Hazards of industrial environment factors of severity. The severity and intensity of labor: classification, indicators, factors. Negative impact of harmful production factors

Labor activity can be considered in two aspects: from the point of view of the workload performed by a person in this type of work, and, on the other hand, the functional stress of the body as an integral response of the human body to the load.

The work load is a set of factors of the labor process performed in certain conditions of the working environment. Depending on the characteristics of the factors, the work load has a different effect on the human body, on certain functional systems, determining the magnitude and direction of their functioning. Under certain conditions, the levels of labor process factors can be regarded as dangerous and harmful.

According to GOST 12.0.003-74 (from March 1, 2017 GOST 12.0.003-2015 comes into force), factors due to the characteristics of the nature and organization and organization of work of employees, the parameters of the workplace and equipment, are distinguished into a complex of so-called psycho-physiologically dangerous and harmful production factors.

They can have an adverse effect on the functional state of the human body, his well-being, emotional and intellectual spheres and lead to a persistent decrease in working capacity and (or) a violation of the health of workers.

According to the nature of the action, psychophysiological OVPF (dangerous harmful production factors) are divided into physical (static and dynamic) overloads and neuropsychic overloads (mental overstrain, overstrain of analyzers, monotony of work, emotional overloads).

Psychophysiological OVPF can be characterized by the parameters of labor (work) loads and (or) indicators of the impact of these loads on a person. Accordingly, the nomenclature includes both the parameters of physical and neuropsychic overloads - the parameters of labor activity, and indicators of their impact on the functional state of the human body during work, his well-being.

Existing in conditions modern production technological processes place high demands on the organ of vision of workers. Up to 90% of all labor operations are now under the control of vision. Miniaturization and microminiaturization of elements, typical for many industries, the introduction of new types of equipment, technologies and computer systems control causes increased tension of the visual analyzer. The contingent of persons performing work at the limit of the resolution of the eyes, using optical means, means of displaying information, is constantly increasing.

In accordance with the "Guidelines m according to the hygienic assessment of the factors of the working environment and the labor process. Criteria and classification of working conditionsP 2.2.2006-05 » , the parameters of the labor process (severity and intensity of labor) according to the degree of influence on the functional state and health of workers are classified into three classes:

Optimal working conditions (grade 1) - conditions under which the health of the employee is preserved and prerequisites are created for maintaining a high level of efficiency. Optimal standards for working environment factors have been established for microclimatic parameters and workload factors. For other factors, such working conditions are conditionally taken as optimal, under which harmful factors are absent or do not exceed the levels accepted as safe for the population.

Permissible working conditions (grade 2) are characterized by such levels of environmental factors and the labor process that do not exceed the established hygienic standards for workplaces, and possible changes in the functional state of the body are restored during regulated rest or by the beginning of the next shift and do not have an adverse effect in the near and long term on the health of workers and their offspring. Permissible working conditions are conditionally classified as safe.

Harmful working conditions (grade 3) are characterized by the presence of harmful factors, the levels of which exceed the hygienic standards and have an adverse effect on the body of the worker and / or his offspring.
1 degree 3 class (3.1) - working conditions are characterized by such deviations of levels of harmful factors from hygienic standards that cause functional changes, which are restored, as a rule, with a longer (than by the beginning of the next shift) interruption of contact with harmful factors and increase the risk of damage to health;
2 degree 3 class (3.2) - levels of harmful factors that cause persistent functional changes, leading in most cases to an increase in occupationally caused morbidity (which can be manifested by an increase in the level of morbidity with temporary disability and, first of all, those diseases that reflect the state of organs and systems most vulnerable to these factors ), the appearance of initial signs or mild forms of occupational diseases (without loss of occupational ability) that occur after prolonged exposure (oftenafter 15 years or more).

