Physiological aspects of the labor activity in inspectors and repairmen of railway cars

Introduction. The literature contains works devoted to physiological studies of railway dispatchers and locomotive crew drivers. There is information from individual authors about the impact of psychoemotional stress on the health of employees. Studies of the functional condition of railway car maintenance inspectors have not been conducted, and their work is difficult and stressful, therefore, the implementation of these studies is an urgent task.

The purpose of the work. To study the functional state in car inspectors and repairers to determine the quantitative characteristics of the labor process factors.

Materials and methods. Studies were conducted on the cardiovascular system, visual and auditory analyzers, neuromuscular apparatus, and the assessment of physical labor intensity.

Results. The results of a study of the cardiovascular system (CVS) in car inspectors and repairers showed that during work, the heart rate in the subjects ranged from 120 to 140 beats per minute, reaching an average of 128.5±1.66 beats per minute during the day shift and 136.7±2.0 beats per minute during the night shift. The results of a study of the CVS during a functional exercise test showed that the Harvard Step Test Index (HST Index) corresponded to the average level in inspection and repair of railway wagons – 61.71±1.8 (p<0.05). This is below a satisfactory level. Only 20% of the subjects had this indicator consistent with the assessment of “satisfactory”.

Limitations. Scientific research was conducted at the technical inspection stations (PTO) of major stations (Orekhovo-Zuyevo, Lyublino, Perovo, Bekasovo) of the Moscow Railway and at the stations of Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Orsk of the South Ural Railway.

Conclusion. The results of the conducted physiological studies allowed establishing the quantitative characteristics of the factors of the labor process that affect the functional state of the inspectors and repairers of railway cars.

Compliance with ethical standards. All participants gave informed voluntary written consent to participate in the study.

Contribution:
Ovechkina Zh.V. – research concept, data collection and processing, and editing;
Kotlyar L.M. – data collection and processing, statistical data processing, and writing the text.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: June 3, 2025 / Revised: August 4, 2025 / Accepted: November 3, 2025 / Published: December 19, 2025

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