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What are the harmful factors? What is a harmful production factor? Classification and listing

Preparing plants for winter

For example, around an ordinary office worker, the following levels are increased:

  • electromagnetic, X-ray, ultraviolet and infrared radiation;
  • the content of positive air ions in the air of the working area (and, by the way, the content of negative air ions is simultaneously reduced);
  • direct and reflected glitter;
  • pulsation of the luminous flux, etc.

We are not even talking about the increased content of carbon dioxide, ozone, ammonia, phenol, formaldehyde and polychlorinated biphenyls in the air. In general, at work, everyone is subject to the influence of certain adverse influences.

What are production factors

This is clearly and understandably set out in Article 209 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which defines and distinguishes two types of effects on the employee's body:

  1. harmful;
  2. dangerous.

Harmful impact can lead to illness, for example, lack or lack of natural illumination of the workplace over time will result in complete or partial loss of vision.

Dangerous exposure can cause injury, for example, moving parts of a hydraulic breaker can easily leave a worker without hands, which in turn can lead to death.

In fact, both types of influences are dangerous, only in the first the effect of danger is delayed in time, and in the second it occurs immediately (this is like smoking, it affects every day, but as a result, oncology and death are possible).

Classification

The main hazardous and harmful production factors are classified into groups:

  • physical;
  • chemical;
  • biological;
  • psychophysiological.

At the same time, this classification is rather arbitrary, because the same main hazardous or harmful factor, by the nature of its impact, can belong simultaneously to different groups. For example, slaughtering cattle can expose a person to all threatening factors at once.

The classification is set out in GOST 12.0.003-74 SSBT and approved by the Resolution of the State Committee of Standards of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 2551 dated 11/18/1974 (of course, with additions and changes that are relevant at the present time).

Each industry and type of work has its own adverse types of impacts, for example:

  • for a pharmacy worker - an increased level of toxic products, poisonous and potent substances in the air, as well as the likelihood of contracting an infectious disease;
  • for a concrete mixer - an increased level of vibration and moving parts of mechanisms;
  • the driver of a cement or other bulk cargo loader will experience increased physical exertion, etc.

At the same time, the hazardous factor of electric shock can be the same for these professions and jobs.

Identification of factors

The procedure for identifying and determining potentially harmful and hazardous production factors is determined by Federal Law No. 426-FZ of December 28, 2013, namely Article 10, which says that these factors are identified by experts from organizations that conduct a special assessment of working conditions.

The employer organizes a special assessment of working conditions, or SOUT, who also forms and heads the commission.

Identification of potentially harmful and dangerous factors is not carried out in relation to workplaces:

  • included in the existing lists of jobs and professions for which the early appointment of an old-age pension is carried out;
  • by occupying which, employees are immediately provided with appropriate guarantees, benefits and compensation;
  • in which harmful or dangerous working conditions have already been established.

Also, SOUT is not carried out in relation to working conditions:

  • homeworkers;
  • teleworkers;
  • employees whose employer is an individual and is not an individual entrepreneur.

All other jobs must be examined and evaluated.

Accordingly, during the assessment, harmful and hazardous effects will be identified, which should be included in the instructions for workers on labor protection as potentially hazardous.

Therefore, if your SOUT was not carried out, but you are interested in what, purely hypothetically, harmful effects affect your body at work and at home, open the appropriate instruction on labor protection, for example:

  • when working with household appliances or electronic equipment;
  • pharmacist;
  • locksmith;
  • the driver of the concrete mixer;
  • excavator driver, etc.

Why identification is carried out

The search and identification of adverse industrial impacts on the human body must be carried out by the employer by virtue of the law. However, fixing the harmful effect is not an independent goal, it is necessary due to the employer's obligation to ensure the life and health of his employees. Therefore, after the harmful factors are identified, the employer needs to take measures to protect the life and health of his staff.

This set of activities includes many activities:

  • purchase and distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE);
  • development of regulations on labor protection and industrial safety;
  • training workers in safe working conditions, etc.

It is wrong to say that one of these directions is basic. However, all these measures are of an ascertaining and stopping nature, that is, measures are taken to the already existing conditions, in order to minimize their consequences.

But for the employer, preventive measures are much more important, including to prevent the development of occupational diseases of his employees.

To this end, the law provides for a number of measures related to the passage of preliminary and periodic medical examinations. The procedure for passing medical examinations was approved by order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development dated 12.04.2011 No. 302n (registered with the Ministry of Justice on 21.10.2011 No. 22111).

In the annexes to Order 302n, harmful and hazardous production factors and the frequency of medical examinations when exposed to workers are indicated.

Give your opinion on the article or ask the experts a question to get an answer

Which is carried out in a space called the production environment.

In the production environment, they objectively form, negatively affecting a person in the process of his life

Harmful production factor- production factor, the impact of which on the employee can lead to his illness (unfavorable microclimate, high level, poor lighting, unfavorable air ionic composition of the air).

