Risk of Occupational Diseases in Workers of Contemporary Petroleum Refining

Abstract

Introduction: Minimizing job-related health risks is one of the priorities for implementing strategic objectives of the demographic policy of the Russian Federation. Objective: To assess the group risk of work-related diseases in employees of modern petroleum product manufacturing. Materials and methods: The study involved 467 men aged 41.56 ± 9.24 years with 14.87 ± 9.39 years of duration of current employment. Comprehensive hygienic and epidemiological studies of working conditions and health of core personnel of a petroleum refinery were conducted. The causal relationship between working conditions and health disorders was assessed using the relative risk (OR), its 95 % confidence interval (CI) and etiologic fraction (EF). Assessment and categorization of occupational risk levels of work-related diseases and evaluation of their acceptability were performed in accordance with R 2.2.3969–23, Russian Guidelines for Assessing Occupational Risks to Workers’ Health: Organizational and Methodological Foundations, Principles and Criteria for Assessment. Microsoft Excel and Statistica10.0 were used for statistical data analysis. Results: We have established that working conditions in petroleum product manufacturing are noted for combined exposure to classes 2 to 4 hazardous chemicals, noise, heavy work and heating microclimate (secondary refining) and are classified as harmful (degrees 2 to 3) and posing occupational risks to workers’ health. Statistically significant cause-and-effect relationships were revealed between working conditions and moderate musculoskeletal and connective tissue diseases (OR = 1.77; EF = 43 %) and severe diseases of the eye and adnexa (OR = 4.496; EF = 78 %). The levels of group occupational risk of diseases ranged from moderate (0.65 × 10–2) for myopia to medium (3.28 × 10–2) for obesity and high (3.28 × 10–2) for dorsalgia, all being unacceptable. The risk of health disorders was found to be determined by factors of the occupational environment at different stages of the technological process. Workers engaged in primary oil refining were at high risk of dorsalgia (6.65 × 10–2) and obesity (3.98 × 10–2); those engaged in secondary refining were at medium risk of disorders of refraction and accommodation (2.09 × 10–2); workers of the electrical equipment operation shop were at high risk of disorders of refraction and accommodation (5.55 × 10–2) and at moderate risk of dorsalgia (0.94 × 10–2), all being unacceptable. Conclusion: Occupational risk of a high (unacceptable) level is the basis for the development of targeted measures of disease prevention in oil refining workers given their involvement at different stages of the technological process.