• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.97-107
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• 2013

Occupational safety and health management expense in construction industry means the monetary amount that the purchaser appropriates to prevent various disaster from happening during the construction period by setting aside a certain amount from subcontract based on the construction type and scale. The current appropriation standard of the Ministry of Employment and Labor has been enforced since its stipulation in 1988 although various policy changes for the safety in construction industry, e.g. the development of occupational safety management techniques in construction industry, changes in construction field site environment, cost depreciation, etc., are happening in Korea and overseas. Therefore, it is required at this point to examine whether the current occupational safety and health management expense appropriation is proper or not on the basis of time trend and the changes in the construction industry environment. Accordingly, this study aims at investigating the appropriation of occupational safety and health management expense for construction industry by the construction type and target expense in response to current construction industry environment and proposing the proper appropriation. The above research result proposes the calibration of the appropriation as specified and stipulated by the Ministry of Employment and Labor by the construction type and target expense, which is necessary to reflect the actual condition of the current construction industry environment.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.322-335
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• 2019

Objectives: The goal of this study is to standardize industry, process, and job within work environment measurement information. Methods: We selected 180 work environment measurement reports on 30 industries from a database monitored from 2014 to 2016 by the Korea Industrial Health Association. Ten industrial hygienists, each with over five years of experience in measurement, conducted a primary standardization of 180 reports. Two professional industrial hygienists with more than 20 years of experience each reviewed and revised the results of the primary standardization. We also examined the validity on the usefulness of the standardized database by the two industrial hygienists. Results: The final standardization results were classified into eight major categories, 23 sub-major categories, 39 minor categories, 53 unit categories and 70 sub-unit categories in the Korean Standard Industrial Classification (KSIC) 10th revision. A total of 161 processes were standardized, and there were 148 processes with K2B codes. Standard job was coded into 13 job groups including operator, automobile maintenance, nurse, maintenance, manager, excavating machine operator, forklift driver, radiologist, clinical pathologist, signer, researcher, kitchen assistant, and concrete reinforcement ironworker. Conclusions: Although the standardized information in this study may be only a part of the total information, it can be useful for improvement of the K2B system. Additional research is needed for an ongoing clean-up of data in the K2B and re-calibration and reclassification of standard processes until the future national exposure monitoring system is fully established.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2010

Evidences supporting gene-environment interaction are accumulating in terms of environmental exposure including lifestyle factors and related genetic variants. One form of defense mechanism against cancer development involves a series of genes whose role is to metabolize (activation/detoxification) and excrete potentially toxic compounds and to repair subtle mistakes in DNA. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief review of the notion of gene-environment interaction, environmental/occupational carcinogens and related cancers, and previous studies of gene-environment interaction on cancers caused by exposure to carcinogenesis. With a number of studies on the interaction between lifestyle factors (e.g., smoking and diet) and genetic polymorphisms in genes involved in xenobiotic metabolism and DNA repair excluded, only several studies have been conducted on the interactive effects between polymorphisms of CYPs, GSTs, ERCCs, XRCCs and environmental/occupational carcinogens such as vinyl chloride, benzo[a]pyrene, and chloroform on carcinogenesis or genotoxicity. Future studies may need to be conducted with sufficient number of subjects and based on occupational cohorts to provide useful information in terms of advanced risk assessment and regulation of exposure level.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.93-102
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• 2023

