Collective Multidisciplinary Work in the Prevention of Complex Occupational Risks: Resources and Constraints in Quebec and France
Based on a study conducted in the Occupational Health Services sector in Quebec and France, we examine the conditions that are favourable to collective multidisciplinary work practices (TCP). In order to deal with complex issues like musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) or psychological health disorders (TPS), professionals from different disciplines are called upon to collaborate, and in particular to put in place, primary prevention actions focused on conditions related to the carrying out of work. The context in which these teams, called occupational health teams (ESAT) in Quebec and inter-company occupational health services (SSTi) in France, operate differs in terms of historical background, legal and institutional framework, mission, and operation. By studying actions in the workplace carried out by the actors of these services and from data collected through observations and interviews in both contexts, we examine the forms of collective multidisciplinary work done relating to MSD prevention. This enables us to highlight the constraints and resources that each of these contexts offers in this respect. We find that the Quebec context, with its approach to public health that prescribes structured multidisciplinarity, allows for more advanced forms of collective work through the sharing of common tools and collective decision making in relation to methods of intervention. In the French context, although forms of collective multidisciplinary work are less developed, the prevention mandate of the occupational health services allows for a greater range of action that is not found in the Quebec context. These findings question the room for manoeuvre offered by these approaches for the sustainable and effective prevention of occupational risks.