Methodology for assessing the severity of the labor process
The severity of the labor process is assessed by a number of indicators expressed in ergometric values ​​that characterize the labor process, regardless of individual characteristics person involved in this process. The main indicators of the severity of the labor process are:

the mass of the lifted and moved cargo manually;
stereotyped labor movements;
working posture;
body slopes;
movement in space.
Each of the listed indicators can be quantitatively measured and evaluated in accordance with the methodology, section 5.10 and table. 17guidelines R 2.2.2006-05.
When performing work associated with uneven physical activity in different shifts, an assessment of the severity of the labor process (with the exception of the mass of the lifted and moved load and body tilts) should be carried out according to average values ​​for 2-3 shifts. The weight of the manually lifted and moved load and the inclination of the hull should be estimated at the maximum values.

Methodology for assessing the intensity of the labor process
The intensity of the labor process is assessed in accordance with these "Hygienic criteria for assessing working conditions in terms of harmfulness and danger of factors in the working environment, the severity and intensity of the labor process."
Evaluation of labor intensity professional group employees is based on the analysis of labor activity and its structure, which are studied by chronometric observations in the dynamics of the entire working day, for at least one week. The analysis is based on taking into account the whole complex of production factors (stimuli, irritants) that create the prerequisites for the emergence of adverse neuro-emotional states (overstrain). All factors (indicators) of the labor process have a qualitative or quantitative expression and are grouped according to the types of loads: intellectual, sensory, emotional, monotonous, regime loads.

Since 2017, a training cycle has begun to assess the severity and intensity of the labor process.

What is included in the cycle?

Regulatory documents and standardized values ​​for assessing the severity and intensity of the labor process;

Methodology for measuring indicators of severity and intensity of the labor process;

Working measuring instruments;

Calculation and registration of measurement results;

Conclusion (conclusions) on the results of measurements;

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Training is carried out in a state educational institution.

Occupational health is a field in medicine that deals with the study of work activities and working conditions, taking into account their effects on the body. Also, this area is developing hygiene standards and measures that are designed to prevent the occurrence of occupational pathologies and make working conditions safer.

The main objectives of occupational health include:

1. Setting the permissible impact of harmful factors on the worker's body.
2. Classification of labor intensity, based on the conditions of the process.
3. Determination of tension and severity of the work process.
4. Organization of the regime of rest and work, as well as the workplace in accordance with rational standards.
5. Research of psychophysical parameters of labor.

Assessing the quality of the worker's environment, it is necessary not only to investigate the impact of various factors, their influence on each other, but also working conditions according to the intensity of the labor process. It is also necessary to develop comprehensive indicators, which will be considered the norm. Occupational hygiene methods can be both instrumental and clinical, physiological. Methods of medical statistics and sanitary inspection are also applicable.

Classification different types the severity and intensity of labor is of particular importance for the rational organization and optimization of working conditions. Such classifications, as well as the allocation of working conditions factors, make it possible to assess different kinds works. In addition, this allows you to find methods for the implementation of recreational activities, taking into account the assessment of the severity and intensity of labor.

Quite often, the intensity of labor is classified taking into account the expenditure of human energy in the process of carrying out work activities. Such an indicator as energy costs is determined by the degree of the coefficient of muscle labor intensity, as well as the neuro-emotional state of a person during work. Another important indicator is working conditions. A person spends 10-12 MJ per day on mental work, and workers doing hard physical work spend from 17 to 25 MJ.

The severity and intensity of labor can be defined as the degree of stress of the organism of a functional plan that occurs in the course of performing work tasks. Depending on the power of work during physical or mental labor, functional stress arises during information overload. The physical burden of labor is the load on the body during activities that require muscle tension and corresponding energy consumption.

Emotional load occurs during the performance of intellectual tasks in the processing of information. Often this type of load is called the nervous tension of labor.

Work environment factors: overview

The harmful effect on the body of the worker is determined by the factors of the working environment. Occupational health distinguishes two main factors - harmful and dangerous. Dangerous is the factor of severity and intensity of labor, which can cause acute illness or a sharp deterioration in the health of an employee or death. A harmful factor can, in the course of work and in the aggregate of certain conditions, cause an occupational disease, reduce the efficiency of a temporary or chronic nature, increase the number of infectious and somatic pathologies and lead to problems in reproductive function.

