Efeitos da Ergonomia de Conscientização em Trabalhadores de uma Indústria Alimentícia

Abstract

Labor has a wide association to worker’s health. Various risk factors might influence the occurrence of symptoms and occupational diseases that impacts work ability and personal life. Ergonomics can be used to raise awareness among workers, becoming a way of prevention and control of risk factors and their consequences. The dissertation was built as a scientific article. The first article is an integrative literature review and its goal was to analyze the effect of ergonomics awareness in musculoskeletal symptoms. Were choosen the electronic databases Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS) and PubMed Central, with studies published from 2006 to 2015. Four randomized clinical trials and four quasi- experimental studies were selected. The actions in ergonomics awareness were analyzed in combination with other methodologies in all studies, having four, rated yet, groups which used only this ergonomic method. Ergonomics awareness showed positive effects in reducing musculoskeletal symptoms. The best results were found with the multiple interventions in ergonomics. The second article had the goal of evaluating the effects of ergonomics awareness in fatigue, musculoskeletal symptoms and work ability in employees of a food industry. It is a quasi- experimental study, in the before and after design. The nonprobability sampling included 23 workers from the production sector of this industry, with average age of 35.47 (± 11,91) years. The employees filled up the instruments Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ), Chalder Fatigue Scale and Work Ability Index (WAI). Eight interventions in ergonomics awareness were applied through lectures, videos and informative material about health and work safety. The analysis of the ergonomics awareness effects, comparing before and after the interventions, considering the instruments, were made based on the Wilcoxon Test and Chi-square, statistical significance level of p ≤ 0,05. As for the results, an improvement in the fatigue levels was noticed (p= 0,05) and in the work ability (p= 0,01). Considering socio-demographic and labor variables, interventions impacted on fatigue for those with labor time superior of 12 months (p=0,004), especially in regard to need less rest (p = 0,04) and have less difficulty to start their activities (p = 0,05); and in work ability in the group below 35 years (p = 0,04), with primary education (p = 0,008) and no job rotation (p = 0,02). There were no differences in the results obtained by NMQ before and after intervention. Facing the results found of fatigue and work ability improvement and reduction of musculoskeletal symptoms through the association of ergonomics awareness with other ergonomic methods, ergonomics awareness becomes an effective and inexpensive method, which helps prevent and control risk factors and occupational diseases.