• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.322-326
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• 2017

In 1992, the quality control program was introduced in Republic of Korea to improve the reliability of the work environment monitoring, which was introduced in the 1980s. The commission entrusted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute has conducted the program for industrial hygiene laboratories including designated monitoring institutions and spontaneously participating agencies. The number of institutions that participated in the program has increased from 30 to 161. The initial conformance ratio in the participants was 43% (organic solvents) and 52% (metals). Thereafter, the conformance ratio increased rapidly and it has remained in a stable state at more than 89% since 1996. As subject materials, 13 kinds of organic solvents and 7 kinds of metals were used. To improve the capability of measurement and analysis of private institutions, educational courses were conducted annually. An assessment at the actual sites of participants was additionally introduced into the program in 2013. Thus, the program turned into a system that administrates the overall process of participants. For the future, the scope of target materials will be extended through additional items. Thus, the reliability of the results of the work environment monitoring is expected to increase accordingly.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.105-115
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• 2020

With the decrease of the agricultural population in Korea, the workers who is vulnerable to labor are increasing in agricultural industry because of aging, feminization of population. They are exposed in poor working environment with higher temperature and concentrations of dust, gas. Higher concentration of harmful gas and dust can cause chronic and acute disease to workers depending on exposure intensity and frequency. In order to improve the working environment in the livestock facilities, It is important to secure monitoring data of the thermal environment and the concentration of harmful gases and fine dust. Multi-point measurement was performed to analyze the regional environmental conditions in the pig rooms. When analyzing the working environment, video monitoring was conducted to analyze the concentration changes of ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and fine dust according to worker movement and work type. Ammonia and hydrogen sulfide monitoring result showed 1.5~2 times higher concentrations than other work when working in the pigs living zone, and 2~4 times higher than other work when working to increase the activity of pigs. In the case of fine dust, the result was 1.3 times higher than the worker's exposure standard in a specific work. The concentrations of gases and dusts from pig farms are not of concern for acute poisoning in normal work, but there is a risk of chronic respiratory disease if they are continuously exposed. Accordingly, there is a need for development of work environment monitoring device tailored to workers and preparation of alternatives.

• IE interfaces
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.95-105
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• 2001

Previous work measurement methods need much time and effort of time study analysts because they have to measure required time through direct observations. In this study, we propose a method which efficiently measures standard times without involvement of human analysts using digital image processing techniques. This method consists of two main steps: motion representation step and cycle segmentation step. In motion representation step, we first detect the motion of any object distinct from its background by differencing two consecutive images separated by a constant time interval. The images thus obtained then pass through an edge detector filter. Finally, the mean values of coordinates of significant pixels of the edge image are obtained. Through these processes, the motions of the observed worker are represented by two time series data of worker location in horizontal and vertical axes. In the second step, called the cycle segmentation step, we extract the frames which have maximum or minimum coordinates in one cycle and store them in a stack, and calculate each cycle time using these frames. In this step we also consider methods on how to detect work delays due to unexpected events such as operator's escapement from the work area, or interruptions. To condude, the experimental results show that the proposed method is very cost-effective and useful for measuring time standards for various work environment.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.236-242
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• 2009

In finishing work, defects are often taken place by many factors. One of them is the thermo-humidity condition on the work surface as coating and anointing adhesives. Thus, the condition of thermo-humidity on work surface should be checked prior to the finishing work. However, many construction companies show a tendency to overlook it because not only are measurement tools so expensive but they don't have skilled hands about those tools. Therefore, we propose the measurement method that makes it easy to recognize surface thermo-humidity condition so as to reduce constructional flaws. And then we test this product. The test progresses to four stages with various conditions. We evaluate its usefulness and application possibility of this product in the field.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.383-389
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• 2016

Objective: In this paper, work time for the representative fruit crops are collected and analyzed using time-diary method, and the collected data were compared with the directly observed work time using GPS device. Background: There is no consistent conclusion which measurement method for work time is accurate. Most of the research results were collected from the environment other than rural area. Therefore, there is need to review reliability of the measurement methods for the agricultural work which are carried out for a long duration. Method: Top five crops (apple, pear, grape, sweet persimmon, and peach) were selected according to the number of farms and cultivation areas. We let fruit growers fill a work diary during one cropping period. A difference between the work-time that was recorded by the farmers and the direct observed worktime using GPS device were analyzed. Results: Average direct work time for the five fruit crops found to be 7.1% of the total work time. Conclusions and Applications: Reliability was secured by recording the daily work diary at each work stage while aware that direct observation is carried on. Data which are being collected by government institutions are obtained by the memories of the respondents. Therefore, it is needed to try the method adopted by this study in order to collect more accurate data.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.386-394
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• 2022

Purpose: This thesis is to measure construction working environment and to improve health protection of site workers, who are required to take special health check, by analyzing harmful factors that are occurred by each site operation. Method: This thesis explicates the analysis of harmful factors per the operation at construction site, the target of working environment measurement with examined harmful factors, and the variables of special health check. Result: This thesis figures out the target of working environment measurement and the variables of special health check through the analysis of harmful factors per the operation from 12 construction projects. Conclusion: This This thesis is expected to be an instrument for preventing construction site workers from occupational disease, by regular execution of measuring working environment via harmful factors of each operation as well as of special health check.

