Ergonomic analysis for elementary school teachers. Preliminary trial for elementary schools in the province of Buenos Aires Gabriela Cuenca a,* , and Patricio Nusshold b a Departamento de Ingeniería Industrial, Facultad Regional Buenos Aires, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Argentina. info@gabrielacuenca.com.ar b Secretaría de Investigaciones, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. patri- cio.nusshold@gmail.com Abstract. This article presents the results of a preliminary trial, in the context of an intervention, developed by a team of ergonomists under the request of the Occupational Health Department of the General Management of Schools in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. We present a reformulation of the request and the results obtained in 2009 from observations and interviews held in three schools in the province of Buenos Aires in which different jobs positions were assessed. From this stage onwards, the tools were validated and new aspects were shown, particularly in relation to the high variety of real situations in the education sector. Keywords: teachers, education, ergonomics, work analysis, methodology  a Ergonomist, Industrial Designer,Departamento de Ingeniería Industrial, Facultad Regional Buenos Aires, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Argentina. info@gabrielacuenca.com.ar  b PhD Student, Ergonomist, Organizational Psychologist, Secretaría de Investigaciones, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. patricio.nusshold@gmail.com  Both authors are members of the Asociación de Ergonomía Argentina. Departamento de Salud Ocupacional, Dirección de Cultura y Educación de la Provincia de Buenos Aires y de la Facultad de Medicina, de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata 1. Introduction The following research has been done under the request of the Occupational Health Department of the Culture and Education Ministry of the Province of Buenos Aires. The initial request was to design different job profiles and through these get to know: the current work conditions of primary school work- ers of Buenos Aires, employment-related patholo- gies and their effects on leaves of absence. A series of meetings were held in order to reformulate the demand to include a view of the work conditions from the ergonomics point of view. By studying the work situations of the schools, we sought to understand the work context, the inte- ractions between the worker and the tools he used to undertake his position, the dynamics of the worker's activity, the variations in the activity and in the con- ditions of the worker, as well as the variations in his working environment. The aim for this first stage of the preliminary trial was to validate the instruments of the investiga- tion, and to highlight, through observations and in- terviews, the complexity of the real situation. Work 41 (2012) 3685-3692 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-2012-0010-3685 IOS Press 3685 1051-9815/12/$27.50 © 2012 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved