Each chemical substance has its own inherent property, and there are many substances that show toxicity during or after the use. As the frequency of use of such highly harmful chemicals increases, occupational diseases caused by them and industrial ac... Each chemical substance has its own inherent property, and there are many substances that show toxicity during or after the use. As the frequency of use of such highly harmful chemicals increases, occupational diseases caused by them and industrial accidents such as fire and explosions frequently occur, and the incidence is also on the rise. Accordingly, the government implemented MSDS program to secure safety from chemical substances and to provide information on the chemicals being handled, and mandated business owners to post or place MSDS where the handlers can clearly see it, to periodically or frequently check and manage it, and to educate workers about MSDS. The present study investigated the MSDS awareness of the workers and the status of education focused on small businesses handling chemical substances, and attempted to use the findings as the basic data for improving the safety culture. The present study obtained the following conclusions. First, the results of the MSDS awareness investigation found the overall awareness of MSDS was relatively high. It can be considered that workers generally have good understanding of the chemicals they are handling, but there were also many workers who do not. Since such workers will bring about large human and economic losses when a safety accident occurs in the future, prior education appears to be necessary. In addition, close attention should be paid so that workers can voluntarily participate in the education instead of the formality. Second, most respondents knew well about the emergency measure when exposed to chemical substance, but close attention should be paid to prevent further damages by taking quick and accurate follow-up measures when an unexpected accident occurs. To that end, it was found that 'an emergency guide for workers' should be prepared and education is necessary during non-emergency times so that workers can use it immediately when an emergency situation occurs due to the exposure to a chemical substance. In addition, efforts should be made to prevent the secondary damage by minimizing casualties and reducing the first response time through the safety education. Third, it is difficult to convey the hazard information of chemical substances since the contents of MSDS is specialized and composed of technical terminologies. To solve the issue, strengthen the safety education and efficient education should be conducted. In addition, it is necessary to raise the awareness of MSDS through searching and using GHS-MSDS and warning signs of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, and promotion appears to be necessary so that the summarized MSDS information, which is easier for workers to understand and made simpler, is used rather than the existing MSDS. Lastly, the workers who received MSDS education were found to have relatively higher awareness of MSDS than those who did not. The investigation results of injury experience by chemical substances showed that workers who had no education had relatively higher injury experience than those who had, and the investigation of accident prevention showed that the MSDS education is effective for the prevention of accidents caused by chemical substances. It signifies that the improvement in the awareness of MSDS through education is effective in lowering the industrial accident rate caused by chemical substances. The finding of the high rate of 44.3% of workers never had education in the investigation of MSDS education rate despite the fact that most workers recognized the necessity of education in the investigation of the need for MSDS education, however, appears to be a large problem that small businesses have. Even though it may be partly due to insufficient inspections and guidance of the relevant organization (Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency), it could be due to the manager responsible for the training at the workplace not following the duty of MSDS education specified in Article 41 of the Industrial Safety and Health Act. Business owners should actively search for ways to raise the awareness of safety and monitor the relevant managers to fulfill their responsibilities since accidents caused by chemical substances can cause extensive damages not only to the workplace but also to the surrounding environment. In addition, education should be regularly conducted through periodic inspections on small businesses by the relevant organization (Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency), and guidance for the relevant managers should be actively performed to improve the education.
화학물질은 각각 고유의 특성을 가지고 있으며, 사용과정이나 사용 이후에 독성이 나타나는 물질들이 다수 존재한다. 이러한 유해성이 높은 화학물질의 사용빈도가 높아짐에 따라, 유해화... |
