Medical and social characteristic and occupational risk factors of employees of locomotive brigades

Abstract

Introduction. Drivers and assistant drivers directly manage rail transport. The number of employees of locomotive brigades in 2018 amounted to about 140 thousand people. A significant number of driver jobs and their assistants are characterized by third class working conditions. Purpose of the study. Study of medical and social characteristics and production risk factors of locomotive crew employees. Material and methods. In 2018, 7.6% of locomotive teams employees were interviewed from their full-time number using STEPS tool and questionnaire on production risk factors. The study was carried out on all railways of the Russian Federation. 10476 questionnaires are collected. Results. 55.5% of the respondents indicated their work schedule to be abnormal; 60% of workers reported about extra-working time. More than 50% of workers told earlier start of work, 43% said about later ends. 86% of respondents believed that work hurt their health. 96% of drivers complained about the low air temperature in the cabin during the winter period, 83% reported about the need to carry out repair works during the flight, 69% say about overheating in the house in the summer, 61% wrote about the need to make a lot of movements in the place during operation, 51% reported about noise, and 52% told about vibration. Conclusion. The working schedule of at least 50% of respondents is not optimal. More than 60% of workers note not good hygienic working conditions. The ongoing work of Russian Railways JSC on the modernization of the locomotive fleet partly eliminates some of the above-mentioned occupational risk factors, which adversely affect employees’ psychoemotional and physical condition of locomotive teams.