• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.303-309
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• 2008

The reduction of risk within the workplace has long been focus of attention both through industry initiatives and legislation. Exposure matrices according to industries and processes treated DMF (N,N-Dimethylformamide) were constructed based on KOSHA (Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency)'s 2005 exposure database which were gathered from Korean agencies of workplace hazards evaluation for business place. These exposure matrices were assessed by danger value (DV) that was calculated from combination of hazard rating, duration of use rating, and risk probability rating of exposure to chemical hazardous agents in accordance with Hallmark Risk Assessment Tool. The results of risk assessment is divided four kinds of control bands which were related with control measures. The applicability of risk assessment using exposure matrices was performed by field study and survey for high matrices group. This study found that more attentions should be paid to two industries, manufacture of sewn wearing apparel and manufacture of textiles, among 19 industries, and to 3 processes, coating, processing & mixing, and lab, among 80 processes because those were regarded as having the highest risk.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제12권4호
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• pp.530-535
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• 2021

Background: Despite the lack of official COVID-19 statistics, various workplaces and occupations have been at the center of COVID-19 outbreaks. We aimed to compare legal measures and governance established for managing COVID-19 infection risks at workplaces in nine Asia and Pacific countries and to recommend key administrative measures. Methods: We collected information on legal measures and governance from both general citizens and workers regarding infection risks such as COVID-19 from industrial hygiene professionals in nine countries (Indonesia, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Republic of the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand) using a structured questionnaire. Results: A governmental body overseeing public health and welfare was in charge of containing the spread and occurrence of infectious diseases under an infectious disease control and prevention act or another special act, although the name of the pertinent organizations and legislation vary among countries. Unlike in the case of other traditional hazards, there have been no specific articles or clauses describing the means of mitigating virus risk in the workplace that are legally required of employers, making it difficult to define the responsibilities of the employer. Each country maintains own legal systems regarding access to the duration, administration, and financing of paid sick leave. Many workers may not have access to paid sick leave even if it is legally guaranteed.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제6권4호
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• pp.295-304
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• 2015

Background: While attention has been paid to physical risks in the work environment and the promotion of individual employee health, mental health protection and promotion have received much less focus. Psychosocial risk management has not yet been fully incorporated in such efforts. This paper presents good practices in promoting mental health in the workplace in line with World Health Organization (WHO) guidance by identifying barriers, opportunities, and the way forward in this area. Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 17 experts who were selected on the basis of their knowledge and expertise in relation to good practice identified tools. Interviewees were asked to evaluate the approaches on the basis of the WHO model for healthy workplaces. Results: The examples of good practice for Workplace Mental Health Promotion (WMHP) are in line with the principles and the five keys of the WHO model. They support the third objective of the WHO comprehensive mental health action plan 2013-2020 for multisectoral implementation of WMHP strategies. Examples of good practice include the engagement of all stakeholders and representatives, science-driven practice, dissemination of good practice, continual improvement, and evaluation. Actions to inform policies/legislation, promote education on psychosocial risks, and provide better evidence were suggested for higher WMHP success. Conclusion: The study identified commonalities in good practice approaches in different countries and stressed the importance of a strong policy and enforcement framework as well as organizational responsibility for WMHP. For progress to be achieved in this area, a holistic and multidisciplinary approach was unanimously suggested as a way to successful implementation.

• 대한인간공학회지
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• 제34권3호
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• pp.217-222
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• 2015

Objective:The objective of this study is to review the exposure limits in the legislation, guidelines, and standards for human vibration in Korea. Background: There have been relatively less interests in vibration than other risk factors in Korea. However, the importance of vibration is increasing as industry and everyday life are more mechanized. Method: Various enforcements were examined including legislation, guidelines, and standards for whole-body vibration and localized vibration. Results: No exposure limits were found in legislation, guidelines, and standards for the human vibration in Korea. Conclusion: It is important to introduce new duties regarding vibration risks to the general duties. Further studies are expected on the vibration exposure limits appropriate for Korean people and job conditions. Application: The results from this study would be of help to induce more interests in human vibration to the occupational health and safety professionals of Korea.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.485-501
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• 2023

Objectives: The Ministry of Employment and Labor has revised the articles regarding management of the thermal environment in the workplace. Currently, two types of regulations exist together with indoor workplaces as the scope of application. It appears that the time has come to discuss regulations. In this study, we aim to identify the feasibility of and problems with the current system through a comparative legal review of workplace thermal environment management laws from around the world. We suggest directions for improving South Korea's workplace thermal environment management laws. Methods: For the several selected countries, we analyzed the classification and content of obligations stipulated for the thermal environment, the presence or absence of specific measures for thermal environment management, legal status and content, and the scope of application of thermal environment provisions and measures. The investigated content was classified according to Zweigelt-Kotz's legal theory. Results: In some countries, employers' obligations for regulating the thermal environment are broadly divided into two types: results and actions. The scope of application of provisions and measures on the thermal environment was extensive, with most of the selected countries targeting general workplaces. Conclusions: In the case of South Korea, restricting and classifying target workplaces and imposing separate obligations to manage a workplace thermal environment goes against global practices, and stipulating legal orders and separate action obligations in guidelines does not conform to the characteristics of South Korea's legal system, meaning that improvement is needed.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제31권4호
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• pp.304-316
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• 2021

