ANALYSIS OF THE ‘SAFETY’ DISCOURSE IN THE FIELD OF HEALTH: A CRITIQUE OF THE WORKER AS WATCHMAN OF ONESELF

Abstract Regulation NR 32 has the goal of reducing accidents and disease among health workers. Adopting the perspective of the discourse analysis proposed by Michel Pêcheux, in this research we had the goal of understanding the process of signification regarding safety and health at work within the NR 32, and learn how this process signifies in the public policies in Brazil. We show that, even though the regulation is a means of guaranteeing the safety and health of the worker, its discursiveness formulates safety as a myth based on claims that are not part of the process of regulation of labor conditions and are unconnected to the collective and cultural requirements for production. In this process, the responsibilization of the worker is produced, and the workers become watchmen of themselves, and are held accountable for that in an individualized manner. Finally, we could observe an effect of meaning that points to a connection that, in practice, results in financial support to the companies that make and/or sell the safety devices for sharps.