• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.168-176
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• 2011

Objectives: Hundreds of thousands of call center workers are wearing an acoustic device for their businesses, such as telemarketing and customer counseling, and the number of the workers are increasing sharply. Because call center workers always talk to dozens of customers over the headset, they would be placed under the state of a higher risk with their hearing ability. The purpose of this study is to investigate factors that affect the hearing thresholds for the call center workers. Methods: This study investigated hearing losses of 101 workers of 5 call centers in Korea by executing puretone audiometry and self-administered questionnaires. A cross table analysis was processed to compare gender differences between male and female. Male and female hearing thresholds were compared with the Students' t-test, and one-way ANOVA was conducted to observe the difference between non-occupational and occupational characteristics in 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 kHz hearing thresholds for the female workers. Additionally, multiple regression analysis was conducted to find the factors that affect the 4 kHz hearing thresholds. Results and Conclusions: Male hearing thresholds were higher than those of female except for 8 kHz. In the group having an ear related disease, hearing threshold of male left ear was highly affected rather than that of female in 4 kHz. There were significant differences in the variables of alcohol drinking (2 kHz) and headset volume (8 kHz) in both ears. While this study does not show any significant factors that affect the hearing thresholds in the occupational characteristics, the gender and the previous ear related diseases, non-occupational characteristics, were found as the factors in 4 kHz. It is suggested that the more detailed survey be performed to identify the occupational factors that affect the hearing thresholds in the call center workers based on the result derived from this study.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.427-436
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• 2015

Objective: This study aims to analyze occupational accidents of parking lot attendants by parking lot type. Background: Recently, efforts are made to analyze accident characteristics by occupation type targeting the workers engaged in the same work. Method: This study analyzes 303 occupational accidents of parking lot attendants occurring from 2010 to 2012. Parking lots are grouped into two groups according to the work environment. One is public/ground type which comprises road side or open area parking lots and the other is building/mechanical type which comprises a multi-story parking building with connecting ramps and/or mechanical parking system. The characteristics of occupational accidents by parking lot type are analyzed. Results: Accident characteristics showed the difference between public/ground type and building/mechanical type on the size of enterprise, age, gender and work experience of the injured. Also the accident type, source of accident and parts of body affected are different between the two parking lot types. Conclusion and Application: The findings of accident characteristics according to parking lot types can be used as baseline data for establishing systemized preventative policies for occupational accidents of parking lot attendants.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.83-89
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• 2012

In order for start-up establishment to enter the business market, it has to get over the first mover advantage of the existing establishment. As a result, its working condition deteriorates and a great deal of occupational accidents take place. Based on 2009 standard, the occupational accident rate of start-up establishment is 1.28%, which is two times higher than existing establishment and the gap between manufacturing and service industry has been getting wide. For the characteristic of injured person in start-up establishment, it is showed that the occupancy rate of women and people with less than 30 age starting out in a career is high and the occupancy rate of occupational accident for holiday and night work is high. Therefore, the act for occupational accident prevention is needed in the early period of business and underprivileged group for occupational accident.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.11-26
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• 2024

Purpose : This study investigated the empowerment, burnout, and job satisfaction levels among occupational therapists, and to ascertained the effects of empowerment and burnout on job satisfaction. The study aimed to provide foundational data to help increase job satisfaction among occupational therapists. Methods : We surveyed 180 occupational therapists working in the Jeollabuk-do. The survey included 49 questions covering general characteristics, empowerment, burnout, and job satisfaction. Differences in empowerment, burnout, and job satisfaction levels based on general characteristics were analyzed using independent sample t-tests and one-way ANOVA. We performed multiple regression analyses to ascertain the effects of empowerment and burnout on job satisfaction. Results : The average scores for job satisfaction, burnout, and empowerment were 40.32, 58.40, 41.82, respectively. Job satisfaction according to general characteristics showed statistically significant differences based on the annual income and the most difficult treatment. We found that empowerment factors such as perceived importance of the job confidence in one's abilities, and independence and autonomy in job performance, significantly affected job satisfaction. However, the most significant factor influencing job satisfaction was daily fatigue and stress. Conclusion : Job empowerment and burnout of significantly affected job satisfaction among occupational therapists. Occupational therapists have a effect on the daily lives of their clients through interventions, playing a crucial role for each individual client. Thus, increasing the empowerment and job satisfaction levels of occupational therapists and reducing their burnout levels can help improve the quality of life of the clients and enable occupational therapists to provide high-quality services.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.244-256
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• 2012

