Summary

This case study, carried out in two mining companies, confirmed the new worker recruiting and integration challenges that the companies must deal with: one of them had to replace 72% of its manpower between 2003 and 2008. Measures (information meetings, training on safety and companion aspects) were established to welcome and integrate these workers. The transmission of job know-how is essentially based on the good intentions and communication skills of experienced workers, as well as on their training or working conditions. Some of these conditions can have a negative impact on the transmission of know-how, as for example, cramped vehicle cabs, which prevents the new operator from being accompanied. Furthermore, it is not always easy for experienced workers to verbalize certain knowledge that has become automatic. According to the authors, it is necessary to make the knowledge developed by experienced workers visible and to promote its verbalization to facilitate its transmission. It would also be desirable to analyze in depth the conditions for knowledge integration and transmission in order to propose solution scenarios to the companies.