Psicología de la salud ocupacional sesion 1 aug 2

Psicología de la salud ocupacionalSesión 1

Docente: Mg. fernando [email protected]

Presentación personalPresentación del cursoExpectativas de los asistentesContexto de la psicología de la

salud ocupacionalContexto de la SO en el mundo

Psicología de la Salud Ocupacional

En 1966 el Departamento de Servicios Salud Pública de Estados Unidos de Norteamérica reconoce el tema de la organización del trabajo y el estrés como una preocupación creciente en las áreas de la seguridad y salud ocupacional.

Años 70’s - 27ª Asamblea Mundial de la Salud, un sector de investigadores a nivel mundial seguía inquieto ante ciertos aspectos psicológicos de orden laboral que influían en la salud y seguridad de los trabajadores.

Tomado de: Juarez –García, A (2007) PSICOLOGÍA DE LA SALUD OCUPACIONAL: ÁREA DE OPORTUNIDAD EN MÉXICO. Revista Salud pública y Nutrición, Vol 8 Numero 3. consultado en http://www.respyn.uanl.mx/viii/3/editorial/editorial.htm


1984 el Comité Mixto de la Organización Mundial de la Salud y la Organización Internacional del Trabajo (OIT/OMS) examinó de forma sistemática los progresos en la investigación de los factores psicosociales en la salud de los trabajadores; concluyó que tales factores representan diversos y variados aspectos de orden psicológico y social que influyen de manera importante en la salud y el rendimiento laboral. Recomendó su estrecha vigilancia y prevención en los centros de trabajo a nivel mundial.

1990, APA y el Instituto Nacional de Salud y Seguridad Ocupacional (NIOSH) se unen para promover el nuevo campo de “Psicología de la Salud Ocupacional”, el que reconocen formalmente ambas instituciones y consideran como una prioridad en sus acciones.


La Psicología de la Salud Ocupacional se refiere a la aplicación de la psicología para mejorar la calidad de vida laboral y proteger y promover la seguridad, salud y bienestar de los trabajadores (NIOSH, 2007).

La Academia Europea de Psicología de la Salud Ocupacional define el campo como: “la aplicación de los principios y prácticas de la psicología aplicada a los problemas de la salud ocupacional: el estudio de los aspectos psicológicos, sociológicos y organizacionales de la dinámica de la relación entre el trabajo y la salud”.


Aunque el origen del campo se ubica en los terrenos de la salud ocupacional, diversas disciplinas integran su alcance:

psicología social, de la salud y organizacional, salud pública, epidemiología, medicina, estudios organizacionales, ergonomía, sociología, ingeniería industrial y ambiental, antropología, e incluso economía, entre otras.


Los temas centrales del enfoque de este campo son:

factores psicosociales del trabajo

estrés laboral salud mental

bienestar psicológico

calidad de vida de los trabajadores

factores organizacionales del trabajo


Su misión consiste en el estudio, detección, vigilancia, intervención y principalmente prevención, de todos los mecanismos y aspectos relacionados a estos indicadores.

Su aplicación puede ser a nivel organizacional (carácter y contenido del trabajo, diseño y prácticas organizacionales) para mejorar ambientes laborales saludables; o también a nivel individual (aptitudes, creencias, etc.), para capacitar a los trabajadores en la promoción y desarrollo de su bienestar, salud y seguridad.

Contexto de la Salud Ocupacional en el mundo

There are more than 250 million work-related accidents every year. Workplace hazards and exposures cause over 160 million workers to fall ill annually, while it has been estimated that more than 1.2 million workers die as a result of occupational accidents and diseases.

It is estimated that the annual losses resulting from work-related diseases and injuries, in terms of compensation, lost work-days, interruptions of production, training and retraining, medical expenses, and so on, routinely amount to over 4 per cent of the total gross national product (GNP) of all the countries in the world:


The annual cost of accidents in the manufacturing sector of the United States alone is more than US$190 billion.

The direct cost of work accidents and diseases is € 56 billion per year in Germany and € 40 billion in Norway.

According to the European Agency for Safety and Health, the loss to GNP caused by workplace accidents and work-related ill health in European Union Member States is in the range of 2.6 to 3.8 per cent.

Tomado de: Alli, Benjamin O.. Fundamental Principles of Occupational Health & Safety. Geneva 22, , CHE: International Labour Office Bureau International du Travail, 2001. p 7 - 12. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/bibliotecafuaa/Doc?id=10001991&ppg=12 Copyright © 2001. International Labour Office Bureau International du Travail. All rights reserved.


The main health and safety agency in the United Kingdom, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), has developed a methodology to calculate the costs of workplace accidents and ill health to: individuals; employers; society as a whole. The study revealed that, the costs were:

For employers: 4- 8 % of gross trading profits For the society: 2 – 2.6 % of gross domestic product


Countries :The incidence of workplace fatalities varies enormously between countries.

There appears to be a significant difference between developed and developing countries:

a factory worker in Pakistan is eight times more likely to be killed at work than a factory worker in France;

fatalities amongst transport workers in Kenya are ten times those in Denmark;

construction workers in Guatemala are six times more likely to die at work than their counterparts in Switzerland.


Economic sectors : Occupational health and safety performance varies significantly between economic sectors within countries. Statistical data show that agriculture, forestry, mining and construction take the lead in the incidence of occupational deaths worldwide.

The ILO’s SafeWork Programme has estimated, for example, that tropical logging accidents cause 300 deaths per 100,000 workers. In other words, three out of every 1,000 workers engaged in tropical logging die.

Certain occupations and sectors, such as meat packaging and mining, have high rates of workrelated diseases, including fatal occupational diseases.


Sizes of enterprise: Generally, small workplaces have a worse safety record than large ones. It seems that the rate of fatal and serious injuries in small workplaces (less than 50 employees) is twice that in large workplaces (defined as those with more than 200 employees).


Groups at particular risk: Some groups either seem to be particularly at risk or their specific problems are overlooked.

Health and safety is male dominated. 86% of Health and Safety Inspectors are male. Resources are traditionally invested far more on “male” industries, rather than areas of industry where women work. Safety standards are based on the model of a male worker. Tasks and equipment are designed for male body size and shape.

Another group that should be considered are contract workers, whose accident rate is on average twice that of permanent workers. Many employers seem to believe that by subcontracting certain tasks, they subcontract their safety responsibilities.


Groups at particular risk: Some groups either seem to be particularly at risk or their specific problems are overlooked.

Drivers are particularly at risk. International estimates suggest that between 15 and 20 per cent of fatalities caused by road accidents are suffered by people in the course of their work, but these deaths are treated as road traffic accidents rather than work-related fatalities.

Psicología de la salud ocupacional sesion 1 aug 2

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