• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.105-112
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• 2015

Sawmilling industry remained a high risk with the average 4.73% of industrial accidents in 2010-2012 that was eight times that of general manufacturing. Sawmilling industry had 200 industrial accidents victim in average. Manufacturing process in sawmill industry contained dangerous machinery such as conveyors, roller, saw ( band saw, circular saw) etc. It may be effective to figure out the type of industrial accidents occurred in the past and extend risk assessment which can predict hazard such as near miss when implementing exposure or potential dangers in sawmill industry. This study conducted research on the actual condition on the place of industrial accident occurrence, detailed work and contact object when injured, and injured part targeting 643 businesses which had industrial accidents in 2010-2012. As the results, RPN of general sawmill industry was the highest 'ganglip saw' with 36,157. RPN of the following order were 'moving truck' with 25,454, 'special machining operations' with 22,283. Also, probability of general sawmill industry was a lots within 1 year, while risk appeared a lots within 5 years. So, risk assessment shall be needed to emphasis on accident prevention of sawmill industry. And additional work will be needed on the risk assessment in hazard prevention work of supervisors.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.96 no.2
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• pp.197-202
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• 2007

This study is conducted to investigate the factors affecting lumber conversion rate of sawmill industry in South Korea. Data were obtained from the survey of 38 sawmills in all geographic regions of South Korea. The variables examined in this study were region, softwood/hardwood log, domestic/imported/both log, the number of power-driven carriages (PDC) installed, the year when and country where PDCs was manufactured, the horse power of PDC, the number of labors required to operate each PDC, the sawing capacity of mill (mill size), and the types of major product and by-products. The lumber recovery factor (LRF) of sawmills were significantly influenced by the origin of logs, level of PDC automation, sawmill size, and size of logs (measured in diameter and length) while not by the location of the mill, types of major product and by-product, log species, and characteristics of PDC. Although these results provide useful information for understanding the technological characteristics of the Korean sawmill industry, further investigation with larger sample is necessary to reveal the more reliable characteristics of sawmill industry in South Korea.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.95 no.3
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• pp.268-273
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• 2006

This study analyzed the technological change of Korean sawmill industry affected by change of factor price. An aggregate cost function has been estimated to analyze the technological change in Korean sawmill industry between 1970 and 2003 to the technical bias and scale effect. There was substitution among labour, capital, and material, especially in more elastic relation between labour and capital. In addition, domestic sawmill industry was progressed into structure which is biased to labour saving, and capital and material using because of increase of labour price. Since Korean sawmill industry's technology still exhibits an increasing returns to the scale, the large amount of investment has contributed to productivity growth, and the future productivity growth continually depend on the scale effect for some time.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.25-29
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• 2018

Background: The understanding of the relationship between risk perception, knowledge, and protective behaviors could play a major role in occupational risk control and management. Research exploring how workers perceive, recognize, and react to risks in different occupational settings is scarce in Thailand. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship of noise-related risk perceptions and knowledge to the use of hearing protective devices (HPDs) among sawmill workers in Thailand. Methods: Sawmill workers (n = 540) from four factories in Trang, Southern Thailand, participated in a questionnaire interview from December 2015 to January 2016. Descriptive statistics and linear regression models were used to explore the risk factors related to HPD use. Path diagram analysis was demonstrated and used to evaluate associations. Results: Risk perception was significantly correlated with HPD use (p < 0.01), HPD training (p = 0.01), and the number of years of work experience (p = 0.03). Sawmill workers were likely to use HPDs based on their risk perception and HPD training. However, HPD training was inversely correlated with age and the number of years of work experience. Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of risk perceptions and knowledge, and these factors should be emphasized in the design and implementation of any personal safety intervention program for sawmill workers.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.39.1-39.14
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• 2023

