This article explores perceptions of organizational justice related to promotions in a Montréal restaurant, focusing on the female front-of-house workers. Based on a 16-month ethnography combining observations, interviews, and documentary analysis, it highlights how promotion processes, influenced by implicit criteria and gender stereotypes, systematically disadvantage women. Female workers develop various strategies to navigate this unequal system: some choose to quit, others adapt silently, while others express their discontent. The article also examines the concept of "silent loyalty work", in which female workers invest significant emotional energy to maintain their positions in the hope of future recognition. This study underscores the need for organizations to rethink their management and promotion practices to create a more equitable and inclusive workplace for women.
This article examines health conditions of workers in 15 restaurant establishments in Montréal (N=150), focusing on self-rated health, somatic symptoms, psychological distress, and positive psychological health. The study identifies three distinct health profiles: good psychological health, poor psychological health, and an intermediate configuration. The latter, which is the most common, includes individuals experiencing physical and psychological strain while maintaining flourishing mental health. The study then explores how these profiles are associated with organizational injustice, two ethical dispositions (resilience, work ethic), and the usefulness of job crafting strategies. The results show that poor psychological health is linked to interpersonal injustice, which reduces resilience capacities among younger and less qualified workers, whereas the intermediate profile is associated with greater usefulness of job crafting strategies.
This study examines how the pre-injury trajectories of injured immigrant workers shape the therapeutic alliance (TA) during work rehabilitation. Based on a longitudinal ethnography conducted in a rehabilitation clinic in Québec, seven trajectories were analyzed through their migratory, professional, and linguistic dimensions. Findings show that professional downgrading, employment precarity, language barriers, and experiences of racism weaken trust-building and the establishment of shared return-to-work goals. When pre-injury employment is perceived as temporary or inadequate, the institutional obligation to return to it generates a symbolic rupture that conflicts with the migrant life project. The study highlights the need for an inclusive and culturally sensitive approach that recognizes immigrant workers’ experiential knowledge as an essential foundation for equitable rehabilitation and a genuine therapeutic alliance.
This article presents exploratory research aimed at identifying the perceptions of catering employees working in organizations advocating more horizontality in business. Indeed, the sector is struggling to recruit workers and remain attractive (especially for new generations). One of the solutions could lie in questioning traditional models of brigade organization. In order to carry out this study, we conducted 21 interviews. Mainly, the analysis of the results shows that the cooks say they are satisfied with their working conditions and appear fulfilled in their work. However, it should be noted that several obstacles are identified such as a heavy workload, or the effects of work on health (pain, RPS). These results will be discussed in particular with regard to the tools used to carry out prevention in the workplace.
Occupational risk prevention in microenterprises entails considering the possibilities for workers, owner-managers and employees to regulate their activity and work organization. This text deals with an exploratory study carried out in small traditional restaurants, which demonstrated the support provided by individuals from outside the company for the smooth running of the business. These resource persons (RPs) reinforce the production workforce or compensate for a lack of skills, contributing to performance and health preservation in the establishments studied. RPs are quickly mobilized, reliable and familiar with the restaurant's organization. They are people from the restaurant's entourage (family, friends), restaurant owners or neighbouring shopkeepers, some specialists in the trade or maintenance, institutional stakeholders or associations. They meet the production and management needs of the establishment, supporting the activity of owner-managers and employees to increase recovery time, cope with unforeseen events or provide accounting expertise. The aim of this study is to highlight the existence of an informal prevention system, integrated into the running of the microenterprise, with a view to devising preventive measures rooted in the realities of a given territory, which would complement a formal occupation health and safety (OHS) prevention approach.
This article presents a collaborative and experimental research-intervention with teachers, based on the implementation of an occupational health education program for young people in vocational training in the sales sector. The aim was to raise awareness of the links between work and health from an applied ethics perspective. The program had an impact on their perceptions of occupational health, their knowledge of the players involved in prevention and the consequences of work on mental health, projecting their intentions to act, as well as the need for collective action to improve work situations affecting heath. This educational model, centered on health and applied ethics, seems to support the development of young people's empowerment.
In Switzerland, apprentices trained within the dual system experience higher rates of occupational accidents and increased exposure to physical and psychological risks. In this context, teachers in vocational schools play a central role in the transmission of occupational health and safety (OHS) knowledge. Yet, their reality remains poorly documented. Based on individual interviews conducted with vocational education teachers, this contribution examines the roles they assume, the content and modes of transmission of OHS knowledge, as well as the obstacles to such transmission. A vague prescriptive framework, the lack of legitimacy of the school-based component, and insufficient resources prevent them from acting or reduce OHS to physical health and safety alone. More broadly, this contribution questions the subordinate position of schools within the Swiss dual system and reflects on possible futures, situated between an “ideal world” and a space permeated by economic logics. Ultimately, what are the consequences for teachers?
This article is part of an action research project aimed at developing an early prevention program for occupational cancers targeting young people aged 15 to 21 with academic difficulties. It presents the results of qualitative interviews with teachers from an alternating work-education program, focusing on their perceptions of cancer risks, the training provided, and the challenges related to student diversity. Nine supervising teachers from five schools in Quebec participated in semi-structured interviews. The findings highlight major challenges such as the lack of training and the invisibility of risks, as well as structural factors that increase exposure, such as some students coming from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds with limited access to resources. Teachers acknowledge the need for flexible approaches but struggle to adapt prevention strategies to student diversity, fearing the reinforcement of stereotypes or discrimination. The study underscores the importance of providing diverse and adapted resources to strengthen occupational cancer prevention for all students.
