Unicamp and Public Ministry of Labor assess the health of motorcycle couriers

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Long hours, lack of labor rights, inadequate food and hydration are predominant characteristics of motorcycle couriers' work. To understand the health conditions of the category, an action is being carried out by Unicamp in partnership with the Public Ministry of Labor (MPT). In addition to identifying possible illnesses and referring workers for diagnosis and treatment, the assessment can support policies to improve working conditions for this category.

The action is being carried out with the support of Adunicamp and STU
The action is being carried out with the support of Adunicamp and STU

The health status assessment has been carried out since January 26th, at Unicamp. The goal is to evaluate 200 motorcycle couriers, who can also schedule an appointment via WhatsApp (Access the number). The action is carried out on the Campinas campus and has the support of the Unicamp Teachers' Association (Adunicamp) and the Unicamp Workers' Union (STU).

At the University, health professionals perform a covid-19 test and check the vaccination schedule. If it is incomplete, the motorcycle courier receives information to update the immunization. Afterwards, blood pressure is measured and a blood sample is collected. The blood glucose result is obtained instantly and, within five minutes, the hematocrit results come out. 

The next step is an interview, in which the worker answers questions related to working hours, eating habits and health conditions. Finally, the motorcycle courier is seen by a psychologist, who carries out tests to assess his level of attention. The entire circuit takes around an hour. Workers receive a fuel voucher to compensate for time not worked.

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The doctor and director of the Executive Directorate of Human Rights, Sílvia Santiago: category with few rights, with little security

The action stems from a partnership between Unicamp and MPT that strengthened in 2020 as part of actions to combat the pandemic. At the beginning of 2021, through Unicamp's Covid-19 Task Force, tests were carried out among workers. “They have become essential to people's lives, especially for the most vulnerable, such as the elderly. They were the ones who brought food and medicine. And at the same time it is a category with few rights, with little security. We did the testing because they were putting themselves in danger by visiting people”, says the doctor and director of the Executive Directorate of Human Rights, Sílvia Santiago.

But, in addition to mapping those whose tests were positive for Covid-19, it was noticed that there were clinical conditions that could be linked to the high rate of accidents among the category, notes the professor. At the time, almost 40% of workers reported having suffered some type of serious accident, not necessarily due to carelessness.

“We think that there are more things than that, that the work regime itself, that the working condition itself and that the need to work incessantly end up being factors that can cause accidents. They have a very heavy routine. Their time is literally money and it's survival money, not profit money, and that's why they don't stop. We realized that there were clinical issues to be addressed and we decided to take this action further”, says Santiago.

Nurse Adilton Leite (on the left) and psychologist Matheus Rocha: contribution from the University with subsidies
Nurse Adilton Leite (on the left) and psychologist Matheus Rocha: contribution from the University with subsidies for public policies

Dehydration and high blood pressure

The team involved in the action, made up of doctors, nurses and nursing technicians, has not yet carried out a global analysis of the data, which will only be possible after the evaluation has been completed. However, they have been finding signs of dehydration, high blood pressure and high blood sugar among motorcycle couriers. If there is a change in blood pressure and blood glucose, the worker is advised to seek the health center closest to their residence for diagnosis and treatment. Some have already given feedback to the team about the continuation of the exams.

“For those who have altered blood sugar and blood pressure, something that is quite common in this group, we check it upon arrival and also upon departure. Once [the change] was confirmed, we referred [the patient] to a health service to carry out a diagnosis and follow-up”, says nurse Adilton Leite, one of those responsible for the action.

He comments that there are some hypotheses for these changes, such as stress, obesity, poor diet and lack of physical exercise. “All of this appears in the questionnaire. If we analyze the data from each station, one [data] talks to the other. For example, one of the reasons for high hematocrit is dehydration, as they do not have adequate working conditions and do not drink fluids properly.” 

After the end of the action and with the analysis of the data, which will be combined with research from other areas, such as sociology and labor economics, Leite hopes that the University can contribute by providing subsidies “to establish policies to protect the health of workers in this category".

Guilt and wear

With psychologists, motorcycle couriers take tests that mainly assess the level of attention. “The idea is to make a correlation with dehydration and what can cause accidents”, explains psychologist Matheus Rocha.

In addition to exhaustion and dehydration, which can compromise attention, he highlights that the characteristics of the profession often generate some type of suffering. “They are usually very tired and dehydrated. They sometimes blame themselves for being in these conditions and don't have space to think about the suffering, the tiredness and the fact that they don't have time for their family,” he notes.

For Rocha, this is a type of work that has made people sick and a change in this situation requires a “reevaluation of employment contracts so that they can have rest time and quality of life”.

Motorcycle couriers Dionata Rocha and Alan Barbosa
Dionata Rocha (left) and Alan Barbosa: labor reform favored the expansion of informality 

Uberized professions

The number of delivery people and drivers for such services in Brazil grew by almost 1.000% between 2016 and 2021. The labor reform, which favored the expansion of informality and precarious occupations, added to the dissemination of applications and the increase in unemployment, is among the reasons for this scenario. Due to the absence of labor rights, the need to establish regulatory parameters for the so-called Uberized professions, which are the means of livelihood for many Brazilians, is being discussed. 

For motorcycle courier and Physiotherapy student Alan Barbosa, the profession is what allows him to pay his undergraduate tuition and living costs. “[Reconciling work and study] has been exhausting, but I consider it to be productive. I find this action interesting and it would be good if they continued because, as we know, the motorcycle courier leaves in the morning, only arrives at night, sometimes he doesn't have a good diet, it rains, the sun shines and this affects his health a little.” 

The opportunity to check his health status was what led him to take action at Unicamp, in the same way as in the case of Dionata Rocha. “It’s important [the University] cares about class,” says he, who has been a motorcycle courier for two years. Rocha also talks about how he sees the profession. “What I like is the pay, because the more we work, the more we earn. But it could improve, have support points, with bathrooms distributed in some fixed points exclusive to motorcycle couriers and [places where they could] get a drink of water.”

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Long hours, lack of labor rights, inadequate food and hydration are predominant characteristics of motorcycle couriers' work

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