The characteristics of vibration disease of miners in conditions of modern technologies of mining ore raw materials in the Kola High North

Abstract

The study was carried out to analyze characteristics of development of vibration disease in miners of mineral resources' industry enterprises of the Kola High North in 1989-2013. Altogether, in miners of 16 professions 509 cases of primarily diagnosed vibration disease were established that amounted to 22.5% of all cases of occupational diseases. The vibration disease ranked second place in the structure of occupational pathology after diseases of musculo-skeletal system. During the analyzed period, the following characteristics of vibration pathology were established: 1. significant increasing of prevalence of vibration disease (especially in 2004-2013); 2. increasing among patients with vibration disease number of workers mainly involved into loading delivering operations (from 19,3% to 62,6%) and decreasing of percentage of workers involved into sinking and drilling operations; 3. increasing up to 11.1 years of duration of labor experience until moment of primary detection of vibration disease; 4. increasing from 7,7% to 69,5% of percentage of expressed clinical forms of vibration disease (vibration disease stage II) and decreasing of percentage of vibration disease with initial clinical manifestations of vibration disease (vibration disease stage I) among primarily diagnosed cases. Therefore, implementation of modern mining engineering with decreased levels of vibration and application of modern techniques of early diagnostic and prevention of vibration pathology and also organizational activities targeted to decreasing of level of impact of hazardous industrial factors resulted in no decreasing of risk of development of vibration disease in miners of mineral resources' industry enterprises of the Kola High North. The obtained data testify that statistical indices ofprevalence and severity of vibration pathology depend on interaction of many differently directed factors. Among these factors are labor conditions, level of medical preventive activities, quality of medical examinations and expertise decisions concerning relationship between health disorders and labor conditions, motivation to continue labor activity, etc.