Comprehensive hygienic assessment of the environmental physical factors at the workplaces of medical workers

Abstract

Introduction. Occupational health of medical workers is an intensively studied field of hygienic science. This is due to the high incidence of medical workers, which exceeds the average for sectors of the economy. The presented study uses a risk-based approach for a comprehensive assessment of the influence of physical factors on medical workers working with a large number of electronic medical equipment: physiotherapists, clinical laboratory diagnostics doctors, and ultrasound diagnostics doctors. Materials and methods. Studies of adverse factors of working environment factors were carried out in 4 medical institutions of the Altai Territory and the Novosibirsk Region. Based on the obtained results the values of health risk were calculated and a class of working conditions was established for all the studied jobs. Results. At the first stage, a hygienic assessment of working conditions at the workplaces of medical workers was conducted. The largest number of jobs did not meet sanitary standards for the following indicators: air temperature of the working area (55.6% of all jobs), artificial light (84.5%), light pulsation coefficient (46.7%), concentration of aero ions of negative polarity (57,8%), the coefficient of unipolarity (80%). In addition, a class of working conditions was established at each of the studied jobs (obtained in the range from 2 to 3.4). The estimated health risk of workers from exposure to gamma radiation varied from negligible to moderate. Limitations. Exposures to many of the physical factors in the workplace are approximate based on a typical work day for an employee by department and profession. Conclusion. An assessment of the harmful effects of physical factors at various workplaces in medical institutions heterogeneous for their purpose revealed similar violations in terms of microclimate parameters, illumination, air ion composition and electromagnetic fields from computer monitors, which is consistent with data obtained by previous researchers in this area. It seems necessary to implement a system of preventive measures for employees in medical organizations based on the concept of professional risk analysis with a review of the results each year, taking into account the worked experience.