• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.940-948
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• 2012

In Korea, researches on the exposure assessment of the hand-transmitted vibration started from the mid-90, however, they were performed in the limited industries such as auto-assembly plants and the evaluation of the vibration was mostly conducted by ISO 5349(1986). Therefore, it was necessary to assess hand-transmitted vibration levels of workplace such as ship building/repairing industry or mining industry where occupational injuries are largely occurred and to evaluate the vibration levels using revised ISO 5349(2001). The SVAN 948 Four Channels Sound & Vibration Analyser was used for the measurement. The workers using a chain saw were exposed to 1.7~2.8 $m/s^2$ of daily vibration level. Workers using a rock drill in a coal mining were exposed to the highest vibration acceleration among workers and the levels were 7.1~10.8 $m/s^2$. Vibration levels of grinders were different according to the types of grinders. The hand-transmitted vibration of 3 types of grinders were measured and the levels were 3.3~11.1 $m/s^2$. Workers using a impact wrench were exposed to 1.5~1.6 $m/s^2$ of vibration. Out of 20 kinds of machines, only 4 tools provided the information of vibration acceleration on the instructions. In addition, the current condition of workplace to control vibration was not much different from the past because there are no vibration exposure limit.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.25 no.2_2
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• pp.257-262
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• 2022

With the shortage of labor force in small and medium-size industries, the Korean Employment Permit System (EPS) continues to bring migrant workers. However, the question remains of the health and safety management of their migrant workers. Considering that a significant part of safety and health problems are caused by migrant workers due to a lack of information on identifying risk and inexperience in the field. Telephone interviews were conducted to investigate the migrant workers' perspectives on workplace safety practices. The survey focused on workers' accident histories, understanding of safety practices, and responding to industrial accidents. A total of 66 accidents occurred among 30 participants. 10 accidents were not reported to the employer (company), which the foreign workers judged to be minor injuries that should not be reported as accidents. 80.0% of the participants expressed dissatisfaction with the PPE they were using. Among various reasons lack of understanding due to language barriers, lack of awareness of the importance of safety, communication difficulties were major reasons for the caused accidents and potential health issues. It is necessary to improve the safety and health support system by providing practical support through specialized educational institutes with experts in the field. A legal framework and a proper safety management system need to be maintained. This study suggests changing the current policy to improve the health and safety of migrant workers by, establishing specialized educational institutes with locally grown foreign experts in the field.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.278-286
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• 2012

Objectives: Authors investigated the pattern of the rate of occupational injuries and illnesses (ROII) at the level of enterprises in order to build a network for exchange of experience and knowledge, which would contribute to workers' safety and health through safety climate of workplace. Methods: Occupational accidents were analyzed at the manufacturing work site unit. A two step clustering process for the past patterns regarding the ROII from 2001 to 2009 was investigated. The ROII patterns were categorized based on regression analysis and the patterns were further divided according to the subtle changes with Mahalanobis distance and Ward's linkage. Results: The first clustering of ROII through regression analysis showed 5 different functions; 29 work sites of the linear function, 50 sites of the quadratic function, 95 sites of the logarithm function, 62 sites of the exponential function, and 54 sites of the sine function. Fourteen clusters were created in the second clustering. There were 3 clusters in each function categorized in the first clustering except for sine function. Each cluster consisted of the work sites with similar ROII patterns, which had unique characteristics. Conclusion: The five different patterns of ROII suggest that tailored management activities should be applied to every work site. Based on these differences, the authors selected exemplary work sites and built a network to help the work sites to share information on safety climate and accident prevention measures. The causes of different patterns of ROII, building network and evaluation of this management model should be evaluated as future researches.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.394-400
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• 2022

