Search results for: Korean workers

Authors: Gyan Kashyap, Shri Kant Singh

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Improved mental health can be articulated as a good physical health and quality of life. Mental health plays an important role in survival of any one’s life. In today’s time people living with stress in life due to their personal matters, health problems, unemployment, work environment, living environment, substance use, life style and many more important reasons. Many studies confirmed that the significant proportion of mental health people increasing in India. This study is focused on mental well-being of male leather tannery workers in Kanpur city, India. Environment at work place as well as living environment plays an important health risk factors among leather tannery workers. Leather tannery workers are more susceptible to many chemicals and physical hazards, just because they are liable to be affected by their exposure to lots of hazardous materials and processes during tanning work in very hazardous work environment. The aim of this study to determine the level of mental health disorder and quality of life among male leather tannery and non-tannery workers in Kanpur city, India. This study utilized the primary data from the cross- sectional household study which was conducted from January to June, 2015 on tannery and non-tannery workers as a part of PhD program from the Jajmau area of Kanpur city, India. The sample of 286 tannery and 295 non-tannery workers has been collected from the study area. We have collected information from the workers of age group 15-70 those who were working at the time of survey for at least one year. This study utilized the general health questionnaire (GHQ-12) and work related stress scale to test the mental wellbeing of male tannery and non-tannery workers. By using GHQ-12 and work related stress scale, Polychoric factor analysis method has been used for best threshold and scoring. Some of important question like ‘How would you rate your overall quality of life’ on Likert scale to measure the quality of life, their earnings, education, family size, living condition, household assets, media exposure, health expenditure, treatment seeking behavior and food habits etc. Results from the study revealed that around one third of tannery workers had severe mental health problems then non-tannery workers. Mental health problem shown the statistically significant association with wealth quintile, 56 percent tannery workers had severe mental health problem those belong to medium wealth quintile. And 42 percent tannery workers had moderate mental health problem among those from the low wealth quintile. Work related stress scale found the statistically significant results for tannery workers. Large proportion of tannery and non-tannery workers reported they are unable to meet their basic needs from their earnings and living in worst condition. Important result from the study, tannery workers who were involved in beam house work in tannery (58%) had severe mental health problem. This study found the statistically significant association with tannery work and mental health problem among tannery workers.

Keywords: GHQ-12, mental well-being, factor analysis, quality of life, tannery workers

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Authors: Ghorbanali Mohammadi

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Background: The objectives of this study were the association between physical and psychological risk factors for occupational lower back and neck pain among industrial workers. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 400 male workers of an industrial company over the previous 7days and 12 months. Data were collected using Nordic and third version of COPSOO questionnaires and QEC method for assessment of postures during the work. Results: The prevalence of LB and NP in the last 12 months is 58% and 52% respectively. The relationship between risk factors and low back/ neck pain in the last 12 months were cognitive demands (OR 995% CI 1.65) and (OR 995% CI 1.75); Influence at work (OR 995% CI 2.21) and (OR 995% CI 1.85); quality of leadership (OR 995% CI 2.42) and (OR 995% CI 2.09) was strongly correlated with complaints of low back and neck pains. Conclusion: Data of this study showed a higher prevalence of LBP and NP in the subjects. The results revealed that workers with work experience of more than 12 yrs. and who work more than 8 hrs. days with smoking habits had more probability to develop both LBP and NP.

Keywords: low back pain, neck pain, physical risk factors, psychological risk factors, QEC, COPSOQ III

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Authors: Natalia Khvorostianov, Nelly Elias

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The present study seeks to analyze representation of social work in immigrant media, focusing on the case of online newspapers established by immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) in Israel. This immigrant population is particularly interesting because social work did not exist as a profession practiced in the USSR and hence most FSU immigrants arrive in Israel without a basic knowledge of the essence of social work, the services it provides and the logic behind its treatment methods. The sample of 37 items was built through a Google search of the Russian online newspapers and portals originated in Israel by using keywords such as “social worker,” “social work services” and the like. All items were analyzed by using qualitative content analysis. Principal analytical categories used for the analysis were: Assessment of social work services (negative, positive, neutral); social workers’ professionalism and effectiveness; goals and motives underlying their activity; cross-cultural contact with immigrants and methods used in working with immigrants. On this basis, four dominant images used to portray Israeli social work services and social workers were identified: Lack of professionalism, cultural gaps between FSU immigrants and Israeli social workers, repressive character of social work services and social workers’ involvement in corruption and crime.

Keywords: FSU immigrants, immigrant media, media images, social workers

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Authors: Osuagwu Justine Ugochukwu

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Investigating the effects of transformational and transactional leadership styles on the performance of healthcare employees at the University Teaching Hospital (UNTH) in Enugu, Nigeria, was the goal of the research. The respondents were asked to fill out a structured questionnaire. The respondents were chosen using a straightforward random sampling technique and consisted of 370 health workers at the hospital. The result of the analysis revealed that transactional and transformational leadership style has a positive while ambidextrous leadership has a negative effect on healthcare workers' performance in UNTH, Enugu. Therefore, the management of public hospitals that have the capacity to change their top management approach to leadership styles will gain substantial support from their employees’ thereby increasing organizational commitment and performance among health workers. This will have remarkable social implications, one of which is a change in the work culture and attitude of medical personnel from the seemingly anti-community of patients to friendly engagement and treatment of patients leading to a harmonious coexistence among these individuals in society. Investigating ambidextrous leadership and the use of nonparametric analysis is unique and has brought brand-new knowledge to leadership literature.

