• Title/Summary/Keyword: safety at work

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Promoting a Shared Representation of Workers' Activities to Improve Integrated Prevention of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders

  • Roquelaure, Yves
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.7 no.2
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    • pp.171-174
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    • 2016
  • Effective and sustainable prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WR-MSDs) remains a challenge for preventers and policy makers. Coordination of stakeholders involved in the prevention of WR-MSDs is a key factor that requires greater reflection on common knowledge and shared representation of workers' activities among stakeholders. Information on workers' strategies and operational leeway should be the core of common representations, because it places workers at the center of the "work situation system" considered by the intervention models. Participatory ergonomics permitting debates among stakeholders about workers' activity and strategies to cope with the work constraints in practice could help them to share representations of the "work situation system" and cooperate. Sharing representation therefore represents a useful tool for prevention, and preventers should provide sufficient space and time for dialogue and discussion of workers' activities among stakeholders during the conception, implementation, and management of integrated prevention programs.

Psychosocial Factors and Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders among Southeastern Asian Female Workers Living in Korea

  • Lee, Hyeon-Kyeong;Ahn, Hyun-Mi;Park, Chang-Gi;Kim, Sun-Jung;Moon, Sun-Hye
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.2 no.2
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    • pp.183-193
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    • 2011
  • Objectives: A rapid increase in the population of migrant workers in Korea has brought new challenges regarding the possible effects of acculturation on health. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of acculturation- and work-related psychosocial factors on work-related musculoskeletal disorders among migrant female workers living in Korea. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used. A translated, structured questionnaire was administrated to 156 southeastern Asian female full-time workers living in Korea. Results: About 35% of the participants experienced some type(s) of work-related musculoskeletal disorder(s), which were more prevalent in Vietnamese women than in Thai and Filipino women. Women who preferred to maintain their own heritage and to reject the host country heritage were at risk for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Conclusion: Acculturation strategy and nationality were found to be significant factors associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Health professionals need to accommodate acculturation contexts into risk assessment and intervention development for work-related musculoskeletal disorders separately for different nationalities.

Compliance with Recommendations on Work Schedule for Shift Nurses in South Korea

  • Lee, Jiyeon;Jeong, Ihn Sook
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.255-260
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    • 2021
  • Background: A well-designed shift schedule has been reported to have a positive effect on improving health problems associated with shift work. This study aimed to identify compliance with the 17 recommendations on work schedule (WSRs) for shift nurses and related factors. Methods: The descriptive study was conducted with 182 nurses who worked in three shifts for more than 1 year at superior general and general hospitals in three regions. Data were collected with selfadministered questionnaire and 13-week work schedule tables, and analyzed with both person- and cycle-based compliance. Results: Person-based compliance was 11.77 among 17 items in total. However, no one completely complied with WSRs of "no work on weekends" and which showed the lowest cycle-based compliance (22.3%). Compliance with some WSRs was related to hospital type, proportion of nurses in school and having standards on work schedule at institutional level. Conclusion: Compliance with WSRs of shift nurses in Korea is still unsatisfactory, and one day off after night shift and work on weekend are quite common. Hospitals should keep the standards on work schedule, monitor compliance with standards, and try to introduce modified shift systems to improve the current problems.

Analysis of Electrical Safety Level Test for Barehand Work at 765kV Vertical Double Circuit Six Bundle Conductors on the Suspension String Tower Type (765kV 수직2회선 6도체 현수형 철탑에서 직접활선작업의 안전성 평가분석)

  • Kim, Dae-Sik;Han, Sang-Ok
    • The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers P
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    • v.57 no.3
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    • pp.275-278
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    • 2008
  • It has been issued that the necessity of Live line work for 765kV vertical double circuit six bundle conductors transmission line when the characteristics of transmission line, the composition of T/L and near the T/L circumstances etc. Others are considered. The Barehand method of UHV T/L is extremely dangerous work and especially it is directly related with lineman life so it is very dangerous. It should be performed several technology developments for live-line work on the UHV T/L, that should be considered such as the electrical influence on workers near the T/L, development of live-line facilities, guarantee of safety, the technical rules of live-line work, the safe method of live-line work and etc. In order to maintain the 765kV transmission lines safely by barehand work, first of all, we should know the analysis of electrical safety level test in live-line work at 765kV vertical double circuit six bundle conductors on the suspension string tower type.

