Safety and health in the rural work environment of Alto Jequitinhonha, Minas Gerais

Abstract

The objective was to verify safety and health aspects of rural workers who carry out their activities in two municipalities in Alto Jequitinhonha, State of Minas Gerais, through the application of an opinion survey. A representative sample of 60 rural properties was defined, covering the municipalities of Diamantina and Couto de Magalhães de Minas. A questionnaire with open and closed questions was applied to each rural property. The survey was characterized by exploratory, descriptive, explanatory and opinion research. The most frequent accident was with sharp or penetrating objects (28.3%). About 66.7% of these rural workers said that they hardly perform medical examinations and 51.7% of them do not use personal protective equipment. The results show that 26.7% do not know the Regulatory Standard 31 and 40% of the workers do not know the risks of their activity. In addition, it was reported that problems related to the spine occur in 41.7% of cases. In the workplace, 46.7% of rural workers wish to have greater availability of protective equipment. Based on this study, a new approach to this topic in the region is suggested, with a larger set of data and new variables that interfere in the producers' daily lives.