Keywords: workers performance, transformational leadership, transactional leadership, governance quality, ambidextrous leadership

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Authors: Kazi Rizvan, Yamin Rekhu

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Due to high competitiveness in industries throughout the world, every industry is trying hard to utilize all their resources to keep their productivity as high as possible. Many tools have been being used to ensure smoother flow of an operation, to balance tasks, to maintain proper schedules for tasks, to maintain proper sequence for tasks, to reduce unproductive time. All of these tools are used to augment productivity within an industry. Kanban board is one of them and of the many important tools of lean production system. Kanban Board is a visual depiction of the status of tasks. Kanban board shows the actual status of the tasks. It conveys the progress and issues of tasks as well. Using Kanban Board, tasks can be distributed among workers and operation targets can be visually represented to them. In this paper, an example of Kanban board from the aspects of Brothers Furniture Limited was taken and how the Kanban board system was implemented, how the board was designed and how it was made easily perceivable for the less literate or illiterate workers. The Kanban board was designed for the packing section of Brothers Furniture Limited. It was implemented for the purpose of representing the tasks flow to the workers and to mitigate the time that was wasted while the workers remained wondering about what task they should start after they finish one. Kanban board subsumed seven columns and there was a column for comments where if any problem occurred during working on the tasks. Kanban board was helpful for the workers as the board showed the urgency of the tasks. It was also helpful for the store section as they could understand which products and how much of them could be delivered to store at any certain time. Kanban board had all the information centralized which is why the work-flow got paced up and idle time was minimized. Regardless of many workers being illiterate or less literate, Kanban board was still explicable for the workers as the Kanban cards were colored. Since the significance of colors can be conveniently interpretable to them, colored cards helped a great deal in that matter. Hence, the illiterate or less literate workers didn’t have to spend time wondering about the significance of the cards. Even when the workers weren’t told the significance of the colored cards, they could grow a feeling about their meaning as colors can trigger anyone’s mind to perceive the situation. As a result, the board elucidated the workers about what board required them to do, when to do and what to do next. Kanban board alleviated excessive time between tasks by setting day-plan for targeted tasks and it also reduced time during tasks as the workers were acknowledged of forthcoming tasks for a day. Being very specific to the tasks, Kanban board helped the workers become more focused on their tasks helped them do their job with more perfection. As a result, The Kanban board helped achieve a 8.75% increase in productivity than the productivity before the Kanban board was implemented.

Keywords: color, Kanban Board, Lean Tool, literacy, packing, productivity

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Authors: Prakash Singh, Thembinkosi Twalo

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The sustainability of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM), in South Africa, is being threatened by the reported cases of poor administration, weak management of resources, inappropriate job performance, and inappropriate job behaviour of some of the workers. Since the structural-functionalists assume that formal education is a solution to societal challenges, it therefore means that the BCMM should not be experiencing this threat since many of its workers have various levels of formal education. Consequently, this study using the mixed method research approach, set out to investigate the paradoxical co-existence of inappropriate job behaviour and performance with formal education at the BCMM. Considering the impact of human factors in the labour process, this study draws attention to the divergent objectives of skill and skill bearer, with the application of knowledge subject to the knowledge bearer’s motives, will, attitudes, ethics and values. Consequently, inappropriate job behaviour and performance practices could be due to numerous factors such as lack of the necessary capabilities or refusal to apply what has been learnt due to racial or other prejudices. The role of the human factor in the labour process is a serious omission in human capital theory, which regards schooling as the only factor contributing to the ability to do a job. For this reason this study’s theoretical framework is an amalgamation of the four theories - human capital, social capital, cultural capital, and reputation capital – in an effort to obtain a broader view of the factors that shape job behaviour and performance. Since it has been established that human nature plays a crucial role in how workers undertake their responsibilities, it is important that this be taken into consideration in the BCMM’s monitoring and evaluation of the workers’ job performance practices. Hence, this exploratory study brings to the fore, the effects of poor job performance practices on the job satisfaction of workers.

Keywords: human capital, poor job performance practices, service delivery, workers’ job satisfaction

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Authors: A. R. Anwar

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The development of discrimination case which is now extended to the issue of female workers dress code in the hotel industry seen as a challenging topic and a solution is needed. Discrimination generally gives a negative impact on the victim and has a direct impact on female workers if it involves the issue of this dress code. Hence it is not appropriate if these genders are subjected to discrimination that prohibits them from wearing a hijab and required to wear a short skirt during working hours. On this basis, this study discusses the major problems pertaining to dress code faced by female workers in the Malaysian hotel industry. An interview with qualified parties from human resource department in each selected hotels has been conducted in which later generated the findings and supported by materials that obtained from libraries, archives and other databases. Through the research findings, several recommendations were introduced to reduce and eliminate the discrimination issue in Malaysian working sector particularly in the hotel industry in order to achieve the equality among men and women in the workplace.

