Investigation of occupational diseases at work

When is an investigation into occupational diseases necessary?

Labor activity at an enterprise is associated with dangers and the presence of harmful factors. It is possible that the employee is not protected from substances that adversely affect his health.

This may happen as a result of:

• non-use of PPE and RPE;
• if management has not provided appropriate protective equipment;
• when PPE has expired.

What events may result in occupational pathology:

1. When exposed to harmful substances that a person inhales every working day.
2. There is increased dust in the workplace.
3. Every day you have to carry loads manually, after which physiological changes begin.
4. Work is required all day in a vertical position.

Of course, it is necessary to prove that this or that pathology arose during the performance of a production task. This is why investigations are carried out.

Investigation objectives

Investigating an occupational disease is not an easy task, so it is better to prevent this trouble.

But if everything happened, then the investigation involves solving the following problems:

1. Experts are establishing the circumstances of the incident.
2. Investigation of the scene of the incident.
3. Who is guilty of violating regulations governing the maintenance of the workplace in accordance with sanitary standards.
4. How it happened.
5. Accurately determine the conditions for the occurrence of pathology.
6. If necessary, take measurements for the presence of harmful substances in the air near the workplace.
7. 7. Assess sanitary norms and rules, as well as establish the cause of the disease.

As a result, it is necessary to take measures to prevent an unpleasant event in the future.

The procedure for diagnosing and transmitting information about acute occupational diseases

Diagnoses of this kind are issued by medical institutions. If it is determined that an employee had contact with harmful factors and was poisoned during work, then the occupational pathology center is obliged to notify Rospotrebnadzor about what was discovered, and also write an appeal to the administration of the enterprise.

In practice, it happens that there are several victims, which means that documents are drawn up for each of them.

Once the information has been received, you must do the following:

1. Determination of the reasons according to which an acute occupational disease occurred.
2. An act on hygienic conditions for the place of work where the disease was acquired is prepared and signed.
3. The information must be submitted to the Labor Inspectorate for review.

The responsibilities of the medical organization include determining the final diagnosis, as well as the reasons for the development of the disease. The document must be submitted to Rospotrebnadzor, the Social Insurance Fund, the management of the enterprise and the healthcare institution where the diagnosis was made.

Diagnosis and communication of information about chronic occupational diseases

After the employee contacted the clinic, he was diagnosed with a chronic pathology, but this was a preliminary decision of the specialists. The information received is immediately transmitted to the Rospotrebnadzor authorities. Civil servants must prepare an opinion on sanitary and hygienic working conditions, but this requires studying the documentation:

• A scan of your work record book must be attached;
• documentation: directions and certificates of medical examination results;
• established diagnoses of pathologies that were previously identified.

Which specialist diagnoses a chronic disease?

If there is a suspicion of a chronic occupational disease, then information about the fact of the disease is sent from the medical institution to Rospotrebnadzor. This action takes 3 days.

Next, representatives of Rospotrebnadzor prepare information on the sanitary and hygienic assessment of conditions, after which the information is submitted to the clinic from which the employee was sent. No more than two weeks are allotted for this.

Based on the results of the examination, information is submitted to the occupational pathology center. To do this, you need to prepare a package of documents:

1. An extract from the medical card.
2. Results of completed medical examinations: primary and periodic.
3. Working conditions in the workplace established during the investigation.
4. A copy of the employee's work record book.

If an occupational pathologist confirms the fact of an occupational disease, then the notification is forwarded to the Social Insurance Fund, Rospotrebnadzor, a medical institution and the Social Insurance Fund.

If an occupational disease is established, then the conclusion is issued to the employee, the Social Insurance Fund and the healthcare institution.

Commission of Inquiry

After the conclusion is received at the enterprise, it is necessary to create a commission in order to establish the causes and factors that contributed to the development of occupational pathology. The administrative document must be issued within 10 days.

List of members of the investigation commission:

1. Representative of Rospotrebnadzor.
2. Employee of a medical organization.
3. Trade union representative.
4. Representative of the enterprise administration.
5. HSE engineer.

If the enterprise is liquidated, then the commission is headed by Rospotrebnadzor and the investigation report is drawn up in this structure.

According to the rules, the commission must be headed by the employer, and also initiate actions regarding its work. If the case is classified as special, then the actions to investigate occupational pathology should be led by a representative of Rospotrebnadzor.

Does an employee have the right to personally participate in the investigation of an occupational disease?

According to the resolution, namely paragraph 6, every employee has the legal opportunity to participate in investigative actions to identify occupational diseases and accidents. In addition, at their personal request, any citizen whom the victim trusts can participate and learn the procedure and accounting. At the time of paperwork, the presence of the injured party is also possible.

In how many copies is the occupational disease investigation report signed?

Upon receipt of the results of the completion of investigations at work, it is necessary to draw up an act, the basis of which includes the commission’s accounting, this is done within 3 days. Five copies of the report are intended for the victim, the production manager, the GSEN center, the clinic and the insurance company.

