Diagramas complejos de salud en el trabajo: metodología para el estudio sistémico de los procesos laborales / Complex diagrams of health in the workplace: A methodology for the systemic study of work processes

El estudio de los procesos de trabajo es una tarea «compleja¼ que incluye el conocimiento exhaustivo y preciso de los riesgos y exigencia laborales ahí presentes. Dichos riesgos y exigencias son el resultado de cómo se relacionan los elementos fundamentales del proceso laboral que, al interactuar con el hombre que trabaja, pueden afectar su salud. La finalidad de estas líneas es mostrar una metodología de carácter etnográfico, para investigar los procesos de trabajo en las entidades productivas y plantear las acciones preventivas conducentes. Esta metodología está basada en la observación directa y en la experiencia obrera de los procesos laborales. Consta de tres instrumentos de recolección de información: 1) Diagramas de Flujo del Proceso de trabajo; 2) Descripción de los Diagramas de Flujo de los Procesos de Trabajo; y 3) Cuadros de Resumen de los Diagramas Complejos de Salud en el Trabajo. A partir de los datos que proporcionan los Cuadros de Resumen, se estructura un repertorio de recomendaciones para el centro laboral. En cuanto a la utilidad de esta metodología, ha sido ampliamente probada en diversos sectores económicos, como: agricultura, industrias extractivas, de la transformación y la construcción, así como de los servicios, ya sean micro, pequeñas, medianas o grandes empresas. En síntesis, es una herramienta que proporciona el conocimiento integral de los procesos de trabajo, de los riesgos y exigencias que de ahí se derivan, y suministra las medidas preventivas para eliminar o controlar los peligros que acechan a los trabajadores en sus labores(AU)

The study of work processes is a complex task that includes exhaustive and precise knowledge of the labor demands and risks in a given workplace. These risks and demands result from the relationship among the fundamental elements of the work process, whose interaction with a worker can affect his health. The purpose of this study is to show how an ethnographic methodology was used to investigate work processes in productive industry workplaces and propose appropriate preventive actions. The methodology is based on direct observation and workers' experience of work processes. It consists of three data collection instruments: 1) Work process flow charts; 2) description of the flow diagrams of the work processes; and 3) summary tables of complex diagrams of workplace health. Based on the data provided in the summary tables, a set of recommendations for the workplace was designed. This methodology has been widely tested in various economic sectors, such as agriculture; extractive, transformative, and construction industries; and services, whether in micro, small, medium, or large companies. In summary, this is a tool that provides integrated knowledge about work processes and the risks and demands inherent in them and provides preventive measures to eliminate or control dangers to workers(AU)

Curb Heroin In Plants (C.H.I.P.): Revisiting a Mid-1970s Intervention Into Workplace Heroin Addiction Created and Led by Detroit Autoworkers.

This article analyzes archival records to revisit Curb Heroin In Plants (C.H.I.P.), a public health intervention focusing on drug dependence that was created and led by Detroit, Michigan, autoworkers during the mid-1970s. Responding to widespread heroin use in Detroit auto plants, C.H.I.P. combined methadone maintenance with counseling on and off the job to treat heroin dependence while supporting autoworkers in continuing in employment and family life. Although C.H.I.P. ultimately failed, it was a promising attempt to transcend medical/punitive approaches and treat those with substance use disorder in a nonstigmatizing way, with attention to the workplace dimensions of their disorder and recovery. I argue that revisiting C.H.I.P. speaks to current public health debates about the intersection between the workplace and harmful drug use and how to create effective interventions and policies that are mindful of this intersection. For historians, C.H.I.P. is a valuable example of the crucial role of workplace actors in the early war on drugs and of an early methadone program that was not strongly concerned with crime reduction but incorporated social externalities (specifically job performance) to measure success.