Larissa Araújo, Agecom/UFRN.
The Applied Psychology Service of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (Sepa/UFRN), linked to the Center for Human Sciences, Letters and Arts (CCHLA), is carrying out the eighth edition of the project that aims to expand knowledge, disseminate studies and mediate dialogues about psychosocial risks at work. Started in September, the action, which this edition has as its title Assessment and Psychosocial Support at Work, plays the game of perception of psychosocial risks at work.
The project strengthens community participation in discussions on the topic and, as a result, increases social awareness about psychosocial risks and the possibility of prevention. It also seeks community participation (students, teachers, administrative technicians, city professionals interested in the topic) in actions that seek to promote this awareness, contributing to the construction of critical thinking about the University's curricular practices.
The action seeks to promote compliance with demands aimed at the well-being and health of workers, primarily, arising from the public administration, especially aimed at the academic and administrative units of UFRN and with their differentiated work relationships (RJU, CLT employees, outsourced workers, scholarship holders, interns).
Psychology and social work students who participate in the project acquire professional knowledge that helps their training when dealing with psychosocial risks in work environments. Therefore, the intention is to develop actions to strengthen the knowledge of all actors involved, from those aimed at each specific audience (students, employees or professionals from different institutions) and also actions that unite all categories.
The proposed actions include health promotion activities for UFRN employees that contribute to reducing the risks or effects of damage and improving working conditions. They also propose the dissemination of techniques that promote debates and awareness of the importance of this topic, whether through conversation circles, online or in person, with a reduced number of people, in which internal and external communities will be able to benefit from knowledge about the psychosocial aspects of the work, also generating the effect of health promotion.
In 2022, still without registration as an extension activity, the project has already carried out twelve actions aimed at the internal public, including outsourced workers, as well as the public external to UFRN. Sepa psychologist, Anuska Alencar, says that, by collaborating with the well-being of the institution's external and outsourced community, the action increases the need to be maintained as an extension activity. “The activities consist of assessing physical health, especially by monitoring blood pressure, and discussions about psychosocial risks at work, using an instrument creating in another edition of this project, the game of perception of psychosocial risks at work”, he explains.
For her, the area of health and safety at work has been developing studies on the importance of preventing accidents for the health and productive life of workers, paying attention to existing risks, whether chemical, biological or due to other environmental factors. “However, psychosocial risks are not seen with as much clarity or importance when thinking about the relationship between work and health”, highlights Anuska.
Departments that are interested in requesting project actions for their employees should contact the Quality of Life Program of the Dean of People Management (Progesp/UFRN), through this link.
Quality of Life Project at Comunica/UFRN Photo: Project collection