Working as a contact center attendant: Relating purpose, meaning, sustainability and mental health.

BACKGROUND: There are companies that can be considered financially successful while creating negative externalities for their workers. This is the case of contact centers. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to investigate the challenges for a service company (such as a contact center) in reconciling its economic and financial objectives with the promotion of the work dimension, guaranteeing workers the possibility of professional, collective, and human development. METHODS: This research has a qualitative ethnographic approach. An activity-centered work analysis method, also known as "Ergonomic Work Analysis" (EWA), was carried out in one of the largest companies in the Brazilian contact center market. RESULTS: The case shows that the achievement of economic-financial objectives of the analyzed company is mainly done by harming the well-being of its workers. In particular, the work of the attendants did not bring any development perspective for them. The prevalence of instrumental rationality in decision-making processes and the asymmetry of power relations between stakeholders are the main reasons why workers' well-being is not considered. CONCLUSION: The discussion proposes that work-related sciences, such as ergonomics and psychodynamics of work, can bring another type of rationality to the decision-making processes of companies. The work also needs to be sustainable enough to allow the construction and development of professionals, and the health of working population, while improving the company's performance.

Contribution of ergonomics and human factors to sustainable development: a systematic literature review.

Although a significant amount of research has already been published, the field of ergonomics/human factors and sustainability (E/HF-S) has not yet been systematically profiled based on recent studies. Conducting a systematic review of the literature, this article aims: (i) to identify the main emergent research themes in this subject area and (ii) to provide future directions for applied research and practice on E/HF-S. Six emergent research themes were identified in this literature allowing for a proposal to synthesise the main concepts related to E/HF-S. However, it was noted that there are still relatively few empirical papers which assess the models being developed or that apply E/HF principles to sustainability challenges. Thus, this paper identifies the opportunities for practical application related to E/HF-S. The last part of the paper explores the E/HF-S opportunities using an external framework; the United Nations' sustainable development goals.Practitioner summary: The field of ergonomics/human factors and sustainability (E/HF-S) has not yet been organised by recent studies. Conducting a systematic review of the literature, this article identifies the main emergent research themes in this subject area, and it provides future direction for applied research and practice on E/HF-S.Abbreviations: ACE: activity-centred ergonomics; E/HF: ergonomics/human factors; E/HFS: ergonomics/human factors and sustainability; IEA: International Ergonomics Association; PRISMA: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses; SDG: Sustainable Development Goal.

Vivências subjetivas de profissionais que realizam Vigilância em Saúde do Trabalhador / Subjective experiences of professionals who carry out Occupational Health Surveillance

Este artigo objetiva compreender a mobilização subjetiva que surge na atividade de trabalho de profissionais que realizam Vigilância em Saúde do Trabalhador (Visat). Participaram deste estudo cinco trabalhadores, de ambos os sexos, de um Centro de Referência em Saúde do Trabalhador (Cerest) da capital de um estado do Nordeste do Brasil, os quais foram entrevistados nos meses de janeiro e fevereiro de 2020. Os materiais produzidos foram analisados à luz da Psicodinâmica do Trabalho. Os resultados mostram que sua fonte de sofrimento está ligada ao que é vivido pelos trabalhadores das empresas que passam por Visat, cujos problemas relacionados à precarização muitas vezes ficam sem solução. Ao lado disso, aqueles que fazem Visat também se percebem muitas vezes precarizados em seus salários, vínculos e condições de trabalho. Finalmente, a falta de estrutura e investimento em saúde do trabalhador, assim como a legislação

This study aims to understand the subjective mobilization that arises in the work activity of professionals who perform Worker Health Surveillance (WHS). In total, five workers of all genders from a Worker Health Reference Center (WHRC) in a capital city of a Northeastern state in Brazil participated in this study. They were interviewed in January and February 2020. The materials produced were analyzed in light of Work Psychodynamics. Results show that their source of suffering is linked to what they experience in companies undergoing WHS, whose precarization-related problems often remain unresolved. In addition to this, those who perform WHS also often perceive themselves as in precarious situations regarding their salaries, job security, and working conditions. Finally, the lack of structure and investment in workers' health and legislation (particularly at the municipal level) pose significant challenges for them to carry out their work

Past, present, and future of E/HF for sustainability: A perspective from the HFSD Technical Committee.

