[Safety problems of occupational activity during alcoholic intoxication]

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Human Factors Engineering
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Acute alcohol intoxication is known to affect cognitive and motor functions.
• Machine operating duties require sustained attention and precise actions.
• Previous research indicates performance decrements under intoxication, but specific impacts on machine operators require further elucidation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of acute alcohol intoxication on the work efficiency of machine operators.
• To quantify changes in task execution time and error rates.
• To determine the time course of these effects.

Main Methods:

• Participants performed machine operating tasks on real machinery and simulators.
• Alcohol consumption was administered, and its effects were monitored.
• Task execution time and the quantity of erroneous actions were recorded.

Main Results:

• Work efficiency degraded significantly under acute alcohol intoxication, particularly on simulators and simple devices.
• Degradation was primarily observed as an increase in erroneous actions and, to a lesser extent, task execution time.
• The most pronounced effects occurred within the first 0.7-1.5 hours after alcohol consumption.
• A temporary improvement in work efficiency was noted 12-16 hours post-consumption.
• Time of day did not significantly alter the observed effects.

Conclusions:

• Acute alcohol intoxication markedly reduces work efficiency and reliability in machine operating tasks.
• The primary mechanism of impairment appears to be an increase in errors, likely due to physiological and psychological changes.
• The timing of alcohol's impact is critical, with significant decrements in the initial hours post-consumption.