Investigation procedure

To organize an occupational pathology investigation, the enterprise administration must perform the following actions:

• organize the synthesis and presentation of all required materials regarding the investigation of the causes of the disease;
• organize the implementation of all activities related to the study of occupational pathology results;
• the safety of documentation must be ensured.

In order to conduct investigations efficiently and reliably, it is necessary to prepare the following documents:

1. Executive act on the composition of the commission.
2. All information about how the medical examinations were carried out and the results of the work.
3. Copies of logs indicating completion of training.
4. Conclusions on the working conditions (sanitary and hygienic, compliance with labor safety standards).

During the investigation, the manager of the facility, the victim himself, as well as other employees associated with the production technology are interviewed.

These readings must be recorded in protocols. The commission may also require other papers related to the diagnosed disease.

Registration of the act

The act is prepared in five copies, signed by commission, approval of the document is regulated by Rospotrebnadzor.

The document contains information:

• causes of occupational pathology;
• the circumstances under which the event occurred are described in detail;
• sanitary and epidemiological conditions in the Republic of Moldova;
• violations identified during the investigation;
• persons responsible for the violation.

If the victim himself became the culprit of his illness, then the blame will be established as a percentage.

What should an employee do if an occupational disease occurs?

Based on applicable rules and regulations, the injured employee is entitled to the following:

1. If the company plans to optimize its staff, then the employee is not subject to layoffs.
2. When transferring to another job, the average salary is maintained.
3. The administration of the enterprise pays for treatment and travel to sanatoriums.
4. If the disability arose as a result of performing a production task, then the average wage must be paid.
5. When an employee dies as a result of exposure to hazards, compensation is paid to family members.

When a worker is exposed to harmful factors and does not follow safety precautions, the risk of injury or deterioration in health increases. What caused the pathology is being investigated by a commission that includes Rospotrebnadzor and other organizations. The act is prepared upon completion of the work. It is the responsibility of the enterprise administration to eliminate violations within a specified time frame and report to higher organizations.

Features of the disease

Every employer should know what disease is called an acute occupational disease. It is quite easy to determine, since certain employee health problems should arise due to exposure to harmful factors over a short period of time. If such an impact is detected, it must be promptly eliminated. As a result, the employee faces the following negative consequences:

Most often, an acute occupational disease leads to the fact that a company employee loses his ability to work. Often such effects on the body lead to the death of an employee. This is possible if during the performance of work duties he has to deal with dangerous factors.

How are records kept?

All occupational pathologies are taken into account in Rospotrebnadzor, and information is recorded in the following format:

• Notifications regarding diagnosis are taken into account;
• sanitary and hygienic working conditions;
• final acts of the investigation.

To prepare a conclusion on the conditions of the labor process, information is requested from the enterprise:

1. Acts on conducting a special assessment of the conditions of the labor process.
2. Laboratory tests for the presence of risks of occupational pathology.
3. Documentation on health and safety requirements for this RM.
4. At the final stage, all the nuances of the PPE and RPE used, rest and work regimes are indicated.

Expert advice to employers

In order to prevent occupational pathology, the management of the enterprise needs to take into account some nuances:

1. Carry out regular inspections at workplaces: scheduled and unscheduled.
2. Monitor the use of PPE and RPE. It is not always easy to force an employee to wear protective equipment. In this case, forceful methods cannot be used, but there are other methods that are not prohibited by law. There is a journal for maintaining the first stage of control; all violations can be recorded in this document, including non-use of PPE by employees. Here it is important to indicate the name and date and provide the journal to the offender for signature. Not in all cases, employees sign, what will they do then? For this purpose, a free-form act is drawn up, and persons from the management team sign on it. Thus, non-use of RPE will be recorded. This will be evidence of the employee’s guilt.
3. Monitor regularly. what is the dust and gas content in the RM, if there are exceedances of the indicators, then it is necessary to take measures to eliminate them.
4. It is necessary to promptly respond to employee complaints about unfavorable working conditions and take the necessary measures.
5. Make sure that PPE is in good working order and can be used for no more than one year.
6. Monitor the proper operation of ventilation systems.
7. It is necessary to exercise strict control over the conduct of medical examinations: constant contact with specialists and organizing additional examinations of employees.
8. Conduct timely briefings and monitor employees’ progress.
9. If violations are detected on the RM, conduct conversations and record deficiencies in the briefing logs.

In order to ensure the implementation of the listed points, it is necessary to appoint a responsible person, as a rule, this is a TB specialist. But not only the safety engineer is obliged to monitor compliance with standards, but also management and the workers themselves.

About groups of occupational diseases

During the work process, a person is exposed to harmful factors. If the latter seriously affect the state of health, then the person begins to develop a disease. This refers to an occupational disease. Biochemical and immunological changes occur in the body. When investigating, it is necessary to take into account information about the employee’s working conditions.

There are five groups of diseases in total:

Occupational diseases can also cause allergies, asthma, sinusitis, liver and kidney diseases, leukemia and much more. In the body, processes proceed unnoticed, and the disease develops gradually.