The cultural-historical development of occupational accidents and diseases prevention in France: A scoping review

Abstract

This article aims to trace some of the key trends in the historical development of Occupational Accident and Disease Prevention in France. For this purpose, we have used the analytical concept of contradiction derived from the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory framework (CHAT). We consider prevention as a fragmented object shared by a network of Activity Systems (AS).We conduct a scoping review to identify contradiction hypotheses on how the French activity system of prevention of occupational accidents and diseases have evolved over time. This review includes 72 theoretical and empirical studies published between 1988 and 2019. The results obtained highlight five contradiction hypotheses related to (i) prevention and remediation, (ii) technological and occupational risks, (iii) employment and improvement of working conditions, (iv) workers’ participation or social dialogue and expertise, (v) individual and collective approaches. These contradictions have arisen over time and have emerged as symptoms of incompatibilities in the network of AS that have persisted. The paper ends with a discussion on future prospects and learning challenges for prevention.