Occupational diseases in Poland, 2001

The Central Register of Occupational Diseases keeps the records of all reported and certified occupational diseases in Poland. In this paper the incidence of occupational diseases in Poland in 2001 is discussed on the basis of the data provided by the Register. The changes in the incidence pattern over the recent 30 years are also shown. In 2001, 6,007 cases of occupational diseases were registered, with the incidence rate of 63.2 per 100,000 employees. The highest incidence rates were noted for seven categories of diseases: the vocal organ diseases, noise-induced hearing loss, pneumoconioses, contagious and invasive diseases, dermatoses, chronic diseases of bronchi, and vibration syndrome. Altogether these diseases covered 5,239 cases (87.2% of all registered cases). Mining and quarrying, agriculture, hunting and forestry, education, health and social works were the economy activities with the highest incidence of occupational diseases. The majority of occupational diseases (93.9%) have developed after a long-term (over 10 years) exposure to particular harmful factors. As much as 58.5% of cases were recorded in males. The predominant occupational diseases in males were occupational hearing lesions, while in females chronic vocal organ diseases, most common in teachers, were most frequently recognized. In Poland, the diseases of the vocal organ poses a serious problem from the medical and socio-economic points of view. These pathologies show the highest dynamics of the incidence among all registered occupational diseases. Over the last five years the vocal organ diseases have moved upwards to the top in the ranking, both with respect to the number of cases and the incidence rate. Since 1998, the incidence of occupational diseases has been continuously showing a downward tendency. Four categories of occupational diseases have accounted mostly for this decline: noise-induced hearing loss, chronic diseases of vocal organ, contagious and invasive diseases, and dermatoses (a decrease by 64%, 54%, 40%, and 51%, respectively). The decreased incidence has been also noted for "classical pathologies": chronic poisonings, pneumoconioses and vibration syndrome. At least three most important explanatory factors have to be pointed out: a) the decrease in employment and liquidation of industrial plants with the highest health risk; b) the modernization of plants and improvement of working conditions: and c) effective prevention.