Participación: una apuesta para cuidar de los que cuidan la salud

abstract: the health sector has not been alien to the effects inherent to the globalizing economic model that has contributed to the current conditions of precariousness and labor flexibility in that sector. objective: to identify how the principle of participation and empowerment of health promotion at the workplace, in the case of health institutions, works. methods: descriptive and transversal case study, performed in three hospitals providing third - level care in bogota, under previous ethics’ approval of the nursing school at the universidad nacional de colombia. results: low percentages of positive responses (= 30%) related to the involvement of staff in health and safety activities of the institutions predominated. only 8.5% stated that there are incentives to participate, 21.2% signed the existence of support groups or counseling to support these processes, and 23.6% stated that workers have time during their working day for occupational health - related activities. discussion: organizational policies and recruitment of staff hinder the exercise of employee participation. conclusions: as for the issue of participation in these processes of health and safety at work, health staff revealed puzzlement, as well as and a high level of skepticism, due to the lack of resonance said programs have on the administration to support improving working conditions. collective actions should be taken from the organization level, involving the health worker in pursuing activities to promote effective health promotion at the workplace.