Keywords: discrimination, dress code in the hotel, impact on female workers, equality

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Authors: Jonathan E. Oghenekohwo

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The return to scale constitutes a significant investment index in the determination of the quantum of resources that is deployed in investment decision on worker’s continuing professional development. Such investment decision is always predicted on the expected outcomes to the individual, institution and the society in context. Several investments in the development of human capacity on the job have been made, but the return to the scale of such seems not to have been correlated positively with the quantum of resources invested in terms of productivity and performance among workers in many universities. This paper thus found out that, despite the commitment and policy instrument to avail workers the right of continuing professional development, the multiplier effects are not evident in diligence, commitment, honesty, dedication, productivity and improved performance on the job among most administrative staff in Nigerian Universities This author, therefore concludes that, given the policy on the right of workers to get trained on-the job, the outcomes of such training must reflect on the overall performance indices, otherwise, institutions should carry out a forensic analysis of the types of continuing professional development programmes that workers participate in, whether or not, they are consistent with the vision and mission of the institutions in terms of economies of scale of workers professional development to the individual, institution and the nation in context.

Keywords: continuing, professional development, economies of scale, worker’s education, administrative staff

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Authors: Kendall Artz

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In the 1950s, a wave of violent labor unrest shook a small town in south-western Louisiana leading to the racialisation of workers—previously considered white—as ‘mixed-race’ or, in local terms, ‘Redbone.’ This paper examines why the group known as ‘Redbones’ were marked as non-white in relation to strike violence and their opposition to capitalist expansion. Utilising archival research, historiography and oral testimony, I examine how an instance of labor unrest was reinterpreted by local law enforcement, an interstate capitalist class and the national press as calling into question the racial integrity of a group of workers who had been formerly marked as white. This explosive and largely unstudied strike provides an opportunity to better understand how racialisation operates as a technology of control, even over individuals who appear phenotypically white. The strike at Elizabeth allows a glimpse at the tactics of representatives of white supremacy when white workers do not fully embrace the ‘wages of whiteness.

Keywords: American federation of labor, labor history, Louisiana history, wages of whiteness

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Authors: Pranab Kumar Goswami

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According to WHO, over 1000 million people worldwide are employed in small-scale industries. The ‘garment’ industry’ is one such industry in developing countries. These garment SMEs are mostly run by private establishments in the unorganized sector to avoid legal obligations of OSH provisions. The OSH standards are very poor and even basic health and safety provisions are not provided in such units. The study has been conducted in India among workers employed in the ‘garment’ industry with the objectives to analyze the types and extent of occupational health hazards of the garment workers and to assess the relationship of sociodemographic and occupational factors with various health hazards. The survey method, the tabular method followed by applying simple statistical technique, has been taken into account to analyze the data collected from three SME garment industries in Delhi (India-Asia). The study was conducted in Delhi from August-2019 to October-2020. A random sampling of 70 workers from three factories has been chosen for this study. The study shows that most of the workers were males (82%) and were in the 18-50 age group (78%), with none below 18 years of age. It was found that 26% of the workers were illiterate and most of them belonged to poor socioeconomic status. The study revealed that the nature of the hazards in garment industries in India is mostly physical and mechanical. We found that musculoskeletal problems (54%) were the commonest health problem. The body areas commonly affected were neck, low back, hand, wrist, finger, and shoulder. If garment workers’ health is affected by occupational hazards, it will impact on national health and economic growth of developing countries. Health is a joint responsibility of both government and employing authority.

Keywords: garment, MSD, health hazard, social factor

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Authors: Yujun Liu, Maosheng Ran

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Background: Chinese rural-to-urban migrant workers’ mental health problems raise attentions from different social sectors. However, situation of present mental health services provided to this population has not been discovered. This study attempts to describe the current mental health service situation, identify the gaps and give the future directions based on the quantitative data. Methods: Questionnaire surveys were conducted among 2017 rural-to-urban migrant workers in 13 cities and 100 social work service organizations in 5 cities in 2014. Data was collected by face-to-face structured interview by trained interviewers. Findings: Migrant workers’ mental health status was not good. Compared to the severity of mental distress, mental health service for this population was lacking and insufficient, which accounted for only 14.4% of all services in our sample. And the group work and case work were the most frequently-used methods. By estimating a series of regression models, we revealed that life experiences and working conditions were significantly associated with migrant workers’ mental health status. Therefore, the macro social work practices aimed at this whole group were advocated to promote their mental wellbeing. That is, practitioners should not only focus on the improvement of migrant workers’ emotion management capacity, but also pay attention to raise awareness and improve their living and working condition; not only concentrate on the solving of individuals’ dilemma, but also promote gradual reformation of present labor regime and hukou system in China.

Keywords: Chinese rural-to-urban migrant workers, macro social work practice, mental health service needs, mental health status

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Authors: L. Korpinen, R. Pääkkönen, F. Gobba

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There has been discussion if the use of mobile phones causes accidents. We studied workers’ accidents and near accidents related to the use of phones. This study is part of a large cross-sectional study that was carried out on 15,000 working-age Finns. We noticed that there were 4–5 times more close call situations than accidents connected to mobile phones and also work related accidents were fewer than leisure related. There are confusing parameters like the use of mobile phones at work, differences in work content between women and men.

