Assessing intensity of impacts exerted by occupational factors on health of workers employed at copper-nickel ore mines per occupational health risk criteria

Promoting working population’s health is the key task within the state policy aimed at prolonging life expectancy and working longevity. At present, occupational risk assessment is considered a key instrument for identifying potential health threats including risks associated with long work records by the moment workers are close to the retirement age. Harmful working conditions are the basic reason for high occupational morbidity. Work under exposure to elevated noise and vibration is seen by many researchers as a leading factor able to cause occupational pathologies.

The aim of this study was to assess both individual and group occupational health risks for workers of basic ore mining occupations. Prior and posterior group and individual occupational health risks were assessed in conformity with methodical approaches and criteria stipulated in the Guide R 2.2.3969-23.

We performed comparative analysis of health risks associated with leading work-related factors for workers of basic underground mining occupations employed by a copper-nickel ore mining enterprise; the analyzed health risks were caused by various occupational diseases. As a result, the highest occupational health risks were established to be associated with vibration disease developing under exposure to total and local vibration at workplaces of drift miners (3.98∙10-2; the health risk is high, unacceptable) and sensorineural hearing loss developing under exposure to noise (1.07∙10-3; the health risk is moderate, unacceptable). Individual occupational risks due to vibration diseases were within the range between 1.45∙10-6 and 9.18∙10-4; those caused by sensorineural hearing loss, between 8.34∙10-7 and 4.48∙10-2.

Drift miners are an occupational group under the highest exposure to adverse physical factors at workplace. We established unacceptable group and individual occupational health risks for drift miners associated with developing vibration disease and sensorineural hearing loss. The growth rates of individual occupational risks were between 2.97∙10-1 and 3.04∙10-1 for vibration disease and between 1.72∙10-4 and 4.50∙10-2 for sensorineural hearing loss by the moment workers reached 60 years of age.