Workers’ Health Surveillance from managers’ and decision-makers’ perspectives

Abstract

Objective: to analyze the implementation of Workers’ Health Surveillance (WHS) at a regional level, from managers’ and decision-makers’ perspectives. Methods: descriptive-exploratory study with a qualitative approach performed in two steps (1) documental analysis related to Workers’ Health legislation; (2) semi-structured interviews with 15 managers and decision-makers, that were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by thematic analysis. Results: documental analysis found six documents, with three related to WHS and three related to actions interfacing Workers’ Health. Seven categories were found in the speeches: Legal aspects of Workers’ Health; Implementation of WHS actions; Communication and information flows of WHS; Roles and competencies related to Workers’ Health in the Brazilian Unified Health System; Articulation among sectors involved in WHS; Role of the Regional Center of Reference in Workers’ Health; and Relevance of social control and union participation for WHS implementation. Conclusion: this study shows flaws in the WHS consolidation, including non-articulation of involved sectors, fragmented actions, lack of defined roles and competencies, and lack of knowledge about Workers’ Health care by the actors involved in its consolidation.