Harmful production factors

Conditions affecting the intensity of working conditions can be divided into several groups:

1. Physical. These include humidity, temperature, electromagnetic and non-ionizing radiation and fields, air velocity, permanent magnetic fields, electrostatic fields, thermal and laser radiation, industrial noise, ultrasound, vibrations, aerosols, lighting, air ions, etc.
2. Chemical. Biological and chemical substances including hormones, antibiotics, enzymes, vitamins, proteins.
3. Biological. Live spores and cells, harmful microorganisms.
4. Factors that characterize the severity of work.
5. Factors that characterize the intensity of work.

Assessment of severity and tension

The severity of labor is most often determined by the load on the musculoskeletal system and various body systems. The assessment of the severity and intensity of labor is characterized by an energy component and is determined by a number of indicators.

Process severity indicators

These include:

The intensity of labor characterizes the labor process. Also, the concept projects a load on the central nervous system, the emotional area and the sense organs.

Indicators of labor intensity

The data under consideration includes:

1. Sensory, emotional and intellectual loads.
2. Load monotony.
3. Operating mode.
4. Intensity and duration of intellectual load.

Age of Cyberspace

Scientific and technological progress not only provokes the creation of new professions, but also new pathogenic factors. In recent years, the importance of psychophysiological indicators of the severity and intensity of labor has increased significantly, due to the development of computer technology.

Safe working conditions are those under which the influence of production factors is minimized and does not exceed hygienic standards. The latter include MPC, or maximum allowable concentrations, and MPC, or maximum allowable levels.

Classification of labor by load

The load, depending on the severity of the work performed, is regulated in sanitary and hygienic requirements that correspond to GOST. In them, all physical types of work are divided into three categories depending on the indicators of the severity and intensity of labor and on the energy costs of the body for their implementation.

• Energy consumption up to 139 watts. Work performed in a sitting position that does not include significant physical factors of labor intensity. This is a number of professions related to precision instrumentation, in the clothing industry, in the field of management. Also included are watchmakers, locksmiths, engravers, knitters, etc.
• Energy consumption up to 174 watts. Work performed while standing or requiring a lot of walking. This category includes workers in the printing industry, communications enterprises, markers, bookbinders, photographers, auxiliary workers in agriculture, etc.

Third category. Includes jobs that require more than 290 W of energy consumption. These are professions that do not involve a reduction in labor intensity and include heavy physical exertion, carrying weights of more than 10 kilograms, work in the blacksmith and foundry shops, the activities of postmen, workers Agriculture, namely: tractor drivers, cattlemen, livestock breeders, etc.

Additional features of working conditions

The conditions in which a person works and their severity can be determined by a number of indicators, namely:

1. Posture and position of the body when performing work. This indicator is divided into the following types:

• The horizontal position of the body. This includes high-altitude fitters, welders, mining workers, etc.
• Half-bent or bent position. In this case, it is necessary to clarify the temporary stay in this position as a percentage of the total working time.
• The same movements. The number of movements of the same type that an employee performs per shift is calculated. Not only the local load is taken into account, but also the regional one.

2. Standing time. To classify working conditions as severe, this condition must be constant and include not only a static position in an upright position, but also walking.

3. Tilts of the torso. Typical for agricultural workers when harvesting, weeding, and on a dairy farm and construction sites when laying floors and wall cladding. In this case, the number of slopes during the shift is specified.

4. The pace at which the required actions are carried out. This includes work on semi-automatic machines, conveyors and weaving.

5. Mode of operation. Usually hard working conditions are recognized shift schedules work or shift method, night shifts and frequent changes in the rhythm of life.

6. Exposure to vibration. The influence can be not only general, but also local. Tractor drivers, combine harvesters, harvesters, bulldozer operators, as well as employees of railway and urban transport are exposed to vibrations.

7. Meteorological working conditions. Abnormally low or high temperature operating conditions, high humidity or sudden changes, air speed and drafts.

8. Exposure to radiation of any kind. This can be a magnetic field, laser or ionizing radiation, insolation, the influence of static electricity and electric fields.

9. Interaction with toxins, namely poisons and other substances harmful to humans.

10. Professional malicious features.

11. Polluted air in the workplace, high levels of noise and atmospheric pressure.

12. Quite often, in one profession, there are several factors at once, according to which working conditions can be classified as difficult.

