This paper aims to analyze musculoskeletal pain as an expression of the imbalance between human capabilities and methods of work organization. Through the combination of epidemiological results and Ergonomic Work Analysis (EWA) this paper discusses the effects of labor precarization, using the strategy to combine these two methodological approaches, promising to interdisciplinary dialogue. 14 plastic factories in the metropolitan region of Salvador were characterized, through the study of their functioning and production organization; the epidemiological component in a cross section used a random sample of 557 workers in the sector and EWA ocurred in the finishing sectonr of one of the factories. One noticed changes in the organization of production that occurred at the expense of work intensification, with acceleration of the rhythm of workers, while they performed tasks with strength, repetition and abnormal postures. Excessive use of the body allowed to understand the emergence and maintenance of pain, which prevalence revealed a huge number of workers required to continue working under the same conditions that generated their suffering.
intensification of work; musculoskeletal disorders; pain; precarization; RSI
