Working conditions of municipal employees: risk factors and measurement of morbidity, 1987

Abstract

The working conditions of municipal employees of Botucatu (State of S. Paulo, Brazil) are described with a view to identifying the most frequent and serious occupational risks. Office workers (clerks) were not encluded in this study. The morbidities registered in the municipal outpatient service (from July 17 through December 4, 1987) and in the occupational accident register for the period 1984-1987 were evaluated. The activities of the majority of the employees were found to be carried out manually with no technological assistance, likely to generate "occupational accidents" (OA) and related to inadequate (antiergonomic) positions. The coefficient of severity of the OA has increased so rapidly that in 1987 it was 1.85 times higher than in 1984. The analysis of the external sources and the nature of the lesions caused by the OA were closely related to the description of the activities and the risk factors observed. The most frequent ailments registered in the outpatient service were: arterial hypertension, lumbago,the common cold, chronic alcoholism, acute gastroenterecolitis and "personal difficulties". An occupational health program for the municipal workers in Botucatu is proposed.