Varieties of intellectual labor

In addition to working conditions, it is also necessary to consider the intensity and severity of work. Many fields of activity combine the mental and physical aspects. However, in modern professional fields sensory, mental and emotional loads are prevalent. This is because mental labor is of particular importance.

Professions that are associated with the processing of a large amount of information are considered intellectual. The implementation of this kind of activity requires the tension of memory, sensory apparatus, attention, emotions and thinking.

Occupational health identifies five main intellectual activities:

1. Operator labor. It implies the management of equipment, technological processes and machines. This area involves great responsibility and tension of a neuro-emotional nature.
2. Management work. This group includes teachers and teachers, as well as heads of organizations and enterprises. This area of ​​activity provides for an increasing amount of information, a small amount of time for its processing and personal responsibility for decisions made. The workload is irregular and solutions are often non-standard. Sometimes conflicts may arise, the solution of which also requires a certain emotional tension.
3. Creation. Such professions, as a rule, include writers, artists, composers, artists, designers, architects and others. This activity involves the creation of non-standard algorithms based on many years of training and qualifications. In these areas, it is necessary to have initiative, good memory, and the ability to concentrate. All this causes increased nervous tension.
4. Medical workers. The following features are considered typical for all workers in this area: lack of information, close contact with sick people, a high degree of responsibility to patients.
5. Educational area. Students and students need to constantly strain their attention, memory, perception, be resistant to stressful situations when passing exams, tests or tests.

The stress of a neuro-emotional nature is characterized depending on the workload and density of the work schedule, the number of actions performed, the complexity and volume of information to assimilate, the time spent on the operation.

Types of working conditions according to the intensity of the work process

There are several classes that show the degree of assessment of labor intensity:

• First grade. Light degree of tension. Criteria this class are: work in one shift without night outs for workplace, no need to make a decision in an emergency mode, individual plan work, the actual duration of the working day up to 7 hours, the exclusion of risk to life, the exclusion of liability for other persons. This category includes those professions that do not undergo drastic changes and do not require concentration on more than one subject. The work itself is of a small volume, for example, a secretary, a timekeeper, a typist, etc.
• The second class is characterized as acceptable and has an assessment of labor intensity of an average degree. This category assumes moderate nervous tension and the performance of tasks of an average degree of complexity. Responsibility is only for specific types of activities that are typical for this field of activity. The second class includes economists, accountants, legal advisers, engineers, librarians and doctors.
• The third class denotes hard work. These areas of activity involve strong mental stress, a large volume production activities, the load on attention for a long time, the ability to quickly process a large amount of information. This type of work includes heads of large organizations and enterprises, leading specialists of departments, for example, chief accountants, designers and technologists. In addition, this includes activities that provide for a continuous flow of information and an instant response to it. These can be dispatchers at airports, railway stations, duty and metro operators, television workers, telephonists and telegraph operators, as well as emergency doctors, intensive care units, etc. The latter category also implies work under time pressure, increased responsibility for decisions made with a lack of information. The length of the working day is not standardized and is usually more than 12 hours. A high degree of risk and responsibility for the lives of others are also indicators of labor intensity.
• The fourth class includes extreme working conditions. They mean the presence of factors that can pose a threat to life during work or lead to the development of serious complications for the health of the worker. Such especially dangerous activities include mine rescuers, firefighters, liquidators of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident, etc. This is the hardest and most intense work that does not pass without a trace for the human condition. Working in such conditions is permissible only in case of emergency. A prerequisite is the use of personal protective equipment.

Negative impact of harmful production factors

As a result of exposure to harmful production factors, workers may develop occupational diseases - diseases caused by exposure to harmful working conditions. Occupational diseases are divided into:

Acute occupational diseases that have arisen after a single (for no more than one work shift) exposure to harmful occupational factors;

Chronic occupational diseases that have arisen after repeated exposure to harmful production factors ( elevated level concentration of harmful substances in the air of the working area, increased noise level, vibration, etc.). .

Evaluation of working conditions by factors of the working environment

In order to identify harmful and (or) dangerous factors of the production environment and the labor process and assess the level of their impact on the employee, taking into account the deviation of their actual values ​​from the established ones, enterprises are required to conduct special assessment working conditions.