• Journal of Wellbeing Management and Applied Psychology
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.27-41
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• 2022

Purpose: In this study, pollutants generated in industrial areas were measured using a Portable Air Quality Measurement System(PAQMS). This study intends to examine in detail improvement measures and operational capabilities to operate a more efficient PAQMS. Research design, data and methodology: This study compares and analyzes the measurement values of the PAQMS and the measurement values of the national air quality measurement network. It is intended to develop a PAQMS corresponding to the data of the national measurement network by minimizing the errors that occur during comparative measurement and analysis and supplementing and improving the problems that occur during the current equipment calibration. Results: A PAQMS is an essential equipment for faster and more accurate measurement and analysis of pollutants in case of untimely measurement and civil complaints due to Micro Climate(local weather and environmental influences). Currently, there are many atmospheric measurement equipment in Korea, but only equipment for each item is produced and sold. Currently, these devices on the market must satisfy various conditions such as stable power, temperature, and humidity to calculate accurate measurement values. Conclusions: Therefore, there is no equipment that satisfies the conditions for performing detailed measurement in the field where accurate measurement is required. In this study, these field work conditions and contents for stable measurement were mentioned in the text.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.427-438
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• 2023

Objectives: This study aims to create a safer working environment by examining the working environment of cleanroom cleaning workers through a survey and comparing the differences in perception between workers and managers. Methods: The survey was written based on the working environment and the safety and health management system. In order to improve the quality of the study, we visited the sites in person and conducted an in-depth interview. SPSS Statistics 26 (IBM, USA) was used to analyze the data. Results: Based on the survey, differences were found in chemical used, MSDS sharing methods, risk factors during cleaning work, work environment measurement results, special health examination items, places considered dangerous, and work. Conclusions: It is necessary that there be different work environments and risk factors for cleanroom cleaning workers at respective workplaces. As a result of the survey, there was found to be a difference in perception between workers and managers, and both workers and managers should try to reduce this difference.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.501-513
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the perception of workplace bullying in the dental hygienists to use them as basic data for improving the organizational relationship of the dental hygienists. Methods: The subjects were 302 dental hygienists that had been working at the dental clinics and dental hospitals. These data were analyzed by SPSS Version 20.0 (IBM Co., Armonk, NY, USA). Factor analysis was used for exploratory and confirmatory data. Independent t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to find out mean differences for verbal violence, improper business, and improper work environment according to characteristics of subjects. Results: Upon the study results, there were statistically significant differences between the verbal violence and working patterns according to the mean differences of the subfactors on subject's characteristics. Also, there were statistically significant differences between the improper work environment and all of subject's characteristics. However, there was no statistically significant differences in the improper business. The factor analysis showed that the Workplace Bullying of the dental hygienists was composed of three elements, namely 'verbal violence', 'improper business,' and 'improper work environment.' The validity of the model examined by a confirmatory factor analysis satisfied most of the relevant requirements. The Cronbach's aplha shows a good reliability. Conclusions: In conclusion, it was proven that dental hygienist's Workplace Bullying measurement tool had high validity and reliability. Furthermore, this study can be used to improve dental hygienists' organizational relationship. Therefore, by identifying the recognition of the dental hygienists, this study can contribute to affect a positive influence in the dental hospitals.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.147-155
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• 2021

Objective: The purpose of this study was to find ways for strengthening occupational health services through monitoring exposure to health hazards. Methods: About 70,000 workplaces that have conducted the work environment measurement(WEM) over the last three years(2017~2019) were classified according to the Korean Standard Industry Classification(KSIC), and the current status of WEM by industry was analyzed. The authors considered ways to monitor exposure to health hazards in order to strengthen occupational health services and protect workers' health. Results: Based on the KSIC, 934 of the 1,196 total sub-classified industries have conducted WEM in at least one workplace over the last three year(2017~2019). In the case of manufacturing, out of a total of 477 sub-classified industries, 474 have conducted WEM at more than one workplace. However, in some industries, WEM was not conducted or the implementation rate was low, so it was necessary to examine whether WEM should be expanded based on a detailed analysis of the WEM database. To this end, it is necessary to form an exposure monitoring committee in which various experts from different fields can participate. The committee needs to discuss the overall matters necessary for selecting industries that require detailed investigation or research, review the results, and prepare a final recommendation. Conclusion: In conclusion, the government needs to come up with a plan to strengthen occupational health services through surveys and research on the current status of WEM and work environment management models by industry.