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.

Proposal of guidelines to assist managers to face pressing challenges confronting Latin American universities: a complexity theory perspective.

The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated pre-existing problems in Latin America and posed unprecedented challenges for Latin American universities (LAU). These challenges can be characterised as complex problems that cannot be understood through reductionist approaches. This paper aims (i) to provide a complex system perspective of the challenges confronting LAUs and (ii) to propose guidelines for managers of LAUs to address them in practice. A multidisciplinary group was formed and conducted an iterative process of research, brainstorming and debate of potential solutions to the following problems considered particularly important by their universities: mental health issues in the university environment, student learning gaps, brain drain, and anti-science movements. Complexity theory and E/HF concepts are integrated to demonstrate that understanding what LAUs are experiencing in a fragmented manner is impossible, and that the interactions between the challenges should be at the centre of the managers' actions plans. Practitioner summary: Managers of LAUs can benefit from the guidelines proposed to understand the pressing challenges confronting universities and develop systemic approaches to address them.

Impacts of organizational restructuring on the health of ambulance drivers from a university hospital. / Impactos da reestruturação organizacional na saúde dos motoristas de ambulância em um hospital universitário.

The transport of patients by ambulance is part of the services offered by a Hospital and its importance lies in facilitating the connection between the institutes involved in patient care. However, a significant amount of complaints about irritability and aggressiveness of drivers was registered after a strategic change in the organizational structure that directly affected these professionals. This study aimed to survey the health issues of ambulance drivers at this hospital, from the reorganization of work, through an ergonomic analysis of work. The data were obtained through observation and interviews with managers, leaders, and drivers of the transport sector of the hospital. The main results found were: 1) the key performance measurement is time, which is a measure that does not consider all variabilities that occur during transport, 2) prescribed work of drivers only considers the task of driving an ambulance, while their real work includes taking care and paying attention to the needs of the patient and other professionals, 3) after the restructuring and centralization of the transport sector, drivers stopped feeling as part of the team of health professionals and started to feel like a "shared service".

O transporte de pacientes por ambulância é parte dos serviços oferecidos pelo hospital e sua importância está na facilitação da conexão entre os institutos envolvidos no cuidado do paciente. No entanto, quantidade significativa de reclamações a respeito da irritabilidade e agressividade dos motoristas foi registrada após reestruturação organizacional que afetou diretamente este grupo de profissionais. O objetivo deste estudo foi fazer um levantamento das questões de saúde dos motoristas de ambulância deste hospital, a partir da reorganização do trabalho, por meio de uma análise ergonômica do trabalho. Os dados foram obtidos por meio de observação da situação de trabalho e entrevistas com gerentes, líderes e motoristas do setor de transporte do hospital. Os principais resultados foram: 1) o principal indicador de desempenho é o tempo,que desconsidera as imprevisibilidades que ocorrem nos trajetos; 2) o trabalho prescrito dos motoristas só considera a tarefa de dirigir a ambulância, mas o trabalho real engloba o cuidado e atenção às necessidades do paciente e de outros profissionais; 3) com a reestruturação e centralização do setor, os motoristas deixaram de se sentir parte do time de profissionais de saúde e passaram a se sentir como um "serviço compartilhado".

Impactos da reestruturação organizacional na saúde dos motoristas de ambulância em um hospital universitário / Impacts of organizational restructuring on the health of ambulance drivers from a university hospital

Resumo O transporte de pacientes por ambulância é parte dos serviços oferecidos pelo hospital e sua importância está na facilitação da conexão entre os institutos envolvidos no cuidado do paciente. No entanto, quantidade significativa de reclamações a respeito da irritabilidade e agressividade dos motoristas foi registrada após reestruturação organizacional que afetou diretamente este grupo de profissionais. O objetivo deste estudo foi fazer um levantamento das questões de saúde dos motoristas de ambulância deste hospital, a partir da reorganização do trabalho, por meio de uma análise ergonômica do trabalho. Os dados foram obtidos por meio de observação da situação de trabalho e entrevistas com gerentes, líderes e motoristas do setor de transporte do hospital. Os principais resultados foram: 1) o principal indicador de desempenho é o tempo,que desconsidera as imprevisibilidades que ocorrem nos trajetos; 2) o trabalho prescrito dos motoristas só considera a tarefa de dirigir a ambulância, mas o trabalho real engloba o cuidado e atenção às necessidades do paciente e de outros profissionais; 3) com a reestruturação e centralização do setor, os motoristas deixaram de se sentir parte do time de profissionais de saúde e passaram a se sentir como um "serviço compartilhado".

