OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES

Occupational diseases continue to be one of the major health problems of the able-bodied population worldwide. The reasons for this are numerous, but the main one is of course the nature of these diseases which by definition are chronic, progressive and degenerative, and the period of latency in which the disease does not have to manifest clinically can last for decades. The factors that can contribute to the development of an occupational disease, ie disease, are numerous and range from chemical, physical and biological to psychosocial risks, so there is a need to find new ways to control long-known risks, to observations of the most common workplace pathologies in the last twenty years, such as recurrent traumatic illnesses, immunodeficiency transmitted as a result of biological injuries and violence, and psychological trauma in the workplace. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of noise as a function of its levels and the duration of workplace exposure on workers' health. This study was conducted with 10 workers from the metal factory "Zhelezara", Skopj which have been exposed to the noise the longest period. According to the results of the research, it can be noted that workers working in a noisy environment experience certain side effects from the noise, although they use different protective equipment for the entire duration of the working time. New knowledge in occupational health and safety practice is needed to respond to new challenges in this field.