Objective: to analyze the development of Ergonomic Work Analysis (EWA) in Brazil.
Methods: considering the EWA as a social technology, an analysis of the technology transfer process was undertaken by comparing the characteristics of its employment and development in France and in Brazil.
Results: Activity Ergonomics was introduced in Brazil to address working conditions problems arising from the industrial development in the 1970s. In France, the representation of employees in companies ensures the social conditions necessary for the production of knowledge at the actual work based on ethnographic approach. In Brazil, although prescribed by law, the practice of EWA is not supported by a social construction that allows the production and control of working activities knowledge. The development of new methodologies to frame the public action can be observed in several areas, such as public service or oil state industry.
Conclusion: although social conditions for the EWA employment are different, EWA in Brazil has contributed to the Occupational Health field, but its future depends on the adoption of new social arrangements to support the ethnography based practice .
occupational health; ergonomics; technological transfer; work analysis