Abstract The transport of patients by ambulance is part of the services offered by a Hospital and its importance lies in facilitating the connection between the institutes involved in patient care. However, a significant amount of complaints about irritability and aggressiveness of drivers was registered after a strategic change in the organizational structure that directly affected these professionals. This study aimed to survey the health issues of ambulance drivers at this hospital, from the reorganization of work, through an ergonomic analysis of work. The data were obtained through observation and interviews with managers, leaders, and drivers of the transport sector of the hospital. The main results found were: 1) the key performance measurement is time, which is a measure that does not consider all variabilities that occur during transport, 2) prescribed work of drivers only considers the task of driving an ambulance, while their real work includes taking care and paying attention to the needs of the patient and other professionals, 3) after the restructuring and centralization of the transport sector, drivers stopped feeling as part of the team of health professionals and started to feel like a "shared service".

Organisational and relational factors that influence return to work and job retention: The contribution of activity ergonomics.

BACKGROUND: Work is a determinant of employee health, and the same conditions that contribute to an illness do not favour return to work; consequently, they hinder job retention, other employees can become ill and new leaves are generated. OBJECTIVE: To analyse the nursing technicians work in intensive and semi-intensive care units (ICUs and SICUs) and discuss the influence of organisational and relational factors on return to work and job retention. This study also discusses the contributions of activity ergonomics to these processes. METHOD: Qualitative case study based on ergonomic work analysis (EWA). Data were collected using documentary analyses, and global, systematic, and participant observations involving nursing technicians working in ICUs and SICUs. RESULTS: Task planning and the staff size adjustment to respond to the work demands of these units were ineffective in real-world situations and were aggravated by cases of absenteeism, medical leave, and employees returning to work. CONCLUSIONS: Work structure limits return to work and job retention. An EWA based on the activities developed by professionals is a valid tool for understanding working processes by applying transforming actions to real-world work situations.

Intersetorialidade em saúde e trabalho no contexto atual brasileiro: utopia da realidade? / Intersectorialidad en salud y trabajo en el contexto actual brasileño: ¿utopía de la realidad? / Intersectoriality in health and work in the current brazilian context: the utopia of reality?

O cenário político-econômico-social vivido desde 2015 traz novos desafios e caracterizações para o cuidado integral ao trabalhador. Objetivou-se dar visibilidade à perspectiva de formuladores e gestores de políticas públicas direcionadas ao trabalhador, no que se refere à intersetorialidade, no período de transição entre os três últimos governos. Atores vinculados à saúde do trabalhador (ST) de diferentes instâncias (Saúde, Trabalho, Previdência Social e Justiça) foram entrevistados. Houve um consenso quanto às dificuldades para concretização da prática intersetorial. De modo geral, isso enfraqueceu a construção de uma visão sistêmica do campo e de como um setor, mais do que completar ações do outro, faz parte de um sistema único que objetiva garantir a ST. Trata-se de uma vulnerabilidade do campo que dificultou a construção de estratégias coletivas de resistência frente às reformas trabalhista e previdenciária.(AU)

El escenario político-económico-social vivido desde 2015 presenta nuevos desafíos y caracterizaciones para el cuidado integral al trabajador. El objetivo fue proporcionar visibilidad a la perspectiva de formuladores y gestores de políticas públicas dirigidas al trabajador, en lo que se refiere a la intersectorialidad, en el período de transición entre los tres últimos gobiernos. Fueron entrevistados actores vinculados a la salud del trabajador de diferentes instancias (Salud, Trabajo, Previsión Social y Justicia). Hubo un consenso en relación a las dificultades para llevar a cabo la práctica intersectorial Por lo general, eso debilitó la construcción de una visión sistémica del campo y de como un sector, más que completar las acciones del otro, forma parte de un sistema único cuyo objetivo es asegurar la salud del trabajador. Se trata de una vulnerabilidad del campo que dificultó la construcción de estrategias colectivas de resistencia ante las reformas laboral y de previsión social.(AU)

The social-economic-political scenario since 2015 presents new challenges and characterizations for the worker's comprehensive health care. The aim was to give visibility to the perspective of public policies managers and formulators directed to the worker regarding intersectoriality in the transition period in the last three Brazilian governments. To this end, we interviewed some people from different sectors (Health, Labor, Social Welfare, and Justice) linked to the workers' health. There was a consensus concerning the difficulties faced in implementing intersectoral practice. Overall, this led to the weakening of building a systemic view of the field and of how a sector, rather than completing actions of another one, is part of a single system that aims to ensure the worker's health. This is an issue of the field vulnerability that toughened the construction of collective strategies of resistance to labor and social welfare reforms.(AU)

Brumadinho: entre a prudência e a probabilidade, a tragédia / Brumadinho: between prudence and probability, tragedy