Background: Impacts of exposure are generally monitored and recorded after injuries or illness occur. Yet, absence of conventional after-the-effect impacts (i.e., lagging indicators), tend to focus on physical health and injuries, and fail to inform if workers are not exposed to safety and health hazards. In contrast to lagging indicators, leading indicators are proactive, preventive, and predictive indexes that offer insights how effective safety and health. The present study is to validate an extended Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) that consists of six leading indicators. Methods: Questionnaires were distributed to 13 organizations (response rate = 93.1%, 1,439 responses) in Taiwan. Cronbach α, multiple linear regression and canonical correlation were used to test the reliability of the extended Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) which consists of six leading indicators (safe climate, transformational leadership, organizational justice, organizational support, hazard prevention and control, and training). Criteria-related validation strategy was applied to examine relationships of six leading indicators with six criteria (perceived health, burnout, depression, job satisfaction, job performance, and life satisfaction). Results: The results showed that the Cronbach's α of six leading indicators ranged from 0.87 to 0.92. The canonical correlation analysis indicated a positive correlation between the six leading indicators and criteria (1st canonical function: correlation = 0.647, square correlation = 0.419, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The present study validates the extended VPP framework that focuses on promoting safety and physical and mental health. Results further provides applications of the extended VPP framework to promote workers' safety and health.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.167-180
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• 2023

The aim of this study is to explore the factors that influence the health care utilization of disabled workers who returned to their original workplace after an occupational accident. The study sample consisted of 457 workers who suffered from occupational accidents and were rated as disabled based on the data from the PSWCI in 2021. Data analysis was performed using a hierarchical multiple regression analysis with SPSS WIN 26.0. The study findings revealed that the number of outpatient visits was affected by factors such as daily wage payment, economic status, physical activity limitations, subjective health status, and chronic diseases. Moreover, health care expenditures were determined by factors such as having a caregiver for daily living, burn injuries, and physical activity limitations. Therefore, to increase the accessibility of health care utilization for disabled workers, the role of nurses in the workplace should be expanded, employers should include a health care utilization plan when developing a return-to-work plan, and research on the introduction of a paid sick leave system that allows workers to rest when they are sick is needed. It is also necessary to alleviate the economic burden by increasing the coverage of benefits for burn and rehabilitation treatments.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.151-156
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• 2012

Objective: In 2010, the rate of injuries and illnesses in the shipbuilding industry was 1.20, about 1.74 times higher than the average of overall industries(0.69). Musculoskeletal disorders(MSDs) became a major problem since 2000 in shipbuilding industry. The purpose of this study was to provide efficient implementation management through evaluating the economic effectiveness of the Musculoskeletal Disorders Prevention Program(MDPP). Successfully implementing the MDPP in the workplace may decrease the risk of MSDs and therefore reduce MSDs related costs. Methods: Occupational accident index (frequency rate, severity rate, and frequency severity indicator), estimated direct costs, and total occupational accident occurrence rate were provided by analysis of MSDs, statistical analysis of MDPP decreed companies, and data analysis of implementation. Results: The study shows the number of MSDs for MDPP decreed companies decreased 76.2% from 2,319 in 2004 to 551 in 2008. Above all, the number of MSDs decreased 78.7% in Shipbuilding industries. Forty companies (85.1%) showed a decreasing tendency and 27.7% of those had an $R^2$ > 0.7. Similar results were found in severity rate and frequency severity indicator. From these results, it appears there are a number of advantages in implementing the MDPP. Conclusion: MDPP effectiveness was demonstrated by analysing implementation and occupational accident index. A more effective and efficient implementation would take into account business sector, size, policy, and organization of the company.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.45-54
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• 2014

The average injury rate in sawmilling industry for the last 5 years is 4.99%, which means that more than 200 injuries have occurred in that industry every year. Because the first step in risk assessment is the hazard identification, it is very important to know how to define the hazard and nature of harm. We analyzed 643 accident records of three years(2010-2012) and carried out site survey for the same cases. As a result, the most common types of work at the time of injury in sawmilling industry were removing jammed wood 81(12.8%), wood carrying task 52(8.1%), wood cutting 49(7.6%), travelling table log band saw 41(6.4%), maintenance 37(5.8%) etc. In addition, there were statistically significant differences in some analysis factors such as injured body parts, employment size, and handling material among different working places. Therefore, it is concluded that differentiated prevention efforts are necessary in each workplace.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.200-207
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• 2008

