Work activity ergonomics (sometimes called francophone ergonomics) draws heavily on observation in order to support transformation of work to arrive at better health without interfering with productivity. Recently, ergonomists have attempted to integrate gender into their interventions. At the same time, ergonomists have been observing and documenting the importance of considering collective dimensions of work, thus including the construction of social relations among workers. Gender as well as biological sex can affect work activity through (1) Gendered job and task assignments; (2) Biological differences between women and men influencing the interface between work activity and the physical environment; (3) Gendered human relations at work, including sexual stereotyping, sexism, sexual harrassment, and sexual relations among workers and between workers and management or clients; (4) Manifestations of work-family articulation. But actually observing these phenomena poses various difficulties for the ergonomist. How can/should gender be observed by ergonomists? We describe a set of twenty studies, undertaken by ergonomists in collaboration with trade union women’s committees and health and safety committees, where observations were central. We describe in particular detail a study of work-family articulation. Participant and ergonomic observations of workers with highly invasive schedules assigned to cleaning transportation equipment, and relational analysis tools were mobilized to reveal determinants of work activity and some sources of social inequalities. Integrating observations of gender and other dimensions of social relations into ergonomic analysis and intervention is revealed as necessary, but not simple, and fraught with obstacles.

工作活动的人机工程学（有时称为法语人机工程学）在观察上占了很大比重，以支持工作的转变，从而在不影响生产力的情况下获得更好的健康。最近，人类工程学家试图将性别纳入他们的干预措施中。同时，人机工程学专家一直在观察并记录考虑集体工作规模的重要性，从而包括建立工人之间的社会关系。性别和生物性别均可通过以下方式影响工作活动：（1）性别分配的工作和任务；（2）男女之间的生物学差异影响工作活动与自然环境之间的联系；（3）工作中的性别关系，包括性陈规定型观念，性别歧视，性骚扰，工人之间以及工人与管理层或客户之间的性关系；（4）工作家庭表达的表现。但是实际上观察这些现象给人机工程学专家带来了各种困难。人机工程学家如何/应该观察到性别？我们描述了一组二十项研究，这些研究是由人机工程学专家与工会妇女委员会以及健康与安全委员会合作进行的，这些研究均以观察为中心。我们将特别详细地描述对工作家庭表达的研究。安排了具有侵入性的工作日程安排给清洁运输设备的工人的参与者和人体工程学观察结果，以及相关分析工具，以揭示工作活动的决定因素和社会不平等的某些根源。