Keywords: blue-collar workers, accident, cell phone, close call situation

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Authors: Hyoseong Lee, Duk-jin Kim, Jaehong Oh, Jungil Shin

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Tidal flat in Korean peninsula is one of the largest biodiversity tidal flats in the world. Therefore, digital elevation models (DEM) is continuously demanded to monitor of the tidal flat. In this study, DEM of tidal flat, according to different times, was produced by means of the Drone and commercial software in order to measure seawater change during high tide at water-channel in tidal flat. To correct the produced DEMs of the tidal flat where is inaccessible to collect control points, the DEM matching method was applied by using the reference DEM instead of the survey. After the ortho-image was made from the corrected DEM, the land cover classified image was produced. The changes of seawater amount according to the times were analyzed by using the classified images and DEMs. As a result, it was confirmed that the amount of water rapidly increased as the time passed during high tide.

Keywords: tidal flat, drone, DEM, seawater change

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Authors: Gospodinka Prakova, Pavlina Gidikova, Gergana Sandeva, Kamelia Haracherova, Emil Slavov

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Neopterin was demonstrated to be a sensitive marker of cell-mediated immune reactions which plays a key role in the interaction of monocyte / macrophage activation. The purpose of this work was to investigate changes in serum neopterin in workers exposed to different composition of mineral dust. Material and Methods: Serum neopterin was studied in 193 exposed workers, divided into three groups, depending on the mineral dust and content of the quartz in the respirable fraction. The I-st group-coal dust containing less than 2% free crystalline silica (n=44), II-nd group-coal dust containing over 2% free crystalline silica (n=94) and the III-rd group-mixed dust with corundum and carborundum (n=55). The control group was composed of 21 individuals without exposure to dust. Serum neopterin was investigated by Elisa method in ng/ml according to the instructions of the manufacturer. Results and Discussion: It was found significantly higher level of serum neopterin in exposed workers of mineral dust (2,10 ± 0,62 ng / ml), compared with that of the control group (1,10 ± 0,85 ng/ml; p < 0,05). Neopterin levels in workers exposed to coal dust (1,87 ± 0,42 ng / ml-I-st and 3,32 ± 0,77 ng / ml-II-nd group) were significantly higher compared with those exposed to a mixed dust (1,31±0,68 mg / ml-third) and control group (p < 0,05). No significant difference in serum neopterin when exposed to a mixed dust composed of corundum and carborundum (III-rd) and a control group. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate activates a cell-mediated immune response when exposed to a mineral dust. The level of that activation depends mainly on the composition of the dust and is significantly highest in workers exposed to coal dust.

Keywords: mineral dust, neopterin, occupational exposure, respirable crystalline silica

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Authors: Mi Sun Park

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Biotechnology provides us with technological solutions to resource-based challenges facing the global society. A bioeconomy or bio-based economy emerged as all economic activities derived from biotechnology. This paper aims to understand discourses on bioeconomy in the sector of agriculture with three dimensions; media discourse, science discourse, and policy discourse. For achieving research goals, content analysis was applied to this research. Media articles, academic journal articles and policy documents published from 2000 to 2016 were collected in South Korea. The text was coded and analyzed with the categories of speakers and their arguments. The research findings indicate that powerful actors and key messages of bioeconomy in South Korean agriculture. Differences and similarities among media, science, and policy were examined. Therefore this case study can contribute to understanding dynamic interaction and interfaces of media, science and policy discourse on biotechnology in the sector of agriculture.

Keywords: media, discourse, bioeconomy, agriculture

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Authors: Mohd Fadzly Yahya, Matthew Teo Yong Chang

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Globally, the increasing life expectancy of human beings has brought more issues with non-communicable diseases, especially work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMDs). WMSD also is one of the leading causes of health-related absence from work restricted work time in Malaysia. WMDs are cumulative disorders, resulting from repeated exposure to high or low-intensity loads over a long period. Evidence from a previous study showed that office workers in government and private sectors were showing high WRMDs prevalence in Malaysia. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of MSDs among Malaysian office workers in Klang Valley and to identify the association between MSDs pain and working experience among office workers. This is a cross-sectional study focusing on officer workers in the Klang Valley area. The questionnaires consisted of the subject’s demographics, Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, and The Numeric Pain Rating Scale were distributed online via google forms to all consenting participants. The data were analyzed for descriptive analysis, parametric test, and student T-test using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 27. From a total of 244 participants, 95 (38.9%) were male and 149 (61.1%) were female. 57.8% of the total samples were government staff while private-sector workers were 42.2%. The highest MSDs prevalence was neck pain during the last 12 months which contributed to 69.3% (n=169) of total participants, which is male 38.5% (n=65) and female 61.5% (n=104). Our study revealed that female office workers have a higher prevalence of WMDs and there is a significant difference in elbow pain, wrist, and hands pain, and lower back pain across four different working experience groups. Office workers in this study were highly exposed to MSDs due to poor ergonomics implementation at the workplace. It is crucial to advocate preventative measures to employers such as workplace ergonomics and changes to work practices to reduce the incidence of MSDs cases in office settings.

Keywords: musculoskeletal disorders, pain, prevalence rate, office workers, risks

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Authors: Maya Kagan, Michal Itzick, Patricia Tal-Katz

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Social workers hold a variety of roles and practices, and one of these involves the care, treatment, and rehabilitation of disabled people. The current study assesses the association between demographic factors, attitudes towards social workers, the stigma attached to seeking social worker help, perceived social support, and psychological distress - and the self-reported likelihood of seeking social worker help, among people with physical disabilities (PWPD) in Israel. Data collection utilized structured questionnaires, administered to a sample of 435 PWPD. Statistical analyses were done using SPSS software. The findings suggest that women, older respondents, people with more positive attitudes towards social workers, with higher levels of psychological distress and of social support, and with a lower level of stigma, reported a greater likelihood of seeking social worker help. The study's conclusion is that there are certain avoidance factors among PWPD that might discourage them from seeking professional social worker help. Therefore, it is important that social workers identify these factors and develop interventions aimed at encouraging PWPD to seek professional social worker help in case of need, and also develop practices adjusted to PWPD's unique needs.

