• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.9-19
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• 2012

Objectives: The aim of this study is to critically review the exposure surrogates and estimates used to associate health effects in wafer fabrication workers such as spontaneous abortion and cancer, as well as to identify the limitations of retrospective exposure assessment methods Methods: Epidemiologic and exposure-assessment studies of wafer fabrication operations in the semiconductor industry were collected. Retrospective exposure-assessment methods used in cancer risk and mortality and reproductive toxicity were reviewed. Results: Eight epidemiologic papers and two reports compared cancer risk among workers in wafer fabrication facilities in the semiconductor industry with the risk of the general population. Exposure surrogates used in those cancer studies were fabrication(vs. non-fabrication), employment duration, manufacturing eras, job title (operator vs. maintenance worker) and qualitative classifications of agents without assessing specific agent or job-specific exposure. In contrast, specific operation, job title and agents were used to classify the exposure of fabrication workers, contributing to finding a significant association with spontaneous abortion (SAB). Conclusion: Further epidemiologic studies of fabrication workers using more refined exposure assessment methods are warranted in order to examine the associations between fabrication work, environment, and specific agents with cancer risk or mortality as used in SAB epidemiologic studies.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.105-111
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• 2006

This paper summarizes the ergonomic risk assessment of hotel chef. The cooking operations were observed in order to determine sources of ergonomic stress and make recommendations to reduce the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in Korean, Japanese, and western style cooking. We used interviews, document analysis, video analysis, and risk assessment to identify and quantify ergonomic risk factors. The results indicate that the cooking operations have some ergonomic problems. These findings identified in this study can be used to reduce the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in food service areas.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.335-346
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• 2020

Background: Nursing service is a nonroutine work with an excessive physical load and diverse tasks. This study derived representative common tasks based on the frequently occurring tasks with a high physical load in the nursing workers' daily work and developed indicators to evaluate the work risk by reflecting the characteristics of nonroutine work. Methods: Common tasks were classified through the following stages: literature review, first focus group interview (FGI) with experts, first classification of common tasks, second FGI with hospital health managers, a survey of nursing service workers, and the final classification of common tasks for each task type. To develop an objective risk index for physical load assessment, we investigated the frequency and duration of the derived common tasks via survey. Results: Nursing common tasks were categorized into six task types and 56 subtasks. To evaluate the risks of various tasks in nonroutine works, three frequencies and three working time levels were defined by examining the task frequency and working hours. Exposure time was defined to reflect the characteristics of a nonroutine job. The final risk assessment was the product of the exposure time level and job intensity level. From this, four risk action levels were derived. Conclusion: This study has the advantage of solving the problem of focusing on some tasks in evaluating the physical load. It was meaningful in that a new risk assessment index based on exposure time was proposed based on the development of an evaluation scale for frequency and time by reflecting the characteristics of nonroutine work.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.273-277
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• 2014

Subcontracting business than the contracting business in shipbuilding industry is a lot of hazardous job and highly accident because of highly work intensity. In order to prevent the accidents, there is a need to analyze characteristic. of shipbuilding, to apply measures of risk assessment. In this paper, I suggested an improvement of the risk assessment through the actual condition research in shipbuilding industry. In the research method, I analysed accidents occurred until 2011-2013. Carried out the actual site survey while two weeks in May 2014. As a result, 1) The main pattern were caught-in or between, fall on the high level according to analyzed accidents. 2) To apply the weight show clear of magnitude for risk assessment. 3) Risk estimation of risk assessment is desirable to be quantization by accidents analysis, and to be greater than or equal to 4 steps.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.61-66
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• 2020

As asbestos-containing buildings are getting older, asbestos deconstruction works are increasing. As a result, accident risks such as falls, cuts, electric shocks, and suffocation are increasing. Existing studies are mostly about health management and institutional policy research and there is little research on work risk. So workplace risk assessments that are easily applicable in the field are required to be applied. Sealing is the first process of asbestos deconstruction and is the first step to ensure worker's safety. Job Safety Analysis(JSA) and Checklist were used to identify the risk factors and to calculate the level of the risk. By comparing the two risk assessment tools, it was figured out that the JSA is appropriate for the initial process and change of work procedure while Checklist is appropriate for repetitive work. Because the sealing process is sort and simple, it is unlikely to cause serious injury. But since the risk of falling and cuts are exist, safety education and supervision are necessary to maintain a safe working environment.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.249-256
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• 2018

This article aims to provide a systematic review of the exposure assessment methods used to assign wafer fabrication (fab) workers in epidemiologic cohort studies of mortality from all causes and various cancers. Epidemiologic and exposure-assessment studies of silicon wafer fab operations in the semiconductor industry were collected through an extensive literature review of articles reported until 2017. The studies found various outcomes possibly linked to fab operations, but a clear association with the chemicals in the process was not found, possibly because of exposure assessment methodology. No study used a tiered assessment approach to identify similar exposure groups that incorporated manufacturing era, facility, fab environment, operation, job and level of exposure to individual hazardous agents. Further epidemiologic studies of fab workers are warranted with more refined exposure assessment methods incorporating both operation and job title and hazardous agents to examine the associations with cancer risk or mortality.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.83-111
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• 2016

