Working conditions and their hygienic assessment in multidisciplinary medical organizations

Abstract

At present, one of the main tasks of the state and society is preservation and strengthening of the health of the able-bodied population. Employees of medical organizations are exposed to the combined effects of a significant number of harmful production and professional factors. In particular, the factors of the working environment include biological, chemical, and physical factors, while those of the labor process involve tension and severity. Therefore, the study of working conditions of medical personnel is a priority in occupational health. The purpose of the study is to analyze the working conditions of employees of medical organizations and iden tify priority production-related and occupational pathologies arising from the impact of unfavorable production and occupational factors in order to develop preventive measures. Materials and methods. The object of the study was 1,443 reports of the special assessment of working conditions. We carried out our own studies of the parameters of the microclimate and lighting in the premises: the number of measurements was 5,398, measurements were carried out in 60 premises of medical organizations, and 727 air samples were taken to determine the microbial load. Results. According to the studies of the conditions and nature of work at the workplaces of medical workers in the examined medical organizations and according to the results of a special assessment of working conditions and our own research, the conditions corresponded to a harmful class of 1–3 degrees and of the 4th degree for workers of the oncological hospital. The level of maximum microbial load in the doctors' lounges and nursing rooms increased by the middle of the work shift and remained high until the end of the working day. Since the air movement speed in the studied rooms was very low, this criterion may be a risk factor for aggravation of the course of general somatic pathologies and, as a result, the development of work-related morbidity in medical workers. It can also be noted that fungi were found in 100 % of samples, with their number decreasing by the end of the work shift, while the number of the genus Staphylococcus representatives, on the contrary, tended to increase by the end of the working day. Conclusion. According to the results of the special assessment of working conditions, the conditions and nature of the labor of medical workers in the studied medical organizations corresponded to the harmful class of 1–4 degrees. The 4th degree of the 3rd class of working conditions was due to the personnel’s work with cytostatic drugs. Microclimatic parameters corresponded to hygienic standards (at low air speeds). Fungi and representatives of the genus Staphylococcus were found in 100 % of air samples. A detailed study of the species identification of micromycetes in the indoor air showed that the number of Penicillium and Aspergillus micromycetes significantly exceeded the number of other species.