Hazards and health problems in occupations dominated by aged workers in South Korea

Jungsun Park; Soo Geun Kim; Jong-Shik Park; Boyoung Han; Kab Bae Kim; Yangho Kim

doi:10.1186/s40557-017-0177-9

Hazards and health problems in occupations dominated by aged workers in South Korea

Ann Occup Environ Med. 2017 Jun 26:29:27. doi: 10.1186/s40557-017-0177-9. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Jungsun Park¹, Soo Geun Kim², Jong-Shik Park³, Boyoung Han³, Kab Bae Kim⁴, Yangho Kim⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Occupational Health, Catholic University of Daegu, Gyeongsan, South Korea.
² Department of Occupational Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
³ Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea.
⁴ Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, Ulsan, South Korea.
⁵ Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, # 290-3 Cheonha-dong, Dong-gu, Ulsan, 682-060 South Korea.

Abstract

Background: South Korea's population is aging more rapidly than any other country. Aging of the productive population will lead to shortage of labor and the decreasing quality of the labor force in South Korea. South Korea needs health care strategies to support the establishment of work environments that are appropriate for elderly workers who have reduced physical capacity. This paper aims to identify occupations that are dominated by aged workers and assess the exposure to hazards and work-related health problems of aged workers in these occupations.

Methods: We identified the 20 occupations in South Korea that employ the most aged workers (at least 55 years-old), among all 149 occupations that are defined as minor categories (identified by three digits) by the Korean Standard Classification of Occupations (KSCO). Exposure to hazards and work-related health problems of individuals in these occupations were evaluated by analyzing the results of the fourth Working Conditions Survey of 2014.

Results: Among the 20 occupations that employ the most aged workers, 'Elementary Occupations', which the KSCO classifies as major category (9), had the largest proportion of aged workers. After this, there were five occupations of skilled manual workers and six occupations of skilled non-manual workers. Aged workers in elementary and skilled manual occupations reported frequent exposure to job-specific hazards, such as noise, vibrations, high and low temperatures, solvents, and chemicals. Relative to other workers, aged workers in the occupations reported more frequent exposure to ergonomic hazards, such as tiring or painful positions, carrying or moving heavy loads, and repetitive movements, and also reported more work-related musculoskeletal disorders and general fatigue. Injury due to accident was common in machinery-handling occupations.

Conclusion: Job-specific hazards should be reduced to prevent occupation-related disorders in elementary and skilled manual occupations that are dominated by aged workers.

Keywords: Aged; Hazards; Health problem; Musculoskeletal disorders; Occupation.