Keywords: attitudes towards social workers, people with physical disabilities, perceived social support, psychological distress, seeking help, stigma

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Authors: Rakesh Kumar Soni

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Under free living conditions, human biological clocks show a periodicity of 24 hour for numerous physiological, behavioral and biochemical variables. However, this period is not the original period; rather it merely exhibits synchronization with the solar clock. It is, therefore, most important to investigate characteristics of human circadian clock, essentially in shift workers, who normally confront with contrasting social clocks. Aim of the present study was to investigate rest-activity rhythm and to vouch for the best technique for the computation of periods in this rhythm in subjects randomly selected from different groups of shift workers. The rest-activity rhythm was studied in forty-eight shift workers from three different organizations, namely Newspaper Printing Press (NPP), Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board (CSEB) and Raipur Alloys (RA). Shift workers of NPP (N = 20) were working on a permanent night shift schedule (NS; 20:00-04:00). However, in CSEB (N = 14) and RA (N = 14), shift workers were working in a 3-shift system comprising of rotations from night (NS; 22:00-06:00) to afternoon (AS; 14:00-22:00) and to morning shift (MS; 06:00-14:00). Each subject wore an Actiwatch (AW64, Mini Mitter Co. Inc., USA) for 7 and/or 21 consecutive days, only after furnishing a certificate of consent. One-minute epoch length was chosen for the collection of wrist activity data. Period was determined by using Actiware sleep software (Periodogram), Lomb-Scargle Periodogram (LSP) and Spectral analysis software (Spectre). Other statistical techniques, such as ANOVA and Duncan’s multiple-range test were also used whenever required. A statistically significant circadian rhythm in rest-activity, gauged by cosinor, was documented in all shift workers, irrespective of shift work. Results indicate that the efficiency of the technique to determine the period (τ) depended upon the clipping limits of the τs. It appears that the technique of spectre is more reliable.

Keywords: biological clock, rest activity rhythm, spectre, periodogram

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Authors: Won-Seok Kim, Hyung-Ik Shin

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Self-rated health (SRH) is a subjective assessment of individual health and has been identified as a strong predictor for mortality and morbidity. However few studies have been directed to the factors associated with SRH in persons with disabilities (PWD). We used data of 7th Korean national survey for 5307 PWD in 2008. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to find out independent risk factors for poor SRH in PWD. As a result, indicators of physical condition (poor instrumental ADL), socioeconomic disadvantages (poor education, economically inactive, low self-rated social class, medicaid in health insurance, presence of unmet need for hospital use) and social participation and networks (no use of internet service) were selected as independent risk factors for poor SRH in final model. Findings in the present study would be helpful in making a program to promote the health and narrow the gap of health status between the PWD.

Keywords: disabilities, risk factors, self-rated health, socioeconomic disadvantages, social networks

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Authors: Petcharat  Kerdonfag, Surasak Taneepanichskul, Winai Wadwongtham

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Industrial noise is usually considered as the main impact of the environmental health and safety because its exposure can cause permanently serious hearing damage. Despite providing strictly hearing protection standards and campaigning extensively encouraging public health awareness among industrial workers in Thailand, hazard noise-induced hearing loss has dramatically been massive obstacles for workers’ health. The aims of the study were to explore and specify the hearing threshold levels among steel industrial workers responsible in which higher noise levels of work zone and to examine the relationships of hearing loss and workers’ age and the length of employment in Samut Prakan province, Thailand. Cross-sectional study design was done. Ninety-three steel industrial workers in the designated zone of higher noise (> 85dBA) with more than 1 year of employment from two factories by simple random sampling and available to participate in were assessed by the audiometric screening at regional Samut Prakan hospital. Data of doing screening were collected from October to December, 2016 by the occupational medicine physician and a qualified occupational nurse. All participants were examined by the same examiners for the validity. An Audiometric testing was performed at least 14 hours after the last noise exposure from the workplace. Workers’ age and the length of employment were gathered by the developed occupational record form. Results: The range of workers’ age was from 23 to 59 years, (Mean = 41.67, SD = 9.69) and the length of employment was from 1 to 39 years, (Mean = 13.99, SD = 9.88). Fifty three (60.0%) out of all participants have been exposing to the hazard of noise in the workplace for more than 10 years. Twenty-three (24.7%) of them have been exposing to the hazard of noise less than or equal to 5 years. Seventeen (18.3%) of them have been exposing to the hazard of noise for 5 to 10 years. Using the cut point of less than or equal to 25 dBA of hearing thresholds, the average means of hearing thresholds for participants at 4, 6, and 8 kHz were 31.34, 29.62, and 25.64 dB, respectively for the right ear and 40.15, 32.20, and 25.48 dB for the left ear, respectively. The more developing age of workers in the work zone with hazard of noise, the more the hearing thresholds would be increasing at frequencies of 4, 6, and 8 kHz (p =.012, p =.026, p =.024) for the right ear, respectively and for the left ear only at the frequency 4 kHz (p =.009). Conclusion: The participants’ age in the hazard of noise work zone was significantly associated with the hearing loss in different levels while the length of participants’ employment was not significantly associated with the hearing loss. Thus hearing threshold levels among industrial workers would be regularly assessed and needed to be protected at the beginning of working.

