THE USE OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT IS A SOCIO–ECONOMIC FACTOR IN THE SUSTAINABILITY OF MINING WORKERS

The article presents the results of research on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by mining workers, which are an important element of the system of preventive measures aimed at ensuring safe working conditions. Despite the apparent simplicity of the choice of PPE, the issues of high-quality protection of miners and concentrators from harmful environmental factors require a thorough scientific and preventive study of all aspects of the problem, including economic and social aspects. This article highlights the issues of respiratory protection for workers as one of the main factors in the structure of occupational diseases. At the same time, diseases caused by exposure to gas and dust components of the industrial atmosphere currently occupy the second place in the structure of occupational morbidity, and the vast majority of diseases and poisoning are chronic forms associated with the systematic intake of toxic substances in small quantities. The presented article proves that failure to take into account the economic and social costs of non-compliance with measures to protect workers' health, in particular, respiratory protection of workers, leads to the loss of skilled labor, loss to competitors, a decrease in gross national and regional product, etc. Thus, ensuring the working capacity of industrial workers and ensuring comfortable working conditions are fundamental elements of the sustainable development of the mining industry. In mines, the main danger is represented by suspensions of dust, toxic and carbon monoxide gases, toxic fumes and small abrasive particles that affect the respiratory organs of underground workers and workers of processing plants. The highest occupational risks are typical for employees of coal mining enterprises, which is associated with the polluted industrial atmosphere, fires that often occur, non-compliance with the requirements for safe operation of diesel-hydraulic locomotives in confined spaces of mining operations, and excessively high concentrations of fibrogenic aerosols. These factors are the main ones in identifying the characteristics of socio-economic sustainability of mining enterprises.