Background: Diseases affecting the lungs and airways contribute significantly to the global burden of disease. The problem in low- and middle-income countries appears to be exacerbated by a shift in global manufacturing base to these countries and inadequate enforcement of environmental and safety standards. In Ghana, the potential adverse effects on respiratory function associated with occupational wood dust exposure have not been thoroughly investigated. Methods: Sixty-four male sawmill workers and 64 non-woodworkers participated in this study. The concentration of wood dust exposure, prevalence and likelihood of association of respiratory symptoms with wood dust exposure and changes in pulmonary function test (PFT) parameters in association with wood dust exposure were determined from dust concentration measurements, symptoms questionnaire and lung function test parameters. Results: Sawmill workers were exposed to inhalable dust concentration of 3.09 ± 0.04 mg/m³ but did not use respirators and engaged in personal grooming habits that are known to increase dust inhalation. The sawmill operators also showed higher prevalence and likelihoods of association with respiratory symptoms, a significant cross-shift decline in some PFT parameters and a shift towards a restrictive pattern of lung dysfunction by end of daily shift. The before-shift PFT parameters of woodworkers were comparable to those of non-woodworkers, indicating a lack of chronic effects of wood dust exposure. Conclusions: Wood dust exposure at the study site was associated with acute respiratory symptoms and acute changes in some PFT parameters. This calls for institution and enforcement of workplace and environmental safety policies to minimise exposure at sawmill operating sites, and ultimately, decrease the burden of respiratory diseases.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.274-281
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• 2010

The objectives of this study are (a) to investigate the distribution patterns and exposure concentrations of biological agents in sawmill industries and (b) to compare sampling methods of biological agents. The representative processes of 5 sawmills were selected to measure total airborne bacteria, fungi, endotoxin as well as dust. Airborne bacteria and fungi were measured with one stage impactor, six stage impactor and gelatin filteration methods. Endotoxin was collected with polycarbonate filters and analysed by kinetic chromogenic Limulus Amebocyte Lysate method. Geometric mean levels of airborne bacteria, fungi, endotoxin and dust were 1,864 CFU/$m^3$, 2,252 CFU/$m^3$, 31.5 EU/$m^3$ and 2.4 mg/$m^3$. The ratios of indoor/outdoor concentrations were 3.7 for bacteria, 4.1 for fungi, 3.3 for endotoxin and 9.7 for dust. The respiratory fractions of bacteria were 68.0, 50.9, 49.2 and 45.1% in band-saw, table-saw, rip-saw process and outdoor air. The respiratory fractions of fungi were 78.7, 90.8, 87.5 and 84.8% in band-saw, table-saw, rip-saw process and outdoor air, respectively. There was no significant differences in bacterial concentrations among single stage, six stage impaction and filteration methods. But, fungal concentrations measured with filtration methods were significantly higher than those with impaction methods. Geometric mean levels of airborne bacteria and fungi were higher than the OSHA guideline values of 1,000 CFU/$m^3$. The respiratory fractions of fungi were above 75%. The concentrations of biological agents were significantly different among culture-based sampling methods. In the exposure assessments of biological agents, further studies are needed for the comparisons of diverse sampling methods and the investigations of environmental factors.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 1976

In order to estimate sawmill productivities, rates of technical change and optimum combination of production factors, Cobb-Douglas production functions have been derived using data obtained from 96 sample mills in Busan-Incheon, southwestern and northeastern areas. The results may be summarized as follows: 1. There is a tendency of expanding average sawmill size in the areas. The horse-power holdings per mill have been increased at the rates of 91 percent in Busan-Incheon, 7.7 percent in southwestern and 16.9 percent in northeastern areas. This implies that the mills around log-importing ports have made rapid development, compared with those in forest regions. 2. The regression coefficients (production elasticities) of the functions for the year of 1967 in the above three areas are much similar each other, but significant differencies are found in the production functions of 1975. In other words, sawmill productivity was mainly restricted by capital deficiencies in all areas in 1967, but this situation was succeeded only by N-E area in 1975. The range of sum of regression coefficients is 1.0437-1.4214, this indicates increasing rates of return to scale. 3. The annual rates of technical changes in B-I, S-W and N-E areas for the observed period are 17.6, 7.6 and 2.2 percents respectively. Busan-Incheon is the only area where labor productivity is higher than that of capital. 4. The best combination of production factors for maximizing firm's profit is subject to the changes of input and output prices. With some assumptions of prices and costs, the optimum levels of power and labor input in B-I, S-W and N-E areas are 57:17, 427:94 and 192:27.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.94 no.2 s.159
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• pp.82-89
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• 2005

