Actual medical and ergonomic problems in agriculture in the Ukraine

A new agrarian policy in a number of countries caused the necessity to introduce additional measures aimed at preventing of agricultural workers' health. The epidemiological studies in the Ukraine revealed the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (ischemic heart disease, arterial hypertension) particularly among operators of agricultural machines and workers being in contact with pesticides. The state of health of women working in greenhouses and those in sugar beet growing is assessed. The rate of spontaneous abortions and other pregnancy disorders as well as the retardation in physical development of newborns and infants are evaluated. The necessity to improve the ergonomy of agricultural machines, to increase their quality and reliability is emphasized. The search of physiological optimum of efforts to steering wheel and pedals is given as an example. This approach is of general significance and can be applied to road-building machines as well. The role of pesticide management in the Ukraine is also considered in this paper. The damage to human health and the environment is most often connected with violations of regulations, or persistent usage of highly toxic substances. The most urgent tasks are the revision of the registered and applied pesticides, development of new ecological and hygienic standards, improvement of biomonitoring methods and efficiency of the state sanitary supervision.