The Enactment and Future Tasks of the Fatal Industrial Accidents Punishment Act

BACKGROUND: Although using forklifts in industrial sites contributes to productivity, many workers have been injured or killed owing to industrial accidents caused by forklifts. OBJECTIVE: This study analyzed the characteristics of forklift accidents by employment type and work process, thereby identifying the factors contributing to industrial accidents and providing recommendations to prevent accidents. METHODS: Data on 1,061 industrial forklift accidents occurring in 2018 collected from the national injury insurance compensation database were analyzed. In addition to analyzing the accident characteristics, this study performed a risk assessment per forklift work process. RESULTS: Many accidents were associated with older workers, those employed for < 6 months, and workplaces with ≤49 workers. The risk was the highest for accidents involving caught-in objects in the loading/unloading step and collision accidents in the forward- and backward-driving steps. CONCLUSIONS: Measures are needed to prevent industrial forklift accidents. First, forklift and worker movement routes must be strictly separated or controlled by a work supervisor. It is necessary to secure a time margin for workers to avoid collapsing cargo by using an appropriate tool/jig during loading/unloading. Second, guidance, inspection, and support are needed to promote employers’ safety and health awareness in workplaces with < 50 workers. Lastly, intensive education and training concerning health and safety is required for workers with less than six months of experience.

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Relationship between workers’ return to work, job retention and income in industrial accidents in Korea: a longitudinal study

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-039948 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. e039948

Author(s):

Suk Won Bae ◽

Inchul Jeong ◽

Jin-Ha Yoon ◽

Seung Wook Lee ◽

Tae Hyun Kim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Longitudinal Study ◽

Return To Work ◽

Original Work ◽

Occupational Injury ◽

Economic Status ◽

Panel Study ◽

Estimating Equation ◽

Job Retention ◽

Industrial Accidents ◽

Priority Assignment

ObjectiveThis study aims to compare workers’ income before and after an occupational injury, with regard to return to work and job retention, over a period of 5 years.DesignThis study was designed as a longitudinal study.SettingThe Panel Study of Workers’ Compensation Insurance (PSWCI) survey targeted workers involved in industrial accidents for which medical care was terminated in the year 2012.ParticipantsThe panel study was conducted on a final sample of 2000 workers who were selected proportionally by region (nine regions) after priority assignment by disability rating (six levels). A total of 1458 workers were finally included in this study.MethodsThis study used data from the first to fifth PSWCI. To identify the effect on income after occupational injury considering return to work and job retention, we used the generalised estimating equation.ResultsIn regard to workers’ return to work, the OR that income after an occupational injury would be higher than that before an occupational injury was 3.17 (2.41–4.17) for those who returned to original work and 2.32 (1.81–2.97) for those re-employed as compared with who did not return to work and 1.27 (1.07–1.15) for those who retained their job as compared with those who did not. The ORs were 2.91 (2.26–3.75) for those who were re-employed and retained jobs and 2.96 (2.15–4.08) for those who returned to original work and did not retain jobs as compared with those who did not return to work and did not retain jobs.ConclusionsIt is important for accident victims to retain their jobs to maintain their economic status.

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Mass fainting in garment factories in Cambodia

Transcultural Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/1363461517703918 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 54 (2) ◽

pp. 155-178 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Maurice Eisenbruch

Keyword(s):

Health Workers ◽

Participant Observation ◽

Khmer Rouge ◽

Ethnographic Study ◽

Industrial Accidents ◽

Factory Workers ◽

Phnom Penh ◽

Garment Factory ◽

Garment Factories ◽

Garment Factory Workers

This paper reports an ethnographic study of mass fainting among garment factory workers in Cambodia. Research was undertaken in 2010–2015 in 48 factories in Phnom Penh and 8 provinces. Data were collected in Khmer using nonprobability sampling. In participant observation with monks, factory managers, health workers, and affected women, cultural understandings were explored. One or more episodes of mass fainting occurred at 34 factories, of which 9 were triggered by spirit possession. Informants viewed the causes in the domains of ill-health/toxins and supernatural activities. These included “haunting” ghosts at factory sites in the wake of Khmer Rouge atrocities or recent fatal accidents and retaliating guardian spirits at sites violated by foreign owners. Prefigurative dreams, industrial accidents, or possession of a coworker heralded the episodes. Workers witnessing a coworker fainting felt afraid and fainted. When taken to clinics, some showed signs of continued spirit influence. Afterwards, monks performed ritual ceremonies to appease spirits, extinguish bonds with ghosts, and prevent recurrence. Decoded through its cultural motifs of fear and protest, contagion, forebodings, the bloody Khmer Rouge legacy, and trespass, mass fainting in Cambodia becomes less enigmatic.

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