Fatal industrial injuries in the Republic of Bashkortostan

Abstract

Introduction. Every year, about 350 thousand people die in the workplace for reasons related to production all over the world. The significance of this problem dictates the need to analyze fatal occupational injuries in order to further develop a set of measures aimed at preventing it. The study aims to analyze fatal occupational injuries at enterprises of the Republic of Bashkortostan on the basis of personalized data as an information basis for the development and justification of priority areas for the prevention of accidents in the workplace. Materials and methods. For analyzing the indicators of general occupational injuries and fatal injuries, we used the results of the all-Russian monitoring of labor conditions and safety of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, Russian Federation, analytical materials of labor conditions and safety of the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Bashkortostan for the period 2017-2020. To assess the completeness of the accounting of occupational injuries in Russia and the Republic of Bashkortostan, the researchers used the ILO methodology "On assessing the reliability of statistics of accidents at work in countries with imperfect accounting". Based on the materials of 177 Acts on the investigation of fatal accidents (Form 4) provided by the State Labor Inspectorate in the Republic of Bashkortostan for the period 2017-2020, we have studied the circumstances and causes of the death of workers at work, their professional status and age-length characteristics. Results. The analysis of the dynamics of occupational injuries for 2017-2020 in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Bashkortostan showed a decrease in both total occupational injuries and fatal injuries, with a decrease in the frequency of worker deaths occurring at a faster pace. This provided an increase in the ratio of the total number of injuries to the number of fatal injuries, indicating an increase in the level of safety at enterprises and the quality of accounting for minor injuries. However, in 2020 the level of fatal industrial injuries in the Republic exceeded the same indicator in Russia by 25%. An in-depth analysis of fatal injuries based on accident investigation materials in the Republic of Bashkortostan for 2017-2020 showed that most often workers died in construction (0.77 per 1000 workers) and mining enterprises (0.75%) as a result of such types of accidents as traffic accidents, falling from a height, exposure to moving objects, flying rotating objects, parts, machines, etc. Specialists also observed a high level of fatal injuries in agriculture (0.58%), transport and storage enterprises (0.41%), water supply, sewerage (0.38%), etc. The main causes of fatal injuries were unsatisfactory organization of work (34.7%) and violation of traffic rules (29.2%). At the victim’s workplaces the researchers have identified a significant number of violations of labor protection requirements: the absence of special assessment of working conditions (SAWC), briefings and training on labor protection, violations of the work and rest regime, labor and industrial discipline, non-issuance of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the absence of mandatory preliminary and periodic medical examinations. Male workers were most often died (97.6%); in the profession of "driver"; at the age of 30-39 years. There is a very high proportion of victims with work experience of up to one year (44.6%). Almost 75% of the victims had less than 5 years of work experience. This indicates unsatisfactory training in occupational safety of newly hired workers, regardless of their age and previous experience at other enterprises. Conclusion. The in-depth analysis of fatal injuries at enterprises of the Republic of Bashkortostan showed the need to develop a set of targeted occupational safety measures aimed at reducing the level of occupational injuries, taking into account the most traumatic types of economic activity, the most frequent types of accidents and causes of accidents. In addition, special attention should be paid to the training of safe methods and techniques for performing the work of low-skilled workers, as well as the organization of checking the knowledge of traffic rules among drivers of vehicles.