**4. Discussion**

The proposed methods for assessing the current state of injuries and determining priority areas for reducing occupational injuries, as well as the results obtained, are important for the prevention of injuries in the mining industry. Despite the wide spread of this topic among domestic and foreign scientists, the proposed study most fully describes the situation of industrial injuries in the Arctic zone of Russia, and also demonstrates the methodology for determining priority areas for reducing industrial injuries and improving labor safety using the Kirov branch of Apatit JSC as an example. Based on the studies, the overall injury risk is proposed to be calculated as the combined impact of two types of occupational risks: the occupational risk determined as an average risk for the Arctic zone and the risk caused by the adverse environmental factors. The background risk for the mining areas of the Arctic zone has been calculated for a period of 10 years and used to create the occupational risk-based structure for the mining industry in the Arctic zone of Russia. Despite the fact that the "background risk" has practically not changed during the period under consideration, this risk has an impact on the indicator of the overall injury risk. Thus, the determination of the occupational risk structure allows the relationship between controlled and uncontrolled factors that have an impact on the risk of injuries within the mining industry to be established. This is vital for the subsequent assessment of the impact of industrial factors on the occupational injury rate.

The main advantage of the methodology employed is in providing a comprehensive approach to the analysis of the risk of occupational injuries at mining enterprises located in the Arctic zone of Russia, taking into account the following for the first time


Based on the results obtained, the following important conclusions should be noted:


**Author Contributions:** S.G.–formulation of the study purpose and goals, elaboration of methodology for determining priority directions for the improvement of occupational safety as well as the development of the assessment and calculation methods for the effects of the background and occupational risks on labor safety. E.P.–assessment of influence of the background and occupational risks on the structure of overall injury rates, development of the matrix showing the relative changes in injury rates for mining areas of the Kirov branch of "Apatit", JSC. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The author declares no conflict of interest.
