Ergonomics and quality of life at work: a case study in Brazilian agribusiness

• Autor(a) principal: Hikari Kumagai, Bianca
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Polezi Munhoz, Igor, Akkari, Alessandra Cristina Santos
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Científica Hermes
• Texto Completo: https://revistahermes.com.br/index.php/hermes1/article/view/608
• topic: Agronegócio. Fruticultura. Ergonomia. Qualidade de Vida no Trabalho. QNSO. WHOQOL.; agribusiness; fruit farming; ergonomics; quality of life at work; NMQ; WHOQOL

Agribusiness has a large representation in the Brazilian economic sector and a significant share in GDP. However, this is one of the segments with the highest number of occupational accidents and a high prevalence of ergonomic risks. Therefore, this article aimed to diagnose, from the standpoint of ergonomics and quality of work life (QWL), the reality of rural workers, using as a study model a family farm business in the state of São Paulo. From an exploratory and descriptive research, unsystematic observational method was applied and data were collected through the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-bref), followed by descriptive and inferential statistical treatment. The main pain points identified referred to the hip/lower limbs (40%) and the dorsal region (40%), associating these reports with repetitive activities, high incidence of static work, manual load handling, and poor posture observed on site. Pain in the dorsal region is related to the working time in the function (p = 0.009), and with discomfort in the cervical region (p = 0.001). Agricultural workers showed high QTV (3.9 ± 0.7), pointing out the influence of sleep at work as the only weakness (2.7 ± 1.1). Manifestations of pain and discomfort by employees are mainly due to the lack of alignment of work activities with the ergonomic precepts, but without a direct impact on QLW in the sample. This article contributes to managerial discussions about plans and practices that value the health and well-being of agricultural workers to optimize social and economic indicators in Brazilian agribusiness.