A síndrome de Burnout como consequência dos riscos psicossociais laborais e os caminhos para a sua prevenção sob a ótica do direito ambiental do trabalho

Abstract

The high emotional, physical and psychological demand existent in the professional environment, with the growing pressure for greater rates of productivity and achievement of increasingly higher goals, is one of the problems currently experienced by most workers. Among the consequences of the submission to these ways of work, there is the development of several problems related to mental health of the person who works, among them the burnout syndrome. Also known as syndrome of professional exhaustion, such disturb has occupational nature, characterizing itself by the multiplicity of symptoms regarding the physical, physic and emotional condition of the affected person. The term “burnout”, from English language, can be translated as “to burn completely”, expression that alludes to the total exhaustion of the person affected by the syndrome. As said, it is developed in the work environment as a result of the exposure to determined labor psychosocial risks, resulting in the emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal fulfillment of the affected individual. The extremely high incidence of the disorder in Brazil is a cause for concern, as it is estimated that it currently affects about 1/3 of the economically active population in the country, which demonstrates the need to adopt more effective instruments for preventing the syndrome. Thus, the main objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between the imbalance in the work environment and the development of burnout syndrome, as well as to identify which psychosocial risk factors favor the emergence of the disorder in question and to point out the legal mechanisms that can – and should – be used to prevent their occurrence. The investigation of that object was carried out from the perspective of environmental labor law. Among the specific objectives were the delimitation of the fundamental right to a balanced work environment; the finding of the relationship of a healthy work environment with the maintenance of the worker's physical, psychological and emotional integrity; the study of legal protection for mental health at work; the verification of the most relevant aspects about the burnout syndrome; and the survey of strategies for the prevention of the worker's mental illness, through the guarantee of a more balanced, healthy and safe working environment for those who live in it. The intended investigation led to the conclusion that the emergence of burnout syndrome is directly related to the absence of a mentally healthy work environment, whose promotion depends, among other things, on the elaboration of more specific regulatory mechanisms in relation to psychosocial risks at work and the realization of the existing ones. The deductive approach method and documentary and bibliographic research techniques were used.