Occupational cancers arise from exposure to carcinogenic agents during work activities and represent a significant public health challenge. In Korea, compensation for occupational cancers has been available since 1964, with asbestos related mesothelioma recognized in 1993. Estimating the population attributable fraction (PAF) using national surveys and epidemiological studies is critical for assessing regulatory impact and forecasting future disease burden.Current Concepts: The International Agency for Research on Cancer categorizes carcinogens into distinct groups, and nearly 47 agents have been identified as relevant to occupational exposures. Advanced assessment tools, including job exposure matrices and the CAREX (CARcinogen EXposure) program, have been developed to accurately estimate exposure prevalence across industries. Comparative studies from Korea, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Italy, and China indicate that the occupational cancer PAF ranges from approximately 1% to 8%. Notably, asbestos, welding fumes, diesel engineexhaust and emerging exposures such as night shift work are consistently recognized as major contributors to occupational cancer risk.Discussion and Conclusion: Although regulatory measures have successfully reduced exposure to several known carcinogens, long latency periods and evolving industrial practices continue to sustain the burden of occupational cancers. Incorporating detailed occupational histories in clinical assessments can facilitate early detection and targeted interventions. Ongoing refinement of exposure estimation methods and international collaboration remain essential for updating PAF calculations. Ultimately, proactive primary prevention and evidence-based regulatory policies are imperative to mitigate the impact of occupational carcinogens on cancer incidence and mortality. These findings underscore the urgency of continuous monitoring and targeted occupational health initiatives.

This review examines the challenges associated with occupational disease surveillance in Korea, particularly emphasizing the limitations of current data sources such as the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance (IACI) statistics and special health examinations. The IACI system undercounts cases due to its emphasis on severe diseases and restrictions on approvals. Special health examinations, although they cover a broad workforce, are constrained by their annual scheduling, which leads to missed acute illnesses and subclinical conditions. The paper also explores the history of occupational disease surveillance in Korea, highlighting the fragmented and disease-specific approach of earlier systems. The authors introduce the newly established Korea Occupational Disease Surveillance Center (KODSC), a comprehensive nationwide system designed to gather, analyze, and interpret data on occupational diseases through a network of regional centers. By incorporating hospital-based surveillance and focusing on acute poisonings and other sentinel events, the KODSC aims to overcome the limitations of previous systems and promote collaboration with various agencies. Although it is still in the early stages of implementation, the KODSC demonstrates potential for improving data accuracy and contributing valuable insights for public health policy.

This review examines the challenges associated with occupational disease surveillance in Korea, particularly emphasizing the limitations of current data sources such as the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance (IACI) statistics and special health examinations. The IACI system undercounts cases due to its emphasis on severe diseases and restrictions on approvals. Special health examinations, although they cover a broad workforce, are constrained by their annual scheduling, which leads to missed acute illnesses and subclinical conditions. The paper also explores the history of occupational disease surveillance in Korea, highlighting the fragmented and disease-specific approach of earlier systems. The authors introduce the newly established Korea Occupational Disease Surveillance Center (KODSC), a comprehensive nationwide system designed to gather, analyze, and interpret data on occupational diseases through a network of regional centers. By incorporating hospital-based surveillance and focusing on acute poisonings and other sentinel events, the KODSC aims to overcome the limitations of previous systems and promote collaboration with various agencies. Although it is still in the early stages of implementation, the KODSC demonstrates potential for improving data accuracy and contributing valuable insights for public health policy.

