• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제3권2호
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• pp.85-91
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• 2012

The occupations involved in food animal production have long been recognized to carry significant health risks for workers, with special attention to injuries. However, risk of pathogen exposure in these occupations has been less extensively considered. Pathogens are a food safety issue and are known to be present throughout the food animal production chain. Workers employed at farms and slaughterhouses are at risk of pathogen exposure and bacterial infections. The industrialization of animal farming and the use of antimicrobials in animal feed to promote growth have increased the development of antimicrobial resistance. The changed nature of these pathogens exposes workers in this industry to new strains, thus modifying the risks and health consequences for these workers. These risks are not yet recognized by any work-related health and safety agency in the world.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.112-116
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• 2022

Background/Aims: The Gachon Regional Occupational Cohort Study (GROCS) is a large-scale longitudinal study of occupational safety and health data (covering Work Environment Monitoring, Workers' Health Surveillance, and Occupational Health Service) conducted by the Gachon University Gil Medical Center (GUGMC) in Incheon, Republic of Korea. We conducted GROCS to identify the health effects of workers' occupational risks, behavior, socioeconomic status, and life style. Methods: The GROCS includes data from Work Environment Monitoring, Workers' Health Surveillance, and Occupational Health Service. The baseline year for all data collection was 2018. Work Environment Monitoring was conducted in 240 companies located in Incheon. General Health Examination and Special Health Examination were performed on 32,725 and 9,504 workers, respectively. Occupational Health Services were provided to 16,883 workers in 171 companies. These data have been collected and operated at an external data management institution and were provided as a retrospective cohort after removing personal identification information. Results: In 2018, the total number of companies was 2,854, among which which 488 special Health Examination, 171 Work Environment Monitoring, and 240 Occupational Health Service. The proportion of companies undergoing Special Health Examination was 17.1%, the proportion of companies undergoing Work Environment Monitoring was 8.4%, and the proportion of Companies undergoing Occupational Health Service was 6.0%. Conclusion: GROCS expects researchers to utilize its useful and reliable resource for occupational health and surveillance with for academic or political purposes to lead to improved workers' health and working environment.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제4권4호
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• pp.177-186
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• 2013

The use of nanoparticles (NPs) in industry is increasing, bringing with it a number of adverse health effects on workers. Like other chemical carcinogens, NPs can cause cancer via oxidative DNA damage. Of all the molecules vulnerable to oxidative modification by NPs, DNA has received the greatest attention, and biomarkers of exposure and effect are nearing validation. This review concentrates on studies published between 2000 and 2012 that attempted to detect oxidative DNA damage in humans, laboratory animals, and cell lines. It is important to review these studies to improve the current understanding of the oxidative DNA damage caused by NP exposure in the workplace. In addition to examining studies on oxidative damage, this review briefly describes NPs, giving some examples of their adverse effects, and reviews occupational exposure assessments and approaches to minimizing exposure (e.g., personal protective equipment and engineering controls such as fume hoods). Current recommendations to minimize exposure are largely based on common sense, analogy to ultrafine material toxicity, and general health and safety recommendations.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.241-243
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• 2020

Coronavirus disease 2019 poses an occupational health risk to health-care workers. Several thousand health-care workers have already been infected, mainly in China. Preventing intra-hospital transmission of the communicable disease is therefore a priority. Based on the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety model, the strategies and measures to protect health-care workers in an acute tertiary hospital are described along the domains of work task, technologies and tools, work environmental factors, and organizational conditions. The principle of zero occupational infection remains an achievable goal that all health-care systems need to strive for in the face of a potential pandemic.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제6권3호
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• pp.240-248
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• 2015

Background: Recovery from fatigue is important in maintaining night workers' health. This study compared the course of self-reported recovery after 2-week 12-hour schedules consisting of either night shifts or swing shifts (i.e., 7 night shifts followed by 7 day shifts) to such schedules consisting of only day work. Methods: Sixty-one male offshore employees-20 night workers, 16 swing shift workers, and 25 day workers-rated six questions on fatigue (sleep quality, feeling rested, physical and mental fatigue, and energy levels; scale 1-11) for 14 days after an offshore tour. After the two night-work schedules, differences on the $1^{st}$ day (main effects) and differences during the follow-up (interaction effects) were compared to day work with generalized estimating equations analysis. Results: After adjustment for confounders, significant main effects were found for sleep quality for night workers (1.41, 95% confidence interval 1.05-1.89) and swing shift workers (1.42, 95% confidence interval 1.03-1.94) when compared to day workers; their interaction terms were not statistically significant. For the remaining fatigue outcomes, no statistically significant main or interaction effects were found. Conclusion: After 2-week 12-hour night and swing shifts, only the course for sleep quality differed from that of day work. Sleep quality was poorer for night and swing shift workers on the $1^{st}$ day off and remained poorer for the 14-day follow-up. This showed that while working at night had no effect on feeling rested, tiredness, and energy levels, it had a relatively long-lasting effect on sleep quality.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.125-126
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• 2020

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제10권4호
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• pp.461-469
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• 2019

