The transmission of prudent knowledge in a work collective: Issues and perspectives on an enabling intervention for the preservation of health at work

Abstract

This article focuses on the place of the aging workers in the process of transmitting experiential knowledge in a work situation, and more specifically the transmission of prudent knowledge involved in the preservation of health at work within a collective in a hospital environment. This reflection stems from collective research carried out in partnership with the University Hospitals and the Geneva School of Health Sciences, focusing on the learning conditions for the profession of Medical Radiology Technician (MRT). The article presents the collective dimensions of work as they are understood in the French-speaking field of ergonomics and the Clinic of Activity. This leads us to define the occupational health and safety issues related to the integration in a collective of new employees, whether they are novices or more experienced. Based on video-ethnographic observations of the work and the conduct of self-confrontation interviews with video traces of the activity, we present a case study focus on the analysis of a complex situation involving the care of a patient in conventional radiology. We study the functioning mechanisms of the collective work of a team of technicians composed of an older member and a newcomer. We thus highlight the obstacles to the transmission of knowledge as evidenced by the modalities-in-act of collective work. We then explore the conditions for a training intervention in the radiology department from a constructive ergonomics perspective, which could support conditions for the reception and integration of new staff and the transmission of the older staff’s experiential knowledge in order to prevent loss of expertise and exposure to occupational health and safety risks.