Reasonable Assignment of Aged People at Construction Site (건설현장 고령근로자의 안전배치 방안에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Sung-Rae;Son, Ki-Sang
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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    • v.27 no.1
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    • pp.32-43
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    • 2012
  • "low and old age trend" is a big social national problem in korea but also in foreign countries. The Government pursues a policy for aged people to take part in construction site as labours. Low childbirth and avoidance of 3D work kinds lead to exposure of aged workers to industry work places. According to korea department of labour, it is expected that 18% of total economic activity people in 2008 to 27.2% in 2018 be increased with age of more than 55 old years. Therefore, It is needed that more countermeasures for old workers should be taken for safer work conditions. This old workers with more than 55 old years contain major portion of accident occurrence in construction industry. It is found that accident rate in construction industry can be decreased if appropriate technical safety training is provided to them who wish to work at construction sites. Statistic analysis such as frequency, cross, logistic regression using program package SPSS 13.0 has been made after collecting questionnaire survey of more than 330 workers at construction sites.

How Effectively Safety Incentives Work? A Randomized Experimental Investigation

  • Ahmed, Ishfaq;Faheem, Asim
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.12 no.1
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    • pp.20-27
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    • 2021
  • Background: Incentive and penalty (I/P) programs are commonly used to increase employees' safety outcomes, but its influence on employees' safety outcomes is under-investigated. Moreover, under developed economies lack safety culture and there is dearth of literature focusing on empirical studies over there [1]. Based on these gaps, this study attempts to see the impact of I/P programs on safety outcomes in a developing country. Methods: The study was carried out in three stages, where Stage I revealed that selected 45 organizations were deficit of safety culture and practices, while only three firms were found good at safety practices. At Stage II, these three firms were divided in two clusters (groups), and were probed further at Stage III. At this stage group, one was manipulated by providing incentives (experimental group) and employees' responses in terms of safety motivation and performance were noticed. Results: It was observed that the experimental group's safety motivation and performance had improved (both for immediate and 1-month later performance). The results were further probed at Phase 3 (after 3 months), where it was found that the benefits of I/P programs were not long lasting and started replenishing. Conclusion: Findings of the study helped researchers conclude that safety incentives have only short-term influence on safety outcomes, while a long-term and permanent solution should be found.

A study on the work environment and accident exposure status of Tower Crane workers (타워크레인 작업 근로자의 작업환경과 사고 노출 실태에 관한 연구)

  • Choi, Seo-Yeon;Cho, Kee-Hong;Park, Dong-Hyun;Choi, Byung-Gil
    • Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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    • v.17 no.3
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    • pp.115-123
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    • 2015
  • The study conducted statistical analysis of survey on the 239 workers participating in national Tower Crane installation/dismantlement in order to identify work environment and health hazard exposure of Tower Crane workers. Consequently for work related safety status of Tower Crane workers, the number of installation/dismantlement work was the highest at 15-20 times per month, and safety equipments were not arranged at work and they felt highly anxious when boarding on the Tower Crane. Furthermore, it is found that they feel anxious working in the influence of the weather, noise, vibration, wind, the sun ray, and structure characteristic. They have very low satisfaction in the insecureness of workplace and the work environment, and recognizes that their work affect highly on the health. 81.6% of workers have experienced accident at work, the cause of accidents were mainly due to poor work environment, and the health abnormality they have experienced were mostly fatigue and concentration reduction. For job stress, job demand and conflict in relationship were the highest sections. Total 66.5% of workers complained of musculoskeletal disorder related subjective symptom, and back pain patients were the highest of all groups.

