Hazards of the job: absence of psychosocial risk in Occupational Health Medical Control Programs of slaughterhouses.

INTRODUCTION

Workers from poultry and pork slaughterhouses have a higher frequency of sick leaves due to mental and behavioral disorders than the general working population.

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to investigate how the Occupational Health Medical Control Programs of poultry and pork slaughterhouses deal with the psychosocial risk arising from working conditions.

METHODS

This observational-descriptive study of multiple cases is based on documentary research procedures and content analysis of 26 base documents of the Occupational Health Medical Control Program of slaughterhouses located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in October of 2017, with a quantitative-qualitative approach.

RESULTS

Only two slaughterhouses acknowledged the existence of psychosocial risks in their Occupational Health Medical Control Program. The study identified that only five companies developed some type of mental health strategy and those initiatives of mental health promotion and prevention of mental and behavioral disorders were classified as having low effectiveness. In their written programs, none of the 26 companies acknowledged that work can be a cause or a concause of mental and behavioral disorders.

CONCLUSIONS

The non-recognition of psychosocial risk and the possibility of developing mental and behavioral disorders hinders the creation of adequate prevention and promotion actions, thus affecting the effectiveness of the Occupational Health Medical Control Program in terms of mental health preservation and burdening the Social Security system, due to sick leaves.