OSHRI and KWA met to discuss how to reduce occupational accidents

Aug. 1 2013

○ The Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute (OSHRI) of KOSHA and the Korea Wood Association (KWA) had a meeting on July 31 to discuss how to prevent occupational accidents in the general lumbering industry.

○ The meeting was to share progress status of OSHRI’s research into characteristics of occupational accidents and workers’ behavior in the general lumbering industry and to discuss future plans.

- The Safety Research Department of the OSHRI presented a safety map based on a research into recent occupational accidents and survey result of businesses in the general lumbering industry.

- At the meeting, joint researcher Professor Oh Se-jin from Chung-ang University presented progress status of his quasi-experiments.

○ The OSHRI stressed the importance of participation by businesses in the research and the quasi-experiments for more objective and reliable results.

○ The general lumbering industry saw an accidents rate of 4.31% last year, seven times the overall industry average of 0.59%.

- Special safety measures are much needed in the general lumbering industry as its workers are relatively older and it heavily uses potentially dangerous machineries like timber trailer, bandsaw, circular sawing machine, and chain and belt conveyor.

○ The OSHRI plans to complete the research within this year and declare the result on safety guidelines and workers’ behavioral patterns in the general lumbering industry early next year after validity check. The result will be utilized in occupational accidents prevention measures in the industry.

End.