Occupational eye traumatism of members of vessel`s crews of the Northern Water`s Basin

Results: In water transport, eye traumatism was found in men from among of members of vessel`s crews signifi cantly more often than in women (P <0.001). Every second injury occurs to sailors aged 20-29. In 30-39 and 40-49 years their number is reduced by half. Individual cases of eye damage were observed in persons under 20 years and over 50 years. In every second case of an injury to the eye, of members of the technical operation service (“machine command”) received; operation 47.3%; production 2.7%. Among the injured there were no representatives of the radio-technical service, product processing, household, medical and sanitary. Outcomes of eye injuries of members of vessel`s crews of the Northern Water`s Basin during the study period should be considered good. Most sailors return to work in their specialty. Disability group III is set in 2.7% of cases.


Introduction
The frequency of occupational eye traumatism depends on the level of development of the marine industry as a whole, the automation of processes on modern sea and river transport, as well as fi shing vessels. Its share in the structure of general occupational injuries depends not only on the quality of accounting for accidents, but also on the attitude to eye injuries in a particular industry [1][2][3]. The widespread introduction of preventive measures to reduce eye traumatism in major industries has led to a signifi cant decrease. However, to date, no special studies have been carried out on the medical and social rehabilitation of members of vessel`s crews with damage to the organ of vision [4][5][6]. In the works devoted to the overall incidence of water workers, there are only a few references to the frequency of traumatic eye damage on ships. In terms of the number of initial appeals among members of the lower vessel's team, the injuries of the organ of vision are in fourth place [7].
Eye traumatism in seafarers are especially dangerous for their complications, occurring in 6.3% of patients, including 5.6%persistent corneal clouding developed, which caused a decrease in vision, and 0.7% -traumatic cataract that caused blindness in one eye [8,9]. The signifi cance of differences in quantitative traits between groups with a normal distribution of quantitative variables was calculated using Student's t-criteria for independent samples.

Material and Methods
The error threshold for statistically signifi cant differences was set at 0.05.

Results
In the general structure of traumatism of members of vessel`s crews of the Northern Water`s Basin , damage to the organ of vision was 3.6% of cases and was in the sixth ranking place (5.7 per 1000 workers) after injuries to the hand, foot, leg, head and forearm. 40.2% of observations and foreign bodies (34.6%; P<0.05) prevailed among them. Contusions (18.2%; P<0.05) and burns (7.0%; P<0.01) were signifi cantly inferior to them.
On water transport, eye injuries are found in men from among the fl oating composition signifi cantly more often than in women (P<0.001). Every second injury occurs to sailors aged 20-29. In 30-39 and 40-49 years -their number is reduced by half. Individual cases of eye damage were observed in persons under 20 years and over 50 years.
The design features of the ships, the nature of the goods being transported, the methods of their loading and unloading are of great importance in the mechanism of injury. Two thirds of injuries of the organ of vision in the northern basin were received on vessels of the transport fl eet. On river, fi shing, technical and port vessels, they occurred 5-7 times less.
In every second case of an injury to the eye, a fl oating personnel of the technical operation service ("machine command") received; operation -47.3%; production -2.7%.
Among the injured there were no representatives of the radiotechnical service, product processing, household, medical and sanitary. The distribution of occupational ocular injuries of the fl oating composition on vessels according to the specialties of the victims is presented in table 1. and Friday (5.7%), the number of injuries to the organ of vision among members of vessel`s crew was signifi cantly reduced.
The increased danger of ship works in the summer and spring compared with the winter period (P <0.001).
41.6% of injuries happened on fl ights, including 11.2% in the Arctic; moderate -24.9%. The rest occurred at parking with the same frequency in the home port and other ports.
Damage to the organ of vision of members of vessel`s crews of water transport are monotrauma (P<0.001) and are predominantly monofocal (P<0.001). Treatment of seafarers in most cases is carried out on an outpatient basis, and only 36.0% of patients are hospitalized in a specialized hospital, where treatment lasted an average of 13.4 days.
Eye wounds members of vessel`s crews receives at the age of 20-29 years (P<0.05) on vessels of the transport and river fl eets when working in the engine room, on the upper deck and repair of electrical equipment (P<0.01). Burns of the eye members of vessel`s crews gets more often on transport and river vessels; than fi shing (P<0.05). Motorists and sailors predominate among the victims. The severity of injury is determined by the degree and extent of the burn. In severe cases, disability reaches 39.8 working days. Therefore, in the prevention of industrial chemical burns of the eye in the transport fl eet, the provision of mechanization and sealing of transfusion of caustic liquids is of decisive importance.
Emergency care for injuries to the organ of vision is provided by ship medical personnel. They master the fundamentals of urgent ophthalmology during the passage of targeted training in ship medicine and on improvement cycles. The treatment begins at the ship medical center, after arriving at the port -the specialized department of the basin hospital. In the absence of a medical offi cer on board the ship, the fi rst aid must be provided by authorized persons who have undergone special training. Usually this function is assigned to the senior assistants of the captains. Outcomes of eye injuries of the fl oating structure of the northern basin during the study period should be considered good. Most sailors return to work in their specialty. Disability group III is set in 2.7% of cases.

Discussion
The causes of eye traumatism are: weakening of control by the ship administration and supervisors during safety briefi ngs; violations of safety regulations and labor discipline, violations of the correct implementation of techniques, disregard for the use of protective equipment, negligence or excessive haste in the work. It is impossible not to point out the low mechanization of dangerous and labor-intensive work in conditions of limited ship spaces, especially of old buildings and, therefore, insuffi cient provision of production equipment with necessary protective and safety devices.
Insuffi cient illumination of the workplace on some types of vessels causes visual fatigue and causes excessive approach of the person working to the object of labor or the machine, which increases the risk of injury to the eyes. Therefore, the general lighting of the workplace, the production area of the vessel must be supplemented by rational additional local lighting of the workplace. It should be suffi cient, but not too strong and not giving brilliance. [1,2,4] Among the general health measures that help reduce eye injuries in the workplace is a well-functioning ventilation system that prevents excessive dust or air pollution.
In the Northern Water`s Basin, the frequency of traumatism to the organ of vision is directly dependent on the production experience. With the growth of professional skills, the development of production processes, the amount of damage decreases sharply: among water workers who have worked on ships for more than 15 years, the frequency of eye injuries decreases by 2.4 times compared with the crew of the fi rst year of work. That is, occupational injuries of the eye on marine and fi shing vessels are more often observed in young and (or) inexperienced workers. Therefore, it is paramount for them to learn all the details of the work or production process. At the same time, a young specialist should be thoroughly trained in all the safety regulations associated with this type of work. And admitting to a new and unsafe type of work is possible only after checking her knowledge. [1,4,6].
It must not forget about individual eye protection with numerous types of goggles, visors, masks and half masks. Among the means of collective eye protection, glass screens have become widely used, which, attached to the machine, defl ects the fl ow of small objects or metal fragments.
However, the main method of preventing occupational eye traumatism is it`s carefully set-up accounting of absolutely all (including minor) injuries of the organ of vision. Since only in this case the necessary conditions arise for the timely clarifi cation and quick elimination of the causes of eye injuries at the relevant production site, the workplace of members of vessel`s crews. It is necessary to take into account not only serious injuries of the organ of vision, which are drawn up by the act of occupational injury or lighter injuries of the eyes, causing disability, obtained during the performance of production tasks with disability, but not related to production, but also minor injuries of the eyes, not causing disability [1,3,9].