Keywords: hearing threshold levels, hazard of noise, hearing loss, audiometric testing

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Authors: Maria Do Carmo Baracho De Alencar, Marciene Campos Fialho, Maria Do Carmo Vitório Ramos

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The subjects affected by Repetitive Strain Injury/Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorder (RSI/WRMSD) face an everyday life marked by pain, feelings of worthlessness and incapacity caused by the disease, and aggravated often because of discrimination society. Aim: To investigate the experiences and feelings of workers affected by RSI/WRMSD in removal from work situations and to understand the repercussions on mental health. Methods: Clinical records of workers were consulted, opened from July 1, 2014, to July 1, 2015, at the Reference Center for Worker's Health, in Santos city-SP. Selection of workers affected by RSI /WRMSD and who had experienced the removal from work situation due to the disease, and invitation to participate in the study. Semi-structured and individual interviews were carried out based on a pre-elaborated script, and for thematic content analysis. Results: Of a total of 502 medical records, 157 were selected, and of these, 18 workers participated in the interviews, both gender, most of them with low education level, aged between 35 and 56 years, and from different professions. Diseases affected several physical body regions and some workers had more than one body region affected by chronic pain. In the testimonies emerged the psychic suffering by the process of illness at work, fear of dismissal, invisibility of pain, in medical expertise attendance, by the incapacity to perform tasks that were easily achievable, with feelings of uselessness, revolt, and injustice, among others. Conclusion: The workers need to be readapted to new life situations, and the study promotes reflections on the need for more interdisciplinary actions and of the Psychology to the workers affected by RSI/ WRMSD.

Keywords: repetitive strain injury, cumulative trauma disorder, absence from work, mental health, occupational health

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Authors: Ikumapayi Catherine Mayowa

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The well-being of humans on a construction site is critical; abundant manpower had been lost through accidents which kill or make workers physically unfit to carry out construction activities, these, in turn, have multiple effects on the whole economy. Thus, it is necessary to put all safety items and regulations in place before construction activities can commence. This study was carried out in the Ondo state of Nigeria to investigate and analyze the state of health and safety of construction workers in the state. The study was done using first-hand observations, 50 construction project sites were visited in ten major towns of Ondo state, questionnaires were distributed, and the results were analyzed. The result shows that construction workers are being exposed to many construction site hazards due to lack of inadequate safety programs and lack of appropriate safety equipment for workers on site. From the data gotten from each site visited and the statistical analysis, it can be concluded that occurrences of an accident on construction sites depend significantly on the available safety facilities on the sites. The result of the regression statistics shows that the dependence of the frequency of occurrence of an accident on the availability of safety items on the site is 0.0362 which is less than 0.05 maximum significant level allowed. Therefore, a vital way of sustaining our building strategy is given a detail attention to the provision of adequate health and safety items on construction sites which will reduce the occurrence of accident, loss of manpower and death of skilled workers.

Keywords: construction sites, health, safety, welfare

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Authors: Steven D. Capener

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The 1997 Asian financial crisis was a watershed event in Korea as it necessitated changes that begin an unravelling of many of the norms and traditions that had served to underpin society. Divorce skyrocketed; the era of lifetime employment was over; women came out the home to become, in many cases, the main breadwinners; competitive forces were exacerbated; and traditional sources of authority began to crumble. All of these changes weekend the power to structure human relations of the Confucian Three Bonds and Five Relationships (삼강오륜). Since then, this “de-confucianization” has only become more pronounced with women increasingly refusing to marry, partly in protest to what they perceive as entrenched gender inequality, married couples eschewing childbirth resulting in the lowest birthrate in the world, and diminishing inheritances eroding the traditionally strong sense of filial piety (효) of children toward parents. The result of all this can be seen in the continued weakening or outright crumbling of the hierarchies codified in the Three Bonds and Five Relationship, which have served as a social template in Korea for centuries. In his 2004 work “Oppa Came Back,” writer Kim Yong Ha depicts what he apparently sees as the “post-Confucian” family in a wickedly funny portrayal of what Korean society could look like if traditional bulwarks of prescriptive values suddenly collapse and are not replaced with tenable alternatives. In the short story, Kim subverts all the traditional hierarchies while leaving the desire to dominate these hierarchies intact. This produces the picture of a Korean family governed by the new values of money and physical power. After lying out what can be identified as major cultural changes in what could be called “traditional” society,” the article uses a close reading of Kim’s story for its implications regarding a possible new, dysfunctional version of Korean society. It seems apparent that Kim’s story is a cautionary tale of the pitfalls that lie athwart the late-modern Korean landscape. These changes have important implications in the areas of education and socio-political philosophy. The conclusion focuses on possible alternatives to this post-Confucian conundrum.

