Nicole Vézina

Université du Québec à Montréal | UQAM · Ergonomics

In implementation process evaluation, the analysis of the temporal structure of processes is key for understanding the successive interactions between the flow of practitioners' actions and evolving workplace reactions and context. However, capturing the temporal structure of processes in data analysis is a methodological challenge, and available l...

The objective of this article is to identify prevention actions carried out by stakeholders in a large post-secondary educational institution in Quebec and to understand their opinions about what form integrated prevention should take in coordinating prevention measures. A total of 21 interviews were conducted during ergonomic investigations. We me...

Background: Integrated approaches are valued in several occupational health strategic programmatic orientations. A better understanding of the use of integrative prevention in coordinating measures is needed to develop its use in workplaces. Objective: Identify workplace integrative prevention approaches and definitions of prevention (primary, s...

Despite the health problems associated with irregular schedules and long working hours, few studies have focused on the temporal dimension of work in seasonal working contexts. Through the monitoring of sixteen seasonal workers in the crab-processing industry over a two-year period, this study aimed to better understand their working reality and to...

The development of interventions in ergonomics in the French-speaking world has opened up an important field of knowledge about how our practice is conducted. In recent years however, aside from the question of age, little has been done in ergonomic interventions to take into consideration personal characteristics such as sex and gender. Relying on...

The aim of this study was to analyze the temporal dimension of seasonal work and to identify determinants for the sustainable prevention of musculoskeletal disorders. An ergonomic work activity study with a gender-sensitive approach was conducted. Sixteen female seafood-processing workers were monitored for two consecutive work seasons using a rang...

Le concept de marge de manœuvre (MM) est depuis longtemps utilisé par les ergonomes. L’analyse de l’activité de travail permet de mettre en évidence des situations critiques où la personne ne possède pas les ressources nécessaires pour réussir à rencontrer les objectifs de son emploi tout en protégeant sa santé physique et mentale. On considère alo...

Part of workplace-based return to work programs, a need for a margin of maneuver, exists throughout the process. Margin of maneuver is defined as the possibility that a worker may develop different ways of working in order to meet production targets, without having adverse effects on his or her health; it was first developed in ergonomics and recen...

The relevance of coordinating primary, secondary and tertiary levels of prevention is increasingly acknowledged by scholars and practitioners. Developing integrated prevention practices also offers an opportunity to take into account sex/gender (s/g) so as to offset the common inequities at each level of prevention. A review of current scientific l...

This book generates a comprehensive account of ways in which practice-based learning has been conceptualized in the Francophone context. Learning for occupations, and the educational and practice-based experiences supporting it are the subject of increased interest and attention globally. Governments, professional bodies, workplaces and workers are...

By documenting the strategies developed by food processing workers to manage their musculoskeletal pain and discomfort in order to remain on the job, the present article seeks to increase awareness of a different “way of approaching” WMSDs inspired by the ergonomic approach centred on work activity analysis. Based on a mixed methods approach, an er...

Un nouveau parcours de formation axée sur l'emploi (PFAE) s'adressant à des jeunes de 15 à 17 ans est implanté au Québec depuis 2007. Il s'adresse à des jeunes en difficulté scolaire et vise la préparation au monde du travail. En même temps, la Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST) déplore une prévalence préoccupante de lésions...

When training is being organized in enterprises where the work is considered as being repetitive and manual, the trainer is usually chosen from among experienced workers with recognized expertise. The study’s aim was to analyze the types of knowledge transmitted by worker-trainers to apprentices in a food-processing industry in order to prevent mus...

The increasing use of radioactive material in research laboratories has generated new risks for laboratory workers. In universities, new students arrive constantly, posing a specific problem for radiation-protection. Using methods derived from ergonomic studies, we analysed the conditions of use of radioactive substances in four different laborator...

Work-related musculoskeletal health damage causes pain and suffering, and can lead to disability. To prevent it, it is important to detect not only diagnosed musculoskeletal disorders but also early signs of impending damage. Workers have important information on workplace risks and health damage, and should be involved in the process of identifyin...

Repetitive work is often seen as work that can be learned by simple observation of a colleague. This study aimed to describe the know-how and especially the know-how that can be used for one’s protection, developed by six expert workers in a meat-cutting department. Individual and group interviews, on-site and video observations, and individual aut...