Hazardous production factor- production factor, the impact of which on the employee can lead to his injury (height, fire, electric current, moving objects, explosion).

Harmful and dangerous factors are divided into physical, chemical, biological and psychophysiological.

Physical factors- moving machines and mechanisms, increased levels of noise and vibration, electromagnetic and ionizing radiation, insufficient illumination, increased levels of static electricity, increased voltage in the electrical circuit, etc.

Chemical factors- substances and compounds that differ in their state of aggregation and have toxic, irritating, carcinogenic and mutagenic effects on the human body and affect its reproductive function.

Biological factors- pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, rickettsia, spirochetes) and their waste products, as well as animals and plants.

Psychophysiological factors- factors of the labor process. These include physical (static and dynamic overload) and neuropsychic overload (mental overstrain, overstrain of analyzers, monotony of work, emotional overload).

Harmful production factors can lead to a decrease in working capacity and occupational diseases, hazardous factors - to industrial injuries and accidents at work.

Ensuring labor protection- the basis of highly productive and creative activity of employees of enterprises of various forms of ownership. Labor protection problems are of a multifaceted and multifaceted nature, affecting many aspects of the life and activities of labor collectives, the organization of production and labor, the organization of production management, etc.

In order to ensure compliance with labor protection requirements, monitor their implementation for each employer carrying out production activities, the number of employees of which exceeds 50 people, a labor protection service is created or the position of a labor protection specialist with appropriate training or experience in this area is introduced.

An employer, the number of employees of which does not exceed 50 people, makes a decision on the creation of a labor protection service or the introduction of the position of a labor protection specialist, taking into account the specifics of his production activities.

If the employer does not have a labor protection service, a full-time labor protection specialist, their functions are performed by the employer - an individual entrepreneur (personally), the head of an organization, another employee authorized by the employer, or an organization or specialist providing labor protection services attracted by the employer under a civil law contract ... Organizations providing services in the field of labor protection are subject to mandatory accreditation. The list of services for the provision of which accreditation is required, and the rules for accreditation are established by the federal executive body responsible for the development of state policy and legal regulation in the field of labor.

The structure of the labor protection service in the organization and the number of employees of the labor protection service are determined by the employer, taking into account the recommendations of the federal executive body in charge of legal regulation in the field of labor.

Occupational Safety and Health

Occupational Safety and Health- a system for preserving the life and health of workers in the process of work, which includes legal, socio-economic, organizational and technical, sanitary and hygienic, treatment and prophylactic, rehabilitation and other measures.

Legal measures- consists in creating a system of legal norms that establish standards for safe and healthy working conditions and legal means to ensure their observance, i.e. protected by the state under pain of sanctions. This system of legal norms is based on and includes: federal laws, laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, by-laws of the executive authorities of the Russian Federation and constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as well as local regulations adopted at specific enterprises and organizations.

Socio-economic activities include: measures of state incentives for employers to improve the level of labor protection; the establishment of compensations and benefits when performing heavy work, as well as for work in harmful and hazardous working conditions; protection of certain, least socially protected categories of workers; compulsory social insurance and payment of compensation in case of occupational diseases and occupational injuries, etc.

Organizational and technical measures are in the organization of services and commissions for labor protection at enterprises and organizations in order to plan work on labor protection, as well as to ensure control over compliance with labor protection rules; organizing training for managers and staff; informing employees about the presence (absence) of harmful and dangerous factors; certification of workplaces, as well as in order to eliminate or reduce the impact of negative factors, taking measures to introduce new safe technologies, use safe machines, mechanisms and materials; improving labor discipline and technological discipline, etc.

Sanitary and hygienic measures consist in carrying out work aimed at reducing industrial hazards in order to prevent occupational diseases.

Treatment-and-prophylactic measures include the organization of primary and periodic medical examinations, the organization of therapeutic and prophylactic nutrition, etc.

Rehabilitation measures imply the obligation of the administration (employer) to transfer the employee to an easier job in accordance with medical indicators, etc.

The purpose of labor protection- to minimize the likelihood of injury or illness of working personnel at maximum labor productivity.

Working conditions- a set of factors of the working environment and the labor process that affect the performance and health of a person.

Safe working conditions- working conditions under which exposure to harmful and (or) hazardous production factors is excluded or the levels of their exposure do not exceed the established standards.

The focus of legal regulation of labor protection is determined by Art. 37 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which establishes that everyone has the right to work in conditions that meet the requirements of safety and hygiene.

In order to improve the legal framework on labor protection, on December 30, 2001, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation was adopted (as amended on June 30, 2006).

According to Art. 212, dedicated to the employer's obligations to ensure safe working conditions and labor protection, the employer is obliged to ensure:
  • complying with labor protection requirements;
  • training in safe methods and techniques for performing work on labor protection, instruction on labor protection;
  • certification of workplaces for working conditions with subsequent certification of the organization of work on labor protection;
  • informing employees about working conditions and labor protection at workplaces, about the risk of damage to health and compensation and personal protective equipment due to them;
  • investigation and registration of industrial accidents and occupational diseases;
  • compulsory social insurance of employees against industrial accidents and occupational diseases;
  • familiarization of employees with labor protection requirements, etc.

