Working conditions of medical workers of the infectious diseases hospital during the pandemic of the novel coronavirus infection

Abstract

pandemic of a new coronavirus infection (NCS) or COVID-19, announced by the World Health Organization in 2020, led to large-scale changes in the activities of all medical organizations in our country, which were forced to concentrate all their efforts to combat this infectious disease. There is an urgent need to convert most medical institutions into infectious diseases hospitals (IG) to treat patients with a new coronavirus infection. The developed federal and regional regulations for the work of medical organizations during a pandemic, including taking into account the experience of other countries, have made it possible to develop effective methods of combating infection and properly organize the work process. Studies have shown that the distribution of patient flows during hospitalization and the treatment process in the hospital can prevent excessive infection of medical workers. The working conditions of medical specialists of the infectious diseases hospital during this period corresponded to the harmful class 3 degree (class 3.3.). The leading harmful factor of the production environment and the most significant in terms of hygienic significance was the biological factor, which was represented by pathogenic microorganisms of groups II–IV. An analysis of the maps of a special assessment of working conditions (SUT) during this period showed that there was an underestimation of the class of working conditions according to the factors of the labor process — severity and tension, which were rated as within acceptable values (class 2), which clearly did not correspond to the true indicators. The survey showed that the medical workers of the hospital, working in a full set of personal protective equipment, experienced pronounced discomfort and pathological changes in the cardiovascular and respiratory systems by the end of the shift. Studies indicate the need for SATS during a pandemic, taking into account higher indicators of both the biological factor (extreme working conditions — class 4) and other production factors (severity, tension, microclimate).