Occupational health of workers in underground occupations producing polymetalliccopperzinc ores

Abstract

In mining operations, including those in the Republic of Bashkortostan, the health of workers is not good, due to the impact of adverse occupational factors, as evidenced by the level of occupational morbidity in the industry. In this regard, the solution of issues of workers’ health protection is the most significant in occupational health. The working conditions of male workers of the main underground occupations of the enterprise producing copper-zinc ores have been studied. We have evaluated the dependence of the identified diseases on occupational factors and findings on occupational morbidity between 1997 and 2018. The results of the studies indicate a complex of adverse factors affecting the workers of underground occupations that determine the evels and structure of work-related morbidity, including occupational, the main forms of which are vibrational disease, sensorineural hearing loss, diseases of the musculoskeletal and respiratory systems. Diseases of the musculoskeletal system, upper respiratory tract and arterial hypertension with a risk level from «medium» to «very high» are regarded to be work-related. The greatest number of cases of occupational morbidity among the underground occupations has been established among drifters, fasteners, and mining technicians. Preventive measures aimed at modifying occupational factors and improving medical support for enterprise workers have been developed.

Health disorders in workers associated with health risks at workplaces in mining industry in the Arctic (Analytical review)

“…Long-term studies have established that working conditions at mining enterprises in Siberia and the Far North involve exposures to many harmful factors. These factors determine levels and structure of work-related morbidity, occupational morbidity included; they are high levels of dusts, noise, local and general vibration, toxic gases and predominantly fibrogenic aerosols in workplace air, elevated exposure to chemicals in workplace air, non-ionizing radiation as well as work hardness [4,5].…”

“…Vibration pathologies and sensorineural hearing loss under exposure to noise occupy leading places in occupational morbidity of miners. This is largely due to characteristics of occupational noise, which is higher than hygienic standards predominantly in medium and high frequency range and produces the most aggressive effects on the ear [5].…”

“…Several studies reported that workers who were exposed to high noise levels for a long time tended to have higher systolic and / or diastolic blood pressure than those who were not exposed to them [12,19,20]. According to Russian and foreign researchers, underground miners who had been working for not less than 10 years under long-term exposure to noise had not only sensorineural hearing loss but also essential hypertension and developing hypertensive disease together with background metabolic syndrome and already existing disorders of the autonomic nervous system that aggravated it [21][22][23]. At the same time, we can observe a close circle of pathological cause-effect reactions of the body as depletion of adaptation mechanisms and functional disorders of the circulatory system are, on one hand, outcomes of non-specific effects produced on the body by noise but on the other hand they facilitate progression of occupational sensorineural hearing loss 6 .…”

“…Polyneuropathy of lower extremities, radiculopathy of the lumbosacral spine, and dystrophic changes in the musculoskeletal system account for approximately one third (27.4 % of cases) of occupational diseases in all workers with diseases caused by exposure to vibration diagnosed for the first time in them [5]. Vibration pathology caused by exposure to overall vibration is most often diagnosed in operators of various mining machinery and drilling unit operators.…”

“…According to Russian researchers, radiculopathy predominantly develops in people who have static or dynamic loads on the spine, work in a forced posture, and are exposed to vibration at their workplaces. Vegetative-sensory polyneuropa-__________________________ 5 Shlyapnikov D.М. Gigienicheskaya otsenka riska razvitiya arterial'noi gipertenzii i effekta profilakticheskikh mer po ego minimizatsii u rabotnikov predpriyatii po dobyche kaliinykh solei v usloviyakh podzemnykh rabot [Hygienic assessment of a risk of essential hypertension and effects produced by preventive activities aimed at its minimization in workers employed at underground potassium salt mining]: the abstract of the thesis … for the Candidate of Medical Sciences degree.…”