• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.331-339
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• 2016

Background: Occupational risk management is known as a catalyst in generating superior returns for all stakeholders on a sustainable basis. A number of companies in Ghana implemented health and safety measures adopted from international companies to ensure the safety of their employees. However, there exist great threats to employees' safety in these companies. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the level of compliance of Occupational Health and Safety management systems and standards set by international and local legislation in power producing companies in Ghana. Methods: The methodology is conducted by administering questionnaires and in-depth interviews as measuring instruments. A random sampling technique was applied to 60 respondents; only 50 respondents returned their responses. The questionnaire was developed from a literature review and contained questions and items relevant to the initial research problem. A factor analysis was also carried out to investigate the influence of some variables on safety in general. Results: Results showed that the significant factors that influence the safety of employees at the hydroelectric power plant stations are: lack of training and supervision, non-observance of safe work procedures, lack of management commitment, and lack of periodical check on machine operations. The study pointed out the safety loopholes and therefore helped improve the health and safety measures of employees in the selected company by providing effective recommendations. Conclusion: The implementation of the proposed recommendations in this paper, would lead to the prevention of work-related injuries and illnesses of employees as well as property damage and incidents in hydroelectric power plants. The recommendations may equally be considered as benchmark for the Safety and Health Management System with international standards.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.431-441
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• 2019

Objectives: The Korean Working Conditions Survey(KWCS), which has been conducted five times over the past 13 years, presents a diverse picture of Korean workers across occupations, genders, and age groups. This study summarized the use of KWCS and explored how to make the most of the KWCS by reviewing published peer-reviewed journal articles employing the KWCS data. Methods: Articles were selected in accordance with PRISMA protocol for a systematic literature review. A total of 155 articles were included in this review. Results: The number of articles utilizing KWCS data has been increasing by year. The articles were published in 40 Korean journals and 16 international journals. The journals were mainly in the field of occupational safety and health and sociology. Keywords of mental health, working conditions survey, workforce, health, exposure to risk factor, and working time were mainly highlighted. The articles were grouped by the goals of the KWCS as stated in the survey. The majority of published articles(129 articles, 83%) aimed to 'analyze relationships between different aspects of working conditions'. Fifteen articles(10%) were intended to 'identify groups at risk and issues of concern.' The number of articles to 'monitor trends' were limited. Conclusions: The findings underline the limited utilization of the KWCS. Attention to the range and scope of utilization of KWCS should be developed to address current challenges in occupational health and safety management and policy issues.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.421-428
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• 2022

Background: The exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation is a significant risk factor generally underestimated by outdoor workers and employers. Several studies have pointed out that occupational solar exposure increased eye and skin diseases with a considerable impact on the lives and productivity of affected workers. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness against ultraviolet radiation of some measures recently undertaken for the protection of lifeguards in a coastal area of Tuscany. Methods: Different shading structures (gazebos and beach umbrella) were tested during a sunny summer's day on a sandy beach by means of two radiometers; the UV protection offered by some T-shirts used by lifeguards was also tested in the laboratory with a spectrophotometer. Results: The analysed shading structures strongly reduced the ultraviolet radiation by up to 90%, however a not always negligible diffuse radiation is also present in the shade, requiring further protective measures (T-shirt, sunglasses, sunscreen, etc.); the tested T-shirts showed a very good-excellent protection according to the Australian/New Zealand standard. Conclusion: Results obtained in this study suggest how the adoption and dissemination of good practices, including those tested, could be particularly effective as a primary prevention for lifeguards who are subjected to very high levels of radiation for long periods.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.8
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• pp.265-272
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• 2018

This study is a descriptive study to investigate the factors influencing the level of cognitive function among elderly living alone according to the presence of dementia risk factors. We conducted a simple questionnaire, GDS-K and MMSE-DS tests to investigate the risk of dementia among 143 elderly people living alone in the community. The results showed that the major factors influencing the cognitive function of the elderly people living alone were education, age, depression status, smoking, leisure activities, and gender. In order to develop strategies for the prevention of dementia in the elderly people living alone, it is necessary to change lifestyle and provide various management methods to identify risk factors that negatively affect cognitive function and to help cognitive health.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.4083-4088
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• 2016

Background: Physical inactivity has been identified as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality and is associated with increased breast cancer diagnosis and recurrence. Purpose: To examine the association between adult lifetime physical activity and breast cancer risk in a case-control analysis. Materials and Methods: This study involved 122 cases of breast cancer and 121 controls in the state of Kelantan in Malaysia. A comprehensive measure of lifetime physical activity was used to assess occupational, household, and recreational/sports activity. For every type of activity, a metabolic equivalent (MET) score was assigned using the compendium of physical activities. MET-hours/week per year for all types of activities at different levels of intensities for different age groups were calculated. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate odds ratios between various measures of physical activity and breast cancer risk. Conclusions: The mean MET-hours/week per year for all activities were 120.0 and 132.9 of MET-hours/week per year for cases and controls respectively. Household activities accounted for about 70% of the total lifetime physical activities. Only about 2.5% of the total lifetime physical activities were in the form of recreational/sports. This study found no association between lifetime occupational and recreational/sports physical activities with breast cancer risk among Kelantanese women. However, higher intensity lifetime household activities seemed to significantly reduce risk of breast cancer.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.525-533
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• 2015

Objectives: Alongside smoking, occupational exposure is an important risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate factors associated with occupational pulmonary function decline that can be used to create guidelines for the health management of shipyard workers Materials: This study analyzed spirometry from 10,597 male shipbuilding workers. Functional decline in spirometry was defined as FEV1/FVC <70% and logistic regression for work duration and occupational hazard exposure was performed Results: Among the subjects, 4.2% showed an obstructive pattern in pulmonary function. The odds ratios for hazard exposure were 1.67(indirect) and 3.54(direct), and for work duration 1.97(10-18 years), 2.29(19-27), and 5.02(28+). After adjusting for smoking and work-related factors, the odds ratios for work durations of over 10 years were 1.73(10-18 years), 1.99(19-27), and 4.09(28+), but for hazards exposure was 1.71(direct) alone after adjustment. Conclusions: Occupational COPD is insidious and chronic, and thus long-term hazard exposed(especially over 10 years) shipyard workers with functional decline in spirometry need to prevent and manage COPD. This study is important for establishing guidelines to manage hazard exposure among shipyard workers and prevent COPD.

• 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.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.114-118
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• 2021

Background: Exposure to particulate matter (PM) emitted from vehicle exhaust might disrupt systemic function and elevate the risk of cardiovascular disease. In this study, we examined the changes of cardiometabolic biomarkers among vehicle inspectors exposed daily to PM0.25 and components. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at two vehicle inspection centers, Pulogadung and Ujung Menteng, located in East Jakarta, Indonesia. The exposed respondents were 43 workers from vehicle inspection centers, and the unexposed group consisted of 22 staff officers working in the same locations. Vehicle exhaust particulate matter was measured for eight hours using a Leland Legacy personal pump attached to a Sioutas Cascade Impactor. The used filters were 25 and 37-mm quartz filters. The particulate matter concentration was analyzed using a gravimetric method, whereas trace elements were analyzed using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence. An EEL Smoke Stain Reflectometer analyzed black carbon. Results: The personal exposure concentrations of PM0.25 were 10.4-fold higher than those in unexposed groups. Calcium and sulfur were the major components in the obtained dust, and their levels were 3.3- and 7.2-fold higher, respectively, in the exposed group. Based on an independent-samples t-test, high-density lipoprotein, triglyceride, HbA1c, total immunoglobulin E, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and nitric oxide levels were significantly different between the groups. Conclusions: In summary, it was suggested that PM0.25 exposure from vehicle exhaust might affect cardiometabolic biomarkers change.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7499-7503
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• 2014

Physical inactivity has reached epidemic levels in developed countries and is being recognized as a serious public health problem. Recent evidence shows a high percentages of individuals worldwide who are physically inactive, i.e. do not achieve the WHO's present recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity per week in addition to usual activities. Living in sedentary lifestyle is one of the leading causes of deaths and a high risk factor for several chronic diseases, like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes type 2, and osteoporosis. This article summarizes evidence for relative risk of the civilization diseases attributable to physical inactivity and the most important conclusions available from the recent investigations computing the economic costs specific to physical inactivity. The findings provide health and economic arguments needed for people to understand the meaning of a sedentary lifestyle. This may be also useful for public health policy in the creation of programmes for prevention of physical inactivity.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.155-165
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• 2012

Reflecting the current international trends toward proactive risk assessment and control at work with practical procedures, participatory action-oriented approaches are gaining importance in various sectors. The roles of these approaches in promoting the safety and health at work are discussed based on their recent experiences in preventing work-related risks and improving the quality of work life, particularly in small-scale workplaces. The emphasis placed on the primary prevention at the initiative of workers and managers is commonly notable. Participatory steps, built on local good practices, can lead to many workplace improvements when the focus is on locally feasible low-cost options in multiple aspects. The design and use of locally adjusted action toolkits play a key role in facilitating these improvements in each local situation. The effectiveness of participatory approaches relying on these toolkits is demonstrated by their spread to many sectors and by various intervention studies. In the local context, networks of trainers are essential in sustaining the improvement activities. With the adequate support of networks of trainers trained in the use of these toolkits, participatory approaches will continue to be the key factor for proactive risk management in various work settings.