In specifies the employee's rights to work in conditions that meet the requirements of labor protection (Art. 219), as well as the employee's obligations in the field of labor protection (Art. 214).

In case of violation of labor protection, the Labor Code provides for liability: disciplinary (reprimand, reprimand, dismissal); administrative (a fine from 5 to 50 minimum wages, for a repeated violation, disqualification through the courts); criminal (a fine from 200 to 500 minimum wages, or correctional labor up to 2 years, or imprisonment for two years, in the event of the death of an employee, imprisonment for up to 5 years).

In accordance with the Decree of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development of Russia "On the certification of workplaces for working conditions" dated March 14, 1997 No. 12, all enterprises, regardless of their form of ownership, are obliged to carry out certification of workplaces for working conditions.

Currently, the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation implements state policy and legal regulation in the field of working conditions and labor protection. A program for attestation of workplaces in terms of working conditions for 2005-2008 has been developed, which is designed to assess the working conditions of each employee and take timely measures to eliminate the identified inconsistencies with the requirements of the regulatory legal framework for labor protection.

Certification of workplaces for working conditions- assessment of working conditions at workplaces in order to identify harmful and (or) hazardous production factors and take measures to bring working conditions in line with state regulatory requirements for labor protection.

All workplaces available in the organization are subject to certification for working conditions; certification is carried out at least once every 5 years. Workplaces are subject to compulsory re-certification after replacement of production equipment, changes in the technological process, as well as at the request of the certification bodies of working conditions of the Russian Federation, which revealed violations during the certification of workplaces for working conditions.

Based on the results of certification, an action plan is developed to improve and improve working conditions in the organization. After certification of workplaces for working conditions, it is envisaged to carry out certification of labor protection work with the issuance of a safety certificate (SSOT) for five years, which is carried out in accordance with the decree of the Ministry of Labor of Russia "On the creation of a certification system for labor protection in organizations" dated April 24, 2002 G.

Certificate of conformity of the organization of work on labor protection- a document certifying the compliance of the work carried out by the employer on labor protection with state regulatory requirements for labor protection.

The results of certification of workplaces and certification of labor protection work directly affect the protection of the employee's rights to safe working conditions and compensation for work in harmful and difficult working conditions. In Art. 146 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation establishes that workers engaged in heavy work, work with harmful, hazardous and other special working conditions are produced at an increased rate. The mechanism for establishing discounts and premiums to insurance rates for compulsory social insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases is also directly dependent on the certification of workplaces for working conditions. A prerequisite for calculating the amount of the discount to the insurance rate is the employer's certification of working conditions for at least 30% of workplaces.

Workers in the production sector are affected by many factors, among which there may be harmful ones. It is necessary to know the principles of their action and methods of protection. A hazardous production factor is considered one of the negative ones, since it has a detrimental effect on humans and production. It can be an injury or the appearance of a disease. Often, the production factor becomes the reason for the loss of working capacity of people.

There are regulatory documents according to which work must be carried out at the facility. A hazardous production factor is classified on the basis of GOST, so it can be physical, chemical, biological, psychophysiological. Each of them has its own characteristics.

The production factor of labor is the elements of the labor process that affect human health and the quality of work. It can be both neutral and dangerous.

Physiological factors

This group includes:

  • working machines, mechanisms, equipment;
  • accumulation of large amounts of dust and gases;
  • high or low temperature of the equipment;
  • pressure drops in the working part of the equipment;
  • high or low humidity;
  • air ionization;
  • ionizing radiation;
  • high voltage in the power grid;
  • increased static electricity.

Other types of factors

Chemical production factor is toxic, irritant, carcinogenic, mutagenic. They have an effect on reproductive function. The biological production factor is presented in the form of microorganisms and their metabolic products.

There are also psychophysiological factors. These can be physical and neuropsychic overload. After the shift, workers feel mental, emotional overstrain, which adversely affects the human condition.

Labor standards

Harmful and dangerous factors are interconnected. They both injure the person. For example, high room humidity and a lot of dust lead to risks. Occupational exposure levels are specified in occupational safety standards.

There are acceptable values ​​of production factors that can be influenced during a work shift. If these standards are met, then performance is not lost. A person is not afraid of various ailments.

Hygienic practices involve compliance with the levels of harmful factors that can affect workers in their daily activities. Their observance does not cause illness or deterioration in health. Compliance with standards is important in production, which is not harmful to humans.

Factor levels

Every enterprise has a dangerous production factor. The definition of this concept is similar everywhere, since the term means a negative impact on a person and the process of work. There are 4 classes according to the level of danger:

  • acceptable: they may have some deviations, but after rest, the person recovers;
  • harmful: when there are deviations from any standards in production;
  • dangerous: pose a threat to human life and health.

