Estrategia multimodal para la prevención de COVID-19, en una faena minera / Multimodal strategy for the prevention of COVID 19 in a mining site

INTRODUCCIÓN: Al inicio de la pandemia de COVID-19, las empresas mineras, debieron implementar sistemas de gestión para prevenir transmisión de SARS-CoV-2. OBJETIVO: Describir los resultados iniciales de la estrategia multimodal para la prevención de COVID-19, en una faena minera. MATERIALES Y MÉTODOS: Estudio descriptivo, de corte transversal. Se estructuró un sistema de gestión que consideró medidas administrativas, ambientales, tamizaje de riesgos y gestión de casos de riesgo al interior de la empresa. Análisis de datos con estadística descriptiva. RESULTADOS: Las medidas administrativas se tradujeron en que 8.116 (34%) trabajadores de la faena fueron suspendidos de sus labores habituales. El tamizaje de riesgo antes del ingreso a la faena identificó 450 casos sospechosos que fueron derivados a su domicilio. En el procedimiento de gestión de casos 1.073 personas fueron clasificadas en algunos de los grupos de riesgo. Se detectaron 10 casos de trabajadores con RPC positiva, siendo que 50% fue asintomático; en los sintomáticos, los síntomas más frecuentes fueron: tos (60%) y cefalea (40%). CONCLUSIONES: Estos resultados, dan luces sobre la importancia de implementar una estrategia multimodal, adaptada a la realidad local de una empresa de la gran minería, para prevenir la transmisión de SARS-CoV-2.

BACKGROUND: Mining companies must implement management systems dedicated to health and safety at work to prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among their workers, however, the literature on this is scarce. AIM: To describe a multimodal strategy for the management of health and safety at work, to address the risk of COVID-19 in large mining. METHODS: Descriptive cross-sectional study, carried out in a large mining company. A management system was structured that considered administrative measures, of an environmental nature, risk screening, and management of risk cases within the company. The data analysis was done using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: The administrative measures resulted in 8,116 (34%) workers at the site being suspended from their usual work. Risk screening before entering the site identified 450 suspected cases that were referred to their home. In the case management procedure, 1,073 people were classified in some of the risk groups. 10 cases of workers with PCR were detected in the follow-up period. Environmental measures were not very sensitive. CONCLUSIONS: These results shed light on the importance of implementing a multimodal strategy, adapted to the local reality, in preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the period under study, at the mining site intervened.

Ernst Hasenclever em Gongo-Soco: exploração inglesa nas minas de ouro em Minas Gerais no século XIX / Ernst Hasenclever in Gongo-Soco: English exploitation of the gold mines in the state of Minas Gerais in the nineteenth century

A partir do relato de Ernst Hasenclever sobre sua visita à mina de ouro de Gongo-Soco em 1839, o artigo procura compreender o sistema organizacional administrativo e de trabalho implementado pelas empresas inglesas de mineração de ouro em Minas Gerais, sobretudo na segunda metade do século XIX, período no qual o sistema escravista caminhava para seu final. Nosso objetivo é mostrar a continuidade do sistema administrativo e do uso da mão de obra escrava pelas empresas de capital inglês a partir da década de 1830 até o final do século, apesar da pressão exercida pela Inglaterra contra o tráfico transatlântico de escravos e da proibição aos súditos de sua majestade de possuir escravos em qualquer parte do mundo.

Based on the report of Ernst Hasenclever on his visit to the Gong-Soco gold mine in 1839, this article seeks to understand the labor and administrative organizational system implemented by the English gold mining companies in Minas Gerais, especially in the second half of the nineteenth century at a time when the slave-based system was in its final stages. Our objective is to show the continuity of the administrative system and the use of slave labor by the English companies from the 1830s until the end of the century, despite the pressure applied by England against the transatlantic slave trade and the prohibition of Her Majesty’s subjects to own slaves anywhere in the world.