Objectives: With the evolution of direct reading sensors, it is possible to monitor several substances through telecommunication. However, there are some limitations on the use of direct reading technologies in the Occupational Safety and Health Act in South Korea, which only applies to detector tubes, noise, heat, and carbon monoxides. The number of chemicals and their amount of use have been continuously increasing in South Korea. The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MoEL) has concerns about worker's health because exposure is only covered for about 1.2% of all distributed chemicals. Using a direct reading monitor with photoionization detectors (PID-DRMs), gases and vapors chemicals can be measured. Based on the data, business owners are able to create corrective strategies, provide better working routines, and select correct respiratory equipment. PID-DRMs are less expensive and easier to handle for an owner voluntarily controlling chemicals emitted in the workplace. However, there are several limitations on using these PID-DRMs to the degree that the MoEL has not been able to select a legal monitor. The aim of this study was to review previous studies related to PID-DRMs and identify the characterization and limitation on PID-DRMs. Methods: To search for related studies on PID-DRMs, key words were used including direct reading monitors/instruments and/or photoionization detectors. Through that, four domestic and 15 international studies were reviewed. Results: Studies on PID-DRMs were conducted by chamber (enclosed, dynamic, walk-in) and in the field (experimental environment, actual environment). The concentration of PID-DRMs and charcoal tubes were compared for a single substance or mixture, or within the PID-DRMs. There was a high correlation between the two concentrations, but it did not meet the accuracy criteria (95% confidence interval, within 25%) of the NIOSH technical report (2012). In addition, differences in measured values occurred according to environmental factors (temperature, humidity) and high concentration, and concentration values tended to be underestimated due to contamination of the sensor. As a way to improve the accuracy of PID concentration, it was proposed to use correction factors, charcoal tube-based correction factors, or to calibrate the PID-DRMs in the same environment as the workplace. Conclusions: PID-DRMs can likely be used by business owners for the purpose of voluntarily managing the workplace environment, and it is expected that it will be possible to use them as legal equipment if a PID sensor can be upgraded and the limitations of the sensor (temperature, humidity, high concentration evaluation, sensor pollution) can be overcome in the near future.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.97-104
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• 2017

Objectives: This study aims to suggest definitions in accordance with the purpose of the permissible limit system in order to suggest criteria for substances with permissible exposure limits and expanded candidate substances under the Occupational Safety and Health Act in Korea. Methods: The occupational safety and health related acts from six countries were researched, including from Korea. To understand the health hazards of substances with permissible exposure limits, health hazards were prioritized for 211 substances through working environment measurement on the basis of KOSHA's preceding research. Results: To suggest criteria for substances with permissible exposure limits and expanded candidate substances, definitions were suggested in accordance with the purpose of the permissible limit system. Based on the health hazard priorities for the working environment, selection criteria were identified. Conclusions: Three suggestions for substances with permissible exposure limits were proposed including substances where occurred serious health hazards such as carcinogenicity, germ cell mutagenicity, and reproductive toxicity to workers.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.126-137
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• 2008

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in gender related to health status, occupational environment, occupational safety and health and hazardous chemicals use of migrant workers in Korea. Method: The survey was conducted in clinics that provided free healthcare services for migrant workers. Of the 413 respondents, 66.3% were males and 33.7% were females. Result: In the case of male migrant workers, many worker were not fluent in Korean, had illegal status in the country, and had moved jobs frequently. There were many cases in which migrant workers worked in small-scale enterprises and worked long hours. Job stress score was high for many workers and they dealt with heavy materials and risky machines. Many workers had not received proper occupational health and safety education and those that were previously injured had repeated injuries. Among the female migrant workers, many worker received low salary and shift work was common. Many worker complained of gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal illnesses and treated toxic substances. Conclusion: As a result, it will be necessary to focus on the strategies for decreasing occupational injuries from physical risk factors for males and from chemical risk factors for female migrant workers.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.105-115
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• 2017

