Cognition and Practice on Medical Information Protection of Iudustrial Health Care Manager of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises / 대한산업의학회지

OBJECTIVES: This research aimed to know the actual condition and problems of medical information protection at a workplace with the target of industrial health care managers of small and medium-sized enterprises. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was given to industrial health-care managers of 216 enterprises from March 15 to May 17, 2010. The questionnaire was produced by referring to the Act on Personal Information Protection of Public Institutions, etc. This research evaluated agreement of cognition and practice according to 10 items of medical information protection using kappa and cross-analysis of significant factors between cognition and practice of medical information protection and general characteristics. RESULTS: Cognition about medical information protection appeared to be 85.4-97.1% and its practice appeared to be 44.1-95.3%, so practice was lower than cognition. In addition, the agreement of cognition and practice appeared significantly low (kappa 0.082-0.387). The practice of medical information protection tended to be lower when the managers were older and held a higher job title. Health examination results were being delivered only to workers except for an employer (94.2%), but there were many industrial health-care managers who felt discomfort about their work in group occupational health-care systems (58.1%). CONCLUSIONS: The practice of protecting medical information by industrial health-care managers was clearly lower than the cognition. Therefore, introduction of educational programs about personal information protection and provision of an independent place for group occupational health care service is urgent. In addition, in order to use the health examination results conveniently in group occupational health services, an institutional complement is necessary.

Occupational Health Management in the Lead Industry: The Korean Experience

In 1967, the problem of occupational lead exposure came to public attention in Korea. Since then, regular progress has been made in lowering workplace lead exposures, instituting new workplace controls, and implementing health examinations of exposed workers. Past serious lead poisoning episodes made it possible to introduce biological monitoring programs on a voluntary basis in high-lead-exposure facilities in Korea. Industry-specific occupational health services for lead workers in Korea during the last 22 years can be categorized into three phases. During the first phase (1988-1993), efforts were directed at increasing awareness among workers about the hazards of lead exposure, biological monitoring of blood zinc protoporphyrin began, and a respiratory protection program was introduced. During the second phase (1994-1997), a computerized health management system for lead workers was developed, blood-lead measurement was added to biologic monitoring, and engineering controls were introduced in the workplace to lower air-lead levels to comply with air-lead regulations. Finally, during the third phase (1998-present), a new biomarker, bone-lead measurement by X-ray fluorescence, was introduced. Bone-lead measurement proved to be useful for assessing body burden and to demonstrate past lead exposure in retired workers. Occupational health service practice for lead workers, including the industry-specific group occupational health system, has brought considerable success in the prevention of lead poisoning and in reducing the lead burden in Korean lead workers during the last several decades. The successful achievement of prevention of lead poisoning in Korea was a result of the combined efforts of lead workers, employers, relevant government agencies, and academic institutes.

Quality Assessment of Group Occupational Health Service for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Korea / 대한산업의학회지

Group occupational health service programme started in 1990 is one of the measures to cope with limited human and financial resources in occupational health. The programme has expanded rapidly to include 52 institutions, private as well as public, all over the country. In spite of its potential impact on health of employees and practice of occupational health in small and medium sized industries, comprehensive evaluation in terms of quality has not been tried. This study has aims to develop the criteria to assess the quality of newly developed group occupational health service programme, and to investigate the quality of institutions, and finally to develop policies for the quality improvement. 1) Criteria development : By defining occupational health services, in particular for small and medium sized industries, as one of the primary health care, followings are included as core elements of qualitative occupational health programme ; accessibility, continuity, comprehensiveness, technical quality, intersectoral collaboration, emphasis on preventive services, community participation, and adequacy. Again each element is divided into five major components of national health system infrastructure developed by the World Health Organization ; development of health resources, organized arrangement of resources, delivery of health care, economic support, and management. In turn, each component is categorized into three aspects of quality assessment, structure, process and outcome. Expert panel selected several criteria for each category to evaluate the programme. Criteria were modified according to each group of interviewees, to produce two sets of questionnaire, one for chief operating officer and another for nurses in the institutions, and the chief operating officer and workers in the workplace. 2) Subject : Of all 52 institutions, 25 voluntarily participated in the survey. At individual institution, chief operating officer and practicing nurses were interviewed in depth. After intensive education for interviewees, every interview was performed with standardized guideline and questionnaire. The quality of the 'Group occupational health service programme' was found to be lower than expected. Especially In continuity, comprehensiveness, technical quality, community participation and adequacy, lower quality in structural aspect was commonly identified throughout all the institutions. Quality in terms of accessibility and continuity highly varied among institutions. To improve quality of the programme, more comprehensive and systematic programme such as accreditation has to be introduced. In addition, human resources, governmental fund and information systems for individual workers are to be developed. As a long range plan, integration of occupational health services into the national health systems and pooling of financial resources and planned allocation should be considered.

The Changes of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice about Health Promotion in Workers Taking Group Occupational Health Service for 5 years / 대한산업의학회지

Before and after conducting the health promotion program by group occupational health service during 5 years, we surveyed knowledge, attitude and practice about general health(30 items) and occupational health (30 items) among 25 small and medium scale industry workers (before : 355 workers, after : 279 workers) for evaluation of effectiveness. The scores of knowledge for smoking, drinking, cholesterol, mental stress, management of hypertension, and risks in younger or women workers were significantly increased after conducting group occupational health service. The scorers of attitude for controlling of fatty food consumption and cleaning workplace and bathing for health and that of practice for taking the periodic health examination and choking blood pressure were significantly increased but most of items in attitude and practice didn't be changed after services. According to sex, the scorers of men were significantly increased in knowledge of general health, but there were not significant differences in age, job status and work duration group. In conclusion, through the group occupational health service during 5 years, only the scores of knowledge in general health were increased. It suggested that the effective program which can change workers' attitude and practice for health promotion, should be developed and conducted in small and medium scale industry workers.

Knowledge and AttitudeA;of the Workers and the Health Personnel on the Health Management in Kyung-In Area / 예방의학회지

This study was performed to investigate the knowledge and attitude of workers in small scale industries on health management, and to provide the basic data for more effective service by the group occupational health service system. The knowledge and attitude of 247 workers and 46 health personnel in the industries scattered around Incheon were investigated from December 1992 to February 1993. The results were summarized as follows; 1. There were significant differences between the workers and the health personnel by age, sex, marriage status, job-position and education level. 2. The recognition level of the workers to contract work related disease was significantly higher than that of health personnel, and recognition level of the workers on environmental hazards and on the utility of measuring hazards were lower than that of health personnel. 3. The recognition level on the content of the group occupational health service system was significantly different between workers and health personnel, 72.6% of the responses from the workers answered that they did not know what the group occupational health service system was, but 82.2% of the responses from the health personnel answered that they knew well what it was. And 79.0% of all respondents thought it was necessary for worker's health. 4. seventy three percent of the respondents from the workers indicated that they had never taken health education. However, 93.0% of all respondents answered positively for the need of health education to promote their health. 5. current health service system was judged to be insufficient for the demand of workers for better health. Most of the respondents prefered a formal but flexible health service system and they wanted the periodic health examination to be followed up. It was revealed that despite of poor knowledge, the demand of workers for health service was higher than the current supply. Therefore, this study suggests that educating both health personnel and workers to obtain correct knowledge on the hazards to work environment and health management is needed for effective occupational health service.