Exploring work organisation and stress in the mining industry in Chile / Organización del trabajo y estrés en trabajadores de la industria minera de Chile

La Organización del Trabajo se define como la forma en que el trabajo es diseñado y a los factores económicos que influyen en el diseño de éste. La teoría de rol y los principios de la comunidad ocupacional proveyeron el marco interpretativo para explorar cómo la organización del trabajo predice el estrés en los trabajadores de planta y subcontratados. Se realizó una encuesta a 451 trabajadores en 4 ciudades mineras del norte de Chile, más preguntas abiertas acerca de la percepción del trabajo. La serie de regresiones jerárquicas realizadas mostró que los factores de organización del trabajo asociados a roles explicaron la mayor varianza en el estrés. Respecto a las preguntas abiertas, los trabajadores valoraron la amistad como la principal fuente de bienestar y la falta de apoyo organizacional como la principal fuente de problemas. La diferencia de resultados entre grupos (planta y subcontratados) pone de relieve las inequidades sociales y laborales. Los programas de prevención de riesgos en este ámbito debieran considerar los principios de la comunidad ocupacional en los trabajadores de planta. Asimismo, se sugiere educar en organización del trabajo a los subcontratistas, para promover la salud ocupacional y la seguridad hacia estándares mínimos.

Work organisation refers to the way work is designed and managed, and to the economic factors that shape job design. Role theory and occupational community notions provided the framework for exploring how work organisation predicts work stress in staff and subcontractor groups in the mining industry. A survey was carried out on 451 workers in four Chilean mining cities to explore work organisation and stress issues. Open-ended questions about job perceptions were also asked. A series of hierarchical regressions showed that work organisation factors based on role relationships explain the main variance observed in strains and organisational hazards. Workers' opinions highlight work mates' friendship as the most important source of well-being, and lack of organisational support as the main source of problems. Differences between groups highlight social and work inequalities. Intervention programmes addressing work organisation and stress in this sector should consider occupational community principles for the staff group. Education in work organisation is recommended to raise occupational health and safety minimum standards in subcontractor companies.

Vamos fazer poeira: fontes e expressões da pressão no trabalho do setor de rochas ornamentais no Espírito Santo / Lets get to work: causes and effects of pressure at work inornamental stone sector in Espírito Santo, Brazil

Este artigo tem por objetivo discutir o trabalho perigoso e penoso no setor de rochas ornamentais e seus efeitos do ponto de vista da saúde mental a partir dos dados obtidos na pesquisa ?Homens (d)e pedra: trabalho e saúde na extração e beneficiamento de rochas ornamentais?, realizada no estado do Espírito Santo em 2008. O estudo utilizou metodologia qualitativa, possibilitando que os trabalhadores pudessem fazer associações entre seu trabalho e possíveis agravos à saúde. Além das dores pelo corpo, das lombalgias, das alergias, emergiu também o chamado ?estresse?, tendo como fonte a pressão no trabalho. Apartir de um panorama da cultura e da sociabilidade desses trabalhadores,elegemos as categorias de análise entre as fontes da pressão como: as metas, a jornada de trabalho, as relações verticais e as relações horizontais. Esta última foi o contraponto dos efeitos adversos da pressão. Em seguida, discutimos as expressões da pressão, que são os sintomas: insônia, irritabilidade, falta de paciência, submissão e os efeitos sobre a sociabilidade da família. Observamos que os dados sobre sofrimento psíquico expressos pela ideia de ?estresse?, nãoidentificados em estudos anteriores realizados no setor, começaram a surgir na pesquisa acima citada, tornando-se mais um desafio e uma preocupação para o campo temático da Saúde do Trabalhador.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the dangerous and strenuous work carried out within the ornamental stone sector and its effects from the mental health point of view . It is based on data obtained in the research ?Men of/and stone: work and health in ornamental stone extraction and processing?, conducted in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, in 2008. The qualitative approach allowed workers to make associations between their work and its possible negative effects on theirhealth. Besides allergies and body pain, especially in the lumbar region, stress also came forth as resulting from pressure at work. Considering the panorama of those workers? culture and sociability, we selected the analysis categories among the sources of pressure: goals, workday, vertical and horizontal relationships, this last one being the counterpoise for pressure adverse effects. Then, the expressions of the effect of pressure are discussed: insomnia, irritability, lack of patience, submission, and symptoms related to family life. We observed that the psychological suffering expressed by the idea of ?stress?, which was not cited inprevious studies, first emerged in the research mentioned above, bringing one more challenge and concern to the of Worker?s Health.