Since every enterprise has a hazardous production factor, examples of this phenomenon may be different. Workers are exposed to hazardous equipment if they do not follow any safety precautions. For example, factories have powerful equipment that causes various injuries. After that, you have to recover for a long time. Working in chemical plants is also dangerous for people, since it can lead to various ailments.

Medical examinations reveal a decrease in performance, hearing impairment. The constant presence of a person at a source of adverse effects leads to an occupational disease. Most often, accidents occur due to physical factors, as well as from electric current.

electrical safety

A hazardous production factor is characterized by the following concept - electrical safety. Electric current is a latent hazard as it is difficult to detect in different areas of the equipment. The most dangerous indicator is considered to be above 0.05A, and the safest one is up to 0.05A. To prevent injury, work with current should only be performed by a specialist.

On the basis of the rules, the wiring must be monitored at all times in the office space. Specialists must monitor the operation of the safety panels, which serve to turn on the electrical networks of the devices.

Electrical installations from which the computer operates are very dangerous for humans, since during operation or prevention, you can touch areas under voltage. These include live conductors, rack cases, since they do not emit signals about the risk of electric shock. The reaction occurs only when it flows through the body. To prevent electrical injuries, it is necessary to properly perform maintenance, repair and prevention of devices.

For each room, its own protection methods should be used to ensure high-quality electrical safety. Gas ionization is another means of preventing electrical injury. In the industrial sphere, radioactive nitralizers are actively used. Humidification of the air is a common measure.

Fire protection

There is another production factor, the impact of which on the employee has a negative impact. It is fire hazard. In the working environment, it is important to follow the rules for the prevention and elimination of hazardous situations. This will prevent casualties among people and save material values.

Fire safety is carried out using a prevention and protection system. Each office must have an "Evacuation Plan" that sets out the rules of conduct in the event of a fire.

Obligations of the employer

Any production factor should be as safe as possible for workers. According to the law, the obligation to provide comfortable conditions for employees falls on the employer. He must:

  • create labor protection rules;
  • monitor security;
  • train employees;
  • carry out certification of workplaces;
  • inform about the means of protection;
  • investigate accidents;
  • insure employees.

The Labor Code establishes the rights of employees to work in a safe environment. Employees must not violate these rules, otherwise disciplinary, administrative, and criminal liability is envisaged.

All enterprises must carry out certification of workplaces for compliance with working conditions. Today, state policy in this area is carried out by the Ministry of Health and Social Development.

Attestation

Certification is carried out to identify any production factor of labor. This procedure is performed at least once every 5 years. The work must be performed after replacing equipment, changing the technological process, as well as at the request of certification bodies.

After this procedure, an action plan is created to improve the working conditions of the enterprise. A certificate is issued that is valid for 5 years, after which a new verification will be required.

Features of the certificate

The document confirms the compliance of the labor protection activities performed by the employer with generally accepted requirements. The results affect the protection of workers' rights and compliance with the rules. If the activity is carried out in difficult conditions, then compensation is due.

Certification affects the establishment of premiums for insurance premiums and discounts from and diseases. If this work is carried out at the enterprise, then any claims from the regulatory authorities will not follow.

Protective measures

Any production must operate in accordance with the norms and safety rules. All those responsible for compliance are involved in resolving these issues. Means of protection are individual and collective.

In production, special clothing is used to prevent injury to a person. It is necessary to use protective equipment for hands, feet, eyes. For high-altitude work, belts with a safety chain are used. Dielectric means are used to protect against electric current. Collective methods of protection are safety signs, posters, warning coloring.

Machine tools must have a safety guard. Boxes, chambers, niches, wells, safes are used against ionizing radiation. Noise reduction is created by sound absorption.

To protect against vibration, special equipment is used, installed on the foundations. So that ultrasound does not interfere in production, it is necessary to reduce the harmful radiation of sound energy in the source. For this, sound insulating housings, semi-housings, screens, and room cladding are used.

The safety of using electrical equipment is achieved through the use of various technical methods. For this, protective equipment, alarms, blocking, safe signs are used. In case of accidents, protective earthing and breakdown fuses must be prepared.

Enterprise income

The production factor of labor provides its owner with income in the form of:

  • rent - income received from the use of land, property, capital;
  • wages;
  • percent;
  • entrepreneurial activity;
  • from intellectual property.

Based on the results of the activity, the owners of production receive income in monetary form, which is called nominal. After the tax is calculated by the state, it becomes clean. When analyzing income, they affect:

  • gross - proceeds from product sales;
  • average - is determined per unit of products sold;
  • marginal - the increment in gross income from the sale of additional goods.

Economic values ​​flowing from one participant to another are called transfer payments. They are social (payments from the budget) and inter-family (transfer of income from one family to another).

The work of the enterprise must be registered, as this is a guarantee of legal activity. In this case, the owner pays taxes. During the inspection by the regulatory authorities, the documentation is reviewed, including on accounting activities. The personal income of the owner of the enterprise is presented in monetary form from various resources, transfer payments, personal economy.

