Occupational diseases in construction workers in the Arctic

Abstract

Introduction. Construction is one of the most important sectors of the economy. The aim is: to study the causes of development, structure, and prevalence of occupational pathology of construction workers in the Arctic. Materials and methods. An analysis was made of the data of socio-hygienic monitoring “Working conditions and occupational morbidity” and the Register of extracts from occupational disease records (Order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation dated May 28, 2001 No. 176) for 2007–2021 in the Russian Arctic. Results. Over 2007–2021, construction workers in the Arctic were exposed to thirteen occupational hazards, seven of which (labour severity, harmful chemicals, noise, whole-body and hand-arm vibration, fibrogenic aerosols, cooling microclimate) caused the development of occupational diseases (n=252). Diseases of the musculoskeletal system (38.5%), respiratory organs (16.3%), and sensorineural hearing loss (17.1%) prevailed in their structure. Occupational diseases more often developed among welders (n=31), painters (n=291), mechanics (n=23), and plasterers (n=19). The level of occupational morbidity among construction workers (2.62/10,000 workers) is 2.9–6.3 times lower than for all workers in the Russian Arctic and 20.6–194.7 times lower than for workers in the mining and metallurgical industry of the Russian Arctic. During 15 years, occupational morbidity and the risk of developing occupational pathology (RR=1.29; CI 0.82–2.02) in construction workers did not change. Limitation. The lack of data on working conditions at construction enterprises in the Russian Arctic in 1997–2006, which could have explained the changes of occupational pathology in 2007–2021. Conclusion. To preserve the health of construction workers (primarily welders, painters, mechanics, plasterers), it is necessary to improve measures to protect them from the effects of increased labour severity, harmful chemicals and noise.