Portuguese dockworkers – Work organization and accidents

Abstract

Risks are ubiquitous in the workplace and represent important collective health problems. In certain professions the risks are of greater severity, as in the case of dockers. This article presents work accidents in the Portuguese ports of Lisbon, Figueira da Foz and Sines, aiming to understand the relationship between accidents and the way work is organized based on the workers' understanding. A questionnaire was applied containing questions related to work organization and work accidents. The sample included 140 dockers. The data were subject to descriptive analysis and chi-square test (p <0.05). The work accident with dockers was associated with a strict control requirement (p = 0.005) and the condition of having experienced a work incident (p = 0.003). The dockers mention that they do not feel safe at work and report the size of the daily demands at the port. The research also intends to contribute to the construction of health policies for port workers. Therefore, listening to the worker about incident reports allowed us to understand the dimension of work in the port and the various factors that can determine an accident.