Outdoor Workers' Use of Sun Protection at Work and Leisure

  • Peters, Cheryl E.;Koehoorn, Mieke W.;Demers, Paul A.;Nicol, Anne-Marie;Kalia, Sunil
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.7 no.3
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    • pp.208-212
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    • 2016
  • Background: Outdoor workers are at risk of high ultraviolet radiation exposure, and may have difficulty using sun protection. The objectives were to determine the prevalence of sun protection behaviors in a sample of outdoor construction workers, and to assess which factors predict better sun protection practices. Methods: Participants were recruited via construction unions. Workers answered a questionnaire on demographics, skin cancer risk, sun protection behaviors, and job. Sun protection behavior scores (from questions on sunscreen use, sleeved shirt, hat, shade seeking, sunglasses) were calculated by converting Likert-scale answers to scores from 0 to 4, and taking the mean (separately for work and leisure). Determinants of sun protection behavior scores were examined for work and leisure using generalized linear models. Results: Seventy-seven workers had complete questionnaire data (participation 98%). Sun protection behaviors used most often were hats (79% often/always) and sleeved shirts (82% often/always); least prevalent were shade-seeking (8% often/always) and sunscreen (29% often/always). For both work and leisure scores, the strongest predictor was skin type, with fairer-skinned individuals having higher sun protection behavior scores. Workers had higher scores at work than on weekends. Workplaces that required hats and sleeved shirts for safety purposes had higher protection behavior scores. Conclusion: This high-participation rate cohort helps characterize sun protection behaviors among outdoor workers. Workers practiced better sun protection at work than on weekends, suggesting that workplace policies supportive of sun protection could be useful for skin cancer prevention in the construction industry.

Proposal for an Evaluation Method for the Performance of Work Procedures

  • Mohammed, Mouda;Mebarek, Djebabra;Wafa, Boulagouas;Makhlouf, Chati
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.7 no.4
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    • pp.299-306
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    • 2016
  • Background: Noncompliance of operators with work procedures is a recurrent problem. This human behavior has been said to be situational and studied by many different approaches (ergonomic and others), which consider the noncompliance with work procedures to be obvious and seek to analyze its causes as well as consequences. Methods: The object of the proposed method is to solve this problem by focusing on the performance of work procedures and ensuring improved performance on a continuous basis. Results: This study has multiple results: (1) assessment of the work procedures' performance by a multicriteria approach; (2) the use of a continuous improvement approach as a framework for the sustainability of the assessment method of work procedures' performance; and (3) adaptation of the Stop-Card as a facilitator support for continuous improvement of work procedures. Conclusion: The proposed method emphasizes to put in value the inputs of continuous improvement of the work procedures in relation with the conventional approaches which adopt the obvious evidence of the noncompliance to the working procedures and seek to analyze the cause-effect relationships related to this unacceptable phenomenon, especially in strategic industry.

Formulation for Producing Risk Level of Each Construction Work (전문 건설업종별 위험도 산정 방법에 관한 연구)

  • Son, Ki-Sang;Gal, Won-Mo;Song, In-Yong;Choi, Jea-Nam
    • Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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    • v.12 no.3
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    • pp.13-19
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    • 2010
  • Risk level for each construction work can be very important factors to establish advanced prevention measures. But it is important how to produce it. There are three different methods to set it up for construction situation. They are as follows; 1) occurrence frequency = the number of accident workers of each work kind / yearly accident workers 2) occurrence frequency = the number of accident workers of each work kind / yearly workers 3) occurrence frequency = the number of accident workers of each work kind / the total workers All these three concepts(=averaged concept)are analyzed. Additionally frequency based on discrete curve, and severity based on continuous curve are also combined for producing risk level with more scientific approach. This risk level can be very useful to make prevention plan or take measures at construction sites. This is study result can change existing risk level concept to new concept of it, namely rail way work and in-water work showed be high risk level and RC work be low risk level, different from the situation which we have thought commonly, so far.