Park Jungsun, Kim Soo Geun, Park Jong-Shik, Han Boyoung, Kim Kab Bae, Kim Yangho
Department of Occupational Health, Catholic University of Daegu, Gyeongsan, South Korea.
Department of Occupational Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Ann Occup Environ Med. 2017 Jun 26;29:27. doi: 10.1186/s40557-017-0177-9. eCollection 2017.
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.
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.
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.
Job-specific hazards should be reduced to prevent occupation-related disorders in elementary and skilled manual occupations that are dominated by aged workers.
韩国人口老龄化速度比其他任何国家都快。劳动人口老龄化将导致韩国劳动力短缺和劳动力素质下降。韩国需要医疗保健策略来支持建立适合身体机能下降的老年工人的工作环境。本文旨在确定老年工人占主导的职业，并评估这些职业中老年工人面临的危害暴露情况以及与工作相关的健康问题。
在韩国标准职业分类（KSCO）定义为小类（由三位数字标识）的所有149种职业中，我们确定了雇佣老年工人（至少55岁）最多的20种职业。通过分析2014年第四次工作条件调查的结果，评估了这些职业中个人面临的危害暴露情况以及与工作相关的健康问题。
在雇佣老年工人最多的20种职业中，KSCO归类为大类（9）的“基础职业”中老年工人比例最高。其次是五种熟练体力工人职业和六种熟练非体力工人职业。基础职业和熟练体力职业中的老年工人报告经常暴露于特定工作危害，如噪音、振动、高温和低温、溶剂和化学品。相对于其他工人，这些职业中的老年工人报告更频繁地暴露于人体工程学危害，如疲劳或疼痛的姿势、搬运重物或移动重物以及重复动作，并且还报告了更多与工作相关的肌肉骨骼疾病和全身疲劳。机械操作职业中因事故受伤很常见。
应减少特定工作危害，以预防老年工人占主导的基础职业和熟练体力职业中与职业相关的疾病。
