Work of gravediggers and health.
Gravediggers have death as object of their work. Their activities are painful, physically and mental demanding, as well as unhealthy. Literature is scarce about this theme. The aim of this study is to evaluate gravediggers' work activities and health consequences. The methodological frame which guided this study was Dejours' psychic suffering and its association with the psychodynamic aspects of work. Data collection took place in April-May 2011 in one public and one private cemetery of São Paulo, Brazil. Four male workers, aged between 45 to 60 years old were interviewed. Their work activities were observed during a workday. Participants reported their life dreams, defense mechanisms and frustration. The discourse of gravediggers showed serious problems associated to physical and mental demands, public invisibility and/ or social devaluation of work. The most important physical symptom was body pain. In spite this is a preliminary study, it was possible to raise a number of work stressors and health outcomes of gravediggers, an "invisible" worker of our society.
Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Public Health of the University of São Paulo, 715 Dr. Arnaldo Av, São Paulo, Brazil. fernandogustavo.ps@hotmail.com
Fernando
F
Pinheiro
Frida Marina
FM
Fischer
Claudio José
CJ
Cobianchi
D001938:Brazil; D055699:Cemeteries; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017149:Private Sector / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017150:Public Sector / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011788:Quality of Life; D017751:Safety Management; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance / Q000523:psychology*; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology / Q000592:standards