Occupational cancers arise from exposure to carcinogenic agents during work activities and represent a significant public health challenge. In Korea, compensation for occupational cancers has been available since 1964, with asbestos related mesothelioma recognized in 1993. Estimating the population attributable fraction (PAF) using national surveys and epidemiological studies is critical for assessing regulatory impact and forecasting future disease burden.Current Concepts: The International Agency for Research on Cancer categorizes carcinogens into distinct groups, and nearly 47 agents have been identified as relevant to occupational exposures. Advanced assessment tools, including job exposure matrices and the CAREX (CARcinogen EXposure) program, have been developed to accurately estimate exposure prevalence across industries. Comparative studies from Korea, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Italy, and China indicate that the occupational cancer PAF ranges from approximately 1% to 8%. Notably, asbestos, welding fumes, diesel engineexhaust and emerging exposures such as night shift work are consistently recognized as major contributors to occupational cancer risk.Discussion and Conclusion: Although regulatory measures have successfully reduced exposure to several known carcinogens, long latency periods and evolving industrial practices continue to sustain the burden of occupational cancers. Incorporating detailed occupational histories in clinical assessments can facilitate early detection and targeted interventions. Ongoing refinement of exposure estimation methods and international collaboration remain essential for updating PAF calculations. Ultimately, proactive primary prevention and evidence-based regulatory policies are imperative to mitigate the impact of occupational carcinogens on cancer incidence and mortality. These findings underscore the urgency of continuous monitoring and targeted occupational health initiatives.

This review examines the challenges associated with occupational disease surveillance in Korea, particularly emphasizing the limitations of current data sources such as the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance (IACI) statistics and special health examinations. The IACI system undercounts cases due to its emphasis on severe diseases and restrictions on approvals. Special health examinations, although they cover a broad workforce, are constrained by their annual scheduling, which leads to missed acute illnesses and subclinical conditions. The paper also explores the history of occupational disease surveillance in Korea, highlighting the fragmented and disease-specific approach of earlier systems. The authors introduce the newly established Korea Occupational Disease Surveillance Center (KODSC), a comprehensive nationwide system designed to gather, analyze, and interpret data on occupational diseases through a network of regional centers. By incorporating hospital-based surveillance and focusing on acute poisonings and other sentinel events, the KODSC aims to overcome the limitations of previous systems and promote collaboration with various agencies. Although it is still in the early stages of implementation, the KODSC demonstrates potential for improving data accuracy and contributing valuable insights for public health policy.

Occupational cancers arise from exposure to carcinogenic agents during work activities and represent a significant public health challenge. In Korea, compensation for occupational cancers has been available since 1964, with asbestos related mesothelioma recognized in 1993. Estimating the population attributable fraction (PAF) using national surveys and epidemiological studies is critical for assessing regulatory impact and forecasting future disease burden.Current Concepts: The International Agency for Research on Cancer categorizes carcinogens into distinct groups, and nearly 47 agents have been identified as relevant to occupational exposures. Advanced assessment tools, including job exposure matrices and the CAREX (CARcinogen EXposure) program, have been developed to accurately estimate exposure prevalence across industries. Comparative studies from Korea, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Italy, and China indicate that the occupational cancer PAF ranges from approximately 1% to 8%. Notably, asbestos, welding fumes, diesel engineexhaust and emerging exposures such as night shift work are consistently recognized as major contributors to occupational cancer risk.Discussion and Conclusion: Although regulatory measures have successfully reduced exposure to several known carcinogens, long latency periods and evolving industrial practices continue to sustain the burden of occupational cancers. Incorporating detailed occupational histories in clinical assessments can facilitate early detection and targeted interventions. Ongoing refinement of exposure estimation methods and international collaboration remain essential for updating PAF calculations. Ultimately, proactive primary prevention and evidence-based regulatory policies are imperative to mitigate the impact of occupational carcinogens on cancer incidence and mortality. These findings underscore the urgency of continuous monitoring and targeted occupational health initiatives.

This review examines the challenges associated with occupational disease surveillance in Korea, particularly emphasizing the limitations of current data sources such as the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance (IACI) statistics and special health examinations. The IACI system undercounts cases due to its emphasis on severe diseases and restrictions on approvals. Special health examinations, although they cover a broad workforce, are constrained by their annual scheduling, which leads to missed acute illnesses and subclinical conditions. The paper also explores the history of occupational disease surveillance in Korea, highlighting the fragmented and disease-specific approach of earlier systems. The authors introduce the newly established Korea Occupational Disease Surveillance Center (KODSC), a comprehensive nationwide system designed to gather, analyze, and interpret data on occupational diseases through a network of regional centers. By incorporating hospital-based surveillance and focusing on acute poisonings and other sentinel events, the KODSC aims to overcome the limitations of previous systems and promote collaboration with various agencies. Although it is still in the early stages of implementation, the KODSC demonstrates potential for improving data accuracy and contributing valuable insights for public health policy.