Keywords: post-confucian, three bonds and five relationships, traditional society, hierarchies

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Authors: Raymond E. Raguindin

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Objective: This research studied the teaching improvement of daycare workers in imitation, joint attention, and language activities using the play-based early intervention training program in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija. Methods: Focus group discussions were developed to explore the attitude, beliefs, and practices of daycare workers. Results: Findings of the study revealed that daycare workers have existing knowledge and experience in teaching children with autism. Their workshops on managing inappropriate behaviors of children with autism resulting in a general positive perception of accepting and teaching children with autism in daycare centers. Play based activities were modelled and participated in by daycare workers. These include demonstration, modelling, prompting and providing social reinforcers as reward. Five lectures and five training days were done to implement the training program. Daycare workers’ levels of skill in teaching imitation, joint attention and language were gathered before and after the participation in the training program. Findings suggest significant differences between pre-test and post test scores. They have shown significant improvement in facilitating imitation, joint attention, and language children with autism after the play-based early intervention training. They were able to initiate and sustain imitation, joint attention, and language activities with adequate knowledge and confidence. Conclusions: 1. Existing attitudes and beliefs greatly influenced the positive delivery mode of instruction. 2. Teacher-directed approach to improve attention, imitation, joint attention, and language of children with autism can be acquired by daycare workers. 3. Teaching skills and experience can be used as reference and basis for identifying future training needs.

Keywords: early intervention, imitation, joint attention, language

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Authors: Helena Park

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For the last three decades, Seoul has experienced an exponential increase in population and concomitant rapid urbanization. With such development, Korea adopted a predominantly Western style of architecture but still based the structures on Korea’s traditionalism and Confucian precepts of pung su (feng shui). While Korean urban planning is focusing on balancing out the modernism and traditionalism in its city architecture, particularly in and landmark sites like The Seoul N Tower and Gyeongbok Palace, the accessibility and convenience concerns of minorities in social groups like the disabled are habitually disregarded. With the implementations of ramps and elevators, the welfare of all citizens seemed to improve. According to the dictates of traditional Korean culture, it was crucial for those construed as “disabled” or “underprivileged” to feel natural in the city of Seoul, which is planned and built with the background aesthetic theory of being harmonized with nature. It was interesting and also alarming to see the extent to which Korean landmarks were lacking facilities for the disabled throughout the city. Standards set by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Seoul Metropolitan City insist that buildings accommodate the needs of the disabled as well as the non-disabled equally, but it was hard to find buildings in Seoul - old or new - that fulfilled all the requirements. If fulfilled, some of the facilities were hard to find or not well maintained. There is thus a serious concern for planning reform in connection with Seoul’s 2030 Urban Plan. This paper argues that alternative planning could better integrate Korea’s traditionalist architecture and concepts of pung su rather than insist on the necessity of Western-style modernism as the sole modality for achieving accessibility for the disabled in Korea.

Keywords: accessibility, architecture of Seoul , Pung Su (Feng Shui), traditionalism, modernism in Seoul

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Authors: Sung Yong Kim, Byung Joo Song

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Background: Circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels has been considered to be inversely related to breast cancer development, recurrence risk, and mortality. Mean vitamin D levels in Korean population is lower than western countries due to higher incidence of lactose intolerance and lower exposure to sunlight. The purpose of this study was to assess incidence of 25(OH)D deficiency at diagnosis and after adjuvant chemotherapy and to investigate the correlation serum 25(OH)D levels with clinicopathologic features. Methods: From December 2011 to October 2012, 280 breast cancer patients seen at a single tertiary cancer center were enrolled. Serum 25(OH)D was measured at the time of surgery and after completion of adjuvant chemotherapy. Statistical analyses used chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, t-test, and ANOVA. Results: Mean serum 25(OH)D was 18.5 ng/ml. The 25(OH)D levels were deficient (<20 ng/ml) in 190 patients (67.9%), insufficient (20-29 ng/ml) in 51 patients(18.2%), and sufficient (30-150 ng/ml) in 39 patients(13.9%). A notable decrease in 25(OH)D concentration was observed(p<0.001) after chemotherapy but was not related to chemotherapy regimens. It was found significant lower 25(OH)D levels at winter season(from October to March, p=0.030). Subjects with invasive carcinoma (IDC or ILC) had significantly lower circulating levels of 25(OH)D than those with ductal carcinoma in situ(DCIS) (p=0.010). Patients with larger tumor size tends to have lower serum 25(OH)D but there were no statistical significance. Conclusions: Most of the breast cancer patients showed deficient or insufficient serum 25(OH)D concentration. Incidence of vitamin D deficiency was higher in invasive carcinoma than DCIS. Serum 25(OH)D levels were decreased after chemotherapy. Consideration should be given to the supplement of vitamin D to those patients.

Keywords: breast neoplasms, vitamin D, Korean population, breast cancer

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Authors: Oksana Mykytyuk

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Chronic desynchronosis is an important factor of progression of osteoarthritis in shift workers. 80 patients with primary osteoarthritis (female:male ratio = 3:1, average age: 57.6 years, average disease duration: 6.4 years, radiological stage: II-III) were examined, 42% reported systematic night shift-work for more than two years. Full clinical examination was performed, all patients filled in SF-36, WOMAC questonnaries, marked visual analog scales for estimation of pain intensity and general well-being. Patients who had been exposed to night work had significantly worse clinical course of osteoarthritis marked by more (27.5%, p < 0.05) extensive pain syndrome, especially at night hours, (10.00 pm-2.00 am period) and estimated life quality as poorer comparing those working at day time. Osteoarthritis initiation occurred at earlier age in them comparing those who worked in non-shifted regimen. They showed a trend to generalized affliction of bigger quantity of joint groups, higher frequency of synovitis as well. Shift-workers administered higher doses of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and estimated their effect as lower (39.6% average daily relief vs 62.5% in non-shift workers after 10 days of regular application of therapy). Frequency of chronic NSAID-induced gastropathy was 25% higher among night-workers. Shift-workers are predisposed to worse course of osteoarthritis with marked clinical symptoms, requiring higher doses on NSAIDs and with inclination towards bigger frequency of complication. That should be kept in mind while developing individual treatment and secondary prophylaxis strategy.