The purpose of this paper is to investigate index numbers by conducting various comparisons among the widely used index formulas. The comparison is considered in three ways; 1) divergences in the magnitudes of index numbers due to the use of different formulas (Laspeyres, Paasche, Fisher, and Tornqvist); 2) the effect of selection of base year (fixed-year base vs. chain-type); 3) the degree of approximation of indirect to direct quantity index. The empirical application is to sawmills and planing mills industry of U.S. using a national time series data covering years of 1948-2000. The results show that the differences between Laspeyres and Paasche index can be substantial in some cases while the difference between Fisher and Tornqvist index is minimal. We also confirm that the selection of base year can cause significant divergences, especially when the variables undergo rapid price or quantity changes over time. We find that indirect quantity index approximates direct quantity index reasonably well in U.S. sawmill industry.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.183-191
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• 2010

Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate the distribution patterns and exposure concentrations of bioaerosols in industries suspected to have high levels of bioaerosol exposure. Methods: We selected 11 plants including 3 livestock feed plants (LF industry), 3 metal working fluids handling plants (MWFs industry), and 5 sawmills and measured total airborne bacteria, fungi, endotoxins, as well as dust. Airborne bacteria and fungi were measured with one stage impactor, six stage cascade impactor, and gelatin filters. Endotoxins were measured with polycarbonate filters. Results: The geometric means (GM) of the airborne concentrations of bacteria, fungi, and endotoxins were 1,864, $2,252\;CFU/m^3$, and $31.5\;EU/m^3$, respectively at the sawmills, followed by the LF industry (535, $585\;CFU/m^3$, and $22.0\;EU/m^3$) and MWFs industry (258, $331\;CFU/m^3$, and $8.7\;EU/m^3$). These concentrations by industry type were significantly statistically different (p < 0.01). The ratio of indoor to outdoor concentration was 6.2, 1.9, 3.2, and 3.2 for bacteria, fungi, endotoxins, and dust in the LF industry, 5.0, 0.9, 2.3, and 12.5 in the MWFs industry, and 3.7, 4.1, 3.3, and 9.7 in sawmills. The respiratory fractions of bioaerosols were differentiated by bioaerosol types and industry types: the respiratory fraction of bacteria in the LF industry, MWF industry, and sawmills was 59.4%, 72.0%, and 57.7%, respectively, and that of fungi was 77.3%, 89.5%, and 83.7% in the same order. Conclusion: We found that bioaerosol concentration was the highest in sawmills, followed by LF industry facilities and MWFs industry facilities. The indoor/outdoor ratio of microorganisms was larger than 1 and respiratory fraction of microorganisms was more than 50% of the total microorganism concentrations which might penetrate respiratory tract easily. All these findings suggest that bioaerosol in the surveyed industries should be controlled to prevent worker respiratory diseases.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of IIIuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.458-462
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• 2007

It is necessary to study a conductive characteristics of electrical facilities covered with particulate for the analysis of electrical accidents in vulnerable area where are included market place, a sawmill and so on. Therefore, there are studied on risk assessment and contact angle measure(CAM) according to surface deterioration of PVC and phenolic resin Through the contact angle measure of samples, there are ascertain whether hydrophobicity or not. These data would used to be judged by the causes of electrical accidents.