ONE-OFF COMPENSATION TO FAMILY MEMBERS FOR AN ACCIDENT AT WORK OR OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE

A one-off for family members in the event of the death of an insured person as a result of an accident at work or occupational disease shall be of an insurance nature. It is granted in the event of the death of an insured person who was covered by accident insurance. The benefit is paid by ZUS on the basis of a decision. It is paid from the accident fund, where the premiums paid for accident insurance are collected. In addition, the amount of the premium depends on the degree of risk of accident. The conditions for one-off compensation and its amount were structured in a schematic manner, since it was not necessary to determine the nature and size of the damage. Such rules for determining one-off compensation lead to simplification and scheme for compensation for damage. These features of compensation mean that the damage can be repaired in a limited manner. Accident compensation does little to meet the characteristics of civil law compensation. The extent to which the compensatory function of compensating for damage is to be carried out will depend on the type of damage and its extent, as well as on whether family members will be entitled to other accident benefits.

Adapting the Form of the sanitary and hygienic characteristics of working conditions to the new Sanitary Law

Introduction. The current Form No. 362-1/y-2001 "The sanitary and hygienic characteristics for the working conditions of an employee having suspicion of an occupational disease (poisoning)" does not meet the requirements of Sanitary Law developed within the framework of the "regulatory guillotine". It complicates the investigation of occupational diseases and carrying out an objective examination of the connection between the disease and the profession. The study aims to analyze the Form for the sanitary and hygienic characteristics (SHC) of working conditions and substantiate proposals for its adaptation to the current regulatory legal acts to objectify the investigation of occupational diseases cases and the examination of the connection between the disease and the profession. Materials and methods. We carried out the expert-analytical study. We analyzed and compared data from Rospotrebnadzor (2001-2020) on occupational morbidity and Rosstat (2014-2020) on employment in harmful and (or) hazardous working conditions. We also studied the SHC (503) submitted for examination of the connection between disease and profession (including forensic medical examination). The structure of the Form for the completeness of the presentation of issues on various aspects of working conditions, the quality of the compilation and content of the SHS was determined in accordance with the current Sanitary Law. The authors evaluated the structure of the Form for the presentation of questions on various aspects of working conditions, determined the quality of the compilation and content of the SHC in accordance with the current Sanitary Law. Results. With a decrease in the number of newly registered cases of occupational diseases over 20 years by more than 3.7 times, the share of workers in harmful and(or) hazardous working conditions in the main types of economic activity decreased in 2020 relative to 2014 in 1,1 time (37.3%). A comparative assessment of the standardized indicators of harmful production factors specified in the SHC and the ones approved in SanPiN 1.2.3685-21 revealed their complete inconsistency. The results of in-depth analysis of 503 SGH allowed us to determine the most typical errors in assessing production factors at workplaces: incorrect assessment of standardized single-digit noise indicators (equivalent sound level A for an 8-hour working day), vibration (equivalent level corrected along the Z-, Y-, X-axes ); lack of data on dust load and the average value of air temperature - THC-index; assessment of the labour severity without considering the technological operations performed, etc. We noted the predominant assessment of working conditions by the main factor developing an occupational disease, without considering the accompanying risk factors that aggravate its effect. We also noted a significant underestimation of the levels when assessing the general transport, technological and technological vibration due to the differences between hygienic standards and the norms adopted in the Methodology for conducting a special assessment of working conditions. SCH contains no information on lighting, biological factor, labour intensity in 67.0-75.0% of cases. Conclusion. We substantiated proposals for improving Form No. 362-1/y-2001 of the SHC of working conditions, considering an electronic form of the document, revising the instructions for filling out the SHC.

Diagnosing occupational COVID-19 in Croatian healthcare workers

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can be diagnosed as occupational disease by an occupational health physician (OHP), if supported by relevant work-related and medical documentation. The aim of this study was to analyse such documentation submitted by Croatian healthcare workers (HCWs) and discuss its relevance in view of European and Croatian guidelines. The study included 100 Croatian HCWs who were SARS-CoV-2-positive and requested that their infection be diagnosed as occupational disease by their OHPs from 1 May 2020 to 10 March 2021. As participants they were asked to fill out our online Occupational COVID-19 in Healthcare Workers Questionnaire. For the purpose of this study we analysed answers about the type of close contact at the workplace, COVID-19 symptoms, and enclosed work-related (job description, employer statement about exposure to SARS-CoV-2) and medical documentation (positive SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction test and patient history confirming the diagnosis of COVID-19). Most participants were working in hospitals (N=95), mostly nurses (N=75), who became infected by a patient (N=68) or colleague (N=31), and had at least one COVID-19 symptom (N=87). Eighty participants did not enclose obligatory documents, 41 of whom failed to submit job description and 31 both job description and employer statement. These findings confirm that the major risk of occupational COVID-19 in HCWs is close contact with patients and colleagues, and points out the need for better cooperation between OHPs, occupational safety experts, employers, and diseased workers.

