How can ergonomic practitioners learn to practice a macro-ergonomic framework developed in academia?

How can a macro-ergonomic framework developed in academia be “transferred” to ergonomic practitioners and become a new work practice? The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon experiences from an interactive research program in which this transferral was tested by two consecutive approaches: “learning by participation” and “learning by doing”.

The outcome of the two approaches was evaluated by interviews and observations. The paper finds that a successful learning process takes place when: 1) practitioners are included in the research team and take part in the development, test and interpretation of results when applying the new concept to a real case in a company; 2) the concept is introduced to practitioners, after which they try to practice the concept in a normal consultancy situation, and afterwards have the opportunity to reflect upon their experiences in a “learning space” with the researchers and other practitioners; 3) paying attention to the organizational settings of the ergonomic practitioner to make sure that a new work practice is implemented in the organization and not only by a single practitioner.