This article offers theoretical and practical elements for an analysis of the Worker's Health Care Program developed by the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS). From a determined locus, the region of Franca, State of São Paulo, it aims at identifying the challenges for implementation of the National Occupational Health Policy, due to the particularities of the work/health relationship within the sugarcane agro-industry. It is based on group interviews involving health workers, specifically sanitary inspectors and the worker's health interlocutors. The results showed that health care professionals must be better prepared, from the technical point of view, to be able to perform actions related to workers' health. These results also indicated the need for a greater integration between health services, particularly when damage notification and workers' health surveillance are concerned.
public health; worker's health; health surveillance; mandatory notification; rural labor