Keywords: desynchronosis, osteoarthritis, questionnaries, shift-work

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Authors: Hyuk-Jin Lee

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Even though 23 years have passed in the 21st century, nation-state and nationality-centered cultural identities are still the sentiments and ideologies that dominate the world. Nevertheless, as seen in many cases in Europe, a new perspective is needed to recognize mutual exchanges and influences and to view them as natural cultural exchanges between countries. The situation in East Asia is completely different from Europe. This is presumed to be from the long tradition of having an ethnocentric state concept for at least hundreds of years, quite different from Europe, where the concept of a nation-state was established relatively recently. In other words, unlike Europe, where active exchanges took place, the problem stems from the unique characteristics of East Asia, which has a strong tradition of finding its identity in 'difference'. Thus, it would not be hard to find cultural studies or news of the three East Asian countries emphasizing differences among one another. This applies to all cultural areas, including traditional architecture. For example, in the Korean traditional architecture field, buildings with effects from neighboring countries tend to be ignored, even if they are traditional Korean architecture. In addition to this, in the case of Korea, there seems to be one more cultural harmful aftereffect caused by the 36 years of Japanese colonial rule in the early 20th century; the obsessive filtering concept of 'it must be different from Japan'. In other words, the implicit ideological coercion that the definition of 'Korean cultural heritage' should not be influenced by exchanges with Japan may be found throughout Korean studies. The architectural and cultural aspects of the vast period of time, from the Three Kingdoms era to the beginning of Joseon, which was a period in which cultural influence exchanges with neighboring countries were relatively strong compared to the late Joseon Dynasty, also reflect the 'distorted filtering' caused by finding a repulsive identity against the Japanese colonial period. It is important to look the cultural heritage and traditions as they are inductively, not deductively. If not, we may often ignore or limit our own precious cultural heritage. Conversely, If Baekje, the ancient Korean Kingdom, helped Japan in construction and craftsmen played a big role in building the ancient temple, it would be a healthier perspective to view it as a cultural exchange rather than proudly seeing it as a cultural owner's perspective because this point of view is a proper reconstruction of our ancient and medieval Asian culture (strictly speaking, the color common to East Asia at the time). In particular, this study will examine this topic by giving specific examples from each field of Korean cultural studies. In the search for cultural identity, it would be more helpful for healthy relations between countries and collaborative research in the sensitive part of the interpretation of historical facts as well as cultural circles to minimize excessive meanings on originality and difference.

Keywords: cultural heritage identity, cultural ideology, East Asia, Korea

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Authors: Louis Nyahunda, Frans Koketso Matlakala, Jabulani Calvin Makhubele

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Climate change is among the most vital environmental aspects that the human community is endowed with. Climate as a factor of life is particularly strong to low income rural communities whose livelihoods heavily depend on rain-fed subsistence agriculture like Makonde communal lands. The purpose of social work within the context of climate change is to enhance community expertise and empower members for participation in the decision-making process through all stages of risk assessment, rescue, planning and intervention for recovery and preparedness. This paper sought to explore the role of social workers in mitigating the effects of climate change in Makonde communal lands of Zimbabwe. The objectives of the study were to identify what roles if any are social workers playing in mitigating the effects of climate change and if not, what are the impediments in that sphere. A qualitative research approach was followed within the traditional framework of descriptive and exploratory designs. Simple random, purposive and snowballing sampling techniques were used to gather twenty-five participants in the study. The Thematic Content Analysis was followed to analyse data inductively. The study found that Social Workers are not directly involved in climate change interventions in the Makonde area owing it to lack of training on climate change issues. The study recommends that climate change falls within the purview of the social work practice therefore social workers must take the lead in supporting families and communities affected by climate change following the values, knowledge base, skills and principles of the profession.

Keywords: role, social workers, mitigation, climate change, Makonde communal lands

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Authors: Potjana Chunthanom

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The Thai labor market experiences increasing challenges due to disruptive technologies and demographic shifts, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, there is a widening gap between the skills that firms seek and the skills that employees possess. This study aims to examine the incidence of vertical and horizontal mismatches and their impact on wages in Thailand before and during the COVID-19 pandemic using data from the third quarter of 2018 to 2021 from Thailand's National Labor Force Survey. This paper applies three methods: ordinary least squares (OLS), pooled ordinary least squares (Pooled OLS), and counterfactual decomposition. The findings suggest that the incidence of overeducation and field-of-study mismatch continues to increase during the COVID-19 pandemic in comparison to the two previous years. In contrast, there is a notable decline in the percentage of undereducated workers during the same period. Additionally, overeducated workers earn wage premiums, whereas undereducated and horizontally mismatched workers face wage penalties. The result also indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic has significant negative (positive) effects on overeducated (undereducated) workers.

Keywords: COVID-19, horizontal mismatch, overeducation, undereducation

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