Int'l Forum on Safety
and Health

KOSHA holds the global event to sound off on safety and health at industrial plants as well as home and thru exhibition

Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency held an international forum on measuring the working environment and its management on July 4 at Coex, in southern Seoul with professionals from various foreign countries including the U.S. and Taiwan attending. The KOSHA hosted the global event on the occasion of the 20 anniversary of the introduction of the system in Korea, KOSHA said recently.
Among the foreign professionals were Dr. Key Schwartz of the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and Dr. Uang Shi-nian of Taiwan Institute of Safety and Health, among others.
Dr. Schwartz spoke on U.S. industrial safety and health programs and their status, while Dr. Uang introduced Taiwan's industrial safety and health experiments and its management.
Working environment measurement and its management that evaluates working environment capacity and its precision and correctness were introduced in the U.S. in the 1970s and Taiwan introduced it in 1980s.
Korea introduced it in 1990s with carbon disulfide poisoning at jobsites emerging as a social issue as an occupational disease.
KOSHA was set up in 1992 with the PAT program of the United States as a model. The PAT program valuates the working environment and analyses capacity of the American Institute of Safety and Health.
Joining the international experts on working environment measurement in presenting their announcements at the forum were Research Staff Lee In-sop, and Park Seung-hyun of KOSHA, who spoke on the management of the Working Environment Measurement and Management in Korea and the direction of its development. Professor Chung Ji-yon explained the results of the working environment measurement and its management in Korea since its introduction.
KOSHA officials said the forum sought to evaluate the results of working environment measurement and its management on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of its introduction in 1992 in Korea make comparisons with those in advanced foreign countries and seek the direction of the future course of development of the program.
In the meantime, KOSHA held an exhibition of materials and facilities related to safety and health at work sites such as special gloves, the measurement equipment for alcohol at industrial work sites, telescopes, digital cameras, and camcorders, among others, totaling some 10,000 items put on show by 200 companies from 15 countries including the United States, Japan and Germany, among others.
The 29th exhibition entitled, International Industrial Safety and Health Exhibition opened on July 4 and closed on July 7 at Coex, in southern Seoul.
This year's exhibition was special because the Korea Consumer Agency put on display various defective products related to safety and health produced in Korea, including magnetic toys for kids that can hurt children, commodities with warnings of defect by the agency and the agency recommendation on the proper use of car seats for children and others, especially, home appliances and those used often in daily lives that may need special attention and information on how to prevent accidents. The agency had its own booth to display the dangerous products as well as potentially dangerous ones.
A special feature at the event was events for people's participation. Event zones were created at the special exhibition including poster painting competition for youths, short writing competition for youths as well as adults on safety culture and Ucc show. Professor Kim Byung-jo of Chosun University in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, who is a former comedian presented a lecture on safety during the Lecture by Famous Persons at the exhibition.
The KOSHA officials said as the products related to safety and health produced in the country were put on display at the event, the viewers should have gained various information on safety and health and provided momentum for safety and health at the industrial plants as the event was designed to do. nw

A scene from the 29th International Industrial Safety and Health Exhibition held from July 4 to July 7 at Coex, in Seoul.

Photo on Courtesy of KOSHA