BACKGROUND: Sustainability is a highly important theme worldwide and currently is being tackled by almost all disciplines. Indeed, the future of humanity is dependent on the actions taken now and in the immediate future. The Ergonomics and Human Factors (E/HF) community has not been indifferent to this issue, and one of the concrete actions adopted by the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) was the establishment of the "Human Factors for Sustainable Development" (HFSD) Technical Committee. OBJECTIVE: To identify future paths of action, this paper recognizes the trajectory of the HFSD Technical Committee, summarizes the contributions presented at IEA2021, the International Congress on Ergonomics held virtually in Vancouver in 2021, and reflects on key aspects that should be boosted by the Technical Committee. METHODS: This is a qualitative interpretative study that reflects on the contributions of members of the HFSD community working on E/HF for sustainability. RESULTS: Central topics and opportunities in E/HF and sustainability include complexity of systems, behaviors, and work; energy use and consumption; co-design, interconnectivity, territories, and the relationships with stakeholders. CONCLUSION: Although the contributions have been growing, there is still a lot of work needed, both theoretically and practically. Themes to be discussed include the concepts of sustainability and work. Considering the centrality of human beings (i.e., decision making for achieving the different dimensions of sustainability), the authors identify a set of values as core principles for leading the discussion.

Sickness absence from work in the footwear industry: A longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Studies on illness in the footwear industry have prioritized specific work sectors and diseases. OBJECTIVES: To analyze the main factors related to sickness absence and the indicators of illness in terms of recurrence and workdays lost among workers at a footwear company, ranging from storage of raw material to distribution of the final product. METHODS: A total of 9072 cases of absence from work were investigated in shoe production units from 2014 to 2017. Univariate models estimated the risk of bodily dysfunction (physiological and psychological) and the severity of recurrence and work days lost. RESULTS: (1) Most production units and work sectors were related to one or more affected bodily functions; (2) Neuromusculoskeletal and movement-related functions and the work sectors of prefabrication; cutting, assembly and finishing; and quality inspection of the final product required a longer recovery time before return to work and had a greater recurrence of leave; and (3) Women seemed to be more affected than men in terms of the reappearance of symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Illness differs according to occupational sectors. The production sectors present more serious situations due to physical overload, intense rhythm and concentration, monotony and low autonomy.

O rompimento com o trabalho por doença e o enfrentamento da nova realidade / Breaking down with work due to illness and facing the new reality

O objetivo geral desse artigo é analisar como os trabalhadores afastados do ambiente laboral por motivo de doença vivenciaram o rompimento com o trabalho e quais perspectivas de futuro elaboraram a partir dessa vivência. Participaram do estudo nove trabalhadores afastados do ambiente laboral por motivo de doença, usuários de um Centro de Referência em Saúde do Trabalhador de uma capital do nordeste brasileiro. Os instrumentos utilizados foram: um questionário sociodemográfico e uma entrevista semiestruturada, submetida à análise de conteúdo temática, com o auxílio teórico da Psicodinâmica do Trabalho. Evidenciou-se que os trabalhadores chegam a preferir os sofrimentos vivenciados no trabalho àqueles oriundos do seu afastamento, assim como possuem expectativas frustradas de reconhecimento, somadas às limitações para o alcance de melhores perspectivas profissionais.

The aim of this article is to analyze how workers away from the work environment due to illness experienced the break from work and what future perspectives they developed based on this experience. Nine workers who were away from the work environment due to illness, users of a Worker's Health Reference Center in a capital city in northeastern Brazil participated in this study. The instruments used were: a sociodemographic questionnaire and a semi-structured interview, submitted to thematic content analysis, with the theoretical assistance of Psychodynamics of Work. It became clear that workers prefer the suffering experienced at work to those arising from their absence, as well as having frustrated expectations of recognition, added to the limitations to achieve better professional perspectives.

Interventions with Serious Games and Entertainment Games in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.

The use of serious games and entertainment games was compared as adjuvant tools for intervention in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). A comprehensive search was performed in the MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. From 295 studies, 53 studies were selected and included in this review. Overall, studies showed improvement after intervention, regardless of the type of video games, mostly for social skills and behavior. However, these changes should be regarded with caution, as they are limited to the tests applied. Furthermore, neither the entertainment nor the serious approach had a therapeutic impact on emotional resilience, representing the current gap in the field. Thus, even considering the limitations, our study is important because it shows that both categories have strengths.

A systematic review on the impacts of Covid-19 on work: Contributions and a path forward from the perspectives of ergonomics and psychodynamics of work.

