EL CERREJÓN, MINERÍA DE CARBÓN

LA GUAJIRA, COLOMBIA

How do miners perceive working in the coal mine of El

Cerrejón affects their health?
GENERAL OBJECTIVE

◼ The aim of this study is to explore if there is an impact of working in El Cerrejón on

miners´ physical and mental health (in times of the emerging economic transition
away from fossil fuels).
SPECIFIC AIMS:
◼ 1. Assessing miners´ health and wellbeing with a
focus on the respiratory and musculoskeletal system
as well as psychosocial distress (job satisfaction,
work environment and safety, organizational support,
workload and stress) using the Spanish Short Form of
the European Working Condition Survey.
◼ 3. Assessing job satisfaction concerning safety,
security and occupational health in the mine and
company`s´ responsibility interviewing workers.
◼ 4. Exploring job insecurity concerning future
employment options via qualitative interview.
 DEFINITION STUDY POPULATION:

◼ purposeful sample of open-cast coal-mining workers from "El Cerrejón".

The exposed group will be divided according to different mining area activities: (i). Transport of
extracted coal, (ii). Equipment field maintenance, (iii). Coal stripping and, (iv). Coal embarking.
◼ Full-shift, min. 10-years of full-time employment in the mine.
◼ Socio demographic background: - Living whole life in Riohacha, capital of La Guajira.
◼ Study population was defined empirically after testimonies of workers.
◼ Recruiting via Workers´ Union
◼ Control group ??
 PART 1: EUROPEAN WORKING CONDITIONS SURVEY

Questionnaire Spanish short form of the European Working Condition Survey

A. main module:
• Socio-demographic characteristics: age, gender, nationality, level of education
• Employment conditions: the exact description of the activity, working hours, travel time between work
and home, terms and conditions of the work contract, compatibility between work and family. The
impact due to working hours, rotational working hours as well as precarious working conditions is
recorded.
• Working Conditions: physical, chemical and biological exposures.
• Personal occupational health and safety measures: Here the safety culture at the workplace is recorded
• Workplace violence: Recent interviews conducted by Latin American students have shown that
workplace violence often plays a role and is an important predictor of well-being.
• Health: The health of the interviewees is queried in 4 aspects. General health (from the SF-36
questionnaire), physical symptoms, mental health and accidents at work.
We chose out of 4 additional modules:

2. Module musculoskeletal problems (MM)

3. Module respiratory health (MR)

4. Module psychosocial aspects (MP)

(psicosocial, estrés, sobrecarga laboral )
2. PART: STRUCTURED, QUALITATIVE INTERVIEW WITH OPEN, EXPLORATIVE QUESTIONS

1. Overall job satisfaction

¿Cómo se siente en su trabajo?
¿Está contento o descontento en su trabajo y porque?

2. Working conditions as social determinants of health and company´s accountability for their workers (underreportin
of poor health, after Metz 2002)
- Cómo describe su estado de salud?
- Por favor describa la influencia del trabajo en la mina a su salud.
Usted ha reportado alguna patología a la empresa y como fue la reacción?

3. Future employment prospects in times of economic transition (assessing anxiety about the future):
- ¿Qué piensa Usted del futuro de la mina El Cerrejón?
- Hay muchos rumores sobre la posibilidad de cerrar la mina en un futuro próximo.
¿Cómo le hace sentir esto y qué piensa significaría un posible cierre de la mina para usted, su familia, la región?