This review examines the challenges associated with occupational disease surveillance in Korea, particularly emphasizing the limitations of current data sources such as the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance (IACI) statistics and special health examinations. The IACI system undercounts cases due to its emphasis on severe diseases and restrictions on approvals. Special health examinations, although they cover a broad workforce, are constrained by their annual scheduling, which leads to missed acute illnesses and subclinical conditions. The paper also explores the history of occupational disease surveillance in Korea, highlighting the fragmented and disease-specific approach of earlier systems. The authors introduce the newly established Korea Occupational Disease Surveillance Center (KODSC), a comprehensive nationwide system designed to gather, analyze, and interpret data on occupational diseases through a network of regional centers. By incorporating hospital-based surveillance and focusing on acute poisonings and other sentinel events, the KODSC aims to overcome the limitations of previous systems and promote collaboration with various agencies. Although it is still in the early stages of implementation, the KODSC demonstrates potential for improving data accuracy and contributing valuable insights for public health policy.

Background: This study aimed to develop standard job categories for constructing a job-exposure matrix (JEM) for police officers in South Korea and to evaluate their applicability. Methods: We examined standard job codes related to police personnel management and compared them with job classifications from police publications. Using R Shiny, we developed a web-based search tool for standard codes. A pilot survey of 130 police officers assessed the codes' applicability and relevance to health-related hazardous factors. Results: Eighty-seven standard functional codes used in the police personnel management system POOL were organized into minor categories as the basic units of standard jobs. These were grouped into 20 sub-major categories and further consolidated into 10 major categories to develop the standard job codes. The responses to the standard job codes in the pilot survey were 75% accurate compared with the final expert evaluation results and 99.2% accurate compared with the algorithm-based automatic allocation results. The results of the job-hazardous factor network analysis revealed that the most frequently reported hazardous factor was emotional labor, followed by night shifts and electromagnetic waves. Emotional labor was identified as the top hazardous factor in six out of the nine standard job categories. Conclusions The standard job codes developed in this study were designed in connection with the personnel management system for police officers, making them well-suited for constructing a comprehensive JEM for the entire police force.

Background: Exposure to cooking fumes exposure likely increases the lung cancer risk in school cooks, but research on the incidence of lung cancer in school cooks is lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to examine a nationwide cohort of school cooks for lung cancer by linking three Korean social insurance databases to determine whether working as a school cook increases lung cancer risk. Methods: A nationwide retrospective cohort of school cooks and clerks with lung cancer was established by linking Employment Insurance, Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance, and National Health Insurance Service databases. Covariates were matched using 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) for school cooks and clerks. Age-standardized incidence and hazard ratios (HRs) for lung cancer were calculated using the Cox proportional hazards model. Fine–Gray subdistribution HRs were used for sensitivity analysis. After further categorization into never- and ever-smoked subcohorts, the same analyses were performed. Results: Post PSM, we identified 76 cases of lung cancer in school cooks during 259,819 person-years of follow-up. The age-standardized incidence was 199.8 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 120.7–278.9) and 166.8 (95% CI: 95.8–237.7) for school cooks and clerks, respectively. The subdistribution HR for school cooks post PSM was 1.72 (95% CI: 1.14–2.60). In the never-smoked subcohort, the subdistribution HR for school cooks post PSM was 4.23 (95% CI: 2.36–7.58). Conclusion School cooks were at an elevated risk of developing lung cancer, likely due to exposure to cooking fumes, highlighting the need for improved ventilation and preventive measures in school kitchens to reduce lung cancer risk.