Será possível, em algum momento no futuro, explicar com exatidão o que aconteceu no caso do rompimento da barragem de Brumadinho? Apesar de, muitas vezes, se utilizar a palavra exatidão no mundo da engenharia, sabe-se que, em muitos casos, trata-se de um eufemismo. A arte da engenharia consiste em projetar, construir, implementar e gerenciar diferentes tipos de sistemas que podem trazer consequências tanto positivas como negativas para os trabalhadores, para a sociedade, para o meio ambiente. Aconteceu um evento ou uma sequência de eventos que levou ao rompimento. A engenharia de barragens de rejeitos conhece e é capaz de controlar todos os eventos passiveis de acontecer e que, articulados, podem levar ao rompimento? Há dois caminhos: primeiro, o conhecimento total; a engenharia conheceria tudo e seria capaz de projetar de modo a evitar, com certeza, todos os eventos nocivos. Segundo: a engenharia não conhece a totalidade dos fenômenos, mas sabe que, fazendo como sempre se fez (com o conhecimento empírico) e com margens de segurança grandes, a probabilidade de rompimento se aproxima de zero. Ninguém projeta uma barragem para que ela se rompa. Mas se projeta uma barragem sem dominar na totalidade os eventos que podem ocorrer. Quando se conhece a totalidade da situação, o que deve ser feito para evitar o rompimento é 100% conhecido ­ e precificado. Entretanto, isso nunca acontece, a probabilidade de ocorrência de eventos nunca é completamente conhecida, eles não são determinísticos e a incerteza é um fato.

Will it be possible, sometime in the future, to exactly explain what happened in the dam failure in Brumadinho? Although word "exactness" is often used within the world of engineering, it is often known to be an euphemism. The engineering art consists in projecting, building, implementing and managing different types of systems which might have both positive and negative consequences for workers, society and the environment. Some event or series of events culminated in the dam failure. Is tailings dam engineering aware of and able to control all possible events which together might cause a failure? There are two possible paths: one involves absolute knowledge ­ engineering has absolute knowledge of everything and is able to design projects in a way to avoid any harmful event. According to the other, while engineering does not have absolute knowledge of all the phenomena, its traditional know-how (empirical knowledge) and wide margins of safety make the odds of dam failure come close to zero. No one projects a dam just to fail. But dams are projected without absolute control of all possible events. When the entire situation is known, all that should be done to avoid failures is 100% known ­ and the price fixed. However, this never happens, the probability of the occurence of events are never completely known, they are not deterministic and uncertainty is always a fact.

Brumadinho: between prudence and probability, tragedy.

Will it be possible, sometime in the future, to exactly explain what happened in the dam failure in Brumadinho? Although word "exactness" is often used within the world of engineering, it is often known to be an euphemism. The engineering art consists in projecting, building, implementing and managing different types of systems which might have both positive and negative consequences for workers, society and the environment. Some event or series of events culminated in the dam failure. Is tailings dam engineering aware of and able to control all possible events which together might cause a failure? There are two possible paths: one involves absolute knowledge - engineering has absolute knowledge of everything and is able to design projects in a way to avoid any harmful event. According to the other, while engineering does not have absolute knowledge of all the phenomena, its traditional know-how (empirical knowledge) and wide margins of safety make the odds of dam failure come close to zero. No one projects a dam just to fail. But dams are projected without absolute control of all possible events. When the entire situation is known, all that should be done to avoid failures is 100% known - and the price fixed. However, this never happens, the probability of the occurence of events are never completely known, they are not deterministic and uncertainty is always a fact.

Será possível, em algum momento no futuro, explicar com exatidão o que aconteceu no caso do rompimento da barragem de Brumadinho? Apesar de, muitas vezes, se utilizar a palavra exatidão no mundo da engenharia, sabe-se que, em muitos casos, trata-se de um eufemismo. A arte da engenharia consiste em projetar, construir, implementar e gerenciar diferentes tipos de sistemas que podem trazer consequências tanto positivas como negativas para os trabalhadores, para a sociedade, para o meio ambiente. Aconteceu um evento ou uma sequência de eventos que levou ao rompimento. A engenharia de barragens de rejeitos conhece e é capaz de controlar todos os eventos passiveis de acontecer e que, articulados, podem levar ao rompimento? Há dois caminhos: primeiro, o conhecimento total; a engenharia conheceria tudo e seria capaz de projetar de modo a evitar, com certeza, todos os eventos nocivos. Segundo: a engenharia não conhece a totalidade dos fenômenos, mas sabe que, fazendo como sempre se fez (com o conhecimento empírico) e com margens de segurança grandes, a probabilidade de rompimento se aproxima de zero. Ninguém projeta uma barragem para que ela se rompa. Mas se projeta uma barragem sem dominar na totalidade os eventos que podem ocorrer. Quando se conhece a totalidade da situação, o que deve ser feito para evitar o rompimento é 100% conhecido ­ e precificado. Entretanto, isso nunca acontece, a probabilidade de ocorrência de eventos nunca é completamente conhecida, eles não são determinísticos e a incerteza é um fato.

