Sanitary and epidemiological welfare in divers

Introduction. The issues of sanitary and epidemiological welfare in workers when performing diving operations require close attention from the state, are part of the structure of the Concept of development of diving in Russia, and are relevant to society. To date, there are several problems not only in hygienic rationing, but also in the medical provision of diving operations.

The purpose of the study is to study working conditions and subjective assessment of the health status of employees when performing diving operations, to develop proposals for improving legislation.

Materials and methods. The analysis of normative legal acts and scientific literature on the protection of the health and labor of divers is carried out. A survey of fifty diving workers was carried out.

Results. The main problems in the management of diving operations have been identified: in 15% of organizations there is no production control program, in 49% of organizations there is no therapeutic and preventive nutrition. There is no medical worker at the site of diving descents, if signs of decompression sickness or lung barotrauma are detected, therapeutic recompression is carried out in 46% of cases before the arrival of a diving doctor (paramedic) on their own. During the descents, 30% of respondents experienced fatigue, tiredness, headache, while all of them underwent mandatory medical examinations in private healthcare institutions; 18% of respondents indicated symptoms of hypothermia. At the same time, more than 60% of respondents were revealed to be subject to occupational burnout.

Limitation of the study is the lack of data on the results of preliminary and periodic medical examinations of respondents.

Conclusion. At the present stage, the system of ensuring sanitary and epidemiological welfare during diving operations requires improvement both in terms of state rationing, accounting and control, and compliance with health-saving preventive measures by employers and employees. In particular, attention should be paid to the direction of studying the development of occupational burnout in divers and to elaborate the system of prevention.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study was conducted in compliance with ethical standards. This study did not require the conclusion of the ethics committee. The survey was voluntary and depersonalized.

Contribution:
Voronkova S.V. — research concept and design, data processing, text writing, editing;
Avdienko G.Yu. — research design, data processing, text writing, editing;
Verveda A.B. — data processing, editing;
Lyovkina Y.V. — literature review, editing;
Logunov K.V. — collecting material, editing.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgement. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: July 5, 2024 / Accepted: October 02, 2024 / Published: November 19, 2024