Objectives: This study was conducted to assess the level of depression and its association with sociodemographic characteristics and health related characteristics, job-related characteristics, sleep quality, occupational stress among manufacturing male immigrant worker in Korea. Methods: Total number of subject were 287 workers employed in 19 manufacturing industry. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used to assess each responder's sociodemographic and health related characteristics, job-related characteristics, sleep quality (PSQI), Korean occupational stress (KOSS), Depression (CES-D). The job stress questionna ire was used according to KOSS-26 and depression symptoms were measured using CES-D, which was translated into Korean. We used multiple logistic regression analysis to assess the relationship between risk factors included job stress, sleep quality and depression. Results: The prevalence of depression in survey subjects was 63.9%and poor group (PSQI) (5 point and over at PSQI score)among all subjects were 83.28%. Adjusting for confounding factor, higher the occupational stress (KOSS), depression levels were significantly higher (${\beta}=0.5575$), worse quality of sleep, the more depressed the level was slightly high ${\beta}=0.118$) did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: The prevalence of depressive symptoms among the study subjects was higher than that among the Korean workers. Especially, the level of depression was more influenced by occupational stress than quality of sleep. Therefore, the author recommend to prepare the effective strategy for reducing the depression and also reducing the occupational stress among immigrant male workers, and the author consider that it need to support the convenient working environment such as consultation for difficulty or health care among immigrant male workers.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.61-70
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• 1997

This study is undertaken to investigate the differences of accident characteristics between occupational deaths and nonfatal injuries in overall industry of Korea. The national statistics of industrial accidents in the years 1991-1994 were extracted from the annual publications of Ministry of Labor. To make the statistical comparisons for the accident characteristics, we derived the destributions of occupational deaths and injuries in terms of injured person's age, work experience, tiem of accident, activity at time of accident, accident type, injury type, injured part of body, and agency of accident. The results show that the distributions of the occupational deaths are significantly different from those of the nonfatal injuries in all characteristics investigated in this study. These findings indicate that the accident prevention programs should be developed and implemented by taking into account the characteristics of working environments based on accident analysis.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.81-93
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• 1994

The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences in individuals and family characteristics between general and vocational high school female students, and the impacts of the characteristics on the their occupational outlook. The number of 792 female students in 4 general and 5 vocational high schools in Chongju area were sampled during September 6-10, 1993. There are more differences in family characteristics rather than individual characteristics between two types of high school female students. Both family and individual characteristics influence the occupational outlooks of the respondents. Therefore, the types of school affect their occupational outlooks. Over 50% of vocational students want to have a junior college education.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.34
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• pp.31.1-31.14
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• 2022

Background: This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) in occupational disease claims and identify patterns of WRMSDs for each body part by industry and occupation. Methods: This study analyzed the raw data of occupational disease claims for musculoskeletal disorders deliberated by the Occupational Disease Decision Committee of the Korea Workers' Compensation & Welfare Service in 2020. The data was classified into 6 body parts with the highest numbers of occupational disease cases by using the complete enumeration data on principal diagnoses and 4 types of subdiagnoses in the raw data. The characteristics and approval rates of WRMSDs by body part, industry and occupation were examined and summarized. Results: A total of 13,015 occupational disease cases for WRMSDs were classified, and lumbar spinal (back) diseases accounted for the largest proportion of claimed diseases, followed by shoulder, elbow, wrist, knee, and neck diseases in a descending order. The occupations with the highest and second highest numbers of occupational disease cases by body part were found to be automobile assemblers and production-related elementary workers for the neck, school meal service workers and cooks for the back, construction frame mold carpenters and school meal service workers for the shoulder, elementary workers in mining and food service workers for the elbow, food service workers and automobile parts assemblers for the wrist, and ship welders and school meal service workers for the knee. Conclusions: This study examined the characteristics and approval status of WRMSDs by body part and occupation. Based on the study results, management strategies for the prevention of WRMSDs should be established regarding occupations with a high risk of WRMSDs for each body part.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.1-20
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• 1992