Estudo do trabalho em Núcleos de Apoio à Saúde da Família (NASF), São Paulo, Brasil / Work study in Family Health Support Centers (NASF), São Paulo, Brazil

Objetivo: buscou-se identificar as principais tarefas realizadas em dois Núcleos de Apoio à Saúde da Família (NASFs) de uma região da cidade de São Paulo e conhecer como os seus profissionais desenvolviam suas atividades para atingir os seus objetivos. Métodos: estudo de caso, inspirado na Ergonomia da Atividade e no método da Análise Ergonômica do Trabalho (AET). Resultados: constatou-se que o trabalho do NASF é caracterizado pela variabilidade de tarefas que são compartilhadas entre as equipes envolvidas. São adotados distintos arranjos organizacionais, caracterizados pelos espaços de reunião, participação em comissões e grupos, além da subdivisão da equipe para representação do Núcleo nesses espaços. Os indicadores de produtividade utilizados não contemplam a especificidade do trabalho. Os recursos físicos e materiais são insuficientes para a realização das tarefas. Conclusões: o NASF e as equipes da Estratégia Saúde da Família devem trabalhar juntas, porém há diferenças significativas que interferem nessa parceria: prioridades, ferramentas de trabalho, modelos de gestão e de atuação. Os resultados evidenciam potencialidades e desafios enfrentados no cotidiano de trabalho e permitem aprofundar o conhecimento sobre a realidade da operacionalização de ações relacionadas a políticas públicas na atenção primária à saúde.

Objective: the purpose was to identify the key tasks performed at two Family Health Support Centers (NASF) in São Paulo city, Brazil, and to understand how their professionals performed their activities to achieve their goals. Methods: this case study was inspired by the Activity Ergonomics and the method of Ergonomic Work Analysis (EWA). Results: The findings show that the work at the NASF is characterized by variable tasks that are shared among the teams involved. Different organizational arrangements are adopted according to available resources as meeting space, participation in committees and groups, as well subgroups to represent the Center in these spaces. Productivity indicators used did not contemplate the tasks specificity. The financial and material resources are scarce to perform the tasks. Conclusions: the NASF and the Family Health Team have to work together; however, there are significant differences that interfere with this partnership: priorities, work instruments, and management and activity models. The results demonstrate potentialities and challenges faced in the daily work and enable deeper knowledge on the reality of actions implementation related to public policies on primary health care.

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 193 call center, a meaningful public service!

This article is the first part of an on-going ergonomic work analysis with the emergency services call center set up by the Fire Department of the Military Police of São Paulo. The final objective of the research is to identify the prescribed task, the real work executed and strategies used by workers to meet the demands of the job. Starting by identifying the tasks and activities developed, this article analyzes the work of the emergency services call center which is of vital importance to the organizational structure, since it is the start point for the process that results in fulfilling the corporation's mission.

The use of participant-observation protocol in an industrial engineering research.

Based on literature, this article aims to present the "participant-observation' research protocol, and its practical application in the industrial engineering field, more specifically within the area of design development, and in the case shown by this article, of interiors' design. The main target is to identify the concept of the method, i.e., from its characteristics to structure a general sense about the subject, so that the protocol can be used in different areas of knowledge, especially those ones which are committed with the scientific research involving the expertise from researchers, and subjective feelings and opinions of the users of an engineering product, and how this knowledge can be benefic for product design, contributing since the earliest stage of design.

An approach to aircraft seat comfort using interface pressure mapping.

The objective of the present study is to propose a method to dynamically evaluate discomfort of a passenger seat by measuring the interface pressure between the occupant and the seat during the performance of the most common activities of a typical flight. This article reports the results of resting and reading studies performed in a simulator that represents the interior of a commercial aircraft.

The use of thermal manikin to evaluate interface pressure distribution.

The use of a thermal buttocks manikin was explored as a tool to standardize the evaluation of seat comfort. Thermal manikin buttocks were developed and calibrated thermally and anatomically to simulate the sensible heat transfer of a seated person and used to evaluate interface pressure distribution. In essence, the pressure maps of manikin buttocks with and without heating were compared to those of a seated person. The results of average pressure demonstrated that the thermal manikins have a better response in interface pressure measurement than manikins without heating.

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.