Prevention doctrine and service activity: analysis of points of dissonance between the prevention system and social mediation activity

The frameworks of thought and action that structure the prevention of occupational risks today form a social apparatus in the sense that Foucault intended. This social apparatus, qualified as a "prevention doctrine", was built according to the classes of industrial situations and is now being questioned by service activities. Based on ergonomic analysis of work and the conduct of prevention projects in a social mediation structure, this article identifies a specific point of the doctrine that is at odds with the activity of mediators: subordination. Indeed, the link between subordination and prevention leads to thinking about the latter in a perimeter and on a model of power far from the real activity of the workers. This article thus provides specific insights into the gap between prevention doctrine and service activities, but also opens up research perspectives through the conceptualization of prevention as a social apparatus.