Assessment of occupational health risk for employees of the main occupations of aluminum production

Abstract

Introduction. The Russian aluminum industry is one of the world’s leading producers of aluminum. At the same time, the features of aluminum production technology contribute to the formation of unfavorable working conditions and increased risk to the health of workers. In this regard, an urgent but insufficiently studied issue in the production of aluminum is the assessment of occupational risks that establish the likelihood of health disorders in workers. Material and methods. The basis of the assessment of occupational risks was the existing regulatory documents (Guidelines) issued by the Federal Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology of Russian Consumer Health and Epidemiology. Existing methodical recommendations and medical technologies were used to calculate occupational risks and allowable working time (experience) under the chemical factor. The values of the annual volume of the air inhaled by the individual of the production environment and the average annual concentrations of toxicants, determined in the air of the working zone of the employees of the main occupational groups, were used. Occupational risk calculations were carried out over a period of 25 years. The total risk assessment for individual occupational groups was conducted under the probability (risk) rule calculated for individual chemicals. Results. Studies have found the average annual concentrations of harmful substances in the air of the working area over the past 5 years to be significantly lower when using the upgraded electrolysis technology (UET) compared to the traditional technology of self-burning anodes (SBA). The exception was hydrofluoride, whose concentrations did not depend on the technologies used, exceeding the MPC by 1.7 - 3.0 times. The total health risk for employees of the main occupations over a period of 25 years was in the range of 7.2 to 22.1% when using SBA, which is almost 2 times higher than when using UET (from 3.7 to 11.6 %). The highest levels of risk were observed in the group of workers using SBA and operators of electrolysis baths with UET, and the lowest - in the crane operators using both technologies. Conclusion. The use of indices of occupational risk and acceptable working hours under the influence of adverse production factors allows identifying a contingent of employees with an increased level of exposure to occupational hazards. Based on the obtained data, it is possible to predict the levels of occupational morbidity and evaluate the effectiveness of measures to improve working conditions, which plays an important role in managing occupational risk.