• Title/Summary/Keyword: safety at work

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Disaster Risk Assessment by Work Unit of Construction Work for Improve the Efficiency of Design for Safety Task (설계의 안전성 검토(DFS) 업무의 효율성 증대를 위한 공동주택 건설공사의 단위작업별 재해위험성 평가)

  • Kim, Jin-Won;Kim, Jae-Jun
    • Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Structure & Construction
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    • v.34 no.6
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    • pp.45-53
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    • 2018
  • The construction work to establish a safety management plan should be carried out Design for Safety(DFS) task by the designers from May 2016 according to the amendment of the Construction Technology Promotion Act. However, designers lack experience in construction work and lack of information on safety accidents, so it is not easy to predict a disaster that may occur during the construction phase. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide information about disasters that can occur in each construction work in order to enable designers to efficiently perform DFS task in the design phase. In this study, the construction work was classified by work unit and the disaster risk assessment was conducted using the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis technique. The disaster information by work unit analyzed in this study can be used to provide designers with an alternative to prevent disasters at the design stage. Disaster information by work unit of apartment construction can be used by designers to prepare an alternative for disaster prevention at the design stage.

Health Inequalities Among Korean Employees

  • Choi, Eunsuk
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.8 no.4
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    • pp.371-377
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    • 2017
  • Background: Social status might be a determinant of occupational health inequalities. This study analyzed the effects of social status on both work environments and health outcomes. Methods: The study sample consisted of 27,598 wage employees aged 15 years and older from among the Korean Working Condition Survey participants in 2011. Work environments included atypical work, physical risks, ergonomic risks, work demands, work autonomy, social supports, and job rewards. Health outcomes comprised general health, health and safety at risk because of work, the World Health Organization-5 Well-being Index, work-related musculoskeletal disease, and work-related injury. Multivariable logistic-regression models were used to identify the associations between social status and work environments and health outcomes. Results: Employees in the demographically vulnerable group had lower occupational status compared with their counterparts. Low social status was largely related to adverse work environments. Especially, precarious employment and manual labor occupation were associated with both adverse work environments and poor health outcomes. Conclusion: Precarious and manual workers should take precedence in occupational health equity policies and interventions. Their cumulative vulnerability, which is connected to demographics, occupational status, adverse work environments, or poor health outcomes, can be improved through a multilevel approach such as labor market, organizations, and individual goals.

Job Characteristics in Nursing and Cognitive Failure at Work

  • Elfering, Achim;Grebner, Simone;Dudan, Anna
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.2 no.2
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    • pp.194-200
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    • 2011
  • Objectives: Stressors in nursing put high demands on cognitive control and, therefore, may increase the risk of cognitive failures that put patients at risk. Task-related stressors were expected to be positively associated with cognitive failure at work and job control was expected to be negatively associated with cognitive failure at work. Methods: Ninety-six registered nurses from 11 Swiss hospitals were investigated (89 women, 7 men, mean age = 36 years, standard deviation = 12 years, 80% supervisors, response rate 48%). A new German version of the Workplace Cognitive Failure Scale (WCFS) was employed to assess failure in memory function, failure in attention regulation, and failure in action exertion. In linear regression analyses, WCFS was related to work characteristics, neuroticism, and conscientiousness. Results: The German WCFS was valid and reliable. The factorial structure of the original WCF could be replicated. Multilevel regression task-related stressors and conscientiousness were significantly related to attention control and action exertion. Conclusion: The study sheds light on the association between job characteristics and work-related cognitive failure. These associations were unique, i.e. associations were shown even when individual differences in conscientiousness and neuroticism were controlled for. A job redesign in nursing should address task stressors.

