Interfaces entre trabalho, carga mental e qualidade de vida, dos operadores de estações de tratamento de água

Abstract

This study of concomitant mixed methods, converging broad numerical tendencies and detailed conceptions, aimed to analyze the mental load and the quality of life and its relation with socioeconomic aspects, under the emphasis of health promotion in the work environment. Through the use of three different instruments: the Socioeconomic Questionnaire, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA-TLX) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire abbreviated (WHOQOL-bref), we sought a better understanding of the problem, evaluating the relation between age, gender, time in the job, time to perform meals, place of work, social level (independent variables) and mental requirement, level of achievement, level of frustration, social support, self-perception of quality of life and health (dependent variables). The analysis had as target audience the operators of water treatment plants in a sanitation company of the State of Espírito Santo, seeking to prioritize aspects that affect the relationship between the working environment and living conditions, in favor of health promotion , since the job performed by these workers has high perceptual-cognitive demand and great social and environmental responsibility, demanding that the tasks be performed effectively. The results indicated, in general, that the mental load was considered high for a specific group, and especially for the women, who also presented a higher level of frustration, in addition, self-perception of quality of life was high for the large group majority of respondents, but the group with the highest schooling presented the worst result. The values obtained also indicate that achievement levels with work performance were satisfactory, and that older respondents feel more satisfied with the social support they receive. It was observed the influence of social and environmental factors on the results achieved, pointing out possible ways to promote health in the work environment and indicating the need for more in-depth studies on certain aspects and their effects on workers' health.