Mechanisms Analysis for Fatal Accident Types Caused by Multiple Processes in the Workplace: Based on Accident Case in South Korea.

This study aimed to develop the accident mechanism of fatal accidents taking place in multiple processes at the workplace. Multiple processes were defined as the existence of multiple work types and work processes in the same workspace. Recently, various processes are frequently conducted simultaneously in one workplace with the participation of several companies, and more workers are increasingly experiencing industrial accidents while working in multiple processes. To prevent accidents in the multiple processes caused by the sameness of work period and space, the accident process was investigated by analyzing the investigation reports on serious industrial accidents in South Korea, and then the accident mechanism model was developed. By utilizing the developed model, the major safety measures to be taken by the contractor for each of the 8 types of accidents caused by the multiple processes were drawn. The roles and responsibilities of the contractor to be implemented in order to prevent accident occurrence in multiple processes were proposed through the accident mechanism of each type of fatal accident. It is expected that the accidents taking place in the multiple processes can be prevented with the drawn results.

Types and Characteristics of Fatal Accidents Caused by Multiple Processes in a Workplace: Based on Actual Cases in South Korea.

As the social cost of disasters increases and safety is being emphasized, policy regulations at the national level have been implemented. However, various fatal accidents are continually occurring as continued economic development and enhanced technologies have increased demand and complicated the industrial structure. Workers in different industries, performing similar jobs, often experience different workplace hazards, which can result in similar types of accidents. Therefore, new policy regulations have been established to separate multiple processes and work in workplaces and are being implemented in several countries to minimize damage caused by new types of industrial accidents. Supervision and management appropriate for contractors or safety and health officials with legal obligations are required to play a regulatory role when these types of industrial accidents are likely to occur. This study classified accidental types and their characteristics based on actual cases, in which potential risks exist at multiple processes in a workplace. First, raw data of work-related fatalities that occurred in South Korea were reviewed and classified as fatal accidents caused by multiple processes in workplaces using the proposed method. Next, the classified actual cases were prepared as statistical data and analyzed based on the various categories. Finally, the accident type based on multiple processes, including risks and characteristics, in workplaces was proposed. As a result, this study improved the safety awareness and understanding of regulatory subjects regarding industrial accidents caused by multiple processes in workplaces and is expected to improve the effectiveness of the existing policy to prevent workplace accidents.

Suggestion of an Improved Evaluation Method of Construction Companies' Industrial Accident Prevention Activities in South Korea.

Workers in the construction industry are constantly exposed to dangers during work that can lead to death or disability. Despite recent advances in construction technology, the presence of these risks for workers has become an unresolved social problem. In particular, most companies often recognize that it is necessary to mitigate against risks posed to worker only after an accident has occurred. Recently, there has been an increasing demand for the development of new safety technologies and policy proposals to ensure the safety of workers during construction or work. However, the right solution is not coping after an accident but preventing it, and this must be accompanied by voluntary efforts by the company. To work toward such solutions, Korea is implementing an evaluation of construction companies' industrial accident prevention activities without legal regulations or coercion to encourage voluntary accident prevention activities by companies. The purpose of this study is to propose an effective improvement direction for the system implemented by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency. First, by analyzing the details of the system and the data of the evaluation results, the system's effectiveness and rationality are reviewed, and steps for improvement are determined. Next, an evaluation model is proposed considering the size of the company to be evaluated and the level of safety and health, and its validity is verified through a survey of construction workers. Finally, a plan to induce the voluntary participation of construction companies in this system and the role of the supervisory authority are presented. This study is expected to serve as an important example of an effective safety policy model by encouraging companies' voluntary efforts to prevent accidents in the construction industry and raise the level of potential safety and health awareness.

Influence of epiretinal membrane on the measurement of peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer thickness using spectral-domain coherence tomography.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To investigate the effect of epiretinal membrane (ERM) on peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness measurements using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (Spectralis; Heidelberg Engineering). METHODS: A total of 134 patients with idiopathic ERM and 63 healthy controls were included in this observational comparative study. We categorised ERMs into three severity grades, based on retinal appearance in macular scans. All eyes with ERM were classified into two groups; those involving the peripapillary scan area (ERM+pp, n=68 eyes) and not involving the peripapillary scan area (ERM-pp, n=66 eyes) using the macular disc scan. Peripapillary RNFL thickness was compared between related subgroups as (ERM+pp) or (ERM-pp) group. RESULTS: Temporal peripapillary RNFL thickness was significantly greater in the ERM+pp group (109.44±22.91 µm), followed by the ERM-pp (82.60±11.77 µm, p<0.001) and control (75.42±10.49 µm, p<0.001) groups. Temporal peripapillary RNFL thickness significantly increased with ERM grade in the ERM+pp and ERM-pp groups (both p<0.001). The peripapillary RNFL thickness was overestimated (exceeded 99th percentile) in the temporal sector in 49 eyes (72.1%) in the ERM+pp group and in 5 eyes (7.6%) in the ERM-pp group. CONCLUSIONS: Temporal and global peripapillary RNFL thickness is significantly higher in eyes with ERM, especially when the ERM extends into the peripapillary area. However, some eyes with an ERM that does not involve the peripapillary scan area still show peripapillary RNFL thickening. Measured peripapillary RNFL thickness was significantly and positively correlated with ERM severity.

