This research has aimed to identify the perceptions of women apprentice welders about physical, chemical, biological, and physiological risk factors to which they are exposed and evaluate the identification of health disorders self-reported for women apprentice welders before and after implementation of a nursing socioenvironmental intervention. A quantitative study was performed with 27 women apprentice welders (first phase) and before and after an intervention with 18 women (second phase) in Southern Brazil in 2011. The data were analysed using SPSS 19.0. The participants identified the following risk types: physical (96.2%), chemical (96.2%), physiological (88.8%), and biological (62.9%). The results show a significant difference of the pre- and posttest averages for the musculoskeletal system and a posttest average increase for the integumentary, respiratory, and auditory system. A correlation of the women apprentices’ ages and the identification of health disorders were made. It was understood that the perception of women apprentices regarding a particular set of occupational risks is essential for public health nursing to develop an effective risk communication as a positive tool for teaching and learning. 1. Introduction This paper discusses the perceptions of women apprentices about the risks they are exposed to during welding activity. It also presents the development of a nursing socioenvironmental intervention as a tool for risk communication for health education of women apprentice welders. In different countries, for example, Nigeria [1], Sri Lanka [2], France [3], Denmark [4], Turkey [5], and Brazil [6], the issue involving the health and safety of welders is being discussed. The motivation for the proposed research came from a literature review about the theoretical approach of risk perception [7–9]. On this occasion, the researchers observed the coherence and the need to analyse the issue of human risk in different environments, among these the apprenticeship environment, in relation to apprentices, which includes social, cultural, and political aspects in its production and reproduction [10–12]. Specifically, the interest in studying risk perception of apprentice welders is because the belief is held that the apprenticeship process represents a moment for health education, with the capacity of the dissemination of knowledge and the application of technology of public health nursing. In other words, during the apprenticeship, the apprentices should be encouraged to apply the knowledge learned about their health and on the future work
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