https://doi.org/10.33573/ujoh2018.02.057
State Institution "Kundiiev Institute of Occupational Health of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine", Kyiv
Introduction. The influence of general vibration on the functional state of the coal miner's body is manifested by nonspecific syndromes of damage to the cardiovascular, central and peripheral nervous systems, musculoskeletal system, metabolic disorders, neurohumoral disorders. This is the main reason for the complexity of understanding the pathogenesis of the vibration disease from the effects of general vibration, and as a result, problems arise with establishing a link between working conditions and the state of health of miners, diagnosis, treatment and tactics of disease prevention. Therefore, a hygienic assessment of working conditions of coal miners with occupational pathology due to the effects of general vibration is an urgent scientific task.
The purpose of the study is hygienic characteristics of working conditions of coal miners at workplaces with the greatest risk of development of vibration disease and the combined types of occupational morbidity due to the effect of general vibration.
Materials and methods of research. Hygienic – generalization of the results of studies of working conditions in the coal mines of Ukraine; information retrieval and analytical – analysis of scientific reports, literary sources in the chosen direction of research, analysis of 144 sanitary and hygienic characteristics of working conditions of miners in coal mines of Donbass and Lviv-Volynsky region, including 31 sanitary-hygienic characteristics on miners with vibration disease, exposed to general vibration.
Results. It is established that the average age indicators (41,9 ± 0,9) years), the total length of service (22,8 ± 0,8) years), and occupational (in contact with harmful factors) work experience (14,6 ± 0,9) years) of miners suffering from vibration disease caused by exposure to general vibration indicate a relatively short latent period of occurrence of this occupational disease. The parameters of the concomitant harmful factors – dust of predominantly fibrogenic action, noise, local vibration, microclimate, severity and labor intensity, significantly impair the functional state of the most vulnerable occupational groups of miners of coal mines, who had long-term contacts with sources of general vibration: machinists of mining machines, drifters on the areas of tunneling works), drivers of the underground electric locomotive. The risks of occurrence of occupational pathology in miners with the diagnosis "vibration disease" from the effect of general vibration are from 14 to 28 %, local vibration – from 1,0 to 7,0 %, noise – from 6 tо 11 %, dust – from 4 to 55 %.
Conclusions. The system for prevention and diagnostics of the pre-nosological types of occupational pathology from the effect of general vibration among miners in coal mines should be improved through changes methodological approaches to hygienic assessment of working conditions on the basis the detailed studying the work experience of miners, introduction of the new paradigm of occupational medicine, based on the risk assessment, studying the relationship between the doses of harmful production factors and the biological response to them.
Key words: working conditions, miners, coal mine, vibration disease, general vibration, occupational risk
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