Behind the record results of production and generation of foreign exchange earnings in the mining industry, there is a hard and professional work of specialists. Every worker in the industry - from mine surveyor to engineer - is faced with the great impact of the results of the industrial process on their body.
According to researchers Makenbach, Nagornaya and Izmerov, 260 million cases of occupational diseases are detected annually in the world, as a result of which about 1.1 million people die.
In the mining industry, the main structure of occupational pathology from the influence of physical factors is: vibration disease (31.6%), vegetative-sensory polyneuropathy (9.9%), transverse sacral radiculopathy (3.7%), sensorineural hearing loss ( 86%). In addition, a high prevalence of combined forms of occupational pathologies characterized by damage to the peripheral nervous system, hearing organs and vertebrogenic pathology (22.2%) was noted.
Occupational diseases are an important medical and social problem that leads to an increase in the number of disabled persons with high qualifications and incurs significant economic losses. All this leads to long-term high-cost treatment, long-term disability, high disability rates and significant compensatory payments. The estimated economic losses of Ukraine associated with occupational diseases amount to more than 16.04 billion hryvnia, or 90.4 thousand hryvnia per case of occupational disease.
In the structure of the reasons causing occupational pathology among workers of the mining and metallurgical complex of Ukraine, the dust factor takes the first place - 38.70%, with fluctuations from 36.8% to 43.6%. In second place is physical activity, which is characterized by indicators of the mass of the load being lifted, working posture, forced torso tilts, physical dynamic loads and static loads. The noise factor ranks third and averages 14.3%. That is, there is a tendency towards an increase in the specific weight of the noise factor in the structure of the causes of occupational pathology. The vibration factor is 9.10% in the structure of the reasons causing occupational pathology among workers of the MMC of Ukraine and takes the fourth rank with fluctuations from 6.00% to 13.00%. I mean, a trend similar to the noise factor. An insignificant place in the structure of the causes of occupational pathology among workers of the MMC of Ukraine is occupied by the microclimate - 1.70%.
The research carried out by Mrs. Nagornaya clearly demonstrates that in total in the mining and metallurgical complex there are 580.8 ± 77.03 cases of occupational diseases in 373.4 ± 41.97 persons, which suggests that one person may have several occupational diseases. The largest proportion of occupational pathology among workers engaged in underground iron ore mining is 385.20 ± 70.72 cases in 232.60 ± 36.94 people, which is 66.3% of all occupational pathology in the mining and metallurgical industry. The smallest number of occupational diseases is recorded in the metallurgical industry - 77.00 ± 3.20 cases in 60.40 ± 2.54 people, which is 13.3% of all pathology. The largest number of cases of occupational pathology, registered in women, takes place in underground mining of iron ore - 46.72%, the smallest - in ferrous metallurgy - 23.77%, which is associated with working conditions and the number of women employed in these sub-branches of mining and metallurgy. That is, more women work in underground mining of iron ore in hazardous working conditions than in other subsectors of the mining and metallurgical complex, and the level of occupational pathology among them is higher.
When analyzing occupational morbidity in the mining and metallurgical complex per 10,000 workers, it was found that the largest number of cases of occupational pathology is recorded among workers in underground iron ore mining (approximately 70-80 cases of 10,000 workers), which is 9.4 times higher than among workers of open-pit mining of iron ore, where this figure is 7.5-6 per 10,000 employees, and almost 52.9 times higher than among workers in metallurgical production. This reflects the real and very alarming sanitary and hygienic state of the working conditions of workers in the main subsectors of the mining and metallurgical complex of Ukraine.
According to the structure of occupational pathology among workers of the MMC of Ukraine, the first place is occupied by chronic dusty lung pathology (the average value is 10.5-13 per 10,000 employees, which is 39.3% of all occupational pathology). The highest level is observed among workers engaged in underground iron ore mining, 46.38 times significantly higher than among workers in metallurgical production. It should also be noted that in mines where self-propelled equipment with a diesel engine is used, the air in the working areas is polluted not only with dust, but also with components of toxic emissions from engines (NO, CO, acrolein, etc.). In 20% of samples, nitric oxide concentrations were 4.5-7.5 times higher than the permissible concentration
