Balancing Work and Sustainability: A Path Forward for Meeting Future Challenges
The 19th Ergonomics Day at the Polytechnic School (Poli) of USP will have the theme of Ergonomics and the Sustainable Development Goals . The event, on the 26th and 27th of September, is promoted by the Department of Production Engineering, with the support of Instituto Trabalho.
Uiara Bandineli Montedo, professor at the Department of Production Engineering at Poli and one of the coordinators of the Journey, explains the relationship between the event’s theme and its applications in everyday life. Every year, the event organizers propose a theme, and the speakers and guests reflect on the theme. The idea in suggesting this year’s theme, according to Uiara, is to encourage discussion about work and the act of working, from different perspectives of areas of knowledge, in a scenario in which concerns about sustainability increasingly stand out and become align with the objectives of the United Nations (UN).
Goal number 8, proposed by the UN and entitled Decent Work and Economic Growth, seeks to protect labor rights and promote safe work environments – which is the heart of the work analysis that ergonomics promotes. “Working safely is the right of all workers and we see some sectors where accidents occur very frequently, such as the construction sector. So, our vision in the engineering area is to work on projects that can promote decent working conditions. Furthermore, the teacher highlights that the questions address not only physical illness, but also mental illness.
Planetary Health
The table on this topic has a research group that has been developing studies in this area. Planetary Health, as Uiara explains, is part of Life Engineering, one of the supra-departmental strategic areas defined by the Polytechnic School.
During the lecture, there will be the participation of professor Antônio Saraiva, coordinator of the Saúde Planetária Brasil group – which is currently housed at the Institute of Advanced Studies (IEA) at USP, professor Aline Martins de Carvalho, from the Faculty of Public Health (FSP), who will address food systems and multidimensional indicators of sustainability of these systems, and Professor Uiara Bandineli Montedo, who will link planetary health and ergonomics in the context of food systems.
The specialist explains that her speech will recount an experience, carried out in partnership with Embrapa Alimentos e Território de Alagoas, regarding the cassava production chain. The study was carried out together with the boleiras of Alagoas, who are women – mostly – who make traditional cakes and use an oven that is an inheritance from past generations.
“We carried out training, and what I identified in this work was that these ovens have a very precarious configuration, which has a series of consequences for the health of these workers. They don’t have a chimney, so all the smoke – which is toxic – comes directly into the eyes and lungs of these balls”, he points out.
The workers, together with the support of municipal authorities, managed to renovate these ovens and build new ones, which improved the working conditions of these women. The project is also a way for the University to apply its studies in practice and actively contribute to society.
The professor adds that the table, in addition to the connection with SDG 8, also addresses Goal 2 – Zero Hunger and Sustainable Agriculture –, which seeks, by 2030, to double agricultural productivity and the income of small food producers, particularly indigenous women. , family farmers and fishermen.
Certificate
Entry is free and anyone interested in the topic can participate. The event issues a certificate of participation and you must register via the website https://jornadadeergonomia.wixsite.com/poliusp to obtain it. On the 26th, the lectures will only be held online and will be broadcast, via YouTube, on the Poli Production Engineering Department channel. On the 27th, the event will be held in person, at the Professor Francisco Romeu Landi Auditorium, Travessa 3, located at Avenida Professor Luciano Gualberto, 380, on Campus Butantã, São Paulo, and will also be broadcast on YouTube.