Objectives: By comparing and analyzing the legal system for risk assessment in South Korea with other advanced countries, the study is designed to identify the key elements of risk assessment and seek improvement measures while focusing on solutions to the execution of risk assessment violations. Methods: The study started with an awareness of the need to improve the legislation on the risk assessment of businesses in Korea. In order to reflect this problem consciousness in Korea's industrial safety and health legislation, risk assessment legislation in Japan, Britain, Germany, and Korea was analyzed in comparative terms through the literature. Results: Unlike the other advanced countries, the concept of risk assessment is defined in Korea in a broad sense that includes measures to reduce risk, and risk assessment in the manufacturing and design stages is not institutionalized. In the case of worker participation, there is a problem regarding effectiveness. It is problematic that compared to the other foreign countries there is a possibility that general risk assessment will be neutralized because it is recognized as a uniform general risk assessment for a particular risk assessment, as well as inadequate risk assessment. Conclusions: The areas diagnosed with problems compared to the legislation in other advanced countries should be improved by revising laws and administrative rules and supplementing the explanatory guidelines, etc. by referring to the legislation of these countries. In particular, the issue of enforcement for violations of risk assessment must be improved in order to ensure the effectiveness of risk assessment.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제32권2호
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• pp.89-101
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• 2022

Objectives: By comparing and examining how important issues concerning industrial health information for workers are viewed in other advanced countries, it is intended to ascertain problems in the approach found in Korean legislation and obtain legal and policy implications. Methods: The results of a survey were introduced and analyzed through a comparative method for each case after investigating in detail what and how important issues surrounding workers' right to know industrial health information are reflected in the legislation of Germany, the U.S., the U.K., and Japan. Based on the results of this comparative analysis, theoretical and policy implications and legal policy improvement tasks were drawn to strengthen workers' right to industrial health information for each case in Korea. Results: For access to industrial health information, most of the other advanced countries clearly stipulate a right to access for current and past workers and/or their representatives. As a result, workers or their representatives do not need to use the Information Disclosure Act to access exposure records, and there is no debate over the Information Disclosure Act. In other words, industrial health information is focused on ensuring free access to workers or their representatives and is not interested in reporting it to the government. Conclusions: In order to strengthen workers' right to know about industrial health, it is most important to address the legal issues related to this right, which is considered insufficient by comparative law. This should start with a concrete and effective definition of what and how to guarantee workers' rights to industrial health, such as the right to freely access industrial health information, including for retired workers and bereaved families of deceased workers.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제12권4호
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• pp.479-489
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• 2021

Background: During 2011, a study was undertaken to assess safety conditions in Serbian underground coalmines by analysis of injury data. The study covered all Serbian coalmines, identified week spots from the aspect of safety, and recommended possible courses of action. Since then, Serbia has made changes to safety and health legislation; all coalmines introduced new preventive measures, adopted international standards, and made procedures for risk management. After 10 years a new study has been performed to analyze the impact of these changes. Materials and methods: In this study, the injuries that have occurred in the Serbian underground coal mines over the last 20 years were analyzed. Statistical data analysis was performed by IBM SPSS Statistics v23. The injuries that occurred in the last ten years were compared with the results of the previous study (2000-2009). The average values of injury rates for both periods were compared for each of the categories (severity, age, body part, qualification), and the results were presented as absolute difference or percentile difference. Results: The results showed reduction in the number of injuries in the category of 20-30 years old workers, where the new training procedures for workers, which were set by mandatory legal regulations, certainly contributed. They also showed an increase in the number of injuries in the category of old workers, which indicates that the law did not have a positive effect on this category. Conclusion: The total number of injuries is still high; therefore, it is necessary to introduce mechanization and automation in mines and have a better policy for older workers who retire later nowadays.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.119-126
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• 2015

The primary purpose of the general duty clause is to offer an extra measure of protection to employees in the workplace. Most standards implemented under OSHA are targeted at a specific hazard. The general duty clause, however allows inspectors to cite employers for exposing its employees to a recognized hazard that has not been specifically addressed in the regulations. Congress intended the general duty clause to be a limited means of advancing the purposes of the OSHAct. But OSHA has not always regarded the general duty clause as the limited means for protecting the safety and health of employees that Congress intented. OSHA attempted to expand the scope of the general duty clause, at times improperly, to make it a more flexible enforcement tool. OSHA's interpretation of each of the restrictions on the scope of the clause has changed over the years. In recent years the general duty clause has been utilized as a sometimes controversial mechanism for enforcement of safety guidelines that have not yet been specifically addressed by statute or regulation. The most notable example of this was application of the general duty clause to ergonomic hazards.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제36권5호
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• pp.391-401
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• 2010

A reduction in risk of occupational exposure to chemical hazards within the workplace has been the focus of attention both through industry initiatives and legislation. The aims of this study were to develop an exposure matrix by industry and process, and to apply this matrix to control the risk of occupational exposure to Dichloromethane (DCM). The exposure matrix is a tool to convert information on industry and process into information on occupational risk. The exposure matrix comprised industries and processes involving DCM, based on an exposure database provided by KOSHA (the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency), which was gathered from a workplace hazards evaluation program in Korea. The risk assessment of the exposure matrix was performed using Hallmark risk assessment tool. The results of the risk assessment were indicated by a Danger Value (DV) calculated from the combination of hazard rating (HR), duration of use rating (DUR), and risk probability rating (RPR) of exposure to the chemical, and were divided into four control bands which were related to control measures. The applicability of the risk assessment of the exposure matrix was evaluated by a field study, and survey of the employees of the exposure matrix groups. Among 45 industries examined, this study found that greater attention should be paid to two industries: the manufacture of other optical instruments and photographic equipment, and the manufacture of printing ink, and to one process among 47 examined, the packing process in the manufacture of printing ink, because these were regarded as carrying the highest risk. This tool of a risk assessment for the exposure matrix can be applied as a general exposure information system for hazard control, risk quantification, setting the occupational exposure limit, and hazard surveillance. The exposure matrix includes workforce data, and it provides information on the numbers of exposed workers in Korea by agent, occupation, and level of exposure and risk.