[An occupational physiology study at the Asarel Mining and Milling Works. The evaluation of the work load in the basic jobs in an open-pit mine].

This occupational physiology study was undertaken within a wider applied-research framework designed to evaluate the occupational environment and its impact on workers at "Asarel" Mining and Milling Works. Analysis of activities showed physical effort (dynamic and static) to be the major problem at the open pit, though varying in extent between jobs (most prominent for blasters and bulldozerists). Nervous/emotional strain, while not leading, was sustained mostly by diggers and blasters, followed by drivers. Organization of work (shift regimen, no regulated breaks, stepwise schedule of days off work) was hardly appropriate and did not allow for recovery. Interviewed workers qualified working conditions as extremely unfavorable; they disapproved with the physical factors of the occupational environment, the workplace, the state of machines and devices, and remuneration for work performed. Exertion from work, assessed by pulse rate and energy expended, was moderate for most activities of diggers, drivers, and drillers. The burden of physical effort was great for blasters at the open pit and for diggers and drillers performing extra repair operations (pulse rate, 100-110 strokes/min; energy expended, 5.2-5.5 Kcal/min). Hardest and least attractive was the work of blasters at stores for explosive materials (pulse rate, 120-141 strokes/min; energy expended, 5.5-6.5 Kcal/min). These adverse factors of labor activities might produce a negative impact on worker health and performance, leading to occupational impairment of their musculoskeletal system, to labor-related disorders of their cardiovascular and nervous systems, etc. Preventive measures are thus necessary to limit physical exertion, optimize the work-and-rest regimen; also, there is a need for conducting pertinent preventive medical examinations, providing social measures (conditions for transportation, rest, nutrition, sports), etc.