On textual and contextual position of the ophthalmological treatise of bodhisattva nagarjuna.

Medical knowledge in India began to be introduced to China in earliest from the Later Han Dynasty period to the times of Wei-Qin and South & North Dynasties. This is proved by many Buddhist medical books appeared in those days. Of the contents of Indian medicine, the theory of four major elements affected Chinese medicine more than did the theory of body fluids. Based on the theory of four major elements that was began to be introduced in Fú shuo fú yi jing, an attempt to establish a new medical system was made in Zhou hòu bai yifang written by Táo Hóng-jing and Sun Si-miao who tried to develop etiology further but could not achieve any great outcomes. Unlike the foregoing situation, Indian medicine aroused a large echo in China in the field of ophthalmology with ophthalmological knowledge mentioned in Susrutasa hita and 'Jinzhen-shù'(cataract couching) introduced as a surgical treatment of cataract. The Susrutasa hita which is one of the three major texts of Indian medicine contains additional information on surgical operations not introduced in the Carakasa hita. The technique of cataract surgery was particularly popular in the Tang and Song dynasty periods in China under the name Lóng shù pú sà yan lùn(The Ophthalmological Treatise of Bodhisattva Nagarjuna) or Lóng shù lùn and was even designated as a subject to educate medical officers. While the original text of Lóng shù pú sà yan lùn was not handed down, the first testimony that show the trace of the introduction of this text into China was the Tian zhú jing lùn yan mentioned in Wài tái mì yào(Arcane Essential from the Imperial Library) written by Wang Tao. Long shàng dào ren who was mentioned as the compiler of the book is assumed to be Lóng shù. Although Tian zhú jing lùn yan introduced anatomical knowledge about the eyeball that could have not been in the traditional Chinese medicine, this book has only limited quantity of information in this regard. Thereafter, Tài píng shèng huì fang (Holy Prescriptions for Universal Relief) compiled by a national agency at the beginning of the Song Dynasty period introduced Lóng shù pú sà yan lùn without clear indication of the reference. Contemporary with this book, many ophthalmological books such as Mì chuán yan ke lóng mù lùn(Longmu's Ophthalmology Secretly Handed Down) were published. As Chinese culture was spreading out into surrounding countries, medical knowledge was also introduced to Korean peninsula and Japan. The ophthalmological knowledge contained in Lóng shù pú sà yan lùn was also reflected and some parts of it were introduced in I shin bo in Japan. Based on the policy decision of King Sejong, the fourth king of Joseon Dynasty, large scaled promoting projects of medical knowledge was established. It is notable that the Ui bang ryu chwi compiled as a result of the synthesis of the medical treatises available at that time initiated by King Sejong contained a considerable part of Lóng shù pú sà yan lùn in reedited form that had already passed into oblivion in China. The intellectuals in Joseon Dynasty who participated in the compilation of Ui bang ryu chwi not only indicated that Lóng shù pú sà yan lùn was a medical text published in the times of Wei-Qin and South & North Dynasties in China but also clearly indicated the textual reference and left the original text for later generation without modifying the contents. According to the Ui bang ryu chwi, the Lóng shù pú sà yan lùn indicated that the core causes of eye diseases were heat, winds, and three body fluids(trido a) and contained the analyses of symptoms, related treatments, and several analyses of wrong treatments. In addition, Lóng shù pú sà yan lùn explained diverse eye diseases through more than 30 medical treatments. In particular, this book accurately described golden needle acupuncture for treatment of a Nèi-zhàng understood to be cataract. Therefore, this book is a significant textual record in the history of ophthalmological medicine in East Asia. Along with the golden needle acupuncture which is a method of removing the crystalline lens in which white turbidity occurred by stabbing the eyeball with a needle, traces of Indian medicine that had been already lost in China were clearly indicated in Lóng shù pú sà yan lùn kept in the Ui bang ryu chwi. In particular, the book indicates that the eyes were directly correlated with the brain and that to treat the internal disorder, treating the brain that lost stability due to heat and bodily wind was indispensable; these are the traces of Indian influence. This textual source demonstrates a case of knowledge exchange in field of medicine with concrete cases of the encounter and clash between the standpoints of understanding human body.