• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.331-345
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• 2014

Objectives: The exponential growth of chemicals, an area of high concern in developed countries like the US (i.e., the Gore Initiative) and in the EU (i.e., REACH), as well as recent chemical accidents in Korea, have provoked nationwide concerns and resultant legal enforcement. This study aims to compare the laws of the Ministry of Environment (the Chemical Substances Control Act (CSCA), Act on the Registration and Evaluation, etc. of Chemical Substances (ARECS)) with those of the Ministry of the Employment and Labor (Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)). Methods: Each law pertaining to the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of the Employment and Labor was downloaded from the official legal information system (www.law.go.kr). The objectives of each law and the major contents related to chemical management were compared and summarized. Results: The CSCA and the ARECS are focused on the protection of people and the environment, while the OSHA relates to the protection of workers. The right to know of people and workers has been reinforced. The former two laws emphasize prevention, but the OSHA contains both preventive and post-accident measures. The role of the Ministry of Employment was reinforced with the promulgation of the CSCA and ARECS, which contain regulations such as adjacent area impact evaluation, risk control planning, chemical statistical survey and construction and operation of information, provision of risk control plans, response to chemical accidents and registration of chemical substances. Conclusion: We found that the three laws discussed here have several similar clauses designed to protect people and the environment from risks that may be caused by the use of chemicals, even though there are some differences among them in terms of objectives and contents. This review concluded that several clauses that can be regarded as double regulation should be unified in order to minimize the waste of government administrative resources and socio-economic losses.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.59-70
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• 2012

This study compared data regarding industrial accidents and awareness level for beauty product safety for four main parts of beauty industry such as hair-care, nail-care, skin-care, and make-up. Major risk factors in beauty industry are dust, musculoskeletal disorders, and organic solvent of beauty product in order of percentage. The specific types of industrial accidents in beauty industry are mainly associated with musculoskeletal system such as cuts, sprain, and varicose vein. They are mainly compensated by personal budget. The awareness levels of chemical and heavy metal containment for beauty product by beauty industry employee were 77.2% and 59.1% respectively. Most employee confirmed only important items of labelling requirement of beauty product. Also, most employee did not understand MSDS(Materila Safety Data) for chemicals used in beauty industry. Only 38.1% of beauty industry employee has had safety education while most employee (73.6%) realized that they needed safety education. Also, safety education supervised by KOSHA(Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency) was the most preferred. This study would be good basis for safe and healthy working environment of beauty industry employee.

• International Journal of Quality Innovation
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.69-82
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• 2006

Organisations worldwide strive to develop their management systems for business functions, ranging from quality and environment to safety, information security and social responsibility. During the latest decade a considerable amount of these efforts has been concentrated on introducing and applying standards such as the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. The need for Integrated Management Systems (IMS) often arises as a result of decisions to implement Environmental Management System (EMS) and/or an occupational health and safety management system in addition to a Quality Management System (QMS). At the end of 2003, approximately 3200 organisations in Sweden had an ISO 9001 certificate, and approximately 3400 organisations had a certificate based on an EMS. Dealing with separate management systems and ensuring that they align with the organisation's strategies and goals, has proved difficult. Owing to the large number of organisations certified according to multiple types of systems, an increasing number of organisations are establishing IMS. There are examples of companies, which chose to integrate EMS and QMS into a co-ordinated implementation approach, and although sparse, the research within this area indicates potential benefits of using an integrated approach. This paper presents both a theoretical and an empirical investigation with the aim to elucidate problems related to the integration of management systems. Furthermore, the paper will present recommendations for succeeding in such integrations and, hence, contributing to an increased understanding on how IMSs should be designed and implemented.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.149-153
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• 2003

Recently, work-related musculoskeletal disorders(WMSDs) are one of major issues in occupational safety and health in Korea. Main risk factors of WMSDs include manual handling of heavy weight loads, awkward posture, repetitive tasks, Prolonged static muscle contraction, and so on. The number of injured workers has rapidly increased and the related regulation was amended to improve the work conditions and environments. And demands for workers' compensation and improvement of work conditions and environment to prevent WMSDs have increasingly been raised. This study focused on managerial system to prevent WMSDs. Literal survey and questionnaire survey were accomplished to propose a management system in Korea for preventing WMSDs.

