Percepção sobre risco e medidas de prevenção de doenças e acidentes na colecta de resíduos sólidos – caso dos Catadores da Lixeira de Hulene

Abstract

In this paper we analyze perceptions of risk and measures to prevent diseases and accidents among waste pickers at the Hulene B dump, Maputo City. From the literature consulted on perceptions of risk and measures to prevent diseases and work accidents in solid waste collection we identified two perspectives. A first perspective analyses the causes of the increase in solid waste (the factor responsible for waste picking). This perspective associates the increase in solid waste with economic factors such as the development of trade, modern marketing strategies related to new product launches the launching of new products, the creation of increasingly sophisticated packaging sophisticated and to population growth in urban contexts (Gouveia, 2012; Mertanen, Langa and Ferrari, 2013; Monteiro, 1995; Magalhaes, 2004; Oliveira et. Al 2011). The second perspective looks at issues of the work environment. This perspective captures the relevance of waste pickers and how they best define their environment and strategies for survival (Douglas, 1976; Calderoni, 2003; Galdino and Malysz, 2012; Sperber, 1992; Sosniski, 2006). Unlike the two approaches mentioned above: approaching the issue of waste with a focus either on the causes of the increase in solid waste or on the labour context, in this ethnographic work focuses on waste pickers' perceptions of risk, an approach that approach that other approaches leave out. In this ethnographic work we understand that: first, waste pickers do this work as a means of survival and survival and to support their families. Furthermore, because they cannot find "decent" jobs "and for not wanting to opt for criminality, they continue their lives doing this work of waste picking. Second, that the collectors of solid waste are aware of the risks and accidents that may arise from their activity. However, the idea of risk and occupational However, the idea of risk and accident at work is not necessarily a factor that prohibits them from being in risky places. This observation refers us to Douglass (1976), who sees risk and danger as being products of social construction and managed by individuals within their social context or structure of a specific group. (TRADUÇAO NOSSA)