Because of the increasing outsourcing of primary stages in the design of oil platforms, ergonomics has been challenged to contribute, from the beginning of the design process, to the enrichment of the technical specifications of future platforms. The activity approach in ergonomics goes beyond the punctual guidelines of human factors approach, analyzing the existing situations without reducing the complexity of the work reality. By analyzing reference situations - operating platforms - we suggest the construction of settings of usage: schemes of usage that preserve the essential relations of actual situations, formulated at a higher level of abstraction, that are able to advise the activities of designers and ergonomists since early stage in the design of future petroleum platforms. These settings are not general guidelines, nor detailed specifications applicable to the final stages of projects.
Activity centered design; Ergonomics guidelines; Project management; Oil platforms
