• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.81-90
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• 2006

The Strain Index(SI) has been commonly used to evaluate the musculoskeletal disorders(MSDs) of upper extremities. Recently, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists(ACGIH) adopted the Threshold Limit Value for hand activity level (HAL TLV) focused on the hand, wrist, and forearm. The MSDs risks of 37 repetitive works conducted at an automobile climate control system manufacturing factory were evaluated using both the HAL TLV and the SI, and the results by two methods were compared. Also, measured repetitive frequencies of upper limbs joint were mesured using electromyogram and electrogoniometer. The evaluation results of the HAL were related with the repetitive frequency data of upper limbs joint by electrogoniometer, and the NPF was related with %MVC of ECU. The evaluation result of HAL TLV was highly related with the SI score(r=0.66, p<0.01). Of total 37 tasks, 25 tasks(67.6%) were exceeded the TLV and 34 tasks(91.9%) exceeded the SI limit. Although there was a high relationship between the HAL TLV and SI score, the HAL TLV underestimated the risk in comparison with the SI. The correlation coefficients(r) between the HAL TLV data and the repetitive frequency of upper limbs joint were 0.45~0.55(p<0.01). The MSD symptoms was significantly different between high risk groups and low risk groups evaluated by HAL TLV(p<0.01), but was not different between two groups by SI. In conclusion, the HAL TLV is a proper tool for repetitive works.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 2011

A questionnaire study was carried out to understand the status of performing the risk assessment of work-related musculoskeletal disorders(WMDSs), which is the employers' legal responsibility when the employees are involved in doing tasks with risk factors. Employers or managers from 340 companies and the representative employees from 250 companies participated in the survey. According to the participated employers and employees, 35.0~46.2% of companies had performed the first risk assessment before the end of 2005. However, it is presumed that the real condition might not be as much as the result, because most companies were very reluctant to took part in the survey. It was found that the type of business and size of the company are the main factors affecting the performance of the risk assessment in terms of the performing ratio, method, and so on. The participants were positive in the thought that the assessment would be helpful in preventing msuculoskeletal disorders, while there was a little difference between the employers and employees in the thought that the assessment would be helpful in finding the injuries in the early stage. It was found that it is necessary to modify and improve the definition and criteria of the tasks to be examined in the assessment.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.479-486
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• 2010

Automobile-related industries have been a few of leading ones among domestic industries reporting high rates of musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD's). In this paper, major ergonomic aspects of automobile-related works were reviewed with reference to WMSD's. According to the result, high repeatability of works with as short as 1 minute or less, awkward postures required, excessive forces, and vibrations due to power tools were drawn out as major physical factors. To eliminate or mitigate those factors - at least in automobile-related industries - ergonomic approach has tried for more than a decade. With all, however, ergonomists still seem to confront with several problems to be solved such as development of appropriate assessment tools, enhancement of work improvement activities, system establishment for continuous prevention and management of WMSD's. As lots of previous researches declared, it was concluded that ergonomic approach would collaborate with other approaches such as ndustrial medicine considering physical factors as well as psychosocial factors, and that the necessity of an integrated Occupational Safety and Health Management System(OHSMS) was mentioned.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.83-89
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• 2005

This study aims to compare a self-reported and expert-observed method on ergonomic risk factors of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs). The checklist was developed based on the results of previous studies, and the symptoms of WMSDs were obtained using a self-reported questionnaire from 1,029 shipyard workers. The risk factors were assessed through the self-report by workers and video analysis by ergonomists. The symptom prevalence at the low back (59.2%), shoulders (50.8 %), and knees (49.7%) were relatively higher than those at other body parts. Odds ratios (ORs) by body parts were 2.48 to 2.90 for the risk job, and the ORs were significantly different from those of the low risk job. The risk factor scores by body parts between workers and ergonomist were very high correlation(r=0.82 to 0.92). The rates of self-report from risk job were 54.0% (elbow and arm) to 72.1 % (low back), but sometimes overestimated(105.7 to 122.6%) than those by ergonomists. The checklist, developed in this study, will be an efficient tool for the evaluation of risk jobs using self-report by workers.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.49-61
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• 2008

The objective of this study is to survey the risk factors of greenhouse vegetables farmers' work-related musculoskeletal disorders(MSDs). To offer the fundamental data for agricultural improvement of greenhouse vegetable farms, the questionnaire of MSDs and heath condition were carried out. A group of 736 workers(males=492, females=244) in 6 branches constitutes the population and database for the analysis between 2004 and 2005. The sample branch was chosen based on paper are watermelon, strawberry, tomato, melon, cucumber, lettuce. The results are as follows: 1. Smoking rates in cucumber and tomato is the highest. 2. Drinking rates in strawberry, cucumber and lettuce is the highest in males, watermelon and melon are the highest in females. 3. Regular exercise rates in melon are the highest. 4. Physical and mental fatigue in females is higher than that of males in most crops except melon. That of strawberry and tomato is the highest. 5. The prevalence rates of medical diagnosed diseases are higher in order of osteoarthritis, herniated nucleus pulposus(HNP), and hypertension. That of strawberry, melon, and cucumber is high in case of osteoarthritis; Strawberry, melon, and watermelon are high in case of HNP. 6. Prevalence rates of musculoskeletal symptoms among the various pain areas are higher in order of low back, knees, and shoulders. That of tomato and watermelon is high in case of low back; strawberry and tomato are high in case of knees. These results can be used practically for agricultural improvement of greenhouse vegetables farms to prevent MSDs.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.267-276
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• 2020

