Working conditions and musculoskeletal injuries occurrence in dockers

Conditions related to the musculoskeletal system have become increasingly common, worldwide, during the last decades and are among the most important causes of morbidity and disability in adults. In view of this scenario, one can consider the stevedores which are workers responsible for moving the merchandise, working in warehouses, sheds. Due to the great effort and considering the excessive weights, these workers are exposed to health problems such as skin diseases, muscular and osteoarticular diseases and even disorders due to the repetitive effort. To carry out a bibliographical survey about the musculoskeletal alterations that are associated and derived from the working process of the stevedores' class. The study is a review of the literature, in which scientific articles published in Scielo, Bireme, Virtual Health Library, and LILACS were used, in all indexes surveyed. It was searched for articles that covered the loose workers, the working conditions and still diseases related to their work process. In view of the above, it was possible to understand that the class of single workers or stevedores still presents characteristics of manual/arm labor and that this entails several complications with respect to the health of this worker mainly in the physical aspect, being osteomioarticular diseases the major causes of diseases related to work.