• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.161-165
• /
• 2016

Background: Despite the declining trend of workplace accidents in Republic of Korea, its level is still quite high compared with that in other developed countries. Factors that are responsible for high workplace accidents have not been well documented in Republic of Korea. The main purpose of this paper is to estimate the effects of unions and health and safety committees on workplace accidents in Korean manufacturing firms. We also allow for the interactions between unions and health and safety committees in the analysis. The results obtained in this paper will not only contribute to the literature in this field, but might also be useful for employers and worker representatives who are trying to find an effective way to reduce workplace accidents. Methods: This paper utilizes the 2012 Occupational Safety and Health Trend Survey data, which is a unique data set providing information on workplace injuries and illness as well as other characteristics of participatory firms, representative of the manufacturing industry in Republic of Korea. Results: In estimating the effects of unions and health and safety committees, we build a negative binomial regression model in which the interactions between unions and health and safety committees are permissible in reducing workplace accidents. Conclusion: Health and safety committees were found to reduce the incidence of accidents whereas unionized establishments have higher incidence of accidents than nonunionized establishments. We also found that health and safety committees can more effectively reduce accidents in nonunionized establishments. By contrast, nonexclusive joint committees can more effectively reduce accidents in unionized establishments.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.257-257
• /
• 2016

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.5 s.86
• /
• pp.365-371
• /
• 2005

This study was peformed to explore the current situation of university environmental health and safety (EHS) system and evaluate the effects of such system on university EHS practices. Essential elements for the university EHS system were identified based on the representative examples of foreign universities, and Hey were incorporated into a questionnaire, which was used in this study. Among the academic institutions we surveyed in this study, 89% of the universities employed health and safety manager, and 65% kept departments. However, less than 50% of universities maintained EHS policies, maintained health and established safety committees within the university headquarters, and held health and safety meetings on regular basis. Several basic requirements such as chemical hygiene program and laboratory safety training program lacked in many universities. Some basic surveillance was performed in many universities, however, only few universities carried out surveillance on biological safety, medical examination, and chemical exposure monitoring. EHS system had significant influence on university EHS program (p<0.05). Performances of EHS activities were influenced by presence of EHS policies, and university health and safety committees.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.50 no.1
• /
• pp.1-5
• /
• 2024

International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) is an independent international organization that advances the science of radiological protection for the public benefit, particularly by providing recommendations and guidance on all aspects of protection against ionizing radiation. The ICRP is a community of more than 380 globally-recognized experts in radiological protection science, policy, and practice from more than 50 countries. As of January 2024, the ICRP is comprised of a Main Commission, the Scientific Secretariat, four Standing Committees, and 30 Task Groups under the four committees. The ICRP has released well over one hundred publications on all aspects of radiological protection. Most address a particular area within radiological protection, but a handful of the publications, the so-called fundamental recommendations, describe the overall system of radiological protection. The system for radiological protection is based on the current understanding of the science of radiation exposure and its effects along with value judgements. The ICRP offers recommendations to regulatory and advisory agencies and provides advice to management and professional staff with responsibilities for radiological protection. Legislation in most countries adheres closely to ICRP recommendations. The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) International Basic Safety Standards are based heavily on ICRP recommendations. ICRP recommendations form the core of radiological protection standards, legislation, programs, and practice worldwide.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.2 no.4
• /
• pp.321-327
• /
• 2011

Objectives: To find out from an analysis of empirical data the levels of influence, which a labor union (LU) and Occupational Safety and Health Committee (OSHC) have in reducing the occupational injury and illness rate (OIIR) through their accident prevention activities in manufacturing industries with five or more employees. Methods: The empirical data used in this study are the Occupational Safety and Health Tendency survey data, Occupational Accident Compensation data and labor productivity and sales data for the years 2003 to 2007. By matching these three sources of data, a final data set (n = 280) was developed and analyzed using SPSS version 18 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Results: It was found that a workplace with a LU has a lower OIIR than one without a LU. In manufacturing industries with five or more employees in 2007, the OIIR of the workplaces without a LU was 0.87%, while that of workplaces with a LU was much lower at 0.45%. In addition, workplaces with an established OSHC had a lower OIIR than those without an OSHC. Conclusion: It was found that the OIIR of workplaces with a LU is lower than those without a LU. Moreover, those with the OSHC usually had a lower OIIR than those without. The workplace OIIR may have an impact on management performance because the rate is negatively correlated with labor productivity and sales. In the long run, the OIIR of workplaces will be reduced when workers and employers join forces and recognize that the safety and health activities of the workplace are necessary, not only for securing the health rights of the workers, but also for raising labor productivity.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.1-6
• /
• 2009