Working conditions - a set of factors of the working environment and the labor process that affect the performance and health of the employee.

Evaluation of working conditions is the determination of the actual values ​​​​of dangerous and harmful production factors, the intensity and severity of labor.

The levels of hazardous and harmful production factors are determined by instrumental measurements.

The results of the survey are compared with the hygienic criteria for assessing and classifying working conditions in terms of harmfulness and danger of factors in the working environment, the severity and intensity of the labor process. The criteria are based on the differentiation of working conditions according to the degree of deviation of the parameters of the production environment and the labor process from the current hygienic standards and the impact of these deviations on the functional state and health of workers.

Working conditions in accordance with the hygienic criteria for assessing and classifying working conditions in terms of harmfulness and danger of factors in the working environment, the severity and intensity of the labor process are assessed in four classes (Fig. 1).

Rice. one

1st class - optimal conditions labor- conditions under which not only the health of workers is preserved, but also conditions for high performance are created. Optimal standards are set only for climatic parameters (temperature, humidity, air mobility);

2nd grade - permissible working conditions- are characterized by such levels of environmental factors that do not exceed the established hygienic standards for workplaces, while possible changes in the functional state of the body pass during breaks for rest or by the beginning of the next shift and do not adversely affect the health of workers and their offspring;

3rd grade - harmful working conditions - are characterized by the presence of factors that exceed hygienic standards and affect the body of the worker and (or) his offspring.

Harmful working conditions according to the degree of exceeding the standards are divided into 4 degrees of harmfulness:

1st degree - characterized by such deviations from acceptable norms, in which reversible functional changes occur and there is a risk of developing the disease;

2nd degree - characterized by levels of harmful factors that can cause persistent functional disorders, an increase in morbidity with temporary disability, the appearance of initial signs of occupational diseases;

3rd degree - characterized by such levels of harmful factors, in which, as a rule, occupational diseases develop in mild forms during the period of employment;

4th degree - the conditions of the working environment, under which pronounced forms of occupational diseases may occur, are noted high levels morbidity with temporary disability.

4th grade - dangerous (extreme) working conditions- are characterized by such levels of harmful production factors, the impact of which during the work shift and even part of it creates a threat to life, a high risk of severe forms of acute occupational diseases.

Dangerous (extreme) working conditions include the work of firefighters, mine rescuers, liquidators of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Extreme conditions are created, for example, when the MPC of harmful substances is exceeded by more than 20 times, the MPC of noise - by more than 50 dB. Hard and stressful work has an adverse effect on human health. While a person cannot refuse such activities, but as he develops technical progress it is necessary to strive to reduce the severity and intensity of labor by mechanizing and automating heavy physical work, transferring the functions of control, management, decision-making and the performance of stereotypical technological operations and movements to automatic machines and electronic computers. Labor activity human should be carried out in acceptable conditions of the working environment. However, when doing some technological processes at present, it is technically impossible or economically extremely difficult to ensure that the norms for a number of factors of the production environment are not exceeded. Work in hazardous conditions should be carried out using means personal protection and by reducing the time of exposure to harmful production factors (time protection).

Work in hazardous (extreme) working conditions (4th grade) not allowed except for the elimination of accidents, emergency work to prevent emergencies . Work must be carried out with the use of personal protective equipment and with strict observance of the regimes regulated for such work.

Enterprises of any form of ownership are obliged to strive to create safe working conditions.

Safe working conditions are levels of harmful production factors that, during daily (except weekends) work, but not more than 40 hours a week during the entire working experience, should not cause diseases or abnormalities in the health of the worker and his offspring. Safe working conditions are also considered working conditions in the complete absence of harmful and dangerous production factors.

Jobs are evaluated according to three main criteria:

Hygienic assessment of existing conditions and nature of work; assessment of safety of workplaces;

Accounting and assessment of the provision of employees with means of individual (collective) protection, training, etc.

- injury safety rated 1st, 2nd or 3rd class (no degree of danger).

