A study of exposure standards in Russia and the role of occupational hygiene

This paper is the result of an investigation carried out in February 1997, which set out to learn about the development and application of occupationa l health standards, and in turn approaches to occupational environmental mo nitoring, in Russia, and to see how these were similar to, or different fro m, what takes place in other countries. The enquiry involved face-to-face m eetings with senior Russian occupational health scientists and officials. I t was confirmed that Russian occupational exposure standards are very strin gent and provide a very high level of protection of workers. However, they are difficult to enforce, and it is suggested that the development of a str ong and distinctive occupational hygiene discipline and profession in Russi a would provide a "bridge" to enable more effective implementation and inte rpretation of those standards.