Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
either through the definition of a solution taking into account as many cri-
teria as possible ('objectifying solutions or making them reliable' (Barthe
and Quéinnec, 1999, our translation)) or by increasing the number of pos-
sible alternative solutions that are generated in the exchange (Clark and
Smyth, 1993, cited by Hoc, 1996).
On the other hand, it makes it possible to collectively debate the
variability of situations and how that variability may be processed, thus
developing the ability of individuals and collectives to make trade-offs
in order to respond to future situations, both new and unforeseen. In so
doing, collective reflective activity may be a means to foster the produc-
tion and the conservation of a work collective that, by reconstructing the
rules to reduce conflicts between goals, forms a resource for the health of
workers (Caroly, 2010; Caroly and Barcellini, this volume) and for overall
system performance (Daniellou et al., 2011). We might also think that col-
lective reflective activity develops mutual trust between workers via the
development of a work collective.
In spite of these benefits, reflective practice often remains hidden,
unacknowledged or even fought against because it is not 'immediately
productive'. The goal for ergonomists, then, is to make it visible when it
does exist, or to support its inception when it does not. In other words,
the goal is for this constructive activity to become a productive activity
within the organization. Several methods exist to achieve this, described
in the sections below.
Methods for supporting reflective activity
A number of methods in ergonomics make it possible to encourage the
development of a reflective activity. These methods aim to support a
reflection grounded in action (the activity is the object of analysis), on
action (individual or collective auto-analysis) and for action (to improve it,
to construct new knowledge, and to act on the practice). The main feature
of these methods is that they involve a realization by the worker, which is
characterized by at least two factors (Mollo, 2004; Mollo and Falzon, 2004):
• Workers are located some distance away from the task environment.
This allows them to concentrate on their knowledge and skills that
they apply in the course of their activity.
• By becoming analysts of their own activity or that of other people,
workers elicit what they actually do, why and how they do it. The
goal is not just, therefore, to say what they know, but also to discover
some implicit knowledge and other ways of doing the work.
Workers are therefore viewed both as workers and as analysts. This
constitutes a starting point for reflective practice. This is obviously not
