The surveillance of work environments and processes in the prevention of Covid-19 in Bahia

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the workplaces surveillance has focused on prevention and control measures to avoid situations that may favor spreading the biological risk in workplaces. This study describes the interventions made by the Worker's Health Care and Surveillance State Office (Divast/Cesat) aimed at preventing Covid-19 cases in the workplace, in the state of Bahia. This is a descriptive study based on the reports of inspections conducted by Divast/Cesat since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Inspection script and notification forms were produced as guides for identification and indication of situations and risk factors for Covid-19. The interventions covered several productive branches and in all of them, several situations were identified that could contribute to the spread of Covid-19 in workplaces, such as insufficient number of collective preventive measures to protect against the SARS-Cov-2 virus namely masks and 70% alcohol gel; disrespect to the recommended minimum distance; lack of protocols or contingency plans to guide the work process in this new reality, among other problems. Based on these findings, protective measures were recommended to correct the inadequacies and, thus, contain or prevent the incidence of Covid-19 cases in workplaces.