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Objective: This paper presents research on the early retirement of kindergarten teachers in France. We sought to understand the reasons for this in a context which the government is putting in place measures to lengthen people's working lives. Methods: In order to examine the difficulties teachers experience at the end of their working lives, we conducted interviews focusing on job constraints, health problems, and the impact work has on the private sphere, with reference to the task system model put forward by Curie (2002). Participants: Eight females in their fifties were interviewed. Results: Despite their experience acquired over the years, the more teachers age, the greater the human cost of their job. Health problems increase, work-related fatigue worsens and they need more time to recover. The teachers are also more affected by work-related constraints. From this perspective, the menopause seems to aggravate work-related fatigue. The teachers' feeling of personal effectiveness declines with age, causing them to worry about the last few years of their working lives. This forces teachers to make more and more adjustments to both their jobs and their private lives and sometimes makes them cut their working hours and in extreme cases take early retirement. Conclusions: The close links between the role of a female teacher and a mother contribute to premature exhaustion phenomena. Several areas for change are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Lumbar disc-related disorders are a main cause of work-related osteo-articular morbidity. Lumbar disc surgery (LDS) has been chosen as sentinel event for the epidemiological surveillance of these disorders since LDS can be identified in the medical databases from public and private hospitals. OBJECTIVE: To assess the theoretical impact of workplace-based primary interventions designed to reduce exposure to personal and/or work-related risk factors for LDS. METHODS: Cases of LDS were assessed using hospital discharge records for persons aged 20–64 in 2007-8 in the French Pays de la Loire region. We estimated the number of work-related cases of LDS (WR-LDS) in high-risk industry sectors. Three theoretical scenarios of workplace-based primary prevention have been simulated: a mono-component work-centered intervention reducing the incidence of WR-LDS by 10%, and two multicomponent global interventions reducing the incidence of all cases of LDS by 5% and 10% by targeting personal and occupational risk factors. RESULTS: Four high-risk sectors were identified, amounting to 277 [216–352] cases, of which 98 [37–175] were WR-LDS: construction and information & communication for men; wholesale & retail trade and accommodation & food service activities for women. AFE was limited for each industry sector, 30%, 50%, 33% and 55%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Prevention scenarios combining actions on personal and occupational risk factors would be the most effective, compared to prevention focused only on occupational risk factors. Implementing actions of promotion of health at work would be necessary in addition of actions on occupational risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This article presents two ergonomic studies carried out when two French administrative bodies modernized their work tools. Our objective was to identify and define the vocational learning of experienced technicians who were required to adopt new working methods to cope with these technological changes. Methods: We observed the work activity of technicians of different ages and length of service both before and during training, and also after their return to their work unit during the appropriation phase. Results: These two studies revealed some difficulties that were common to all the technicians and others that were more specific to the older employees. In terms of the design of the training course, we were able to point out some mistaken assumptions about the technicians' original command of the work activity and the computers, which made it difficult for them to adopt new work procedures. Conclusion: The difficulties encountered by the older employees were ultimately found to be more an indication of organizational problems to do with the management of change rather than training problems due to age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]