Abstract Objective: To determine the prevalence of risk factors and estimate the global cardiovascular risk in workers at the Universidad Libre, Sectional Barranquilla. Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional study to identify cardiovascular risk factors according to the ATPIII. The study was done through medical interviews, anthropometric blood pressure assessment, and determination of glucose levels, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides in serum of workers, both female and male, that were selected randomly; who had previously signed the informed consent. Results: 124 administrative workers and teachers between the ages of 20 and 68 (47± 9.2) years were evaluated, of which 77 (62%) were women. The frequencies found were: sedentary lifestyle (79.31%), overweight (66.1), hypertension (16.9%), prehypertension (46%), impaired fasting glucose levels (4.9%), HDL cholesterol levels under 40mg/dl (13.7%), total cholesterol above 200mg/dl (42.7%), triglycerides levels over 150mg/dl (15.3%), smoking (28.2%), and alcohol consumption (71.0%). According to the ATPIII, 4.8% of the population has a high cardiovascular risk and 0.8% is at very high risk. The percentage of men who had high cardiovascular risk was higher than women´s: 10.6 and 2.6%, respectively. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was of 23.39% (male 13.71% and women 9.68%). Conclusions: A sedentary lifestyle, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and alcohol consumption are the main cardiovascular risk factors in the population of workers at the institution.