Background: The goal of this study is to develop a general population job-exposure matrix (GPJEM) on asbestos to estimate occupational asbestos exposure levels in the Republic of Korea. Methods: Three Korean domestic quantitative exposure datasets collected from 1984 to 2008 were used to build the GPJEM. Exposure groups in collected data were reclassified based on the current Korean Standard Industrial Classification ($9^{th}$ edition) and the Korean Standard Classification of Occupations code ($6^{th}$ edition) that is in accordance to international standards. All of the exposure levels were expressed by weighted arithmetic mean (WAM) and minimum and maximum concentrations. Results: Based on the established GPJEM, the 112 exposure groups could be reclassified into 86 industries and 74 occupations. In the 1980s, the highest exposure levels were estimated in "knitting and weaving machine operators" with a WAM concentration of 7.48 fibers/mL (f/mL); in the 1990s, "plastic products production machine operators" with 5.12 f/mL, and in the 2000s "detergents production machine operators" handling talc containing asbestos with 2.45 f/mL. Of the 112 exposure groups, 44 groups had higher WAM concentrations than the Korean occupational exposure limit of 0.1 f/mL. Conclusion: The newly constructed GPJEM which is generated from actual domestic quantitative exposure data could be useful in evaluating historical exposure levels to asbestos and could contribute to improved prediction of asbestos-related diseases among Koreans.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.324-338
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• 2021

Background: We hypothesized that the growing demand of Korean workers for work-life balance would change the factors influencing job satisfaction. We sought to verify our hypothesis by conducting a conjoint analysis based on the Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS). Methods: We analyzed the raw data of the KWCS, conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute from 2006 to 2017. To complete the analysis, we counted on a conjoint model of analysis, typically used in the analysis of customer satisfaction. The dependent variable was the satisfaction of workers with their working conditions, and the independent variables were the job quality indicators identified by Eurofound. Results: The factors that have the greatest impact on working conditions satisfaction are summarized as follows: "physical environment" for the first wave, "adverse social behavior" for the second wave, "occupational status" for the third and fourth waves, and "management quality" for the fifth wave. "Earnings" were not a major factor in determining employee job satisfaction, and the relative importance index is decreasing. Conclusion: According to the results of the analysis of the tendencies of Korean workers, the factors that affect the satisfaction with the working conditions have changed over time. It is crucial to identify factors that affect working conditions to assure the health and productivity of workers. The results of this study demonstrate that policymakers and employers are required to attentively consider human relations and social environment at work to improve working conditions in the future.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.71-76
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• 2012

Malignant mesothelioma is an uncommon but rapidly fatal disease for which the principal aetiological agent is exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma is of particular significance in Australia where asbestos use was very widespread from the 1950s until the 1980s. Exposure to asbestos includes occupational exposure associated with working with asbestos or in workplaces where asbestos is used and also 'take-home' exposure of family members of asbestos exposed workers. Asbestos exposure may also be nonoccupational, occurring as a consequence of using asbestos products in non-occupational contexts and passive exposure is also possible, such as exposure to asbestos products in the built environment or proximity to an environmental source of exposure, for example an asbestos production plant. The extremely long latency period for this disease makes exposure assessment problematic in the context of a mesothelioma registry. OccIDEAS, a recently developed online tool for retrospective exposure assessment, has been adapted for use in the Australian Mesothelioma Registry (AMR) to enable systematic retrospective exposure assessment of consenting cases. Twelve occupational questionnaire modules and one non-occupational module have been developed for the AMR, which form the basis of structured interviews using OccIDEAS, which also stores collected data and provides a framework for generating metrics of exposure.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.156-163
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• 2013

Objectives: Numerous poisonous substances are used in paint manufacture, but there are differences in the results of GHS classification between the Ministry of Labor(MOL) and the Ministry of Environment(MOE). Therefore, paint manufacturers suffer confusion as to how to classify a given chemical's risk and hazard level. This paper was designed to compare the classification results of chemicals by the MOL and the MOE and suggest a harmonization measure. Methods: After selecting 25 poisonous substances from among the organic solvents, pigments, and additives used in paint manufacturer, the GHS classification results by MOL and MOE were compared. Further the logic and classification of the GHS proposed by each Ministry was analyzed. Based on the derived results, a harmonization plan was proposed. Results: Based on the GHS classification of the poisonous substances, the concordance is 10.0-66.6 %, excluded flammable liquid. The GHS classifications differed based on the suggested building blocks, the sub-classification method used, the references(data sources), and subjective judgment of the experts from each Ministry. In order to pursue the harmonization plan, cooperation is demanded from the MOL and MOE.