Time Pressure, Time Autonomy, and Sickness Absenteeism in Hospital Employees: A Longitudinal Study on Organizational Absenteeism Records

  • Kottwitz, Maria U.;Schade, Volker;Burger, Christian;Radlinger, Lorenz;Elfering, Achim
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.9 no.1
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    • pp.109-114
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    • 2018
  • Background: Although work absenteeism is in the focus of occupational health, longitudinal studies on organizational absenteeism records in hospital work are lacking. This longitudinal study tests time pressure and lack of time autonomy to be related to higher sickness absenteeism. Methods: Data was collected for 180 employees (45% nurses) of a Swiss hospital at baseline and at follow-up after 1 year. Absent times (hours per month) were received from the human resources department of the hospital. One-year follow-up of organizational absenteeism records were regressed on self-reported job satisfaction, time pressure, and time autonomy (i.e., control) at baseline. Results: A multivariate regression showed significant prediction of absenteeism by time pressure at baseline and time autonomy, indicating that a stress process is involved in some sickness absenteeism behavior. Job satisfaction and the interaction of time pressure and time autonomy did not predict sickness absenteeism. Conclusion: Results confirmed time pressure and time autonomy as limiting factors in healthcare and a key target in work redesign.

Educational and Ecological Factors Associated with Workers' Participation to Safety and Health Education at Work - Based on the PRECEDE Model - (근로자의 안전보건교육 참여도와 관련된 교육·생태학적 요인 - PRECEDE 모델을 기반으로 -)

  • Park, Kyoung-Ok
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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    • v.31 no.6
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    • pp.74-83
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    • 2016
  • The purpose of this study was to identify the educational and ecological factors (environment and infra-structure) associated with workers' participation to safety and health education at work (SHEW) based on the PRECEDE constructs. A total of 590 workers (484 in manufacturing and 106 in construction companies) finished the self-administered survey. Survey packets were delivered to the safety and health manager (SHM) in survey companies and the SHMs conducted the self-administered survey in their companies. The questionnaire includes demographics, epidemiological constructs, and educational and ecological constructs based on the PRECEDE model. Participation to SHEW was better in the manufacturing sector than in the construction sector (p<.001). Environmental, reinforcing, and enabling factors were better in the manufacturing companies than in the construction companies. Male worker, better perceived efficacy of SHEW, higher social support for SHEW, assignment of SHM at work, and better safety and health management level at work were significantly associated with workers' better participation to SHEW (p<.05). Those factors accounted for 45.9% of total variance of workers' participation to SHEW.

Relationship between Nursing Work Environment, Patient Safety Culture, and Patient Safety Nursing Activities in Hemodialysis Clinics of Primary Care Centers (일차의료기관 혈액투석실 간호사의 간호근무환경, 환자안전문화 및 환자안전간호활동의 관계)

  • Hong, Insook;Bae, Sanghyun;Cho, Ok-Hee
    • Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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    • v.27 no.3
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    • pp.250-258
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    • 2020
  • Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between nursing work environment, patient safety culture, and patient safety nursing activities in hemodialysis units at primary care centers. Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 116 nurses working in hemodialysis units at 22 primary care centers were enrolled as participants. They were selected them by the convenience sampling method. Data were collected using structured questionnaires that included questions on general characteristics, nursing work environment, patient safety culture, and patient safety nursing activities. Results: The nursing work environment was relatively good; however, the patient safety culture and patient safety nursing activities were poor. A positive correlation was found between nursing work environment, patient safety culture, and patient safety nursing activities. Factors that affect patient safety culture were rated high in the order of nursing work environment and patient safety nursing activities, and factors affecting patient safety nursing activities were rated high in the order of patient safety culture and age. Conclusion: This study showed that the development of tailored patient safety training for nurses in hemodialysis units working in primary care and administrative support from those institutions are needed. In particular, strategies accounting for nurses' characteristics such as age are required to strengthen patient safety nursing activities.

