Occupational accidents in Russia and the Russian Arctic.

Background: According to official statistics, the rate of occupational accidents (OAs) and fatal injuries in Russia decreased about 5-fold and 2-fold, respectively, from 1975 to 2010, but working conditions during this period had the opposite trend; for example, the number of people who work in unfavourable and hazardous conditions (particularly since 1991) has increased significantly.

Methods: This review summarises the results of a search of the relevant peer-reviewed literature published in Russia and official statistics on OAs and occupational safety in Russia and the Russian Arctic in 1980-2010.

Results: The occupational safety system in Russia has severely deteriorated in the last 2 decades, with legislators tending to promote the interests of industry and business, resulting in the neglect of occupational safety and violation of workers' rights.

[Ecologic safety problems on industrial enterprises of Kolsky Transpolar area].

The authors presented results of ecologic and hygienic studies conducted in Kolsky nuclear power station area (Murmansk region). The studies found a trend to accumulation of summarized specific radioactivity and radionuclides of various origin in natural objects (woody plants, snow). Threshold concentrations of radionuclides in the studied objects appeared to be within the limits of normal radiation background.