Condições de risco e acidentes no trabalho de técnicos administrativos em educação de uma universidade pública

Abstract

Studies on the profile of public workers in Brazil indicate the need for further investigation. Official statistics of accidents and work-related diseases provided by the Social Security Office exclude federal, state and municipal civil servants and militaries. Occupational hazards are related to the job functions and they may vary according to the activity performed. Therefore, this study is aimed at analyzing the risk factors for work-related injuries among employees of the Administrative Technical Education (TAEs) of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF) through their profile description and perception of working conditions, and relating them to the incidence of work-related accidents. For this purpose, a cross-sectional epidemiological study involving 833 employees of the TAE was performed. Data was collected by applying a self-completion questionnaire “Inquiry on work and life conditions of UFJF employees”, and they were analyzed using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS), version 20. The results showed that the general characteristics of that population were: Similar gender ratio (male proportion is 51.5%); average age of 47 years; population is predominantly white collar since 67.1% of employees reported themselves as white people; 54.4% of that population has postgraduate education; family income is between 5 and 10 minimum wages; 83.9% of people have only one job working 40 hours a week or more (59.4%); 82.8% work during the day shift; and 52.4% are in the same current job position for 1 or 10 years. The most frequent workplace hazard reported by the employees were: Constant loud noise (25.0%); biological hazards (24.0%); high temperatures (23.3%); dust and gases (22.1%). Regarding ergonomic hazards, the most related were: prolonged sitting (44.9%); repetitive movements (41.1%); remain long periods in the same place (38.3%); simultaneous multiple tasks (52.8%); frequent interruptions (53.4%); and verbal abuse (42.0%). In the bivariate analysis, the gender female variable was the one that showed a valid statistical relationship regarding the occurrence of accidents. This study contributes to identify possible workplace hazards, encouraging discussions between managers and employees on how to eliminate or reduce risk of occupational accidents.