Work is a major issue in the discussions on the Covid-19 pandemic, whose consequences impair the capacities of workers at all organizational levels and impose unexpected challenges on managers. Nevertheless, the scientific literature still lacks an overview of how researchers have been covering the issue. This article presents a systematic review to investigate the impact of Covid-19 on work and workers of all occupations, reveal research gaps, and help managers to adapt to organizations amid the pandemic. This review is based on a sample of 258 papers from Web of Science and Scopus databases. Quantitative and qualitative analysis indicated a vast majority of studies focused on frontline healthcare workers and a lack of empirical investigation on managers' work. We show how literature has been addressing different aspects of work (e.g., workers' health, working conditions, procedures, protection equipment, remote working, etc.) in the various economic sectors. We discuss the results in light of ergonomics and psychodynamics of work, two disciplines that conceive work and organization as intimately connected, and that can assist managers in meeting the difficulties brought by the pandemic. We highlight that considering the construction of health, interindividual variability, subjective relation to work, supportive workplace environment, and organizational and individual capabilities can play a key role in successfully adapting and transforming organizations in the current scenario.

Defining the meaning of "sustainable work" from activity-centered ergonomics and psychodynamics of Work's perspectives.

INTRODUCTION: Work-related issues are already part of the theoretical framework and the historical rationale that underpin corporate sustainability. However, the relationship between work and sustainability is still little known in company practices. Based on the concepts of activity-centered ergonomics (ACE) and psychodynamics of work (PDW), this paper investigates the meaning of "sustainable work" in Brazilian companies. Thus, two research questions guided this study: How the concept of "sustainable work" can be defined in the perception of companies based on the perspective of ACE and PDW? How the concepts provided by these approaches can help companies in developing practices towards sustainable work? METHOD: Case studies conducted in ten Brazilian companies engaged in corporate sustainability practices involving document analysis, interviews, and content analysis. RESULTS: Companies recognize the importance of human action in organizational processes, by considering people as the cornerstone for ensuring corporate sustainability, and seeking to build a work with meaning and significance. However, i) Improvement actions are usually mitigatory or compensatory, acting on the effects while the root causes remain untouched; ii) Sustainability initiatives focus on individual issues, in most cases on the leader (individual), narrowing its scope and neglecting broader, important topics such as work organization and work content; iii) Both work overload and work for sustainability agenda are usually disregarded; iv) A comprehensive view of health should not be limited to the workplace. CONCLUSIONS: According to companies' perceptions, sustainable work includes but is not limited to integrating work to corporate sustainability guidelines, respecting labor laws and human rights, developing synergy between areas/departments towards sustainability, providing possibilities for constructing health in its multidimensionality with the worker as protagonist, and creating work that is meaningful, pleasurable and leads to happiness and recognition. ACE and PDW offer valuable concepts to support companies in bridging the gap between their corporate sustainability vision and practices, i.e., transforming guidelines into actions towards sustainable work. In this sense, sustainable work is believed to be that which improves the organization's performance and promotes professional development as well as workers' health broadly and positively (not limited to the absence of illness, but in the sense of building health) and well-being. Thus, it fosters respect for and the development of intelligence and creativity (as opposed to alienating work) by performing work that has meaning and significance, understanding the profound importance of physical, cognitive and organizational issues, and above all, the importance of work to the development of culture (Bolis et al., 2014).

Effects of a worksite physical activities program among men and women: An interventional study in a footwear industry.

The study aims to assess the association between various levels of engagement in a worksite physical activities program and variables related to musculoskeletal symptoms, psychophysiological well-being, difficulty to perform tasks, willingness to work, and interpersonal relationships, among men and women in a footwear industry. This program involved 1113 workers. Data were analysed using an ordinal logistic regression model. In women, an increase in the frequency of participation in the worksite physical activities program was associated with less musculoskeletal pain (OR = 3.12; 2.07-4.71), better relationships among colleagues (OR = 2.83; 1.67-4.81), and a higher level of psychophysiological well-being (OR = 1.98; 1.06-3.70). In men, an increase in the frequency participation in the worksite physical activities program was associated with less difficulty in performing occupational tasks (OR = 0.49; 0.27-0.87). Thus, the association between occupational exercises and studied variables differed between genders.

Work for sustainability: Case studies of Brazilian companies.

The introduction of strategic corporate sustainability policies is expected to result in the improvement of several issues in companies. One of these issues is work, which should involve greater well-being for workers. Within the context of production engineering, this research connects sustainability and work-related issues, the latter seen in light of the discipline of ergonomics. Based on case studies conducted at four companies considered sustainability benchmarks, we examined how the introduction of the theme of sustainability has influenced work-related issues. The elements analyzed here were the corporate sustainability strategy, organizational practices for deploying the strategy, and the work design phase. The last element is the moment in which work is prescribed in the organization. The results show that, despite the announcement of the inclusion of changes in work, there is not any explicit evidence confirming that such changes are considered as a requirement for corporate sustainability projects.

