Work-related injuries in core enterprises of the Irkutsk region in 1990s

Socio-economic reforms in the 1990s led to radical change in society. Economic liberalization and elimination of administrative restrictions have created conditions for economic activity growth of much of the population, development of the labor market, increasing the scale of secondary employment and self-employment. At the same time, the economy was accompanied by a fall in production, which resulted in a significant reduction in living standards of a large part of the population, rising unemployment, marked deterioration in the situation with the protection of social, labor rights and guarantees of citizens. In the 1990s, the situation in the field of ensuring appropriate conditions and labor protection remained poor. More than 40 % of employees of enterprises and organizations worked on heavy and hazardous work. The life and health of people were exposed to constant danger as a result of ageing of fixed assets, occurrence of accidents, major fires, emissions, and poisoning. This situation is largely related to the fact that an effective system of state management of labor protection was not established, which would correspond to new economic and labor relations, and guaranteed workers’ rights to health, enshrined in the “Fundamentals of RF legislation on labor protection” in practice were implemented poorly. The high level of industrial injuries was observed at the enterprises of chemical, petrochemical, pulp and paper industry, in ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy Angara region. In culturally heterogeneous society, divided, first of all, with respect to the means of production ownership, the economic interests of workers and employers, including in the field of labor protection, manifested itself in a contradictory manner. Employers’ associations were required to ensure compliance with occupational health and safety organizations in accordance with existing regulations. In order to prevent occupational injuries and diseases it was necessary to ensure that the guarantees and benefits to workers, victims of industrial accidents or occupational disease are received, as well as to members of their families, by means of applicable legislation, the collective agreement, branch tariff agreement.