Health risks and occupational pathology in the extraction of fuel and energy minerals in the Russian Arctic (en)

• Main Authors: S. A. Gorbanev, S.A. Syurin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: LLC Center for Information and Legal Support for the Development of the Arctic 2019
• Subjects: coal mining; oil and gas industry; working conditions; occupational pathology; arctic; Geography (General); G1-922; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.24411/2658-4255-2019-10068; https://doaj.org/article/24b7e6bd744549878df8affb150a3dbd

Introduction. Combination of the harsh Arctic climate and harmful working conditions has a negative impact on many occupational diseases. The aim of the study was to assess the working conditions and occupational pathology of workers who are involved in oil, gas and coal production in the Arctic. Materials and methods. The data of social and hygienic monitoring “Working conditions and occupational morbidity” of the population of the Arctic zone of Russia in 2007-2017 were studied. Results. It has been established that there are no workplaces in coal mining with satisfactory working conditions, and more than 90% of miners have extremely unsatisfactory workplaces. In contrast, 51.8% of oil and gas workers have satisfactory working conditions and less than 4% work in extremely unsatisfactory conditions. The most common occupational diseases among miners were radiculopathy (32.1%), chronic bronchitis (27.7%) and mono-polineuropathy (15.4%). Within the structure of the occupational diseases of oil and gas industry workers, sensorineural hearing loss (48.8%), radiculopathy (20.9%) and vibration disease (18.6%) prevailed. In 2017, the level of occupational diseases among miners in the Arctic was 2.82 times higher than the national figure, while in oil and gas production it was 1.75 times lower than the national figure. The risk of occupational diseases in coal mining was significantly higher than that of oil and gas production workers (RR=331.1; CI 242.2-452.5). Conclusion. In view of the above, comprehensive measures to protect the health of coal miners in the Arctic are a priority area of work for occupational safety and medicine professionals.