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Kiev Institute of Occupational Hygiene and Occupational Diseases
The profession of a grinder of glassware is currently one of the most numerous in the production of art glass and until recently it was one of the least favorable in terms of hygiene. So, in the process of work, glass grinders (previously this profession was called diamond grinder) were exposed to a complex of unfavorable production factors - local vibration, cooling of the hands with running water, static-dynamic overstrain of the muscles of the upper extremities, intense industrial noise. At the same time, local vibration and industrial noise significantly exceeded the maximum permissible levels in the high frequency range, affecting the grinders in total for 250–300 min of a work shift [2, 4].
Medical examination of diamond polishers, carried out in 1966-1970. the employees of the clinic of occupational diseases of the institute, made it possible to note a high level of vibration disease, manifested by peripheral angiospastic, peripheral angiodystonic syndromes, syndrome of vegetative-sensory polyneuropathy of the upper extremities and segmental vegetative syndrome. In some patients, the noted syndromes were combined with pathology of the musculoskeletal system of the upper extremities and functional disorders of the central nervous system. At the same time, a pronounced form of vibration disease, in which it is necessary to change the profession, was registered in the surveyed subjects [I, 5, 6, 7].
Pathology of the nervous system (vegetative-sensory polyeuropathy, vegetomyofascitis, neuromyofascitis of the upper extremities in combination with functional disorders of the central nervous system), taking into account the working conditions of each individual worker, long work experience (20-30 years) can be considered in such cases as vibration disease caused by local vibration, which requires appropriate therapy and a solution to the issue of examination of the ability to work.