Contribution of the instrumental and ergotoxicological approaches for design: the case of spraying pesticides equipment in viticulture

Given the complexity of agricultural work, farmers are still exposed to pesticide despite preventive measures. Many determinants of work situations are involved in the emergence of these pesticide exposure situations. One of the determinants of these exposure situations is the agricultural equipment, which role is to spray pesticides. In view of these observations, the purpose of this article is to set up a critical approach on the design and uses of spraying equipment in viticulture with regard to the resulting pesticide exposure situations. The aim of this approach was to highlight the relevance of linking the instrumental and ergotoxicological approaches in the design of spraying equipment. The methodology used consisted in observations, interviews and exposure measurements in two wineries. This methodology is inspired by methods commonly used in ergotoxicology and integrates elements of questionings issued from the instrumental approach. The activity analysis highlighted an important number of uses issues and variabilities met during sprayer using and which cause situations of pesticide exposure. These results suggest that there is a lack of consideration for farmers’ real needs in the design process. The design pitfalls observed can lead to pesticide exposure situations and profoundly disrupt the activity of winegrowers in the management of the vineyard. The fact that different players take care of the design and that winegrowers have nearly no contact with designers can explain the existence of design flaws, even for new and top-of-the-line equipment. Moreover, in order to account for the inventiveness and creativeness of the users of sprayers, the activity analysis also focused on the instrumental geneses present in the activity, i.e., the evolutions linked to the artefact and those linked to the scheme. However, given the pitfalls in the design and the compromises made by winegrowers, these instrumental geneses can lead to the genesis of risk through the emergence of pesticide exposure situations. And it is in the light of all these results that this work allows us to highlight the relevance of coupling the instrumental and ergotoxicological approaches to aim for the development of prevention approaches.