• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.69-75
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• 2023

In Korea, most nuclear power plants were designed based on the design response spectrum of Regulatory Guide 1.60 of the NRC. However, in the case of earthquakes occurring in the country, the characteristics of seismic motions in Korea and the design response spectrum differed. The seismic motion in Korea had a higher spectral acceleration in the high-frequency range compared to the design response spectrum. The seismic capacity may be reduced when evaluating the seismic performance of the equipment with high-frequency earthquakes compared with what is evaluated by the design response spectrum for the equipment with a high natural frequency. Therefore, EPRI proposed the inelastic energy absorption factor for the equipment anchorage. In this study, the seismic performance of welding anchorage was evaluated by considering domestic seismic characteristics and EPRI's inelastic energy absorption factor. In order to reflect the characteristics of domestic earthquakes, the uniform hazard response spectrum (UHRS) of Uljin was used. Moreover, the seismic performance of the equipment was evaluated with a design response spectrum of R.G.1.60 and a uniform hazard response spectrum (UHRS) as seismic inputs. As a result, it was confirmed that the seismic performance of the weld anchorage could be increased when the inelastic energy absorption factor is used. Also, a comparative analysis was performed on the seismic capacity of the anchorage of equipment by the welding and the extended bolt.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.263-268
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• 2022

Health care workers (HCWs) are more than ten times more likely to be infected with coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) than the general population, thus demonstrating the burden of COVID-19 among HCWs. Factors that expose HCWs to a differentially high-risk of COVID-19 acquisition are important to elucidate, enable appropriate public health interventions to mitigate against high risk and reduce adverse outcomes from the infection. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize and critically analyze the existing evidence on SARS-CoV-2 risk factors among HCWs. With no geographical limitation, we included studies, in any country, that reported (i) the PCR laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19 as an independent variable (ii) one or more COVID-19 risk factors among HCWs with risk estimates (relative risk, odds ratio, or hazard ratio) (iii) original, quantitative study design, and published in English or Mandarian. Our initial search resulted in 470 articles overall, however, only 10 studies met the inclusion criteria for this review. Out of the 10 studies included in the review, inadequate/lack of protective personal equipment, performing tracheal intubation, and gender were the most common risk factors of COVID-19. Based on the random effects adjusted pooled relative risk, HCWs who reported the use of protective personal equipment were 29% (95% CI: 16% to 41%) less likely to test positive for COVID-19. The study also revealed that HCWs who performed tracheal intubations were 34% (95% CI: 14% to 57%) more likely to test positive for COVID-19. Interestingly, this study showed that female HCWs are at 11% higher risk (RR 1.11 95% CI 1.01-1.21) of COVID-19 than their male counterparts. This article presents initial findings from a living systematic review and meta-analysis, therefore, did not yield many studies; however, it revealed a significant insight into better understanding COVID-19 risk factors among HCWs; insights important for devising preventive strategies that protect them from this infection.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.153-160
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• 2008

Personal noise exposure was assessed in railroad operators working in 40 operation units including the Gyeongbu line, Honam line, and Janghang line between 2004 and 2006. 8-hour TWA were assessed based on the MOL (Ministry of Labor) guideline on noise evaluation, and 17% of these measurements exceeded 85 dBA while 70% were over 80 dBA. When the ACGIH TLV is adopted, 40% of measurements were over TLV (85 dBA). The noise exposure risk of railroad operators was higher for diesel locomotive operation and longer operational distances; in addition, the risk was higher for passenger car operation compared to freight car driving. Given that in Korea, over the past 30 years diesel locomotives have provided most of the railway's motive power and that hearing protective equipment is not likely to be used by workers during operation, railroad operators are at a high risk of noise-induced hearing loss. The result of audiometric test among 568 railroad operators showed that 32.6% of those tested had a hearing threshold shift of more than 40 dB. In conclusion, this study calls for more fundamental measures including noise control countermeasures within the operation areas, development of equipment that generates less noise and adopting limitation on the operation distance for a work shift.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.19 no.4 s.68
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• pp.60-68
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• 2004

Consequence analysis of flammable materials that affect to a risk of facilities was studied at the risk based inspection using API-581. We found that consequence areas (damage area of equipment and fatality area) by release accident of flammable materials showed high value for the case of liquid phase and auto-ignition likely, and that consequence areas of flammable gases decreased as temperature increased and the pipe diameter and pressure decreased at continuous release.

• Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.379-391
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• 2015

Several risk assessment techniques have been presented and investigated in previous research, focusing mainly on the failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA). FMEA can be employed to determine where failures can occur within industrial systems and to assess the impact of such failures. This research proposes a novel methodology for hazard analysis and risk assessments that integrates FMEA with the bow-tie model. The proposed method has been applied and evaluated in a real industrial process, illustrating the effectiveness of the proposed method. Specifically, the bowtie diagram of the critical equipment in the adopted plant in the case study was built. Safety critical barriers are identified and each of these is assigned to industrial process with an individual responsible. The detection rating to the failure mode and the values of risk priority number (RPN) are calculated. The analysis shows the high values of RPN are 500 and 490 in this process. A global corrective actions are suggested to improve the RPN measure. Further managerial insights have been provided.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.04c
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• pp.103-105
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• 2008

In, this paper, we consider the relation between on-line monitoring and diagnostics on the one hand and high-voltage (HV) withstand and partial discharge (PO) on-site testing on the other. HV testing supplies the basic data (fingerprints) for diagnostics. In case of warnings by on-line diagnostic systems, off-line withstand and PO testing delivers the best possible information about defects and enables the classification of the risk. Because alternating voltage (AC) is the most important test voltage, the AC generation on site is considered. Frequency tuned resonant (ACRF) test systems are best adapted to on-site conditions. They can be simply combined with PO measuring equipment. The available ACRF test systems and their application to electric power equipment -from cable systems to power transformers - is described.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.04c
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• pp.111-114
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• 2008

The paper considers the relation between on-line monitoring and diagnostics on the one hand and high-voltage (HV) withstand and partial discharge (PD) on-site testing on the other. HV testing supplies the basic data (fingerprints) for diagnostics. In case of warnings by on-line diagnostic systems, off-line withstand and PD testing delivers the best possible information about defects and enables the classification of the risk. Because alternating voltage (AC) is the most important test voltage, the AC generation on site is considered. Frequency tuned resonant (ACRF) test systems are best adapted to on-site conditions. They can be simply combined with PD measuring equipment. The available ACRF test systems and their application to electric power equipment -from cable systems to power transformers - is described.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.22-29
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• 2020

In nuclear power plants, there is a risk of thermal fatigue in equipment and piping affecting system soundness because the temperature change of the system accompanies in every operation and shutdown. Therefore, in order to prevent the excess of the fatigue limit during the lifetime of plants, the fatigue limit of each piping material is determined in the designing stage. However, there are many cases where equipment or piping is locally subjected to thermal fatigue that is not considered in the design, resulting in damage to the equipment and piping, and failure during operation. Currently, local thermal fatigue generation mechanisms that are not taken into account in the design stage are gradually being identified. In this paper, the effects of the fluid temperature fluctuations on the piping soundness due to the mixing of hot and cold water, one of the local thermal fatigue generating mechanisms, were evaluated.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.211-215
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• 2013

Partial discharge diagnosis techniques using ultra high frequencies do not affect load movement, because there is no interruption of power. Consequently, these techniques are popular among the prevention diagnosis methods. For the first time, this measurement technique has been applied to the GIS, and has been tested by applying an extra high voltage switchboard. This particular technique makes it easy to measure in the live state, and is not affected by the noise generated by analyzing the causes of faults ? thereby making risk analysis possible. It is reported that the analysis data and the evaluation of the risk level are improved, especially for poor location, and that the measurement of Ultra high frequency (UHF) partial discharge of the real live wire in industrial switchgear is spectacular. Partial discharge diagnosis techniques by using the Ultra High Frequency sensor have been recently highlighted, and it is verified by applying them to the GIS. This has become one of the new and various power equipment techniques. Diagnosis using a UHF sensor is easy to measure, and waveform analysis is already standardized, due to numerous past case experiments. This technique is currently active in research and development, and commercialization is becoming a reality. Another aspect of this technique is that it can determine the occurrences and types of partial discharge, by the application diagnosis for live wire of ultra high voltage switchgear. Measured data by using the UHF partial discharge techniques for ultra high voltage switchgear was obtained from 200 places in Gumi, Yeosu, Taiwan and China's semiconductor plants, and also the partial discharge signals at 15 other places were found. It was confirmed that the partial discharge signal was destroyed by improving the work of junction bolt tightening check, and the cable head reinforcement insulation at 8 places with a possibility for preventing the interruption of service. Also, it was confirmed that the UHF partial discharge measurement techniques are also a prevention diagnosis method in actual industrial sites. The measured field data and the usage of the research for risk assessment techniques of the live wire status of power equipment make a valuable database for future improvements.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.534-539
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• 2013

In general, entire supply air of the BSL3 laboratory should be vented to the outside for its biosafety and the air conditioning system should always be operating to maintain a room pressure difference. In this regard, annual energy consumption is approximately five or ten times greater than the magnitude of the office building. In addition, to adjust room pressure difference to the set value efficiently, the supply and exhaust duct system are installed in each room of the BSL3 lab. Thus, initial construction cost is extremely high. In this study, multizone simulation is performed to estimate maintaining the appropriate room pressure difference in the case of changing model A (each room supply and exhaust system) to model B (each zone supply and exhaust system) for verification of the BSL3 lab biosafety. Also, in the case of these two models, the multizone simulation for three kinds of biohazard scenario is performed as part of risk assessment. The analysis of initial construction cost of two models is conducted for comparison. According to the studies, initial construction cost of model B is less than about 22% of existing model A. Moreover, biosafety of the BSL3 lab is still maintaining in the case of the two models.