This article presents a model of studying workers' health that takes into account the real activity of workers in order to gather elements to clarify and explain self- reported work-related morbidity among telemarketing operators and propose intervention in the work organization in the telemarketing sector. A thorough ergonomic project conducted in a big telephone and telemarketing company was followed by negotiations between workers and employers and interventions by the Public Attorneys of Work, which resulted in a preliminary ergonomics investigation. The results evidenced that, due to the management model used, the task demands were associated with the health effects, as described in the literature. At the public audiences employers' representatives refused to recognize the pathogenic characteristic of their company practices. The strategy to search action among intersectorial partners proved to be successful, favoring the production of practical instruments, as the publication of scientific results and preparation of a draft on a good practice recommendation endorsed by the Brazilian government specifically for the telemarketing sector, that aimed at improving and changing the telemarketing operators' occupational health reality.
occupational health; call-centers; telemarketing; ergonomics; intersectorial intervention