Production factors are always present in enterprises. Although there are a large number of negative ones among them, they will be minimized if safety rules are observed.

Harmful and dangerous factors

Speaking about the dangers to human life and health, it is necessary to introduce two concepts - a harmful factor and a dangerous factor.


A harmful factor is the effect on the human body, which can cause a temporary or permanent deterioration in well-being, lead to illness, impairment of the health of the offspring.


An environmental factor is considered dangerous, which, with a single short-term exposure, can lead to injury or death.


Harmful and dangerous factors act not only in production. The entire population, regardless of occupation, is currently exposed to their unfavorable influence. In the Russian Federation, 1000 people die every day from various reasons.


By the nature of origin, harmful and dangerous factors are classified into 5 groups:

1. Physical factors

This is the most numerous group of negative impacts that are widespread in the industry.


This group includes the following factors:
A) Mechanical, which got their name due to the fact that they cause mechanical injuries in a person (bruises, fractures, cuts, etc.). Sources of mechanical stress are moving objects, mechanisms, as well as height. The latter is one of the mechanical factors because when a person falls, injury also develops. In our country, 100 people die every day in road accidents. Every year around the world 100 million people are seriously injured in the workplace, of which 250 thousand die.
B) Thermal (high and low surface temperature, fire). Sources of thermal effects are widespread both in production and in everyday life. Burns are the result of their exposure.
B) Abnormal microclimate. The concept of "microclimate" includes a number of indicators: temperature, humidity, air mobility, and atmospheric pressure. If the values ​​of any of them deviate from the optimal value, the microclimate is considered abnormal, that is, harmful.


So, with an increase in air temperature, heat transfer to the external environment decreases, and the temperature of internal organs rises. Researchers have found that at an air temperature of more than 30 ° C, a person's work capacity begins to fall. Prolonged exposure to high temperatures can lead to significant heat build-up in the body and overheating of the body. The maximum temperature of the inhaled air at which a person is able to breathe for several minutes without special protective equipment is about 116 ° C. Low temperature, on the contrary, can cause cooling and even hypothermia of the body.


Human tolerance to temperature, like his perception of heat, largely depends on the humidity and speed of the surrounding air. The higher the relative humidity, the slower sweat evaporates in high temperature conditions and the faster the body overheats. In cold climates, high humidity contributes to the development of cold injuries. Insufficient air humidity can also be unfavorable for humans. It causes intense evaporation of moisture from the mucous membranes, their drying out and cracking, and then contamination with pathogens.


Atmospheric pressure has a significant impact on the breathing process and human well-being. A person is exposed to the effect of low atmospheric pressure when climbing the mountains. At the same time, blood oxygen saturation decreases to such an extent that it causes disruption of the activity of the heart and lungs, the development of hypoxia and even death.


Increased pressure acts on a person, for example, when working under water. Excessive air pressure leads to an increase in the partial pressure of oxygen in the alveolar air, to a decrease in lung volume and an increase in the strength of the respiratory muscles necessary for the production of inhalation-exhalation. In addition, there is a decrease in respiration rate and pulse rate. Prolonged exposure to excess pressure leads to the toxic effect of some gases that make up the inhaled air. It manifests itself in impaired coordination of movements, excitement or depression, hallucinations, impaired memory, visual and hearing impairment.


D) Acoustic influences, including noise, ultrasound and infrasound. Noise is any sound in the audible range (16-20,000 Hz) perceived by a person as unpleasant or painful. The harmful effect of noise is manifested in a decrease in hearing acuity, disruption of the activity of the cardiovascular and nervous systems.


Infrasound is sound vibrations with a frequency of less than 16 Hz. The human ear does not perceive such sounds, however, they have an effect on the body, since the internal organs of a person also vibrate in the cavities of the body with a certain frequency, sometimes coinciding with the frequency of external infrasonic vibrations. As a result of this, the phenomenon of resonance arises - an increase in the amplitude (that is, the range) of vibrations of internal organs, felt by a person in the form of nausea, chest pain, dizziness, etc. The source of infrasound in the city is motor transport.


Ultrasound - acoustic waves with a frequency of more than 20 thousand Hz. Until recently, ultrasound was not common. However, the invention of ultrasonic washing machines has expanded the scope of human interaction with ultrasound sources previously limited to manufacturing and medical procedures. The effect of such frequent sound waves is similar to the effect of vibration on the body.


E) Vibration - deviation of the center of gravity of an object or person from a position of balance. It can be general or local. In the first case, the entire body is subjected to vibrations as a result of being, for example, on some vibrating surface. In the case of using vibrating objects in labor or in everyday life (jackhammer, electric drill, mixer, etc.), the working arm is exposed to local vibration.


The harmful effect of general vibration is primarily manifested in the occurrence of pathology of the spine, congestion in the pelvic organs and gynecological diseases in women. With the systematic use of hand-held vibrating devices and instruments, the temperature and pain sensitivity of the working hand decreases, and the mobility of the joints is impaired.


