Socio-Cultural Backgrounds
of Health and Safety at Work
Domyung Paek
WHO, Euro, ECEH-Bonn/
Seoul National University
The Rise and Fall of Asbestos
Industry and Its Repercussions in
Korea
Domyung Paek
Seoul National University
Korea
Phases of Change
Asbestos Mining and Import, Korea
18,000
16,000
120000
EXPANSION
PLATEAU
FALL
100000
14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
80000
Industrial Safety
and Health Act of
Korea, 1981
4,000
60000
First Mesothelioma
Case in Korea, 40000
1994
20000
2,000
0
19
44
19
46
19
48
19
50
19
52
19
54
19
56
19
58
19
60
19
62
19
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19
66
19
68
19
70
19
72
19
74
19
76
19
78
19
80
19
82
19
84
19
86
19
88
19
90
19
92
19
94
19
96
19
98
20
00
20
02
20
04
0
Mining
Import
Global Plan of Action
on Workers Health
Accomplishments, challenges
and future strategies
Socio-Cultural Backgrounds
of Health and Safety at Work
Domyung Paek
WHO, Euro, ECEH-Bonn/
Seoul National University
• Usually, health and safety measures are
regarded as technical programs.
• Often, economic and time constraints
are regarded as the main obstacle to
the implementation of program.
• Rarely, socio-cultural background is
conceived as the determinant of health
and safety.
East coast of south India,
the so called French Rivera of the East
• Unless the safety and health is
accepted and requested by the people,
it is not practiced in the field, even with
all the best available technical expertise.
• Often economic and time constraints
are not a problem, when people
accepts it as necessary.
In the Citizen’s Police Academy, Constable Reeder and Constable
Gibson help Tara put on the Explosive Disposal Unit's Bomb Suit.
Even climate changes over the
periods as well as culture
How was the health and safety
culture at work in the past?
Slaves…
Soldiers…
産業戰士
Or most commonly, just
unfortunate and undeserved ones
Who’s health and safety have
got appreciated since then?
Artisans…
Trade Medicine
Laborers…
Industrial Medicine
Workers…
Occupational Medicine
Employees…
Environmental Medicine
Or Any Person,
including even Soldiers at Work ?
An RAF expert from 5131 Bomb Disposal Squadron at work
Social Medicine
Why has it been changed since
then?
How can we measure the
difference?
Any intermediate stages in this
change?
Source, Exposure, Effect, and Action
(SEEA) Model of Asbestos Industry
Source
Foreign
Investment
Exposure
Expansion
Phase
Effect
Action
Plateau
Phase
Shrinkage
Phase
Repercussions
Administrative
Regulation
Asbestos
Ban
Source, Exposure, Effect, and Action
(SEEA) Model of Asbestos Industry
Source
Foreign
Investment
Exposure
Expansion
Phase
Shrinkage
Phase
Repercussions
Effect
Action
Plateau
Phase
Administrative
Regulation
Asbestos
Ban
Source, Exposure, Effect, and Action
(SEEA) Model of Asbestos Industry
Source
Foreign
Investment
Exposure
Expansion
Phase
Plateau
Phase
Shrinkage
Phase
Repercussions
Effect
Administrative
Regulation
Action
Asbestos
Ban
Input-dominant Process-dominant Output-dominant
Stage
Stage
Stage
Industry, Exposure, Effect, and Action
Model of Occupational Health and Safety
Source
Foreign
Investment
Exposure
Expansion
Phase
Plateau
Phase
Shrinkage
Phase
Repercussions
Effect
Administrative
Regulation
Action
Asbestos
Ban
Input-dominant Process-dominant Output-dominant
Stage
Stage
Stage
Input
dominant
Politics
based
Process
dominant
Economy
based
Output
dominant
Health
based
Technical
Managerial
Cultural
Code
based
Labor
based
System
based
Why
(objectives)
Bureaucrats Professionals Victims &
Who
&
& labor union NGO’s added
(participants) employers added
What
(programs)
How
(deliveries)
• Frequently, the health and safety
problems are compounded by low
technical levels (such as noise monitoring
without knowing the source
characteristics), disorganized managerial
priorities (such as repeated but exactly
the same exams and measurements), and
lack of sincere objectives (such as safety
first only in words, not actions).
• Where is the main root-cause of the
problem?
System Factors
prejudice
custom/value
Public notice
Campaign
Policy Assmt Demonstration
Audit
System Assmt
Epi studies
Risk Assmt
Substitution
Protection
Training
MSDS
Assmt
Toxic Assmt Recognition
Macro Managerial Factors
investment/cost
organization
management/union
OEM
Consulting
+
Micro Managerial Factors
Work hour/rest
susceptibility
education/training
+
Technical Factors
Dangerous Machine
Toxic Chemical
+
Invisible Subjects
victims
NGO’s
Hidden Subjects
government
Interest parties
Competing company
Subjects
workers
managers
• By top-down approach, that is placing
the root cause of the problem to the
lack of sincere objectives of the current
policy makers and system
administrators will only change the
status up to those points where the
current system is not disturbed in terms
of its basic operation.
• Only new requests from the bottom up
direction can change the scope and
nature of ultimate objectives and ways
of the operation beyond the current
system.
System Factors
prejudice
custom/value
Public notice
Campaign
Policy Assmt Demonstration
Audit
System Assmt
Epi studies
Risk Assmt
Substitution
Protection
Training
MSDS
Assmt
Toxic Assmt Recognition
Macro Managerial Factors
investment/cost
organization
management/union
OEM
Consulting
+
Micro Managerial Factors
Work hour/rest
susceptibility
education/training
+
Technical Factors
Dangerous Machine
Toxic Chemical
+
Invisible Subjects
victims
NGO’s
Hidden Subjects
government
Interest parties
Competing company
Subjects
workers
managers
• In this sense, it is not ‘what to do’, ‘how
to do’, or ‘why to do’, but it is ‘who are
involved in this health and safety policy
making and administration’.
• The scope, nature and level of
participation of various subjects
including the hidden and invisible ones
is therefore the key to this change.
System Factors
prejudice
custom/value
Public notice
Campaign
Policy Assmt Demonstration
Audit
System Assmt
Epi studies
Risk Assmt
Substitution
Protection
Training
MSDS
Assmt
Toxic Assmt Recognition
Macro Managerial Factors
investment/cost
organization
management/union
OEM
Consulting
+
Micro Managerial Factors
Work hour/rest
susceptibility
education/training
+
Technical Factors
Dangerous Machine
Toxic Chemical
+
Invisible Subjects
victims
NGO’s
Hidden Subjects
government
Interest parties
Competing company
Subjects
workers
managers
• Key questions are
– who are the participants?
– how one stage is linked with the subsequent ones?
• how initiatives can lead to the control of exposures,
• and how control measures can lead to the identification
of victims,
• and ultimately to the feed-backs?
• ‘Who?’ questions can give answers to who
should be empowered in sequence
– Linking the input with process : professionals
– Linking the process with the output : victims
– Linking the output with the re-input : politicians
• Any national or international programs
such as WHO improvement projects
should target those “who’s”, strategically
and sequentially with priorities in mind,
by using appropriate education and
training (or empowerment) programs
corresponding to the appropriate stages
and/or profiles of each country.