A survey disclosed that occupational diseases which result from physical agents such as injury carused by external violence, burns caused by heat, eye troubles caused by foreign bodies, gases, heat and harmful rays were the first among the occupational diseases found in 148,358 Korean industrial workers in 1,773 factories: locomotor disorders due to heavy work or improper working posture and hearing disturbances due to noise followed it; and joint diorders accompnied with neuritis due to vibration were also found.
Pneumoconiosis due to dust, especially silicosis caused by inhalation of quartz dusts is supposed to be prevalent among workers industry work-shops, but it is to be regreted that the exact rate of the prevalence can not be determined in this report because the survey could not cover the workers in major mining areas of Korea. It is, therefore, recommanded that special survey for silicosis should be carried out in near future.
As chemical industry in Korea is still trivial, the prevalence rate of the occupational diseases due to chemicals is not high. However, cases of disorders in skin, eye, respiratory tract, digestive tract and neuropsychiatric troubles caused by chemical hezards were often encountered in many plants.
Moreover, cases of intoxication due to organic solvents among female workers in rubber industry were noted.
Mental and machinery industry and stevedoring have the highest prevalence rate of the occupational diseases followed by mining, rubber and lumber industried. The prevalence of the occupational diseases showed higher rates in small-scale plants within the same type of industry.
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