Background: Collisions involving workers and mobile machines continue to be a major concern in underground coal mines. Over the last 30 years, these collisions have resulted in numerous injuries and fatalities. Recently, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) proposed a rule that would require mines to equip mobile machines with proximity detection systems (PDSs) (systems designed for automated collision avoidance). Even though this regulation has not been enacted, some mines have installed PDSs on their scoops and hauling machines. However, early implementation of PDSs has introduced a variety of safety concerns. Past findings show that workers' trust can affect technology integration and influence unsafe use of automated technologies. Methods: Using a mixed-methods approach, the present study explores the effect that factors such as mine of employment, age, experience, and system type have on workers' trust in PDSs for mobile machines. The study also explores how workers are trained on PDSs and how this training influences trust. Results: The study resulted in three major findings. First, the mine of employment had a significant influence on workers' trust in mobile PDSs. Second, hands-on and classroom training was the most common types of training. Finally, over 70% of workers are trained on the system by the mine compared with 36% trained by the system manufacturer. Conclusion: The influence of workers' mine of employment on trust in PDSs may indicate that practitioners and researchers may need to give the organizational and physical characteristics of each mine careful consideration to ensure safe integration of automated systems.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제44권5호
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• pp.409-420
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• 2018

Objectives: An outbreak of humidifier disinfectant-related respiratory disease has not only been a massive disaster for end users, but it is also a concern for the workers of the manufacturers. This study presents the results of a questionnaire survey on the health effects among workers involved in the manufacture of humidifier disinfectants. Methods: Seven sites where humidifier disinfectants were manufactured were identified. A questionnaire survey was conducted to assess the physical symptoms experienced by workers related to humidifier disinfectants. Among a total of 177 workers, 42 subjects were available for the survey. Results: Twenty-one of the 42 respondents reported that they experienced respiratory or skin and mucosal irritation symptoms during work. Of the respondents who experienced symptoms, 14 believed that their symptoms were related to the work process and reported that the symptoms were experienced while working. However, no respondents reported ongoing symptoms or sequelae during the investigation period, and this result could not minimize selection bias due to low response rates. We then compared the characteristics of the group who experienced suspicious symptoms with those of the group without any symptoms. There was no statistically significant difference between two groups. Conclusions: We could not find significant health effects related to the humidifier disinfectant manufacturing process, although 21 respondents experienced stimulant symptoms and 14 respondents believed that the symptoms were related to the work process. Due to the long period of time after occupational exposure and the lack of data, there were many limitations to this study. However, this is one of the few follow-up investigations of workers related to this large-scale disaster in South Korea and the limitations of this study highlight the need to follow up with a nationwide database rather than an occasional survey.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.263-271
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• 2014

Objectives: Along with the several cases of pulmonary disorders caused by exposure to indium that have been reported in Japan, China, and the United States, cases of Korean workers involved in processes that require handling of indium compounds with potential risk of exposure to indium compounds have also been reported. We performed biological monitoring for workers in various target manufacturing processes of indium, indium oxide, and indium tin oxide(ITO)/indium zinc oxide(IZO) in domestic factories. Materials: As biological exposure indices, we measured serum concentrations of indium using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and Krebs von den Lungen 6(KL-6) and surfactant protein D(SP-D) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. We classified the ITO/IZO target manufacturing process into powdering, mixing, molding, sintering, polishing, bonding, and finishing. Results: The powdering process workers showed the highest serum indium level. The mixing and polishing process workers also showed high serum indium levels. In the powdering process, the mean indium serum concentration in the workers exceeded $3{\mu}g/L$, the reference value in Japan. Of the powdering, mixing, and polishing process workers, 83.3%, 50.0%, and 24.5%, respectively, had values exceeding the reference value in Japan. We suppose that the reason of the higher prevalence of high indium concentrations in powder processing workers was that most of the particles in the powdering process were respirable dust smaller than $10{\mu}m$. The mean KL-6 and SP-D concentrations were high in the powdering, mixing, and polishing process workers. Therefore, the workers in these processes who were at greater risk of exposure to indium powder were those who had higher serum levels of indium, as well as KL-6 and SP-D. We observed significant differences in serum indium, KL-6, and SP-D levels between the process groups. Conclusions: Five among the seven reported cases of "indium lung" in Japan involved polishing process workers. Polishing process workers in Korea also had high serum levels of indium, KL-6, and SP-D. The outcomes of this study can be used as essential bases for establishing biological monitoring measures for workers handling indium compounds, and for developing health-care guidelines and special medical surveillance in Korea.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.193-200
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• 2023

Background: International evidence shows that mining workers are at greater risk of suicide than other workers; however, it is not known whether this applies to the Australian mining sector. Methods: Using data from the National Coronial Information System, rates of suicide among male mining workers were compared to those of three comparators: construction workers, mining and construction workers combined, and all other workers. Age-standardized suicide rates were calculated for 2001-2019 and across three intervals '2001-2006', '2007-2011', and '2012-2019'. Incidence rate ratios for suicide were calculated to compare incidence rates for mining workers, to those of the three comparative groups. Results: The suicide rate for male mining workers in Australia was estimated to be between 11 and 25 per 100,000 (likely closer to 25 per 100,000) over the period of 2001-2019. There was also evidence that the suicide rate among mining workers is increasing, and the suicide rate among mining workers for the period 2012-2019 was significantly higher than the other worker group. Conclusions: Based on available data, we tentatively deduce that suicide mortality among male mining workers is of concern. More information is needed on both industry and occupation of suicide decedents in order to better assess whether, and the extent to which, mining workers (and other industries and occupations) are at increased risk of suicide.