The purpose of this study was to investigate(Ⅰ) the effect of a masculine-feminine image in women's suit on the perception of the wearer's occupational characteristics and suitability of the clothing for certain occupations, and (2) the effect of perceiver's sex, sex-role attitudes, and occupation on the perception formed by the function of clothing cues. The research design of the study consisted of 2(pink and navy blue colors) × 4(masculine and feminine forms) factorial design of a suit. The experimental materials developed for this study were a set of stiuli and 2 response scales. The stimuli consisted of 8 drawings of woman's clothing made by systematic manipulations of 2 independent variables(color and form) in drawings of suit. The dependent variables were the perceptions of the wearer's occupational characteristics and suitability of the masculine or feminine clothing for certain occupations. Occupational characteristics were measured with a 7-point semantic differential scale composed of 21 bipolar adjectives. Perception of ccupational suitability was assessed with 12 items of 5-point Likert type questions. In addition, the Bem Sex-role Inventory was used to assess perceiver's sex-role attitudes. The subjects consisted of 393 men and 389 women, whose occupations were classified as professionals, secondary school teachers, and white-collar workers. They were randomly assigned to one of 8 suit. The data were analyzed by factor analysis, MANOVA, ANOVA, Mean and S.D. Three factors emerged to account for the perception of occupational characteristics. These factors were given the titles of (1) activity, (2) potency, and (3) evaluation factors. The activity factor was the largest, including 9 adjectives. Differences in the form of the suit had effects on potency and evaluation for both sexes, while it also had some effect on activity for women. The color of the suit had some effect on evaluation for both sexes. Strong effects of color and form on the suit were seen in perception of occupational suitability for the occupations of attorney(masculine) and secretary(feminine). On suitability for secondary school teaching occupation, the effects of color and form of suit differed by sex of the subjects. Perceiver's sex-role attitudes and occupation paritally influenced the perception of the wearer's occupational characteristics and suitability of the clothing for certain occupations. In summary, a masculine-feminine image of clothing had a significant effect on the perception of occupational characteristics as well as on suitability of the clothing for certain occupations. Thus, the results of the study support the implicit personality theory on person perception and also the stereotypes of sex-roles on the perception of occupational suitability.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.156-163
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• 2012

Objectives: The aim of the present study was undertaken to investigate the association between communication for chemical hazard information and characteristics of occupational safety and health managers. Subjects and Methods: We surveyed 78 occupational safety and health managers(64 male and 14 female) in 78 chemical manufacturing plants. Data were obtained using a self-reported questionnaire about size and type of company, products, communication system for chemicals and work-related characteristics of occupational safety and health managers. All analyses in this study were performed using SPSS program 12.0. Results: 64.1% of the study participants were occupational health managers aged 39.3 years on average and were graduated from college and university around 90%. 30.0% and of them were majoring in chemistry (engineering chemistry), 18.0% occupational health, 16% nursing and 30.0% others. Occupational safety managers were aged 39.4 years on average, 42.9% of them were majoring in chemistry (engineering chemistry), 21.4% environmental engineering, 10.7% occupational safety and 25% others. 86% of occupational health managers and 71.4% of occupational safety managers were classified as office job. Over 94% of the hazards information for chemicals were delivered by occupational safety and health managers, but about 28.2% workers preferred outside experts who have a profound knowledge about occupational safety and health and understandable. Occupational safety and health managers and workers had difficulties in understanding toxicological information, hazards identification, stability/reactivity, composition/information on ingredients, physical/chemical properties and ecological information. On multiple logistic regression analysis for the 16 heading of material safety data sheet, content of material safety data sheet was significantly associated with education level (odds ratio=0.286, 95% confidence interval=0.105-0.780). The hazard identification (odds ratio=3.947, 95% confidence interval=1.092-14.271) and toxicological information (odds ratio=0.841, 95% confidence interval=0.705-0.998) were significantly associated with type of occupation. Conclusions: This finding implies that the education level, type of occupation and speciality of occupational safety and health managers may affects hazards information delivery.