Modern trends in the formation of occupational pathology when working on mobile agricultural machinery

Abstract

Introduction. There are currently several works in the scientific literature devoted to studying the influence of working conditions on mobile agricultural machinery on the occupational morbidity of workers on the example of individual regions. Still, Russian Federation did not conduct such studies before. The study aims to analyze working conditions and current trends in the formation of occupational pathology when working on mobile agricultural machinery in the Russian Federation. Materials and methods. The paper uses the results of long-term sanitary-hygienic and ergonomic studies of working conditions when working on mobile agricultural machinery and data on the level of occupational morbidity (PZ) of farmworkers of the Russian Federation in 2011-2017. Results. Microclimatic discomfort, dustiness and gas contamination of the working area air, industrial noise, general and local vibration, physical overload, forming harmful operating conditions (classes 3.2-3.4), occupational risk categories from medium to very high characterize working on mobile agriculture machinery. From 2011 to 2017, researchers have identified 960 agricultural machine operators with 1052 occupational diseases in the Russian Federation, formed mainly under the influence of physical factors and physical overloads. In the nosological structure of occupational diseases (OD), the first place is occupied by vibration disease (VD), the second by radiculopathy (RP), and the third by sensorineural hearing loss. Researchers characterize the current trends in the nosological structure by a significant increase in the prevalence of radiculopathy against the background of a decrease in diagnosis cases of vibration disease. Conclusions. Working conditions when working on mobile agricultural machinery remain harmful and pose a high risk of developing occupational radiculopathy, vibration disease and sensorineural hearing loss. It should be taken into account when developing measures to prevent occupational pathology for agricultural machine operators.