Work-Related Well-Being in the Zimbabwean Banking Sector: A Job Demands-Resources Perspective

  • Ndengu, Tarisayi;Leka, Stavroula
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.13 no.2
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    • pp.220-226
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    • 2022
  • Background: Research on the impact of psychosocial risks on well-being at work remains scarce in low- and middle-income countries, especially in the banking sector. This study sought to examine the relationships between job demands, job resources, well-being, job satisfaction, and work engagement in the Zimbabwean banking sector. Methods: An online survey was administered to 259 employees from five banks. Hierarchical multiple regression tested the relationships between job demands (quantitative demands, emotional demands, work pace, and work-family conflict), job resources (possibilities for development, social support from colleagues and supervisors, quality of leadership, and influence at work), well-being, work engagement, and job satisfaction. Interactions between all variables were tested. Results: Job demands were negatively related to well-being, work engagement, and job satisfaction. Job resources had positive relationships with the same. Work pace had positive relationships with well-being and work engagement. Influence at work moderated the relationship between emotional demands and work pace with well-being. Possibilities for development moderated the relationship between work-family conflict and well-being. Work-family conflict moderated the relationship between social support from colleagues and job satisfaction. Emotional demands, work pace, and quantitative demands moderated the relationship between influence at work with job satisfaction and work engagement. Conclusion: Job demands should be reduced where possible in order to enhance employee well-being, work engagement, and job satisfaction. The job resources that should be availed to facilitate a positive psychosocial work environment in the banking sector include social support from supervisors, influence at work, and possibilities for development.

Defining a "Safe System of Work"

  • Caponecchia, C.;Wyatt, A.
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.12 no.4
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    • pp.421-423
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    • 2021
  • Providing a "safe system of work" is the essence of the general duties that employers have to their employees under workplace health and safety regulations. Despite this, consistent and appropriate definition of what constitutes a safe system of work is almost non-existent. Available definitions tend to confuse a safe system of work with management practices intended to bring about a safe system, or conflate the broad system suggested in general duties clauses with procedures or work methods that are focused on particular hazards or tasks. This article develops a definition of safe systems of work which recognises the broad scope of the concept and includes psychological health and return to work processes. This definition can be used by a range of stakeholders to better communicate the scope of occupational health and safety duties and more consistently assess whether a safe system has been provided both before and after incidents occur.

Surveying the Impact of Work Hours and Schedules on Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Sleep

  • Hege, Adam;Perko, Michael;Johnson, Amber;Yu, Chong Ho;Sonmez, Sevil;Apostolopoulos, Yorghos
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.6 no.2
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    • pp.104-113
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    • 2015
  • Background: Given the long hours on the road involving multiple and interacting work stressors (i.e., delivery pressures, irregular shifts, ergonomic hazards), commercial drivers face a plethora of health and safety risks. Researchers goal was to determine whether and to what extent long-haul trucker work schedules influence sleep duration and quality. Methods: Survey and biometric data collected from male long-haul truck drivers at a major truckstop in central North Carolina over a six month period. Results: Daily hours worked (mean = 11 hours, 55 minutes) and frequency of working over government-mandated daily HOS regulations (23.8% "frequently or always") were statistically significant predictors of sleep duration. Miles driven per week (mean = 2,812.61), irregular daily hours worked (63.8%), and frequency of working over the daily hour limit (23.8% "frequently or always") were statistically significant predictors of sleep quality. Conclusion: Implications of findings suggest a comprehensive review of the regulations and operational conditions for commercial motor vehicle drivers be undertaken.

A Proposal of a Smart Work Environmental Management Service Model for Small Business (소규모 사업장 대상 스마트 작업환경관리 서비스 모델 제안)

  • An, Woo-Ju;Kim, Ki-Youn
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.31 no.2
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    • pp.128-137
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    • 2021
  • Objectives: The purpose of this study is to propose a smart work environment management service model that can measure and maintain work environments in real time. Methods: How existing private consignment business is being carried out was identified and a simpler method was applied to the model. Results: Common support was provided according to the Korea Standard Industrial Classification. Hazards suitable for the relevant industry classification were selected and information on safety and health education, etc. was provided. Theme-specific support provides services focusing on hazards that can be measured through applications. Hazards are evaluated by applying new standards divided into 'Good', 'Average', 'Inadequate', and 'Faulty'. Conclusions: This model is designed to help employers identify health and safety conditions in small businesses where it is difficult to hire health and safety professionals. Using the app proposed in this study, anyone can easily measure their work environment at any time.