The characteristics of occupational accident by industrial sector in Korea

Introduction
6 workers in Korea were died due to occupational accident per day in resent 3 years (2008, 2009 and 2010) and the total number of industrial accident victims during that period is 292,272. The total direct cost of industrial accident of Korea in 2009 is about 1.7 billion dollars, which is about 0.2% of GDP of Korea. Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) is a governmental organization and it works for prevention of industrial accident. With its’ activity, KOSHA contributes economic development of Korea. To establish proper strategies for prevent worker’s safety and health we must understand the characteristics of each type of industry. This research is focused on which part of human body is commonly damaged by industrial sector.

KOSHA runs many projects to protect worker’s health and safety. Professional engineers, doctors and other specialists of KOSHA visit workplaces and consult with safety manager of the company on the risk factors of the company. To find right risk points of the site and facilities it is essential to understand characteristics of occupational accident by types of industry.

Methods
A study was conducted on records of 130,727 occupational accidents in southeast part of Korea(Gyungnam province, Pusan and Ulsan city) in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Collected data are injured body parts, industry sector, and other information. Data are processed by SPSS and MS Excel.

Results
Most commonly injured part of body in manufacturing sector is hands and fingers(33%), the second is legs(14.2%). In Service sector legs (18.2%) is most injured part and Construction sector is similar. Agriculture sector having problems in hands and fingers (22.5%) and fisherman should care for their lumbar(18.9%).

Discussion
This research will be very helpful to those safety and health consultants when it finished. But unfortunately number of statistical data is very large so it is ongoing now