Workers' health: From diagnosis to formative intervention

This chapter includes a brief history of the creation of our research group and the need for formative interventions in workers' health. The traditional approaches to work health and safety are reductionist and top-down; interventions are performed by experts and focus on compliance with rules or reduction of elementary hazards, without involvement of and learning by actors. Aiming at overcoming these shortcomings, the workers' health concept and movement in Brazil allowed for substantial advances from mere visible aspects to the understanding of interactions within organizations. Such considerable efforts further reveal the need for theoretical and conceptual improvement and pedagogic tools to include learning within interventions. To our group, the Change Laboratory (CL) method and Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) represent a new paradigm as systemic view and a pedagogic contribution to interventions which aim at overcoming mere diagnosis and move toward transformation.Department of Environmental Health School of Public Health University of São PauloDepartment of Agronomic Engineering Federal University of SergipeDepartment of Public Health Botucatu School of Medicine São Paulo State University Júlio de Mesquita FilhoOccupational Safety and Medicine Foundation Jorge Duprat Figueiredo-FundacentroDepartment of Public Health Botucatu School of Medicine São Paulo State University Júlio de Mesquita Filh

Ergonomics and Regulation: The Case of Job Rotation in a Brazilian Slaughterhouse

In April 2013, Regulatory Standard 36 was published in Brazil, concerning health and safety at work in slaughtering and meat processing companies, aiming to establish, among other things, standards for the implementation of job rotation. This industry has expanded in Brazil, which is currently the world’s largest exporter of beef. This work presents partial data from a survey carried out in a cattle slaughterhouse located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The purpose of this communication is to present the acceptance of the slaughterworkers regarding the rotation of posts imposed by the legislation, as well as to identify the determinants of the work. According to the data obtained, the slaughtering sector is composed of 88 workers, of which 91% are male and 47% aged 40 to 54 years. The most common causes of absenteeism in last two years were inguinal and abdominal hernias. The most significant determinants of labor are: product variation (cattle differences), cadence and irregular work rate, and physical and psychological demands. Knives, the main work tools, require time to be cleaned and sharpened. Concerning acceptance of the rotation, 30% of the workers are in favor, as they will learn new activities, and 70% are contrary as they believe they will be more exposed to work accidents in activities for which they do not have specific skills. It is concluded that detailed analysis of the posts, with the effective participation of the workers, are the main steps to comply with current legislation and preserve health at work and reduce the number of accidents and occupational diseases.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)University of the State of São Paulo, Roberto Simonsen Street, 305Cnam-CRTD EquipeErgonomie, 41, rue Gay-LussacFAPESP: 2017/05299-