Hygienic Assessment of the Occupational Risk of Noise Effects on the Organ of Hearing in Furniture Makers

Abstract

Introduction: Industrial noise is one of the leading occupational risk factors in most industries. At the same time, noise has both a specific and non-specific effect on the human body: it is a stressor that disturbs psychological comfort of a person and negatively affects his autonomic nervous system, visual and vestibular apparatus. Occupational hearing loss is, in its turn, one of the most prevalent and socially significant types of occupational pathology, also common for woodworking enterprises. Objectives: Our purpose was to assess health risks of industrial noise exposures in furniture manufacturing workers. Material and methods: We conducted a sanitary and hygienic survey of 172 workplaces of the “Maria” furniture factory, 46 of which were characterized as exceeding the equivalent sound level. We made a comparative assessment of jobs by the level of furniture makers’ exposures to physical factors. The occupational risk assessment of all workplaces was carried out in accordance with the “Guidelines for Occupational Health Risk Assessment. Organizational and Methodological Aspects, Principles and Criteria R 2.2.1766–03” (2003). Results. We established that the noisiest working conditions were at the sites of woodworking machines, especially near the working engine of the aspiration system, and we classified them as workplaces of the 3rd degree of hazard class 3, which indicates a high (intolerable) risk requiring urgent risk abatement measures. Conclusions: The results of analyzing health effects of noise exposures in the furniture makers proved that 46 out of 172 surveyed workplaces posed risks to workers’ health and could be attributed to category 1A of the proven occupational risk according to R 2.2.1766–03.