February 15, 2013. The occupational illness rate decreased by 28.3% in Sverdlovsk Region last year compared with a year earlier, the spokesperson for the regional division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) reports.

According to the statistical data provided by the division, 512 instances of illnesses and poisoning were registered in the region in 2012. The total number of victims came to 480 people, including 98 women; 32 out of these fell ill twice or more often (including 4 women). This comes to 2.7 cases per every 10,000 instances of an illness. Also, the number of people diagnosed with two or more industrial pathologies has been going up. Then, problems related to insufficiently available medical help for blue-collar workers are still acute in Sverdlovsk Region’s remote areas, which results in delays in diagnosing a problem and therefore considerably enhances the risk of ensuing industrial pathologies.

Last year, occupational illnesses were detected in 106 Sverdlovsk Region-based organizations. These were mainly large and medium ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgical enterprises and companies dealing in making metal structures and building materials as well as in machine-building. At some of the companies (SUBR, Uralmashzavod, NTMK, and SUAL UAZ) occupational illnesses have been detected for several years in a row.