Assessment of existing conditions and nature of work produced on the basis of instrumental measurements of physical, chemical, biological and psychophysiological factors. The classification of these factors is given in. After measurements, the class of working conditions at the workplace is determined. The most time-consuming work is the definition of the class of working conditions in terms of the severity of the labor process and labor intensity.

Classification of working conditions according to the factors of the labor process.

The severity of labor- characteristics of the labor process, reflecting the load on the musculoskeletal system and functional systems of the body (cardiovascular, respiratory, etc.) that ensure its activity. The severity of labor is characterized by physical dynamic load, the mass of the load being lifted and moved, the total number of stereotypical working movements, the magnitude of the static load, the form of the working posture, the degree of inclination of the body, and movements in space.

Labor intensity- characteristics of the labor process, reflecting the predominant load on the central nervous system, sensory organs, emotional sphere worker. The factors characterizing the intensity of labor include intellectual, sensory, emotional loads, the degree of their monotony, and the mode of work.

A general assessment of the severity of the labor process is made on the basis of all indicators of the severity of the labor process. At the same time, a class is first established and entered into the protocol for each measured indicator, and the final assessment of the severity of labor is established according to the most sensitive indicator assigned to the highest class. If there are two or more indicators of class 3.1 and 3.2, the overall score is set one degree higher.

The assessment of the intensity of the labor process of a professional group of workers is based on an analysis of labor activity and its structure, which are studied by chronometric observations in the dynamics of the entire working day for at least one week. The analysis is based on taking into account the whole complex of production factors (stimuli, irritants) that create the prerequisites for the emergence of adverse neuro-emotional states (overstrain). All factors (indicators) of the labor process have a qualitative or quantitative expression and are grouped according to the types of loads: intellectual, sensory, emotional, monotonous, regime. Regardless of professional affiliation (profession), all 22 indicators are taken into account. It is not allowed to selectively take into account any individual indicators for a general assessment of labor intensity.

For each of the indicators, its own class of working conditions is determined separately. If any of the indicators is not presented due to the nature or characteristics of professional activity, the 1st class (optimal) is assigned to this indicator.

The final definition of the optimal, acceptable and harmful classes of working conditions is based on the number of indicators that have one or another class. The overall assessment of working conditions in terms of the degree of harmfulness and danger is established according to the highest class and degree of harmfulness. If three or more factors belong to class 3.1, then the overall assessment of working conditions corresponds to class 3.2. In the presence of two or more factors of classes 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, working conditions are rated one degree higher, respectively.

With a reduction in contact with harmful factors (time protection), working conditions can be assessed as less harmful, but not lower than class 3.1.

Hygiene specialists classify human working conditions according to the degree of severity and intensity of the labor process and according to indicators of harmfulness and danger of factors in the working environment.

the severity of physical labor- these are mainly muscle efforts and energy costs: physical dynamic load, mass of the load being lifted and moved, stereotyped working movements, static load, working postures, body tilts, movement in space.

Labor process factors characterizing labor intensity, is the emotional and intellectual load, the load on human analyzers (auditory, visual, etc.), the monotony of loads, the mode of operation.

Labor according to the severity of the labor process is divided into the following classes : light(optimal working conditions in terms of physical activity), moderate(permissible working conditions) and heavy three degrees (harmful working conditions).

The criteria for assigning labor to a particular class are: the amount of external mechanical work performed per shift; the mass of the load lifted and moved manually; the number of stereotyped work movements per shift; the value of the total effort applied per shift to hold the load; comfortable working posture; the number of forced bends per shift and the kilometers that a person is forced to walk when doing work.

Classification of working conditions according to severity and intensity:

Labor according to the degree of intensity of the labor process is divided into the following classes: optimal– 1st class, admissible– 2nd grade, tense- 3rd grade - work of three degrees.

The criteria for assigning labor to a particular class are:

o degree of intellectual load, depending on the content and nature of the work performed, the degree of its complexity;

: the duration of concentrated attention, the number of signals per hour of work, the number of objects of simultaneous observation; load on vision, determined mainly by the size of the minimum objects of distinction, the duration of work behind monitor screens;

, depending on the degree of responsibility and significance of the error, the degree of risk to one's own life and the safety of other people;

o monotony of labor, determined by the duration of simple or repetitive operations;

o working mode, characterized by the length of the working day and shift work.

