Training to safety rules use. Some reflections on a case study

This article proposes to consider training in occupational risk prevention as situated at the crossroads between regulated safety (based on prescribed safety rules and procedures)- and managed safety (based on operators' knowledge and experience). A case study in the field of ready-mixed concrete delivery to worksites is presented. It demonstrates the redefinitions of a safety rule within companies, giving it little operational value for operators, and the resources that they have built with experience. These resources are also shown to be limited. Indeed, not everything can be learned through in situ experience and peer mediation. Thus, the “professional knowledge of reference” needs to be identified in order to design training content that combines the “regulated safety” and “managed safety” that are necessary to produce safe working conditions. This approach to training design, based on the analysis of activity in situ, represents a shift away from the technical-regulatory and behavioral approach that still dominates the field of training in occupational risk prevention.