Malaria among Croatian seafarers between 2004 and 2014: evaluation of chemoprophylaxis use and occupational disease reporting

In Croatia, malaria was eradicated in 1964 and has since been imported, ten cases a year in average, mostly by Croatian migrant workers, seafarers in particular. About 80 % of registered cases were infected in Africa and the main reason for infection was negligence in the use of chemoprophylaxis. The aim of the study was to establish the incidence of malaria among Croatian seafarers from 2004 to 2014, how many of them took chemoprophylaxis properly, and whether malaria was acknowledged as occupational disease. To get our answers we analysed epidemiological surveys of the Croatian Institute of Public Health completed by patients and reviewed epidemiological bulletins and the national Register of Occupational Diseases. Over the investigated period, a total of 102 people fell ill with malaria, of whom 25 were seafarers. Seventeen did not take chemoprophylaxis at all and eight took them without following instructions. In addition, none of them had malaria recognised as occupational disease under Croatian law, nor is there any information that they exercised their rights in any other way. All this clearly points out that seafarers and their employers need to be informed much better about the benefits of preventive measures and their labour rights.

The main disadvantages of the sanitary and hygienic characteristics of working conditions which complicate the expertise of the relation between the disease and occupation

Introduction. Examining the disease’s connection with the occupation being the cornerstones in occupational health cannot be based on template solutions. When considering the aetiology of the disease, the entire document was the sanitary and hygienic characteristics of working conditions, the quality of which often determines the patient’s fate. Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of the sanitary and hygienic characteristics of 647 inpatient medical records from 2013 to 2020, aimed at examining the relationship of the disease with the occupation: 562 cards with an established diagnosis, 85 - with an unspecified final diagnosis of an occupational disease. The contingent of the surveyed: 98.0% - employees of various industries and enterprises of the Republic of Bashkortostan, 2.0% - residents of other regions of the country, as well as the republic working in the Far North on a shift basis. Results. When preparing the characteristics in 73.0% of cases, the employees of Federal Service for Supervision in Protection of the Rights of Consumer and Man Wellbeing were based only on the data of a special assessment of working conditions, in which there was no complete information about the working conditions of the employee, which often leads to the inability to establish an occupational disease to the patient. In 7.0% of cases, the values of harmful industrial factors in the presented characteristics were on the border with the hygienic standard, which, with significant work experience and the presence of clear signs of occupational disease in the patient, also puts expert doctors in a difficult position. The situation mentioned above may be the cause of a legal dispute on the part of the employee if he refuses to establish an occupational illness and the employer if the issue is resolved positively for the employee. The reasons for delaying the terms of the examination were the need to request additional documents in connection with the data provided in the characteristics on the nature of the influencing harmful factors, based only on literary sources. Non-compliance with the deadlines for submitting the attributes to the Center of Occupational Pathology was observed in almost 100.0 % of cases. In 75.0% of cases, employees signed it without receiving explanations of quantitative and qualitative indicators. Conclusion. There is an urgent need to review the methodological approaches to compiling sanitary and hygienic characteristics of working conditions, develop an algorithm for its preparation, and the level of responsibility of all stakeholders for the quality of the document.

On occupational diseases in medical workers in the Republic of Bashkortostan

Introduction. The work of medical workers belongs to the most complex, responsible types of human activity. It is associated with the impact of a complex of adverse factors: chemical, biological, physical, the severity and intensity of labour. Due to the high occupational risk, the problem of the formation and preservation of the health of medical workers is urgent. The aim of the work is to determine the dynamic characteristics of occupational morbidity and its structure among medical workers of the Republic of Bashkortostan for 2013-2020. Materials and methods. The occupational morbidity rate among medical workers during 2013-2020 was studied with the materials of the professional centre of the Republic: a notification on the establishment of a final diagnosis of chronic occupational disease and a consolidated annual report on the activities of central occupational pathology. Statistical processing of the results was carried out using the «Statistika 8» application software package. Results. The average annual incidence of occupational morbidity is 0.92±0.12 cases per 10 thousand health workers. They occupied an average of 7.0% of all occupational diseases established over the years in the Republic. The incidence rate tends to decrease. Among occupational patients of health workers, 73.9% are nurses, 15.3% are healthcare staff, 10.8% are doctors. Allergic diseases dominate the nosological structure of occupational diseases. They make up 63.3% of the total pathology, half of which is in bronchial asthma. Discussion. In medical workers, infection occurs through direct contact with a sick patient or biological material. Allergic responses occur to the presence of drugs and disinfectants. Occupational disease tuberculosis was diagnosed at the age of 43.3±6.4 years and experience of 16.6 years; hepatitis at the age of 38.2 years and experience 15.0 years; bronchial asthma - at the age of 49.4 years and an experience of 26.4 years; allergic reactions - at the age of 47.6±6.3 years and the experience of 25.8±3.7 years. Conclusion. There were identified features in incidence and its structure among doctors and paramedical workers. The basis of the concept of prevention of occupational diseases among health workers should be a system of primary prevention measures to reduce the impact of adverse factors of the working environment and the labour process, maintaining occupational and general health.

