Biological, epidemiological, sanitary-hygienic, medical and behavioral occupational health risk factors for stock-breeders, veterinaries and workers employed at meat-processing enterprises, contacting brucellar animals and infected meat

Abstract

We have studied sanitary-hygienic characteristics of working conditions, charts with results of sanitaryepidemiologic examination performed in a zoogenous nidus, outpatient clinic cards and questionnaires filled in by 202 patients living in Omsk region and suffering from occupational brucellosis. The disease usually prevails among stock-breeders, veterinaries and workers employed at meat-processing enterprises. Our goal was to detect risks of occupational, production-induced and general pathology evolvement. Working conditions which all the examined people had to work in corresponded to hazardous (3.3) or even dangerous (4) category as per occurrence of contacts with infectious agents and parasites (biological risk). Apart from biological factor, a number of workers were under complex exposure to ammonia concentrations (higher than MPC), noise higher than MPL, vibration, cooling microclimate, uncomfortable lighting environment, labor process hardness and intensity. There were several factors causing epidemiologic risks as well. Disinfectants were absent or their quantity was not sufficient; industrial and amenity rooms were not well-organized; there was no central hot water supply or shower rooms, separate rooms for meals, specialized implements for removing abortus and stillborn fetuses and afterbirths, correctly organized burial grounds, or first aid kits. Hygienic health risks were caused by insufficient cleaning agents supply, absence of centralized protecting clothing laundering, and insufficient provision with personal protection means. Occupational health risks resulted from absence of preliminary medical examinations in standard recruitment procedures, irregularity and low quality of periodical medical examinations. Our qualitative assessment of behavioral health risks revealed that a lot of workers tended to have irresponsible medical and hygienic behavior, there were disorders in their work and rest regime (shift work with shifts rotation), nutrition, sleeping and waking. We also found out that the examined workers didn't pursue self-preserving lifestyle as they drank alcohol, smoked, underestimated the importance of being vaccinated against brucellosis and of having medical examinations, and didn't apply for medical aid in due time. We detected the third type of risk-genous behavior, "high risk-genous level, passive" in 28.22 % of our respondents. There have been positive changes in occupational hygiene and occupational pathology recently; they are determined by worldwide trend of a worker's health growing importance __________________________ Ó Ereniev S.I., Plotnikova O.V., Demchenko V.G., Rudakov N.V., 2017 Stepan I. Ereniev -Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor at Occupational Hygiene and Occupational Pathology Department