Objective
to identify Occupational Safety Technicians’ experiences in developing preventive activities, as well as their perceptions on the reflexes of the occupational practice on their personal health.
Methods
qualitative research, using the Collective Work Analysis technique, in which Technicians in group address the material and subjective aspects of their work, followed by content analysis of the participants’ reports.
Results and discussion
the perception of the Technicians is that their work is characterized by constant limitations in their daily practices and by conflicts with different hierarchical levels within the companies. Function deviation is indicated as a current practice, especially to managerial activities and property surveillance. The determining aspects to this background of working conditions are as follows: prioritization of production to the detriment of prevention by enterprises; Technicians’ fragile insertion in the companies’ safety policies; continuous conflicts due to Technicians’ intermediate position between workers and managerial level; absence of protection against unmotivated dismissal; prevalence of behavioral security approach by companies, as well as among occupational health professionals. These limitations and constraints were pointed as harmful to the development of preventive actions and as the cause of mental suffering and diseases among these workers.
occupational health technician; suffering at work; activity-centered ergonomics