Risco invisível: um estudo sobre a subjetividade dos trabalhadores do setor elétrico

Abstract

The research presents different aspects about the subjectivity of an employee who works in the construction of power lines. This is a cause study conducted at an Electric Company, located in Garibaldi-RS, Brazil, which used focus groups, interviews, document analysis and field diaries as strategies for data collection. We use a semantic natured way of content analysis, proposed by Laurence Bardin. We discuss theoretically the reality of work in contemporary capitalism, the subjective constitution of the worker in the midst of invisible risk, the relation of time with work and the issues surrounding the specifications of the electricity sector after the recent privatizations. The themes were developed based on theories of Chrispothe Dejours, and also on a Marxist perspective of understanding the work. Also using the theory of Anthony Giddens, we treat the concept of risk in a broad way, spanning both the exposure to electricity and the subjective relations surrounding the work, including power and hierarchy in the company. Important linkers were the theoretical concepts of ontological security and basic trust proposed by Giddens. The main results point to the adoption, by the companies, regarding the need for speed, which accelerates the actions of workers and exacerbates the risk production. We underline the cooperation (or the lack of) as an important indicator in understanding the relationship between staff and the risk, revealing the political dimension of the problem and the mobilization of workers as an important path to be developed in the search for the strengthening of action that ensure better security conditions for workers.