and the ignition delay time proposed, it is possible to predict the ignition delay time at different temperatures in the handling process of phenol.

• Proceedings of the Korean Operations and Management Science Society Conference
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• 1994.04a
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• pp.596-605
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• 1994

An efficient measurement and evaluation system for hand tool tasks will provide a practical solution to the problem of designing and evaluating manual tool tasks in the workplace. Few studies on the biomechanical analysis of hand postures and tool handling tasks exist because of the lack of appropriate measurement techniques for hand force. A measurement system for the finger forces and joint angles for analysis of manual tool handling tasks was developed in this study. The measurement system consists of a force sensing glove made from twelve Force Sensitive Resistors and an angle-measuring glove (Cyberglove$\^$TM/, Virtual technologies) with eighteen joint angle sensors. A biomechanical model of the hand using the data from the measurement system was also developed. Systems of computerized procedures were implemented integrating the hand posture measurement system, biomechanical analysis system, and the task analysis system for manual tool handling tasks. The measurement system was useful in providing the hand force data needed for an existing task analysis system used in CTD risk evaluation. It is expected that the hand posture measurement developed in this study will provide an, efficient and cost-effective solution to task analysis of manual tool handling tasks. These tasks are becoming increasingly important areas of occupational health and safety of the country.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.42-54
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• 2017

Objectives: The present study was conducted to investigate farm work environments among farmers and examine the level of management of safety and health, and to subsequently produce study result to serve as foundational data for the development of guidelines on safety and health as part of the improvement of farming work environments among farmers raising Korean native cattle. Methods: The present study conducted a survey on farm work environments and the management of safety and health with 407 farmers engaged in Korean native cattle farming in selected regions in eight provinces. It also visited 10 farmers to verify the current status of farm work. Results: The survey results showed that 16.4% of the respondents experienced safety-related accidents due to farm work. The locations of the accidents were inside the cattle shed (71.4%) and facilities outside the cattle shed (19.6%). The types of accident showed collision with animals (35.7%), collision or contact with obstacles (27.1%), and musculoskeletal accidents due to heavy object handling (12.9%). The causes of the accidents were cattle (38.3%), cultivators and tractors (25.4%), facility tools in cattle sheds (9.0%), and slippery floors (6.0%). The damaged areas were hand (21.0%), spine (19.8%), lower limb (18.5%), and foot (17.3%). A self-diagnostic survey on respiratory diseases showed that 11.5% of the respondents experienced respiratory-related symptoms. The survey on safety and health during farm work showed that wearing personal protective equipment and response to emergency situations, which were needed to prevent safety-related accidents, were relatively low compared to the level of recognition of the need and awareness of safety issues. Furthermore, the field survey identified the current status of safety and health issues such as prevention management of collision accidents with cattle, how to handle heavy objects, and wearing of personal protective equipment. Conclusions: The present study identified safety-related accidents and problems in the management of safety and health among Korean native cattle farmers. In order to address the problem, it is necessary to not only provide guidelines on safety and health management which are appropriate to the characteristics of Korean native cattle farming work, but also to study the development of personal protective equipment.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.78-88
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• 2023

Background: Exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can have acute and chronic health effects on human beings in general and in working environments. In particular, VOCs are often emitted in large quantities in industrial settings. In such circumstances, there is a need to improve the indoor air quality at workplaces. Objectives: The purposes of this study were to verify the effectiveness of air cleaning devices in workplaces and provide alternative solutions for improving working environments. Methods: Personal exposure and area level of VOCs for workers were evaluated in a car-part adhesive process before and after installing an air cleaning device with a TiO₂-coated filter. Passive samplers and direct reading instruments were used to collect and analyze the VOCs, and the removal efficiency and improvement of air quality were evaluated. We also calculated the exposure index (EI) to assess the risk level in the workplace. Results: The removal efficiency for VOCs through the installation of the air cleaning device was approximately 26.9~69.0% as determined by the concentration levels before and after installation. The measured substances did not exceed the exposure limits for the work environment and the EI was less than 1. However, carcinogenic substances such as benzene, formaldehyde, carbon tetrachloride, and trichloroethylene were detected. Conclusions: The application of an air cleaning device can be a solution for controlling the indoor air quality in a workplace, particularly in cases where ventilation systems cannot be installed due to process limitations.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.84-90
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• 2023

Oxygen, which is always present in the atmosphere among the three elements of combustion, can cause fires and explosions with only a very small amount of combustibles under high-pressure oxygen conditions. The burning rate is also significant, and can rise to temperatures that can have a direct impact, such as melting process equipment and piping in an instant. Therefore, accidents that occur under high pressure oxygen often cause more damage than other accidents. Recently, while operating a valve installed in an oxygen supply pipe, rapid combustion and rupture occurred inside, resulting in human casualties due to an explosion. In the case of an old carbon steel pipe, particles generated during operation become combustible and can cause accidents. . In particular, since oxygen facilities are facilities licensed under the High Pressure Gas Safety Management Actand there are no restrictions under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, accumulating these standards is of utmost importance. Therefore, in this study, based on accident cases and overseas standards, methods for improving safety when handling hyperbaric oxygen are reviewed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.153-159
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to assess the ergonomic risks of lifting tasks in a marine diesel engine manufacturing industry using the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health(NIOSH) Revised Lifting Equation(NLE). Average Lifting Index(LI=Weight of Load/Recommended Weight Limit) of a total number of 45 lifting tasks was $1.6{\pm}0.7$. The LIs were above 1 at 34 tasks(75.6%), and above 2 at 11 tasks(24.4%). Parts management showed the highest average LI value (LI=2.3) in all departments, which resulted from high frequency and heave load of lifting. The common and significant ergonomic risk factors in the processes were the heavy weight of diesel engine parts and the long horizontal distance. In addition, some lifting tasks had such potential risk factors as the long vertical distance, the high frequency of lifts or the long work duration.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.179-182
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• 2023

