OCCUPATIONAL RISKS IDENTIFIED IN BRAZILIAN BAKERY ENVIRONMENTS

Abstract

This exploratory, descriptive and quantitative study aimed to characterize the personal and occupational profile and to identify the Occupational Risks (OR) experienced by baking workers from 14 bakeries in a city in the interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Data were collected, in 2008, using a questionnaire about workers’ personal and professional identification and OR factors. From 47 subjects, most are men, married, did not complete secondary education, aged between 31 and 40 years, have worked from 10 to 15 years in bakery, did not have previous job and worked 8 hours per day. OR factors identified were: heat, noise, wheat four dust, weight lifting, repetitive movements, fu and colds, among others. Most workers report physical fatigue at the end of the workday. It is concluded that workers are able to identify some risk factors to which they are exposed. Health guidance actions can be developed aiming to minimize the OR.