E) Electrical factors. These include electric current and static electricity. The first articles describing the symptoms of electrical injuries appeared in the journal Electricity back in the 60s. XIX century. A lot of electrical injuries occurred at the beginning of the 20th century, when the widespread electrification of residential and industrial premises began. This was favored by the low level of human safety culture. In addition, lamp holders and switch housings were made of metal, and cardboard was used as insulation, which also contributed to the occurrence of dangerous situations. At present, about 25 thousand electrical injuries are registered annually in the world.


Electric current has a versatile effect on the body: thermal, biological, electrolytic and mechanical. The cause of death of a person struck by an electric shock is a violation of the cardiac or respiratory activity.


Static electricity, with the exception of lightning, is generally not an immediate threat to life. However, static discharges can cause fire and injury from involuntary movement.


G) Ionizing radiation (IR) - streams of particles and electromagnetic quanta formed during radioactive decay. They are called ionizing because when passing through any substance or medium, they cause ionization of atoms or molecules.


AI sources constantly act on humans in the conditions of the Earth. These are both cosmic radiation and radioactive substances present in all environments: the earth's crust and soil, atmosphere, water. However, the action of AI in different regions of the planet is not the same. So, in mountainous areas, as a rule, the level of radiation is higher than in flat areas. In urban conditions, a great danger is posed by radioactive gas - radon, emitted from the earth's crust, and accumulating in poorly ventilated rooms.


The effect of AI depends on the type of radiation (external, internal), its uniformity and radiation dose. In general, there are three groups of radiation effects: genetic (congenital deformities caused by mutations in the cells of the gonads under the influence of radiation), embryotoxic (fetal malformations associated with irradiation of a pregnant woman) and somatic (that is, changes in organs and tissues). The latter are divided into early, arising soon after irradiation (cataract, radiation sickness, sterilization, epilation), and late, manifested in the long term (tumors).


H) Electromagnetic fields and radiation (EMP)


Man has adapted to the action of natural electromagnetic fields, in particular, geomagnetic, in the course of evolution. The problem of electromagnetic pollution of the planet by artificial fields and radiation has been very acute lately. Their sources are high-voltage power lines, radio and television stations, household and industrial electrical appliances, mobile phones, etc.


The negative effect of EMR is manifested in the disruption of the central nervous system (irritability, insomnia, impairment of memory and attention), deterioration of the work of the heart and blood vessels (arrhythmia, bradycardia or tachycardia, chest pain, fluctuations in blood pressure), endocrine disorders (especially the thyroid and gonads ), sexual dysfunctions (infertility, miscarriage, intrauterine malformations), the development of cataracts.


I) Abnormal illumination. Not only insufficient, but also excessive illumination of the workplace, the presence of glare is considered harmful. This creates visual discomfort, and in some cases, for example, in snow-capped mountains, can lead to the development of retinal burns.


K) Infrared and ultraviolet radiation (UV). Infrared radiation is emitted from any heated object or human body. It is perceived as heat, and burns are the result of excessive exposure to infrared radiation.


With regard to UV, in this case, the situation is much more complicated. On the one hand, it is necessary for the normal formation and development of bones, a positive emotional background. Lack of UV is manifested as rickets in children or so-called winter depression in adults. On the other hand, an excess of UV leads to undesirable phenomena: skin burns, the development of photoallergies and skin tumors. As you know, the most common tumor in humans is melanoma, and excessive UV exposure contributes to the emergence of this dangerous pathology.


Thus, physical harmful and hazardous factors are very widespread in the daily life of people and in the workplace.

We can be trapped in danger in the form of various negative factors almost everywhere. Even in the most innocuous workplaces, one can talk about the harmful effects of computers, prolonged sedentary work, and much more. But in this article I would like to touch upon the harmful production factors that people face in enterprises.

The concept of harmful factors

In many factories and factories, production is associated with the constant exposure of workers to adverse conditions. Harmful and hazardous production factors are inextricably linked.

OPF are those factors that, as a result of their long or short-term exposure to a person, lead to a deterioration in his health or to injury. In industries with such working conditions, various accidents occur quite often.

HMF are factors that, acting on an employee, reduce his performance or lead to various diseases, they are often also called occupational diseases.

It should be noted that the line between these two groups of factors is rather arbitrary. Under some conditions, harmful production factors can become dangerous. For example, high humidity refers to unfavorable working conditions, it can cause various diseases of the respiratory system. If a person has to work with electric current in such conditions, then it becomes too dangerous, and not just harmful.

Classification of harmful production factors

All factors in any enterprise can have different origins. You can often face unfavorable working conditions that arise due to the fault of the management. This issue requires special attention from the inspection authorities.

Hopefully, most of the dangerous factors are of natural origin, and a person just needs to take all measures to minimize their impact.

GOST subdivides all harmful production factors into the following groups:

  1. Physical.
  2. Chemical.
  3. Biological.
  4. Psychophysiological, which include difficult and stressful working conditions.


