RISCOS AMBIENTAIS À SAÚDE OCUPACIONAL DO CATADOR DE RECICLÁVEIS EM GOIÂNIA

Abstract

In Brazil with some exceptions waste is taken back to nature inappropriatly causing soil contamination and increasing number of deases. The recorrect management by the council as well as the whole waste management since the source collect till the appropriated disposal of waste are essentials to maintain collective health as far as they represent sanitary environmental risks demanding human health. To these risks a population is specially represented by waste pickers that found on the waste an alternative to obtain their funds for there is a possibility to exchange it in recycling market. These inviduals work on the streets and on screening centers and they also are vulnerable to the occupational activity risks, for a physical loading work in such unhealthy conditions, without Individual Protection Equipment (IPEs), and the work routine result on a loss worker health. This present study consists on that context evaluation in which Goiânia city waste pickers are inserted. We divided these groups of people in the categories: autonomous, associated and coorporated. This way a verify proposal on the waste pickers activity contribution on a local waste reduction at the final disposal, to describe those occupational and environmental risks to which is the population exposed and those that live from collecting, to evaluate the usages of IPEs, to describe the alteration on the pickers heath, to investigate the conditions of this population work, the safety attitudes towards their lives, to aim accidents prevention and the occupational deases inherent to this activity, even if the waste pickers activity has contributed to his inherent in the sociate life health quality. Themes related to environment, health, waste solids, collectors, occupational environmental risks, waste manegement were consulted from different sources. The data collect occurred through websites and many others given questionnaires to autonomous collectors, associated and cooperated, visiting to associations and cooperatives, to Goiânia sanitary landfill, focus groups with this population, research to government organs and as well as adopted to direct observation technique. The reading questionaries were applied to the collectors categories and happened through the SPSS Program by Windows. That s why this study can check the collectors profile which works on the streets as self employed and those who are organized by associations and cooperatives, the lack of preventive atittudes and environmental risks that they are exposed.