Study of working conditions in patients with occupational polyneuropathy of upper extremities

Autonomous sensory polyneuropathy of upper extremities is one of the most common occupational diseases of peripheral nervous system. Findings of the study of working conditions in two major worker jobs in which occupational polyneuropathies of upper extremities are prevalent, namely: house-painters and plasterers, as well as mining job workers (underground miners, shaft miners, breakage face miners) are reported. Hygienic investigations envisaged detailed studies of working conditions in workers with diagnosed occupational peripheral nervous system disease. The intensity and hardness of working process, illumination level, spectral noise characteristics, noise, vibration, temperature, humidity, and air velocity levels, as well as adverse chemical concentrations in workplace air were assessed. House-painters as well as miners were found to work with pronounced physical overloads, working conditions being classified as 3.2-3.3 (2-3 degree harmful) according to indices of working process hardness. In spite of new technologies being introduced into the working process, manual labor part in these jobs still remains to be the great. Comparison of findings revealed certain differences in some characteristics of working process hardness. Working process hardness shown by dynamic and static physical load on upper extremities was found to be the most significant harmful occupational factor resulting in polyneuropathy in house-painters and plasterers. Development of polyneuropathy in miners was caused by a combination of adverse occupational factors: working process hardness, local vibration, cold microclimate. Our findings indicated the importance of the study of health state in painters and miners. Working conditions must be taken into account in the process of development of preventive and remedial measures for occupational polyneuropathy treatment.