A case study of the implementation of an ergonomics improvement committee in a Brazilian hospital--Challenges and benefits.

This article discusses the creation of an improvement committee (IC) to implement policies aimed at improving working conditions in a public health institution in the city of São Paulo. Suggestions were proposed for future implementations of this organizational mechanism, pursuant to the presentation of the process of its formation and the main results achieved. The findings led to the conclusion that good outcomes require autonomy and support from management, and the adoption of effective measures to improve and legitimize the improvement committee's existence. Another important issue is facilitating worker involvement and creating a locus for dialog among people with different visions within the organization. Thus, two approaches converge: a top-down approach in which policies are defined and improvement actions are actually implemented based on a general outlook of the production and work system, and a bottom-up approach specific to employees who are also engaged in improvement policies and in putting them into practice. It is also possible to point out problems and opportunities arising from actual work situations to the higher levels of management. This kind of approach fits with macroergonomics, because it integrates strategy, organization and work issues. It is possible to discuss the benefits of this approach for companies and provide conditions for workers to engage effectively in these processes. In conclusion, these proposals can be considered from an emancipatory perspective, given that different actors should be able to codetermine working conditions and work content, thus directly influencing their individual and collective experiences. The support and commitment of upper management are essential elements of success in maximizing the effectiveness of this organizational approach.

Mapping the relationships between work and sustainability and the opportunities for ergonomic action.

A map was drawn up of the relationships between work (in its multiple interpretations) and sustainability (sustainable development and corporate sustainability) based on a bibliographic analysis of articles that discuss these themes jointly in the current academic literature. The position of the discipline of ergonomics focused on work was identified from this map and, based on its specific academic literature, it was possible to identify where this discipline could contribute so that work and workers can be included in the discourse of sustainable development and considered in corporate sustainability policies. Ergonomics can be actively influential within the organization on issues relating to work improvements; it may boost integrated increases in the organization's performance and in workers' well-being; it can provide support for changes and new (environmental) sustainability-related work requirements to be considered; and it can contribute to the definition of the concept of work in a context of sustainable development.

Contributions of ergonomics to the construction of bus drivers health and excellence in public transport and at work.

This article is the product of research that analyzed the work of bus drivers of a public transportation company that is considered a benchmark reference in its field of operations, in which it strives to achieve operating excellence. Within this context, the authors sought to understand how such a company has managed to maintain a policy that is capable of reconciling quality public transport while also providing working conditions compatible with the professional development, comfort and health of its workers. Ergonomic work analysis and activity analysis were the guiding elements used in this study. Initial analyses indicate that the activity of drivers includes serving a population and providing mobility for it, which depends on driving the vehicle itself and on relationships with colleagues, users, pedestrians, drivers and others.

The workers role in knowledge management and sustainability policies.

Based on the concepts of sustainability and knowledge management, this article seeks to identify points of contact between the two themes through an exploratory study of existing literature. The first objective is to find, in international literature, the largest number of papers jointly related to the theme of knowledge management and sustainability. In these documents, the authors looked at the kind of relationship existing between the two themes and what the benefits introduced in organizations are. Based on an ergonomic point of view, the second objective of this article is to analyze the role of the worker (whether at the strategic or operational level) and his importance in this context. The results demonstrate that there is very little literature that addresses the two themes together. The few papers found, however, can be said to show the many advantages of introducing sustainability policies supported by adequate knowledge management. Very little has been studied with regards to the role of workers, which could be interpreted as meaning that little importance is given to the proactive role they may play. On the other hand, there is a high potential for future research in these areas, based on the high level of consideration of workers in knowledge management and sustainability literature, as well as in literature in the areas of ergonomics and sociology.

Involvement and emancipation of the worker. Action research in a university hospital.

The present action research article is linked to an ergonomics project in a university hospital. The author's proposal is to focus action on the effective worker involvement required for the creation of spaces/mechanisms within organizations where people can enhance cooperation and deliberation on matters relating to work. For this purpose, a committee was introduced to assist in finding problems and solutions directly in work situations, so that workers could experience relative autonomy allowing them to develop procedures and choose tools appropriate to their own real needs. Based on this organizational implementation and on subsequent interviews, the practical results are analyzed and related to employee involvement. One can conclude that workers in all areas of the organization can be active elements for improving working conditions and productivity in companies.