Working in a medical biology laboratory: Multi-level organizational complexity for patient health and operator safety

Medical biology laboratories (MBLs) have been in the spotlight during the COVID-19 crisis. They play an essential role in diagnosis and research, yet they have been little studied in the humanities and social sciences literature. It seems important to highlight the organisation of work in this field, which, to our knowledge, has not yet been the subject of ergonomic studies. This is therefore exploratory research work that forms the starting point for a thesis in ergonomics. We combined observations and interviews in nine public hospital laboratories. We conducted a multi-level organisational analysis (macro, meso and micro), focusing on the sample collection process in order to understand the organisation and work of professionals in these laboratories, as well as their intra- and extra-hospital relationships. It appears that the organisation of medical laboratories is dynamic and complex, mirroring that of healthcare services, and that work influences organisation and vice versa. This study allows us to open up perspectives on the safety of operators in isolated, confined and hostile environments (ICE).