• 한국가스학회:학술대회논문집
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• no.5
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• pp.89-94
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• 2002

• Proceedings of the Safety Management and Science Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.69-80
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• 2008

현재 우리나라는 1997년 7월부터 KOSHA18001 인증제도를 운영하여 사업장의 안전보건경영시스템 구축을 지원하고 있다. 그러나 사업장 규모에 따라 그 수준이 현저하게 차이가 있을 뿐만 아니라 안전보건경영시스템의 평가기준이 복잡하고, 어렵기 때문에 담당자들이 시스템 인식에 어려움을 겪고 있다. 특히, 중소규모 사업장은 한정된 자원과 인력으로 자율안전보건경영체제를 구축하기에는 더욱 어려움이 크다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 국내 중소규모 사업장의 자율안전보건경영체제 구축을 지원하기 위해 선진국의 안전보건경영 관련 사례와 국내 사업장의 의견을 바탕으로, 중소규모 사업장용 안전보건경영시스템 인증기준(안)을 개발하였다.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.222-229
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• 2018

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate gas concentrations such as oxygen in ginger storage tunnels, which are the causes of asphyxiation in confined spaces and suggest directions for safety and health management at ginger farms. Methods: Five farms in the Seosan and Taean areas which use underground ginger storage tunnels were chosen and examined with a walk-through survey and direct reading device for oxygen, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and carbon monoxide. Results: The oxygen concentration in the storage tunnels with no ventilation was found to be under 18% in summer, which may cause health effects. The concentration in those with ventilation was about 19%. The difference in temperature by measurement day had little effect on the concentration of oxygen. Conclusions: Even though some of farms had used compulsory ventilation systems, none of the farms visited possessed any direct reading device for oxygen. Warning systems using a direct reading device can be more effective, helpful, and required compared to ventilation, considering the difficulty and expense of periodical maintenance of ventilation systems and the fact that a farmer can be placed in danger when unaware of the malfunction of the ventilation system. In addition, a warning system may make farmers more cognitive of agricultural safety and health actions while a ventilation system can cause them to become passive and ignorant of workplace hazards.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.58-71
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• 2015

Objectives: The aims of this study were to investigate the classification system of chemical substances in the Occupational Safety and Health Act(OSHA) and Chemical Substances Control Act(CSCA) and to compare several health indices (i.e., Time Weighted Average (TWA), Lethal Dose ($LD_{50}$), and Lethal Concentration ($LC_{50}$) of chemical substances by categories in each law. Methods: The chemicals regulated by each law were classified by the specific categories provided in the respective law; seven categories for OSHA (chemicals with OELs, chemicals prohibited from manufacturing, etc., chemicals requiring approval, chemicals kept below permissible limits, chemicals requiring workplace monitoring, chemicals requiring special management, and chemicals requiring special heath diagnosis) and five categories from the CSCA(poisonous substances, permitted substances, restricted substances, prohibited substances, and substances requiring preparation for accidents). Information on physicochemical properties, health indices including CMR characteristics, $LD_{50}$ and $LD_{50}$ were searched from the homepages of the Korean Occupational and Safety Agency and the National Institute of Environmental Research, etc. Statistical analysis was conducted for comparison between TWA and health index for each category. Results: The number of chemicals based on CAS numbers was different from the numbers of series of chemicals listed in each law because of repeat listings due to different names (e.g., glycol monoethylether vs. 2-ethoxy ethanol) and grouping of different chemicals under the same serial number(i.e., five different benzidine-related chemicals were categorized under one serial number(06-4-13) as prohibited substances under the CSCA). A total of 722 chemicals and 995 chemicals were listed at the OSHA and its sub-regulations and CSCA and its sub-regulations, respectively. Among these, 36.8% based on OSHA chemicals and 26.7% based on CSCA chemicals were regulated simultaneously through both laws. The correlation coefficients between TWA and $LC_{50}$ and between TWA and $LD_{50}$, were 0.641 and 0.506, respectively. The geometric mean values of TWA calculated by each category in both laws have no tendency according to category. The patterns of cumulative graph for TWA, $LD_{50}$, $LC_{50}$ were similar to the chemicals regulated by OHSA and CCSA, but their median values were lower for CCSA regulated chemicals than OSHA regulated chemicals. The GM of carcinogenic chemicals under the OSHA was significantly lower than non-CMR chemicals($2.21mg/m^3$ vs $5.69mg/m^3$, p=0.006), while there was no significant difference in CSCA chemicals($0.85mg/m^3$ vs $1.04mg/m^3$, p=0.448). $LC_{50}$ showed no significant difference between carcinogens, mutagens, reproductive toxic chemicals and non-CMR chemicals in both laws' regulated chemicals, while there was a difference between carcinogens and non-CMR chemicals in $LD_{50}$ of the CSCA. Conclusions: This study found that there was no specific tendency or significant difference in health indicessuch TWA, $LD_{50}$ and $LC_{50}$ in subcategories of chemicals as classified by the Ministry of Labor and Employment and the Ministry of Environment. Considering the background and the purpose of each law, collaboration for harmonization in chemical categorizing and regulation is necessary.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.1-5
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• 2013