Globalization of economic markets has led to important changes in working conditions in many countries, often associated with an intensification of work. The authors describe epidemiological and ergonomic studies that highlight the complex relationships between work demands – physical, psychological and social –, psychological distress and musculos...

The objective of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the reproducibility and validity of self-report questions concerning physical work demands. After a bibliographic search of Medline and Ergonomic Abstracts for 1980-2003, 15 articles meeting the eligibility criteria were reviewed for methodological quality; 82 formulations of question...

Qualitative research is often opposed to quantitative research. But numbers can play an important role in illustrating analyses in qualitative research. Their persuasive, concrete nature can help ensure the success of a workplace intervention, especially in the North American context, where numbers are treated very seriously. We describe a method o...

An ergonomic intervention took place in a pig slaughterhouse and processing plant. This study consisted of analyzing and comparing a group of eight workstations occupied in rotation, in order to propose work organization and a refitting of the workstations for the purpose of reducing the constraints associated with each workstation and of optimizin...

Job rotation is often seen as an effective means of increasing personnel flexibility and reducing musculoskeletal disorders. This study reveals the fact that certain steps must precede the organization of job rotation. The results obtained from an investigation into job rotation illustrate that the majority of workers surveyed oppose mandatory job...

The objective of this study conducted in an automobile assembly plant was to identify the types of job training situations and to understand how they are experienced. Observations accompanied the interviews with male and female workers as well as with representatives of the company and union. The results show that training improved in duration and...

Case study and activity analysis involve processes that generally fall into different fields, but that have many similarities. This paper tries to show in how far each activity can be reciprocally enriched from the knowledge and experience acquired in the otherAn ergonomic intervention took place in a porcine slaughterhouse, with the goal of descri...

L'analyse du travail repetitif dans le secteur agro-alimentaire se fait dans le contexte de l'augmentation des problemes musculo- squelettiques. L'approche de l'ergonome est abordee au travers d'etudes dans ce secteur, en particulier dans une usine de transformation de la volaille. L'intervention ergonomique axee sur l'amelioration des situations d...

Jobs considered as `naturally' women's in one situation are assigned to men a few years or miles away. We ask how a sexual division of labour which is so fluid when regarded in a historical perspective appears so rigid when observed at a given time. One type of factor which is variable historically but very solid and material in a given workplace i...

Epidemiologists have associated the job of sewing machine operators with a high incidence of musculoskeletal and other health problems, despite its classifications as light work according to energy expenditure criteria. An ergonomic analysis was undertaken in a trouser factory in order to describe components of the physical load of this work: force...

Jobs are often allocated according to sex, although this distribution is not always justified by biological differences between men and women. Ergonomic analysis of sex-typed jobs in a clothing factory and in a plastics factory revealed that the total weight lifted in women's jobs exceeded that in a typical male laborer's job. The characteristics o...

Although an increasing number of women enter traditional men's jobs, segregation persists. Sociological, historical, and biological factors may tend to exclude women from a job. We have analysed a package sorting job which is usually done by men although it involves repetitive tasks of a type often done by women. The job requirements were studied i...

The average Canadian woman is smaller and lighter than her male counterpart. She is less able to handle heavy weights when tested in the laboratory, although such test results may not apply in the complex conditions of real industrial surroundings. Mechanic is the fourth most common occupation of Canadian men, and is considered a classic non-tradit...

Recent studies have shown that women factory workers report more health symptoms than men. Reporting of health symptoms by 661 workers at nine poultry slaughterhouses in Québec was examined to determine whether this difference has its origins in sex-specific working conditions. More women than men report that their jobs involve standing still, repe...

Cited By (since 1996): 26, Export Date: 12 April 2011, Source: Scopus

As part of a health study undertaken at the request of the employees of eight Quebec poultry slaughterhouses, 213 women workers and 105 housewives responded to a self-administered questionnaire on menstruation. The prevalence of dysmenorrhea among the workers was determined for the last menstrual period and compared with that in the reference group...

The objective of the study was to identify the prevalence of warts in poultry slaughterhouses. A questionnaire was administered to 1,194 workers, of whom 569 completed it. The prevalence of warts (Papilloma virus) was found to be 28.5% in slaughterhouses. In the general population it is 7-10%, reaching a peak in individuals around the age of 14 a....