This study was evaluated the indicators of GRI guideline LA6-LA9 for industrial safety sanitation field on 22 domestic sustainable management reports and 46 overseas reports published by companies in 2007 and 2008, was developed new indicators with emphasis on industrial safety sanitation act, and was assessed whether they are released. As a result, LA6(Percent of total workforce represented in formal joint management-work health and safety committees that help monitor and advise on occupational health and safety programs) was evaluated highest in release ratio on whether to release the reports by each indicator of industrial safety sanitation field using domestic sustainable management report GRI guideline, and in the case of overseas companies, it was evaluated that there is no companies that release all from LA6 through LA9 among GRI guideline, but it was grasped that the ratio of partial release is high. As for the release of indicators was developed with the use of industrial safety sanitation act of 22 domestic companies, the release of indicator No. 1(report and industrial disaster record) and 10(health diagnosis) of industrial safety sanitation act was high. This study is meaningful in that it analyzed the industrial safety sanitation field of sustainable management report(CSR) that has not been attempted so far with the use of new indicators developed with emphasis on GRI guideline and industrial safety sanitation act.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.38-44
• /
• 1993

The purpose of this study was to identify the status of health management from Dec 5, 1992 to March 10, 1993. The data. was. collected from 30 industrial nurses, through a structured questionnaire. The results were as follows : 1. 1.50%. of the companies surveyed were manufacturing companies, 24% of them were research center. 2. The sizes of the companies were as follows: 300-499 employees 11(37%). more than 1,000 employees 4(13%). 3. 18 companies(60%) had organized safety and health committees. 4. 25 companies(83%) had there own health clinics. 5. 60% of companies had a Health center assigned as were hospitals 83%. 6. Practical nurses were employed by all industries, 10 companies had their own physicians, and 3 had their own industrial hygienist. 7. The primary health examination rate was 96% and workers who took follow up examinations were 8.5% out of them, 73.6% were evaluated at the C & D grade. Follow Up management to D. evaluations was performed about 50%. 8. 13 personnel(43%) required, special examinations. 9. The relation between the workers health score and the health status, score was negative and not significant. Therefore the better health management the higher health level score.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.189-204
• /
• 2007

This review was to suey the status of agricultural diseases, injuries and accidents among England, the USA, France, Japan, and Korea. For this purpose, detailed research objectives were to analyze the current national status of agricultural diseases, injuries and accidents in Korea and four foreign countries. To do so, related literature such as books, theses, articles, and web documents were collected and analyzed. The implications for industry and agricultural safety and health, diseases, occupational injuries and accidents of farmers thereby derived were as follows: 1) efforts on unifying administrative systems, 2) special support and management systems focusing on neglected subjects, 3) committees for collecting opinions and suggesting alternative policies on the behalf of various financiers, 4) aligned strategies including vision, goals, and long-term plans about national safety and health projects, 5) development of supporting systems considering the features of agriculture, 6) systematized national surveys about occupational injuries and accidents for basic statistics and national studies, 7) active prevention efforts against occupational injuries and accidents, and 8) specialized funds for the safety and health of farmers.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.32-46
• /
• 2023

Purpose: Fire response education is critical for healthcare providers working in hospitals to ensure a safe environment for patients and staff. However, a comprehensive review that thoroughly examines the contents, methodologies, and outcomes of fire response education in hospitals is currently lacking. Methods: We conducted a scoping review by adhering to the framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley. We searched five electronic databases for literature published after 1990, using the key categories of "hospitals," "fires," and "education." As a result, we identified 15 relevant articles that met our inclusion criteria for the review. Results: Of the 15 articles, 12 had adopted a quasi-experimental design and the remaining 3 had employed a true experimental design. The majority of these studies (11 out of 15) were conducted in the United States, with 4 studies forming committees or teams dedicated to education. Simulation methods were used in 13 studies, while 2 studies had employed a combination of methods. All studies focused on first-response procedures based on RACE (Rescue, Alarm, Contain, Extinguish/Evacuation). Outcome measures included the learners' overall experience, performance in the educational settings, and performance in the field, with all studies reporting positive results following the educational interventions. Conclusion: Our review highlights the importance of multi-professional and multi-departmental educational strategies based on institutional-level initiatives for healthcare providers to create a safe hospital environment.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• /
• v.35
• /
• pp.10.1-10.10
• /
• 2023

The purpose of this paper was to review the problems relating to Korea's occupational health services and suggest ways to improve them. Korea can be classified as a welfare state type of conservative corporatism partially interwoven with liberalism. While experiencing compressed economic growth, the economic sectors of developed (excess areas) and developing (deficient areas) countries are interwoven. Therefore, it is necessary to perfect conservative corporatism along with a complementary reinforcement of liberal contents and to apply a multilayered approach focusing on complementing the deficient areas. It is essential to form a national representative indicator related to occupational health, and a strategy for selection and concentration is needed. The proposed central indicator is the occupational health coverage rate (OHCR), which is the number of workers who have applied for mandatory occupational health services under the Occupational Safety and Health Act in the numerator with the total working population in the denominator. This paper proposes ways to raise the OHCR, which is currently at the level of 25%-40%, to 70%-80%, which is the level of Japan, Germany, and France. To achieve this target, it is necessary to focus on small businesses and vulnerable workers. This is an area of market failure and requires the active input of community-oriented public resources. For access to larger workplaces, the marketability of services should be strengthened and personal intervention using digital health resources should be actively attempted. Taking a national perspective, work environment improvement committees with tripartite (labor, management, and government) participation for improvement of the working environment need to be established at the center and in the regions. Through this, prevention funds linked to industrial accident compensation and prevention could be used efficiently. A national chemical substance management system must be established to monitor the health of workers and the general public.