Current Issues of Occupational Health of the Motor Transport Division of a Mining and Processing Plant

The relevance of the study is conditioned by the unavailability of information on the working conditions of drivers of motor vehicles at contemporary ore mining enterprises. The study aims to examine the working conditions of drivers of motor vehicles of a mining and processing plant, considering the nature and specifics of their production work. The hygienic examination of the assessment of working conditions is carried out at workplaces of the motor transport division that is part of a mining and processing plant for the production of copper and zinc concentrates with a workforce exceeding 5 thousand employees. The working conditions of drivers of heavy-duty vehicles and mining and loading equipment during the service period not exceeding 10 years have been assessed. The professions of drivers of cars, excavators, bulldozers, and tractors represent employees. The results of the study helped to prioritize the production risk factors for health disorders of employees engaged in motor vehicle driving during transportation and unloading of ore material, dump formation, and road maintenance. The leading harmful production factors for this category of employees are the vibroacoustic factor in the form of the production noise and vibration (local, general) and the severity and intensity of work. Considering all harmful production factors in total, the working conditions of drivers of heavy-duty vehicles engaged in ore transportation from underground sectors and quarries, drivers of excavators, bulldozers, and tractors engaged in loading and unloading of ore material and overburden, organization of dumps, are rated as сlass 3 of the 2nd degree of harmfulness (class 3.2). According to the results of the studies, a set of measures to reduce the risk of the impact of production factors on the employee’s body must be developed. The set of measures and organizational, sanitary hygienic, and medical measures must include the psychophysiological selection of candidates for admission to work associated with the operation of heavy-duty vehicles and mining and loading equipment in the conditions of a mining and processing plant.