Current aspects of occupational hearing loss in agricultural workers

Abstract

Introduction. Agricultural workers belong to the cohort of increased risk of developing occupational hearing loss (OHL). When studying occupational sensorineural hearing loss (SHL), researchers usually limit themselves to stating its share in the structure of occupational diseases without a comprehensive analysis of the initiating occupational factors and the relationship between the development of the disease with the age of employees and occupational experience. Materials and methods. The study is based on data on working conditions and occupational diseases by type of economic activity “Agriculture, forestry, hunting, fishing and fish farming” in the Saratov region from 2000 to 2019. The assessment of the factors of working conditions was carried out using the methods of the current hygienic classification. Generally accepted indicators were used to characterize occupational diseases. Linear regression analysis and polynomial equations were used to describe trend models of the prevalence of occupational diseases. Calculations and data analysis was carried out based on Microsoft Excel and Statistica application software packages. Results. Occupational hearing loss occupied the fourth rank after dorsopathies, vibration disease and chronic brucellosis in the nosological structure of accumulated occupational diseases. The level of primary incidence of SHL was in the range of 0.11 - 0.71 per 10000 workers. All cases of OHL were detected in agricultural machine operators whose harmful working conditions were characterized by a synergy of industrial noise (classes 3.1-3.3) and general vibration (classes 2-3.2). For the most part, SHL was diagnosed in workers aged 50 to 60 years with a work experience of 8 to 42 years in the profession and acted as the second or third concomitant occupational disease associated with dorsopathy, vibration disease or bronchopulmonary diseases. Conclusion. The absence of a statistically significant decrease in the level of PPP among agricultural workers during the observation period indicates the insufficient effectiveness of preventive measures to minimise occupational noise exposure.

Social and hygienic aspects of preserving the labor potential of the Russian Federation grain complex sustainable development

“…The etiopathogenetic role of harmful factors in working conditions in affecting the health of agricultural machine operators is confirmed by the results of a study of occupational morbidity. In the nosological structure of occupational diseases registered among agricultural machine operators in Russia in the period from 2011 to 2017, the first ranking places were occupied by vibration disease (36.7%), radiculopathy of the lumbosacral level (28.5%), sensorineural hearing loss (24 .6%) [5].…”

“…When operating old-style agricultural machinery with expired service life, workers are exposed to the complex effects of harmful production factors that can be risk factors for the development and progression of occupational and work-related diseases [3,4]. Modern trends in violations of the professional health of agricultural workers indicate that 56.3-70% of newly diagnosed cases of occupational diseases each year belong to tractor drivers in agricultural production (hereinafter referred to as agricultural machine operators) [5].…”

Proposal of Combined Noise and Hand-Arm Vibration Index for Occupational Exposure: Application to a Study Case in the Olive Sector

“…For example, the increased use of hand tools (electric, combustion, pneumatic and hydraulic) causes exposure to noise and HAV. For this reason, their effects have been analysed in many productive sectors such as construction [ 12 , 13 ], agriculture [ 14 , 15 , 16 ], forestry [ 17 , 18 ], metallurgy [ 19 ], textile industry [ 20 ], chemical manufacturing [ 21 ], automobile manufacturing [ 22 ], mining [ 23 ], the mining industry and mechanical engineering [ 24 ] etc. The issue of occupational noise and vibration exposure is so relevant that the Sixth European working conditions survey [ 25 ] reports that 28% of all workers are exposed to high noise levels for more than a quarter of the working day in different labour sectors.…”