Notorious press machine bothers employers by causing so many industrial accidents which are mostly of caught-in or between type. In 2008, press machines caused 1665 cases of such type of accidents, which reached about 11% of all those. Even though various approaches has been adopted to prevent those press machine accidents, up to now, no one was found to be satisfactory. In this study, two kinds of companies, accident-occurred and accident-free by press machine, were surveyed to find out positive and negative factors for accidents prevention. 400 companies which experienced accidents in 2008 and 200 companies which did not experience accident at all during the same period were selected for this survey. Most of these companies are small companies that employ less than 50 employees. Even though small companies are exempted from legal obligations to have a safety management system for accident prevention, we surveyed about safety management systems of those companies because of its crucial importance for accident prevention including whether they appointed safety managers and various supervisors. Awareness and efforts for safety of employers and employees were also measured. Results were analysed by the method of cross tabulation analysis. Main findings of this study are as follows. Most accident-occurred companies did not appoint any safety manager or supervisor. While it is recommended that the workplace of high accident rate have a safety manager. In addition, as less employers' effort for safety was made in accident-occurred companies in order to prevent accidents during press processing, the author proposes an amendment to the relevant law. Finally, the most referred reason for the negligence of hazard is the cumbersomeness in installing safeguards.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.68-77
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• 1993

To evaluate efficiencies of the local exhaust systems installed in chromiun and nickel eletroplating tanks, specifications of each tank and general performances of the local exhaust systems were measured in 16 electroplating plants from July 3 to November 24, 1992. Airborne concentrations of total chromium, hexa-chromium and nickel were also measured, Most of the local exhaust systems installed in electroplating plants were inadequately designed. Average capture velocities of local exhaust systems in chromium and nickel tanks were 0.45 m/sec and 0.29 m/sec. Average slot velocities in chromium and nickel tanks were 7.30 m/sec and 2.87 m/sec repectively. Both average capture and solt velocities were in noncompliance with the standards recommened by American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Exhausted air volume was insufficient in all local exhaust systems surveyed. Worker exposure levels to total chromium, hexa-chromium and nickel were $43.0{\mu}g/m^3$, $1.7{\mu}g/m^3$ and $9.3{\mu}g/m^3$, which were below the Korean Standard and U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OHSA) Permissible Exposure Limit(REL). However, Worker exposure level to hexa-chromium exceeded the NIOSH Recommended Exposure Limit(REL) of $1{\mu}g/m^3$. As the result of Scheffee's multiple comparions, worker exposure levels to all metals were significantly different between two groups by the management state of existing local exhaust systems (p<0.05). However, Difference between a group with local exhaust systems which were poorly managed and another group without local exhaust system was satatistically non-significant.