The health preservation at pathogenic work context: a case study in the still manufacturing

Resumen

The article intends to foster the discussion on the relationship between health and work, from a diagnosis of the causes of workers removal from a steel company of Minas Gerais. Its main goal was to clarify the strategies that allow some workers to preserve their health, although they are inserted in a context of pathogenic work. The in-depth interview was the instrument used in the collection of data. The results showed that workers who managed to keep their job and health at the same time, built, through their professional experience accumulated throughout their labor history, confronting strategies of "management by fear", which came to be used by the company after its privatization. It was observed that they focus on quality instead of quantity, being the good quality of their work a way to guarantee their jobs. In General, they do not fear resignation, which represented an important element in the preservation of health. In its conclusions, the article warns of the danger of making reductionism as attributing the illness or the health preservation to the personal characteristics of the worker. It proposes that the work organization should be perceived as a space whose role is important in the health/disease process