We investigate how smokers and drinkers have influenced on self-reported risk assessment and workplace injuries, using the Korean Working Conditions Survey. Our empirical results indicate that persistent smoking habit raises workers' job risk assessments and work injuries significantly. Also, former smokers notice relatively higher risk assessments in various work activities, but they are less likely to affect work injuries. More frequent drinking behavior leads to a positive effect of job risk perception and workplace injuries. Regular smoking with frequent drinking for high income classes, however, have significantly reduced the chance of work injuries. Furthermore, establishing smoking-designated area at the workplace makes workers reduce workplace accidents positively. Therefore, the network effect of smoking and drinking behaviors in private circle levels is suggested to extend into public and constructive activies at the workplace levels for sharing useful and productive information, which will eventually reduce workplace injuries dramatically.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.409-418
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• 2011

Objective: This study was performed to evaluate the child-care teachers' job in relation to physical work. Background: Child-care teacher is directly related to the quality of child care. And their physical activity is higher than general education teachers because the proportion of day care is high. But analyzes of child-care teachers' job burdens and the work environment associated with physical activity is not well established. Method: To conduct this study, the child-care teachers' job was classified into 18 physical works. After classification, posture was evaluated by ergonomic posture evaluation schemes of OWAS, RULA, REBA and evaluated for each physical part. Next, musculoskeletal subjective symptoms were analyzed. Results: The results showed the following: The highest assessment on the posture evaluation was "helping children to ride a school bus", "feeding: meal/snack", "brushing children's teeth" and "arrangement of nap-stuff". The rank of high-risk assessment on the neck/trunk/leg part was arranged by: "feeding: meal/snack", "helping children to ride a school bus", "making nap", "arrangement nap-stuff" and "brushing children's teeth". The rank of high-risk assessment on the upper limbs part was arranged by: "helping children to ride a school bus", "the bust - group activity", "meal/snack time - preparing, feeding, arrangement", "nap time - preparing, arrangement", "brushing children's teeth", and "using the toilet". According to the results of each musculoskeletal subjective symptom, teachers ordered the pain area as follows: waist, shoulder, leg/feet, and neck, and they showed more pain on trunk than the upper limbs. Conclusion: To sum up the results from ergonomic posture evaluation and a subjective symptom, the following are high working pressures: "feeding: meal/snack", "the bust - group activity", "making nap", "brushing children's teeth" with deep bending and waist twisting, "helping children to ride a school bus", "brushing children's teeth" with lifting shoulder; "meal/snack time - preparing, arrangement", "nap time - preparing, arrangement", and "using the toilet" with moving or an up-down position in their job. Application: The results of this study might be information for improvement of the child-care teachers' job environment.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2010

The Finnish risk assessment practice is based on the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act aiming to improve working conditions in order maintain the employees' work ability, and to prevent occupational accidents and diseases. In practice there are hundreds of risk assessment methods in use. A simple method is used in small and medium sized enterprises and more complex risk evaluation methods in larger work places. Does the risk management function in the work places in Finland? According to our experience something more is needed. That is, understanding of common and company related benefits of risk management. The wider conclusion is that commitment for risk assessment in Finland is high enough. However, in those enterprises where OSH management was at an acceptable level or above it, there were also more varied and more successfully accomplished actions to remove or reduce the risks than in enterprises, where OSH management was in lower level. In risk assessment it is important to process active technical prevention and exact communication, increase work place attraction and increase job satisfaction and motivation. Investments in OSH are also good business. Low absenteeism due to illness or accidents increases directly the production results by improved quality and quantity of the product. In general Finnish studies have consistently shown that the return of an invested euro is three to seven-old. In national level, according to our calculations the savings could be even 20% of our gross national product.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.865-874
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• 2020

Offshore drilling units have a very dangerous working conditions due to the harsh working environment of the ocean and the high possibility of fire or explosion. This study would identify the hazards that emerge from the marine environment in the operation and maintenance phase of offshore drilling units and show how these hazards can be reduced through risk assessment/management. Various risk reduction and management measures were first reviewed, and Job Safety Analysis (JSA) was selected as the risk assessment technique of this study. In order to understand the characteristics of offshore drilling operations, accident statistics of onshore and offshore drilling were analyzed and compared with each other, and major risk factors for offshore drilling were derived. The jobs in which offshore drilling accidents occur more frequently than onshore drilling was analyzed as the job of fastening, transporting and moving pipes and various materials. This result is due to the limited space of the ocean and the work environment that is prone to being shaken by wind, waves and ocean currents. Based on these statistical results, the job of picking and making up drill pipes was selected as a high-risk job, and JSA was performed as an example. A detailed safety check procedure is proposed so that workers can fully recognize the danger and perform work in a safe state that has been confirmed.