Mental health of chemical workers: violation risk factors

Abstract

Aim. To study the structure of psychosocial maladjustment in chemical workers and assess the contribution of industrial and non-industrial risk factors in the formation of mental illness. Methods. It was analysed of hygienic assessment of the leading harmful production factors — chemical, physical, factors of severity and intensity of labor. During the periodic medical examination, the mental health status of 1,226 people was examined, with a focus on professional experience, mental hygiene aspects of production factors, as well as individual and personal characteristics of employees. Confidence intervals and standard errors estima­ting, the logistic regression models fitting were performed using R Statistical Software with significance level 0.05. Results. The working environment hazards in organic synthesis included chemical risk factor, continuous noise exceeding the permissible exposure limit, emotional stress and life-threatening conditions (fire and explosion hazards in the work). The general assessment of working conditions was performed using clauses 5.1–5.11 P 2.2.2006-05-harmful working conditions of the second-third degree (3.2–3.3). Working conditions at all stages of the manufacturing process of pyroxylin powders were assessed as harmful to the third-fourth degree (3.3–3.4), including the chemical factor, the severity and intensity of work, fire and explosion hazards in the work. It was revealed the dependence of the development of psychosocial maladjustment on non-work-related factors (such as the level of education, marital status), conditional work-related factors (level of material security). Also, the dependence of the structure of pre-existing mental health condition on the work-related and developmental characteristics (work experience) of labor in chemical production was found. Conclusion. Working conditions in the studied industries correspond to the 3rd harmful class, 2nd and 3rd degrees in the production of organic synthesis (3.2–3.3), while at the production of pyroxylic powders, it is close to dange­rous (3.3–3.4); the structure and risk of the developmental process of employee maladjustment are determined by the feature effect of workplace hazards.