BACKGROUND:
This paper reports on two case studies conducted by the Activity Clinic team
to support the prevention of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WRMSDs)
in the workplace. Research so far qualifies WRMSDs as multifactorial and
organizational pathologies. It has also demonstrated that in situ clinical
analysis of the work activity improves the understanding of WRMSDs and their
long-term prevention.
OBJECTIVE:
In the two cases reported here (one in the car industry and the other among
gravediggers in a large French city), the interventionist framework combined
ergonomic observations, biomechanical monitoring, and a developmental
methodology called Cross Self-Confrontation (CSC). The goal was to help
workers and managers reflect on their work constraints, the impact of those
constraints on health, and the possibility of transforming the work.
METHOD:
Volunteers among the workers were prompted to engage in collective
re-thinking of their work based on video-recordings and monitoring of their
physical activity. In the CSC dialogues, biomechanical or ergonomic
quantitative representations of the work activity were transformed by the
researchers and the workers into argumentation and analysis tools for
understanding and prevention of WRMSDs. CSC interviews were recorded and
analyzed to track the dynamics of collective elaboration - both conceptual
and practical - on WRMSDs prevention.
RESULTS:
CSC discussions helped workers and managers transform their views on health,
activity, and work constraints, and experiment with alternatives for health
protection. The dialogical framework and quantitative representations were
instrumental in the process of collective re-conceptualization of conflicts
in the work activity and of resources for its transformation.
CONCLUSION:
This research demonstrates how the integration of biomechanical and
ergonomic mediations in the CSC framework promotes WRMSDs prevention in the
workplace. This integration supports discussions within work teams and
across organizational levels on work dimensions, which may lead to
alternatives supporting health.