Manufacturing workers are easily exposed to the risk of musculoskeletal disorders caused by repetitive tasks in their working environment. This is due to problems with occupational characteristics that repeatedly use the body. However, the current lack of monitoring systems for monitoring and prevention has led to an increase in workers' exposure to risks each year. This paper presents how to solve these problems in real working environment by producing wearable devices using IMU sensors. After wearing a wearable type device, the user's movement is judged through data analysis by receiving the rotation value according to musculoskeletal movement. At this time, the risk is determined by measuring the number of rotations of the user by eliminating bias and eliminating cumulative error, acquiring sophisticated data, and analyzing it in the form of dynamic threshold values. Using the wearable device proposed in this paper, the effect of this method could be checked through a web page measuring the number of rotations for elbow musculoskeletal disorders.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.91-100
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• 2007

The purposes of this research are to survey work-related risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders(MSDs) in various departments and tasks at general hospitals in non-manufacturing sectors, and to use basic data derived from the survey results in preventing work-related MSDs in hospital workers. Investigation started in March of 2006 and continued for 6 months in 220 general hospitals at Seoul, Incheon, Kyeongi, and Kangwon area. Investigators visited and interviewed workers in hospitals to identify the presence of tasks of musculoskeletal burden, the investigation results of ergonomic risk factors required by the Occupational Safety and Health Law, statistical analysis from questionnaire for musculoskeletal symptoms, and major departments and tasks that have such risk factors. Twenty-seven percents of hospitals finished the investigation of ergonomic risk factors, and 69% did not do the investigation while remained 4% did not have such factors in their hospitals. The rank order of major departments that had such musculoskeletal burdens was kitchen rooms of 143, managing departments/computer rooms/dispensaries of 137, physical treatment rooms of 109, nursing departments of 96, radiological and clinical laboratories of 63. Eighteen hospitals that did not hold legal duties by the section 148 of labor minister decree practiced prevention programs of MSDs according to the labor-management cooperation. Nursing departments ranked in the first place for the numbers of musculoskeletal symptoms of 438. Managing departments/computer rooms/dispensaries, kitchen rooms, and medical treatment departments held 127, 52 and 45 symptoms, respectively. The magnitude order of physical symptom areas followed shoulder of 185, backs and waist of 166, hand wrists of 120, necks of 110, and legs/feet of 106. The departments and jobs that had major work-related ergonomic risks were patient transporting, central supplying, patient nursing (moving patients into wheel-chairs, changing of patient posture and sheet alteration), manual transporting, operation, and managing/computer departments.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.535-540
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• 2011

Objective: The aim of this paper is to survey the gender differences Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among agriculture workers. Background: The number of occupational injuries has been decreasing trend in Korea, but it has been increasing in agriculture. The ratio of women worker shows steady increasing trend among the agricultural worker in Korea. Method: This study investigated through the questionnaire to 358 agricultural workers who are working for agriculture located in Gyeongnam, Gyeongbuk and Jeju. Results: The task types occurring frequently and the weight of a heavy object handled according to the sex were showed statistically significant difference. The estimation of WMSDs patients by sex appeared statistically very significant difference. Conclusion: The prevalence rate of WMSDs in female was about 21 percent higher than the prevalence rate of WMSDs in male. Application: The result of this study will help improvement of work environment and prevention of WMSDs in agricultural work.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.136-142
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• 2000

One of the major requirements in preventing Work-related MusculoSkeletal Disorders(WMSDs) is to know definitely what vigorous exertion requirements are contained in a job. This requires improved job analysis tools which can accurately evaluate potentially harmful stresses to the musculoskeletal system. But to simply evaluate the level of stress at a joint, or in a muscle is not enough to motivate job changes. Therefore, the development of ergonomic evaluation tools for the jobs are important to ergonomics. The main objective is compared of the results that made by the ergonomic evaluation tools (e.g., BRIEF and RULA) in actually shoes manufacturing. These were developed in the foreign. So, it is priory needed to research of the ergonomics about Korean characteristic work by physiology and biomechanics.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.134-138
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• 2024

The rapid advancement of technologies within the Fourth Industrial Revolution is expected to bring significant changes to the work environment across industries. While automation and digitalization not only enhance productivity but also health and safety, they also pose new health risks such as isolation, technostress, and musculoskeletal disorders. The rise of remote work and platform labor necessitates strengthening social protections for workers' health rights. To ensure that technological progress leads to better worker health, proactive and comprehensive occupational health policies are essential. Cultivating interdisciplinary expertise in occupational health professionals is also crucial. Industrial hygienists can play a pivotal role in assessing and managing the health impacts of technological changes, as well as bridging the gap between innovation and worker well-being.