PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES OF THE HUMAN BODY TO THE WORKING CONDITIONS IN PROTECTIVE PNEUMATIC SUITS IN VIROLOGICAL LABORATORIES

Introduction. The use of personal protective equipment when performing work operations with especially hazardous materials largely determines the level of human performance and, finally, his activity safety. The microclimate of working areas in combination with the workload can have an unfavorable effect not only on the well-being of an employee in the process of performing important work operations, but can also result in cases of temporary disability due to illness. Aim. Physiological characteristics of the functional state of the body of women – employees of virological laboratories who used protective pneumatic suits for 2–3 years preceding this study. Materials and methods. Physiological studies were carried out in a thermal chamber, where labor loads and hygienic parameters of working areas were simulated, as well as the modes of operation of protective pneumatic suits by female virologists. The results obtained are compared with the data of studies in which the individuals of the control group took part as subjects. Results. An analysis of the results of physiological studies indicates a systematic overheating of the body of the subjects in the process of performing labor operations in protective pneumatic suits. A number of characteristic changes in physiological parameters have been established for cases observed during human adaptation to heat. Conclusion. The data obtained indicate that the pneumatic suit, in the design of which the convective method of normalizing the human temperature homeostasis is realized, requires the development of special operating modes for the implementation of continuous technological or laboratory operations in it. A set of methods for evaluating the performance of personal protective equipment in terms of the thermal state of the human body was tested, which makes it possible to determine the degree of influence of environmental factors and the labor process on the functional state of employees in order to predict it and establish the optimal mode of work.