This article examines the motivation of vocational education students in Québec (VET) to learn prevention-related knowledge. Based on questionnaire data, the study explores the importance students assign to this knowledge, as well as the factors likely to motivate them to adopt safe behaviors and attitudes throughout their training. The results show that 79% (n = 9,523) of students consider prevention knowledge to be very important. This proportion rises to 86% (n = 6,711) among students enrolled in programs where prevention knowledge is addressed through a specific competency dedicated to health and safety. The role of teaching staff in the learning of this knowledge is central. Acting as role models for their students, teachers appear to influence student motivation. Prevention knowledge should therefore be prioritized in training programs, and teaching staff should be adequately equipped to exercise their leadership role in fostering student motivation rooted in their values.
Les agents de service mortuaire, invisibilisés et inscrits dans un système où la mort est sécularisée, ont été aux premières loges de la gestion des vagues de décès liés à la crise sanitaire COVID-19. Ces professionnels ont vu leurs contraintes être multipliées, impactant la continuité de l’activité et la santé des agents. Cette recherche-intervention a pour objectif d’identifier les apprentissages faits durant la crise. Grâce aux méthodes d’analyse de l’activité et au retour d’expérience, nous avons étudié les situations de crise au regard de l’activité des agents de service mortuaire d’un Centre hospitalier universitaire (CHU) en France en visant une approche développementale de l’ergonomie. L’analyse diachronique des données met en avant des transformations profondes dans l’activité. Pour y faire face, les régulations, construites par et pour le collectif de travail et avec les collectifs transverses (soignants, entreprises privées) ont permis l’élaboration d’apprentissages organisationnels qui dépassent les situations de crise liées à la COVID-19.
Since the 1990s, humanitarian aid has been undergoing a process of professionalization through rationalization, with increasingly standardized procedures designed to ensure transparency and justify actions taken. However, this organizational evolution generates tensions between standardized prescriptions and the complex realities of the field, affecting both the performance and the health of humanitarian workers, particularly as revealed through the ways in which knowledge and practices are transmitted within intervention collectives. This qualitative study aims to characterize these transmission dynamics in the field and to understand their roles and impacts in this context of professionalization. Conducted in West Africa, it relies on semi-structured interviews, observations, and a participatory photographic project. The results reveal a segmentation of transmission dynamics according to profession, status, and workspace. They highlight above all the complementarity between formal and informal transmissions, which proves indispensable for intervention collectives to cope with the tensions between organizational prescriptions and field realities. This complementarity sustains a process of renormalization (collective adjustments of norms) through which teams maintain both operational performance and workers’ health.
It is well established that the hiring of temporary agency workers has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years, and the main distinctive feature of this industry lies in its employment structure, known as the tripartite relationship. This article aims to identify key issues in managing occupational health and safety (OHS) for temporary agency workers and to propose new preventive practices. Using an exploratory inductive design based on grounded theory, the study draws on two empirical data sources: interviews with forty-two agency workers in the Montréal (n=28) and Québec (n=14) regions, and interviews with sixteen OHS professionals in Montréal. The findings highlight four major clusters of OHS issues—economic, legal, organizational, and risk-perception—which explain gaps in preventive measures between agency workers and regular workers, as well as the need for new practices capable of curbing rising occupational injuries and reducing inequalities in treatment. The study argues for stronger regulation of the tripartite relationship and for greater attention to the coexistence of diverse workforces (e.g., agency workers, temporary foreign workers, self-employed workers) within companies, and calls for innovation and stakeholder mobilization to transform current OHS practices.
The evolution of Quebec’s network of Early Childhood Centers (CPEs) has been shaped by a rationalization process imposed by New Public Management (NPM), which has significantly influenced their functioning. This article examines how the new funding model, introduced through the 2016 reform, affects the room for maneuver of educators and directors, as well as their overall health. Drawing on an ecosystemic approach to occupational health that integrates social and gender inequalities, the qualitative research combines data from documents and interviews conducted with various actors in the Outaouais CPE network. The thematic analysis reveals a reduction in the autonomy of both educators and directors, caused by work intensification, loss of meaning, and value conflicts, which in turn weakens the mental health of all CPE staff. Linked to the feminist heritage that shaped these organizations, the findings also show that some CPEs maintain participatory practices that help mitigate the harmful effects of the funding reform under NPM, though such participatory functioning remains in direct tension with the managerial logic of NPM.
This article examines a design approach implemented in an action-research project aimed at supporting occupational health and safety in a pre-employment training program in Québec. This specific context, which alternates between study and work placements, is characterized by complex work activities, gender-based health inequities, and a rapid digital transition. To address these challenges, three complementary design approaches were adopted: the Future Activity Approach, Sex and Gender-Based Analysis Plus (SGBA+) and agile software development. The study documents the challenges encountered, particularly regarding timelines and stakeholder coordination, while proposing tailored solutions to leverage the strengths of this combination. The findings reveal that the relative importance of each approach varies depending on the design stages and specific needs. Two concrete examples illustrate the tool design process, emphasizing the active participation of teacher-supervisors. This article contributes to methodological discussions on integrating complementary design approaches, highlighting the importance of adaptability and reflexivity in participatory and interdisciplinary projects.
It is well known that work organization can have some impact on work health. Therefore, it is relevant for ergonomics to be interested in work organization to improve work conditions. This article’s objective to continue the analysis of work organization in Jacques Leplat’s work, with the aim of extending the area of intervention of ergonomics. Although academic works are numerous, we use only, in this tribute issue, references used by Jacques Leplat. We conclude this article with a detailed and systemic analysis of a specific work organization in a school, with the purpose of improving quality of work life.