In this way, physical work classified by gravity labor, mental- on tension.

Labor that requires physical activity, emotional, intellectual stress, responsibility is classified both according to the severity and intensity of labor.

Such types of labor include the labor of drivers, typesetters in printing houses, computer users who enter large amounts of information into memory, etc. The work of people in these professions is characterized by the stereotype of working movements involving the muscles of the fingers, hands, arms or shoulder girdle, the constancy of the working posture, the tension of the analyzers (primarily vision), the duration of concentrated observation, etc.

Occupational health is a field of medicine that studies human labor activity and the working environment from the point of view of their influence on the body, develops measures and hygienic standards aimed at improving working conditions and preventing occupational diseases. Tasks of occupational health: determination of the maximum permissible levels of harmful production factors, classification of working conditions, assessment of the severity and intensity of the labor process, rational organization regime of work and rest, workplace, study of the psychophysiological aspects of labor activity, etc.

When assessing quality environment it is necessary to study not only the influence of various parameters, but also their interaction and develop appropriate complex indicators (for example, a heat stress indicator).

Hygiene methods include instrumental studies of environmental factors, physiological and clinical observations, as well as methods of sanitary inspection and medical statistics.

The parameters of the working environment that affect the state of human health are the following factors:

physical factors: climatic parameters (temperature, humidity, air mobility), electromagnetic fields different wave range (ultraviolet, visible, infrared - thermal, laser, microwave, radio frequency, low frequency), static, electric and magnetic fields, ionizing radiation, noise, vibration, ultrasound, irritating aerosols (dust), illumination (lack of natural light, insufficient illumination);

chemical factors: harmful substances, including biological ones (antibiotics, vitamins, hormones, enzymes);

biological factors: pathogenic microorganisms, producing microorganisms, preparations containing living cells and spores of microorganisms, protein preparations.

According to the factors of the working environment, working conditions are divided into four classes:

o 1st grade – optimal working conditions- conditions under which not only the health of workers is preserved, but also conditions for high performance are created. Optimal standards are set only for climatic parameters (temperature, humidity, air mobility);

o 2nd grade – permissible working conditions- are characterized by such levels of environmental factors that do not exceed the established hygienic standards for workplaces, while possible changes in the functional state of the body pass during breaks for rest or by the beginning of the next shift and do not adversely affect the health of workers and their offspring;

o 3rd grade – harmful working conditions are characterized by the presence of factors that exceed hygienic standards and affect the body of the worker and (or) his offspring.

Harmful working conditions according to the degree of exceeding the standards are divided into 4 degrees of harmfulness:

Harmful working conditions include the conditions in which metallurgists and miners work, working in conditions of increased air pollution, noise, vibration, unsatisfactory microclimate parameters, thermal radiation; traffic controllers on highways with heavy traffic, who are during the entire shift in conditions of high gas pollution and increased noise.

o 4th grade – dangerous (extreme) working conditions- are characterized by such levels of harmful production factors, the impact of which during the work shift and even part of it creates a threat to life, a high risk of severe forms of acute occupational diseases.

Dangerous (extreme) working conditions include the work of firefighters, mine rescuers, liquidators of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Hard and stressful work has an adverse effect on human health. So far, a person cannot refuse such activities, but as technological progress develops, it is necessary to strive to reduce the severity and intensity of labor by mechanizing and automating heavy physical work, transferring the functions of control, management, decision-making and performing stereotypical technological operations and movements to automatic machines and electronic computers. Labor activity of a person must be carried out in acceptable conditions of the production environment. However, when performing some technological processes, it is currently technically impossible or economically extremely difficult to ensure that the norms for a number of factors of the production environment are not exceeded. Work in hazardous conditions should be carried out with the use of personal protective equipment and with a reduction in the time of exposure to harmful production factors (time protection).

Work in dangerous (extreme) working conditions (4th class) is not allowed, except for the elimination of accidents, emergency work to prevent emergency situations. Work must be carried out with the use of personal protective equipment and with strict observance of the regimes regulated for such work.