It can be noted that there is no clear boundary between harmful and dangerous factors, it is always conditional and can be destroyed at any time.

Sources of harmful chemical factors

In production there are always technological processes, equipment, which are the source of the release of HMF. These industries include:

  1. Cleaning of parts with chemicals.
  2. Equipment painting.
  3. Welding works.
  4. Processes for applying protective anti-corrosion coatings.
  5. Processing or recycling of metals.

During the implementation of all these processes, the release of harmful substances is inevitable, but, as a rule, their increased formation is associated with non-compliance with technologies or their inept use.

Physical factors

In many industries, it is simply impossible to avoid the influence of some factors. Among them, a special place is occupied by:

  • Temperature, high humidity and radiation.
  • Electromagnetic fields.
  • Laser and ultrasonic radiation.
  • Vibration.
  • Loud noise.
  • Lighting, which can be either too intense or insufficient, which is equally harmful to the eyes.
  • Exposure to dust and aerosols.
  • Charged air.
  • Working parts of the equipment.


Each factor separately does not seem to pose a particular danger to human health in case of short-term exposure. But often the employee is in their environment for a long time, and even several at once, so their influence becomes quite tangible.

Noise and its impact on humans

At enterprises where machine tools and other equipment are located in the shops, noise, as a rule, cannot do without. A constantly operating technique produces loud sounds that can change in intensity.

If a person is forced to regularly be exposed to such exposure, then this will adversely affect his health. From a strong noise, the head begins to hurt, the pressure rises, and the hearing acuity decreases.

In the end, from such conditions, performance decreases, fatigue appears, attention decreases, and this can already lead to an accident.

Managers in such enterprises should take care of their employees in order to try to reduce the negative effects of noise on the body at least a little. To do this, you can use:

  1. Noise mufflers.
  2. Personal protective equipment such as headphones, ear plugs, helmets.
  3. Soundproof noisy places by using protective covers, booth equipment.
  4. Decoration of premises with sound-absorbing materials.

These measures will help create a better environment for workers.

Exposure to vibration and its elimination

Vibration is included in the list of harmful production factors. It can be classified into several categories:

  1. By transmission method: general and local.
  2. In its direction: vertical and horizontal.
  3. By exposure time: temporary and permanent.

As a result of the constant influence of this factor, not only the nervous system begins to suffer, but also the musculoskeletal and the analyzer system. Workers who are forced to work in such conditions often complain of headaches, dizziness, motion sickness.


If we add also the influence of related factors, such as humidity, high temperature, noise, then this only intensifies the harmful effects of vibration.

To protect against it, the following measures can be proposed:

  • Replacement of equipment with a more technological one.
  • Using soft coatings on vibrating parts of devices or equipment.
  • Installation of units on a solid foundation.

Chemical factors

Substances in this group can be distinguished in the following categories:

1. According to their effect on the human body, harmful and hazardous production factors of a chemical nature are subdivided into:

  • Toxic. They have a negative effect on the whole body, for example, carbon monoxide, mercury, lead.
  • Annoying. Substances such as acetone, chlorine, nitrogen oxides irritate the mucous membranes.
  • Carcinogenic. Chromium oxides, beryllium with their compounds can lead to the development of cancer cells.
  • Allergic reactions.
  • Mutagenic. They provoke changes at the level of the cell's DNA.
  • Affecting reproductive function.

2. By the way it enters the body:

  • Through the respiratory system.
  • Through the digestive tract.
  • Through the skin and mucous membranes.

Also, these harmful factors of the working environment have an effect of varying degrees, depending on what they are distinguished among:

  • Extremely dangerous.
  • Highly dangerous.
  • Moderately dangerous.
  • Low hazard.

If the use of protective equipment is efficiently established at hazardous enterprises, then workers will be exposed to hazardous substances to a much lesser extent.


Labor process factors

Psychophysiological factors include the severity of working conditions and its intensity. When it comes to hard work, it means:

  • Large load on the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems.
  • The magnitude of the static load.
  • The number of identical movements.
  • The size of the loads that have to be lifted.
  • Worker pose during the execution of the process.

The tension of work means the load on the nervous system, sense organs (more analyzers). This includes long-term mental work, monotony of the processes performed, emotional overload.

All these are harmful production factors, which, if you look at it, almost every one of us in our workplace experiences to one degree or another.

Human exposure to harmful factors

In any enterprise, it is necessary to try to provide a comfortable environment in order to create favorable conditions for employees. This applies, first of all, to the cleanliness of the air in industrial premises.

The sanitary and hygienic services divide the main occupational hazards into chemicals and industrial dust.

The former, in turn, are subdivided into:

  • Industrial poisons that are often used in manufacturing.
  • Pesticides for agriculture.
  • Medications.
  • Household chemicals.
  • Poisonous substances.


A large amount of dust is also an urgent problem in the mining industry, metallurgy, engineering, agriculture.

The negative effect of dust is manifested in the fact that it is capable of provoking the development of lung diseases.

