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Occupational accidents and human errors in apartment custodians' work
Jun Sik Kim1, Byung Yong Jeong1
1Department of Industrial and Management Engineering, Hansung University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Work (Reading, Mass.)
|August 21, 2018
Summary
Older male apartment custodians experience frequent accidents, primarily due to human errors like perception and action mistakes. Prevention strategies should be tailored to the specific needs of older workers.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Gerontology
- Ergonomics
Background:
- Elderly population in South Korea predominantly works in the service sector.
- Male custodians represent a significant portion of older workers in apartment complexes.
- This demographic faces unique occupational risks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze injury characteristics among male apartment custodians.
- To identify human error patterns contributing to accidents in this occupational group.
- To understand the relationship between age and accident causes.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an information processing framework for accident analysis.
- Investigated 831 male apartment custodians.
- Examined characteristics of injured individuals and accident features.
Main Results:
- Human errors were the primary cause of accidents, particularly perceptual (45.5%) and action (26.9%) errors.
- Accident rates attributed to human errors increased with age, from 85.3% (under 60) to 91.4% (70+).
- Perceptual errors were more prevalent in older custodians (60+) compared to younger ones.
Conclusions:
- Accident prevention measures require age-specific customization for older workers.
- Tailored interventions are crucial given varying employment conditions and error types.
- Focusing on perceptual error reduction may benefit older custodians.