Determination of Occupational Disease in Worker with Liver Cirrhosis That Exposed by Vinyl Chloride Superimposed with Hepatitis B Infection

Background: Liver cirrhosis is the final pathological result of various chronic liver diseases that characterized by the formation of regenerative nodules and fibrotic tissue. The etiology of liver cirrhosis are hepatitis C, hepatitis B, alcohol, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and can also be caused by chemicals in the workplace. The occupational diagnosis of Liver Cirrhosis that exposed by vinyl chloride superimposed with hepatitis B infection with was performed by using The Seven Steps of Occupational Diagnosis, a method that issued by PERDOKI (Indonesian Occupational Medicine Association-IOMA). The aim of this case report is to determine whether liver cirrhosis in this patient is an occupational disease or not.Case Presentation: Fifty years old man came to Emergency Room with complaints of vomiting black blood since 4 hours. Vomiting blood as much as 5 times with a volume of about 200 cc each time. One day before, patient admitted that his defecation is black, watery, and smell bloody. Volume of defecation was unknown. Three months before, patient complainted that the stomach often felt bloated, enlarged, and got full quickly. There was no icteric in eyes and body.This complaints (vomiting black blood and black stools) were often occured since 2017. In 2017, 2018 and 2020, this patient was hospitalized once while in 2019, the patient was hospitalized twice for this complaint. In 2017, when the complaint first appeared, the patient was declared to have hepatitis B and in 2019, the patient underwent an endoscopy and was said to have enlarged blood vessels in the esophagus, and an abdominal ultrasound was performed and was said to be suspected of liver cirrhosis.This patient works as a family owned chemical industry. The chemical produced is called zamitex, a mixture for paints. These chemicals contain formaldehyde, Vinyl Chloride, and CMC (Carboxymethyl Cellulose). This patient had worked in this field for 21 years, and was exposed to these chemicals. In addition, there are also dangers of heat, awkward positions, and psychosocial.Conclusion: Based on The Seven Steps of Occupational Diagnosis, Liver cirrhosis in this patient can be categorized as an occupational disease superimposed with hepatitis B infection. Liver cirrhosis in this patient can be caused by prolonged exposure to Vinyl Chloride. Vinyl Chloride is known to cause damage to the liver, especially to cause carcinoma of the liver. There is a synergistic effect between exposure to Vinyl Chloride and hepatitis B infection, exacerbating the condition of liver damage. However, because the exposure to Vinyl Chloride has been going on for a longer time, compared to hepatitis B infection, the condition of liver cirrhosis in this patient is still categorized as an occupational disease.

Uterine fold as an occupational disease in the textile industry

If we find a fairly large amount of material from both Russian and foreign authors on the influence of the profession on the female body in general, then there is still little evidence of the influence of work on the female genital area. Such an important department has not yet been sufficiently developed, meanwhile, the importance of studying this issue becomes clear if we recall at least the purpose of the sexual sphere of women to serve to maintain the human race.

Artificial stone silicosis: Accumulation of errors in the resurgence of an occupational disease: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Exposure to artificial stone machining, under the conditions in which marble workers work with this new product, can cause silicosis. OBJECTIVE: To examine the experiences of marble workers affected, both in workshop and during home installation of countertops, before diagnosis of silicosis. METHODS: Qualitative study in which 10 open-ended semistructured interviews were conducted with marble workers diagnosed with silicosis after machining artificial stone countertops in Cádiz, Spain. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded using a directed content analysis. Codes were organized into themes. RESULTS: Interviews up to 120 minutes and transcript analysis revealed three themes: 1) Heavy exposure for piecework: construction boom in an environment of labor deregulation and high demand for the novel product; 2) Poor working conditions: dry machining of artificial stone without proper protection in the workshop and greater exposure during home installation of countertops; 3) Concatenated legal transgressions: deficiencies in prevention and health surveillance without safety conditions for the correct handling of artificial stone. CONCLUSIONS: The fight against an emerging occupational disease—artificial stone silicosis—should focus on detecting affected workers and avoiding new cases, forcing joint efforts to achieve rigorous compliance with health surveillance and protecting marble workers to achieve healthy and safeworkplaces.