Ergonomic, psychosocial factors and risks at work in informal mining

Abstract

 The goal of this study was to identify ergonomic and psychosocial factors, and risks at informal work in the mining sector of the State of Paraíba, Brazil, from miners' perspective. A cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted with 371 informal mining workers. They responded two questionnaires for assessing work performed in three dimensions: ergonomic factors; psychosocial factors; and occupational risks. The scores of the items of each dimension were added so that, the higher the score, the lower workers' satisfaction related to the area investigated. The results indicated that noise was common in the working environment (66%). Most workers (54.7%) pointed out that the work was too hard and that it required attention and reasoning (85.7%). The workers emphasized the lack of training for working in mining (59.3%) and few of them regarded the maintenance of the workplace as a component to prevent lumbago (32.3%). Risk of accidents was pointed out as the factor that needed increased attention in daily work (56.6%). All occupational risks were mentioned, including physical and chemical risks. There was significant correlation between age and occupational risks, indicating that the greater the age, the greater the perception of harmful agents (ρ = -0.23; p < 0.01). In the end, it was observed that, to a greater or lesser degree, all workers perceived ergonomic and psychosocial factors, and risks in informal mining. Length of service and age were the features that interfered significantly with the understanding of those factors and occupational risks.