Introduction:

The psychosocial risk factors at work like stress, workload, difficulties on the socio-professional relationships and inadequate work conditions are variables that interfere with the mental and physical health of the employee.

Objective:

To analyze the influence of psychosocial factors and mental load on traffic control workers.

Methods:

Sample consisted of 79 traffic control workers from the Municipal Guard of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2015. Data collection was conducted using socio-demographic, COPSOQ and WHOQOL/Bref questionnaires.

Results:

Regarding the socio-demographic factors that influence the psychosocial risks, non-practicing physical activities, alcohol and psychoactive drugs use were more important. In the COPSOQ analysis, there was a risk associated with work rate, emotional demands and stress. After applying the WHOQOL/ Bref questionnaire, an average of 60.3 points was obtained for the overall question of satisfaction with health.

Conclusions:

This research show the need for better working conditions for transit agents, which may be reflected in addressing and improving the performance of operational functions in this category.