Objectives : This study examined whether serious psychological distress (SPD) is associated with occupational injury among US employees. Methods : The employed population aged 18-64 years was examined (n=101,855) using data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 2000-2003. SPD was measured using the Kessler 6-item Psychological Distress Scale (K-6), a screening scale designed to identify persons with serious mental illness. The predicted marginal prevalence of psychological distress and occupational injury with the adjusted odds ratio were estimated using multiple logistic regression analyses. Results : The age-adjusted 3-month prevalence of occupational injury was $0.80{\pm}0.12%$ in workers with SPD, which was 37% greater than in workers without SPD ($0.58{\pm}0.03%$). The odds of occupational injury in workers with SPD were higher compared to workers without SPD (OR=1.34, 95% CI=0.93-1.92), after controlling for sex, age, race, education, occupation, and activity limitation by at least one medical condition. Male, service and blue collar occupation, and activity limiation by co-morbidity showed significantly higher odds of occupational injury for workers with SPD. Conclusions : The findings suggest that SPD accounts for an increased likelihood of occupational injury among US employees. A further longitudinal study is needed to differentiate the mechanism or causal pathways linking individual injury risk at the workplace, SPD, and socioeconomic factors.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2024

Background: Using wearable passive back-support exoskeletons in workplace has attracted attention as devices that support the posture of workers, enhance their physical capabilities, and reduce physical risk factors. Objects: This study aimed to investigate the effect of a wearable passive back-support exoskeleton on the activity of the erector spinae muscles during lifting tasks at various heights. Methods: Twenty healthy adult males were selected as subjects. Electromyography (EMG) was used to assess the activity of the erector spinae muscles while performing lifting tasks at three distinct heights (30, 40, and 50 cm), with and without the application of the Wearable Passive Back Support Exoskeleton. EMG data were gathered before and after the application of the orthosis. Results: The use of the Wearable Passive Back Support Exoskeleton resulted in a significant decrease in muscle activity when lifting a 10 kg object from heights of 30 and 40 cm (p < 0.05). Additionally, there was a significant reduction in muscle activity when lifting from a height of 50 cm compared with that at lower heights (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The use of a wearable passive back-support exoskeleton led to a decrease in the activity of the erector spinae muscles during lifting tasks, irrespective of the object's height. Our results suggest that the orthosis we tested may help decrease risk of lower back injuries during lifting.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.226-237
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• 2019

Purpose: This study investigated the characteristics of adult patients who had fallen from a height and presented to an emergency room (ER) according to gender and intentionality, with the goal of reducing the harm caused by these injuries. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of fall-from-height patients aged ≥19 years from the in-depth surveillance study of injured patients visiting ERs conducted under the supervision of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2011 to 2016. Patterns were analyzed according to gender and intentionality. Results: There were 29,838 men (68.5%) and 13,734 women (31.5%), with mean ages of 50.3±15.7 years and 57.2±19.9 years, respectively. The most common height of the fall was ≥1 m to 4 m in men (n=15,863; 53.2%) and <1 m in women (n=7,293; 53.1%). The most common location where the fall occurred was the workplace for men (n=10,500 male; 35.2%) and residential facilities for women (n=7,755; 56.5%). Most falls from height were unintentional (n=41,765; 97.1% vs. n=1,264; 2.9% for intentional falls). Suicide was the most frequent reason for intentional falls, and the age group of 19-30 years predominated in this category (n=377; 29.9%). For intentional falls, the most common interval before presentation to the ER was 0-6 hours (n=370; 29.3%) and the most common height was ≥4 m (n=872; 69.0%). Conclusions: Among men, falls from height most often occurred from ≥1 m to 4 m, at the workplace, and during the course of paid work, whereas among women, they were most common from <1 m, in residential facilities, and during daily activities. Intentional falls most often occurred with the purpose of suicide, in the age group of 19-30 years, with an interval of 0-6 hours until treatment, from ≥4 m, and in residential facilities. Alcohol consumption was more common in intentional falls.