Psychosocial risks: new scenarios of labor organization and its effect on the health of dockworkers at a port in chile

The port activity is developed within a context where the health of the workers is constantly exposed, giving the multiple dangerous situations that this activity entails. Is in this context that the high demands that the organization requires traduced in the constant pressure to mobilize the most amount of load and achieve with the productivity requirements, added to the interpersonal relations, the workload, the realization of the task, among others; might affect the development of the task, like, as well, the health of the worker, this is known like psychosocial risk. The objective of this research is to determine the level of psychosocial risks at the workplace of members in different areas at a port in the north of Chile. A descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out on 298 workers, who were selected through a non-probability based sampling. An abridged version of the SUSESO ISTAS -21 (instrument provided by the government of Chile), was applied. Regarding the sections in which workers perform their duties, the highest percentage corresponded to operational staff with a 45.3% (135) and the lowest to management and administration with a 9.1% (27). Significant statistical differences between the areas were found in the dimensions of psychological requirements, active work & skill development, and compensation. For future research and interventions, it is recommended to incorporate qualitative work methodologies to do a more detailed analysis. Data suggests that port workers have high exposure to psychosocial risks in their workplace.