At any enterprise, workers are exposed to harmful production factors from several groups at once, that is, complex. That is why the issue of ensuring protection against their negative actions is quite acute in the production sphere.

Protecting workers from hazardous substances

Despite all the measures aimed at neutralizing the harmful effects of factors, it is impossible to achieve ideal working conditions. This does not allow to do the features of technological processes, products and raw materials for its manufacture.

Therefore, for managers, protection from harmful production factors is a top priority.

It is necessary to be guided by the following priorities:

  1. Eliminate the hazard or reduce the risk of exposure.
  2. Use safe working practices.
  3. Combat the hazardous factor and its source.
  4. Use personal protective equipment effectively.

It often happens that all the measures taken cannot provide completely safe working conditions, in these cases it is simply impossible to do without the use of PPE.

Among them, the following categories can be distinguished, which are most common in use:

  1. Anti-vibration products, it can be: gloves, handhelds, gloves. Since such protection can reduce labor efficiency due to the inconvenience of work, additional breaks should be provided.
  2. Headphones from noise. But they can reduce a person's ability to navigate in space, provoke headaches due to squeezing.
  3. Respirators and gas masks. It is very difficult and inconvenient to work in them for a long time, therefore, alternative means of protection should be sought.

It can be concluded that personal protective equipment, on the one hand, reduces the impact of harmful factors, but on the other hand, it can create a different hazard to the worker's health.


Security measures

They are aimed primarily at ensuring that harmful production factors do not have their dangerous effect on humans.

For this purpose, safety training must be carried out at any enterprise without fail. The date and content are recorded in a special journal with the signature of all instructors and the person who conducted the instructing.

In total, there are several types of such work:

  1. Induction training. It is carried out without fail with hired persons. Here, neither age, nor experience or position matters.
  2. Primary. It is carried out already at its workplace, it is usually carried out by a foreman or the head of a given department or workshop.
  3. Repeated. It is carried out for all employees without exception every six months.
  4. Unscheduled. It is carried out if:
  • The rules have changed.
  • The technological process has changed.
  • We have purchased new equipment.
  • Cases of violation of safety rules by employees were identified.
  • After long breaks in work.

Quite often, you can find in practice a situation when employees are simply given to sign in safety logs without being instructed. This is simply unacceptable. Any accident in this situation will completely lie on the conscience of such negligent leaders who work only for show.

9. Give a definition of the concept of "hazardous production factors" and give examples of these factors?

Maxim Y. Volkov

Hazardous production factor - a factor of the environment and the labor process,
which may be the cause of injury, acute illness or sudden sudden
deterioration in health, death.
Depending on the quantitative characteristics and duration of action
individual harmful production factors can become dangerous.
Harmful production factor - a factor of the environment and the labor process, which
can cause occupational pathology, temporary or permanent decline
working capacity, to increase the frequency of somatic and infectious diseases,
lead to a violation of the health of the offspring.
In enterprises, workers can be exposed to various hazardous and
harmful production factors, subdivided according to GOST 12.0.003-74 into
the following classes: physical, chemical, biological and
psychophysiological.
Physical hazardous and harmful production factors are divided into
the following:
moving machines and mechanisms; moving parts of the production
equipment; moving products, blanks, materials; crumbling
constructions; crumbling rocks;
- increased dust and gas content of the air in the working area;
- increased or decreased temperature of equipment surfaces,
materials;
- increased or decreased air temperature of the working area;
- increased noise level at the workplace;
- increased vibration level;
- increased level of infrasonic vibrations;
- increased level of ultrasound;
- high or low barometric pressure in the working area and
its drastic change
- high or low air humidity;
- increased or decreased air mobility;
- increased or decreased air ionization;
- increased level of ionizing radiation in the working area;
- increased voltage value in the electrical circuit, short circuit
which can happen through the human body;
- increased level of static electricity;
- increased level of electromagnetic radiation;
- increased electric field strength;
- increased magnetic field strength;
- lack or lack of natural light;
- insufficient illumination of the working area;
- increased brightness of light;
- reduced contrast;
- direct and reflected brilliance;
- increased pulsation of the luminous flux;
- increased level of ultraviolet radiation;
- increased level of infrared radiation;
- sharp edges, burrs and roughness on the surfaces of the workpieces,
tools and equipment;
- the location of the workplace at a considerable height relative to
surface of the earth (floor);
- weightlessness.
Chemical hazardous and harmful production factors are subdivided:
by the nature of the impact on a person on:
- toxic;
- annoying;
- sensitizing;
- carcinogenic;
- mutagenic;
- affecting reproductive function;
along the path of penetration into the human body through:
- respiratory system;
- gastrointestinal tract;
- skin and mucous membranes.
Biological hazards and occupational hazards include the following
biological objects:
- pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, rickettsia, spirochetes, fungi,
protozoa) and their waste products;
- microorganisms (plants and animals).
Psychophysiological hazardous and harmful production factors by nature
actions are subdivided into the following:
- physical overload;
- neurophysical overload.
Fully