The Chemical Substances Control Act has been legislated to counter the risks posed by chemical substances to public health and the environment, but a number of small- and large-scaled incidents related to hazardous chemicals continue to occur every year. The Korean Ministry of Environment takes legal responsibility for prevention, preparedness, and response to nationwide chemical accidents under the Chemical Substances Control Act. The determination of chemical accidents that occur during hazardous chemical handling processes is based on the Article 2 (Definitions) of the law and the administrative criteria for judgement of chemical accidents. However, there are certain ambiguities in the scientific basis for determining chemical accidents under the current regulations. Whether or not a chemical accident has a direct influence on penalties and administrative measures for a workplace where an accident occurred, it is necessary to find reasonable criteria for determining chemical accident based on legal and scientific evidence.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.423-432
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• 2017

Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate asbestos handling history of workers at automobile manufacturing plants in Korea. Methods: National regulations on asbestos and Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency(KOSHA) database on the information of asbestos containing products were reviewed. We investigated asbestos related materials from one automobile manufacturing plant. Material safety data sheets(MSDS) collected in 2010, work environment monitoring results reported from 2000 to 2013, trade union reports and asbestos survey reports were reviewed. We also interviewed workers with long career and did walk-through survey. Results: The Ministry of Labor in Korea has permitted asbestos manufacturing since 1990. In 1997, the use of crocidolite and amosite asbestos were banned. In 2007, the Korean government announced a total ban on the manufacturing, importation and use of all kinds of asbestos, which took full effect in 2009. A total of 174 asbestos products information from KOSHA database was analyzed. Extruded cement panel for building, special brake for crane farm machinery, gasket, joint sheet and thermal insulator were produced until 2007. From automobile manufacturing plant survey, we confirmed that asbestos containing materials(ACM) such as gasket, heating induction materials have been used until 2011. Asbestos containing building materials(ACBM) such as bamlites, slate and ceiling tex were reported at 122 asbestos dismantling projects in 2014. Conclusion: Although the use of all kinds of asbestos were banned from 2009, ACMs and ACBMs installed before 2009 were still found at automobile manufacturing plant until 2011 and 2014 respectively. In particular, asbestos slates should be managed because most of slates had not been removed until 2014.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.8-14
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• 2018

In the industrial chemical process involving combustible materials, reliable safety data are required for design prevention, protection and mitigation measures. The accurate combustion properties are necessary to safely treatment, transportation and handling of flammable substances. The combustion parameters necessary for process safety are lower flash point, upper flash point, fire point, lower explosion limit(LEL), upper explosion limit(UEL)and autoignition temperature(AIT) etc.. However, the combustion properties suggested in the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) are presented differently according to the literatures. In the chemical industries, tetralin which is widely used as a raw material of intermediate products, coating substances and rubber chemicals was selected. For safe handling of tetralin, the lower and flash point, the fire point, and the AIT were measured. The LEL and UEL of tetralin were calculated using the lower and upper flash point obtained in the experiment. The flash points of tetralin by using the Setaflash and Pensky-Martens closed-cup testers measured $70^{\circ}C$ and $76^{\circ}C$, respectively. The flash points of tetralin using the Tag and Cleveland open cup testers are measured $78^{\circ}C$ and $81^{\circ}C$, respectively. The AIT of the measured tetralin by the ASTM E659 apparatus was measured at $380^{\circ}C$. The LEL and UEL of tetralin measured by Setaflash closed-cup tester at $70^{\circ}C$ and $109^{\circ}C$ were calculated to be 1.02 vol% and 5.03 vol%, respectively. In this study, it was possible to predict the LEL and the UEL by using the lower and upper flash point of tetralin measured by Setasflash closed-cup tester. A new prediction method for the ignition delay time by the ignition temperature has been developed. It is possible to predict the ignition delay time at different ignition temperatures by the proposed model.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2008

The purpose of this survey was to identify ergonomic risk factors of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) and understand the current MSD risk status in the wholesale/retail industry. The field survey was conducted at 120 wholesale/retail establishments, and the cause of MSD occurred from the national industrial accident statistics by the Ministry of Labor in 2006 was analyzed in terms of company size, a term of work, job title, and cause of occurrence. The numbers of disasters on MSD were 602 which were included 432 disasters who met with low back pain by incident. A checklist was developed by KOSHA to use for the field survey. A total of 419 tasks were identified at the 120 establishments surveyed. The highest frequency was Task 2(45%) which was mostly observed in repetitive work (e.g. displaying, scanning, cutting or wrapping of goods). The second and third were Task 9(34%) and Task 8(14%) which were identified in manual materials handling (e.g. lifting, lowering, carrying or stocking of goods). The results suggest that the three Tasks should be first considered for the control in wholesale/retail industry and that exposure to MSD risk factors in those Tasks should be primarily addressed in order to reduce MSD risk in that industry.