Issues of occupational health of healthcare workers and pandemic COVID-19

Abstract

An analysis of the documents of WHO, ILO, the European Union, etc., a review of the literature and essays on the problem of assessing the professional risk of healthcare workers in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as protection and prevention measures. A pandemic is a problem of public health and occupational medicine since healthcare workers are at the forefront of the fight against the epidemic for the health and life of the population and are themselves at extreme risk. On issues of labor protection and the health of healthcare workers, most women, there are a lot of works; there is ILO Nursing personnel Convention No. 149: Recognize their contribution, address their needs (1977), ratified by Russia. The profession is characterized by the exposure to biological agents, stress, physical loads, etc., causing physical health problems (including reproductive and newborn health), disorders of mental health and social well-being. The weakening of immunity towards the end of the working day was observed among employees of the sanitary and epidemiological surveillance services, maternity hospitals, as well as ambulances and burn centers. In general, the working conditions of the main professions of healthcare workers in the literature are assessed as harmful (classes 3.2-3.3) according to the criteria of Guidelines R 2.2.2006-05, and in an epidemic under conditions of increased loads, stress, the use of PPE and other, their working conditions can be assessed as very harmful and extreme (classes 3.4-4). The official statistics on the morbidity and mortality of healthcare workers is absent, although the media note their elevated rates. Among the preventive measures, vaccination, a regimen of work and rest, multivitamins, and others are recommended; workplaces ought to be organized as to avoid work nearby and opposite each other. It should be borne in mind that PPE, while protecting, can simultaneously create new risks (ILO, 2001). Strengthening the safety and health of healthcare workers in such emergencies is already recognized in Russia as a priority and provided with increased social protection.