Contributions and conditions of structured debates on work on safety construction

Debate on work as a way to generate health, safety and efficiency in the sociotechnical system has been the object of much research in recent years. Few studies, however, have developed concrete cases of the effects of the debates on work. This article shows an action-research carried out in an electricity distribution enterprise immersed in the logic of "organizational silence", in which workers are able to declare risk situations experienced in the field. In view of this and in order to build an effective safety system, a "structured debate on work" was developed, the organization of debate spaces rooted in the power of action of its members, at different levels of the enterprise. This is an alternative way of assessing and modelling risk by using the knowledge and capabilities of workers in a process of organizational learning. The results show the systemic contributions and the necessary conditions for the discussion about the work to generate safety for the sociotechnical system. Viewed from this perspective, an effective safety management system is one that articulates past experience, current debate and likely future situations to generate systems capable of anticipating and preventing risk situations.