Reconstruction of the Korean Asbestos Job Exposure Matrix

Dongmug Kang, Saemi Jung, Yun Ji Kim, Juyoung Kim, Sangjun Choi, Se Yeong Kim, Youngki Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: A job-exposure matrix (JEM) is an important surrogate indicator to evaluate past exposure levels. Although a Korean asbestos JEM has been constructed previously, this JEM includes only a few industrial and occupational groups. This study aimed to reconstruct the JEM by integrating the latest organized data to improve its utility. Methods: We used recent Korean standard industry and occupation codes and extracted 36 articles from a systematic literature review to initiate the reconstruction of the previous Korean asbestos JEM. The resulting data consisted of 141 combinations of industrial and occupational groups. Data from the Netherlands's JEM were also reviewed and categorized into 70 industrial and 117 occupational groups by matching with the Korean data. We also utilized Germany's data, which consisted of 10 industrial and 14 occupational groups. Results: The reconstructed Korean asbestos JEM had 141 combinations of industries and occupations. The time periods are from the 1980s to the 2000s in 10-year intervals. Most of the data were distributed between the 1990s and the 2000s. Occupations with high exposure to asbestos included knitting and weaving machine operators, automobile mechanics or assemblers, ship mechanics or assemblers, mineral ore and stone products processing mechanics, and metal casting machine operators or mold makers. Conclusions: The reconstructed Korean asbestos JEM has expanded the type and duration of the occupational groups of the previous JEM and can serve as an important reference tool for evaluating asbestos exposure and designing compensation and prevention policies in Korea.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)74-95
Number of pages22
JournalSafety and Health at Work
Volume12
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study was supported by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency and the Ministry of Environment .

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors

Keywords

  • asbestos
  • job-exposure matrix
  • Korea
  • occupational exposure

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