EEEI: meetings in Avignon

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Etienne Claes et Fernand Maillard, Honorary Vice President, Institut des Réviseurs d’Entreprises – BE

The EEEI bodies met in Avignon, the city of the Popes, on 17 June 2022.

A convivial meal had been organised on 16 June in the evening and brought together participants in the Comex and the General Assembly, allowing for interesting convivial exchanges between participants.

COMEX meeting

Welcome coffee

Friday 17 began with the morning meeting of the Executive Committee. During this meeting, the Executive Committee members had the opportunity to discuss various points:

the progress of the “Find an expert” project (1 and 2);
the renewal of mandates within the Executive Committee;
approval of the 2021 accounts, the 2022 accounts statement, followed by discussion and approval of the 2022 budget;
the approval of a special newsletter on the “Find an expert” project;
the creation of a permanent working group on the future development of the EEEI’s commercial activities (training, conferences, labelling);
the follow-up of various topics: Tunisia, training (Trinidad & Tobago – Erasmus +), IA, CEPEJ meeting.

Presentation of the ergological expertise by M. Lauvereys

The meeting ended with a welcome from Jean-Pierre Lauwereys, a Belgian legal expert specializing in ergology, who received the EEEI Award 2021 for his work on ergological expertise and was able to summarize the essence of his work and the subject matter.

The science of work is young, since everyone agrees today that it really originated with the study of workstations after the First World War. Since then, following the great economic crisis of 1929, employers have noted that “it is enough to take an interest in the worker to increase his output”, a legitimate interest perhaps on their part, but not disinterested. Since then, new methods have followed, such as quality circles in the 1980s, but even today, work motivation remains a priority for most employers. Among other things, there was the birth of ergonomics during the Second World War: towards the end of the 1950s, the International Labour Office published methods for organizing work based on the examination of workstations and their adaptation to the worker. In short, through different methods, man will try to socialize the “man-work” relationship, to rediscover today, with the confinement due to the Covid-19, the telework for the workstations that allow it. Telework appeared at the end of the XXᵉ century and, at that time, it was especially widespread in the Netherlands, a country that remains innovative in the organization of work and also in the apparently simple techniques to facilitate work.

Mr. Lauwereys then comes to the evaluation of the socio-economic loss as seen by the ergologist. For the ergologist, the socio-economic loss or loss of economic potential is assessed on the basis of the last job held by the individual. It extends to the limits of the subject’s current potential in the labour market and takes into account the last occupation(s) he or she practised. It is impossible to determine a disability rate and to define a future job market without taking into account the subject’s prior experience and current potential. The ergologist can be requested by a doctor, a lawyer, a court, an insurance company or, more rarely, by a private person. For the examination, the occupational therapist may use a semi-directive interview to get the subject to give as much information as possible about himself, his social environment, his education, his work experience and the circumstances of the accident or illness which would prevent him from continuing to work. The evaluation of potential is based on the results of a series of tests chosen according to the subject’s profile that emerged during the interview.

The results of the various tests should enable the occupational therapist to determine, within a few hours, the subject’s mental and psychological capacities. Finally, the ergologist will examine different workstation profiles and choose the ones that would best suit the subject. It is essential, when possible, to see the subject evolve in his living environment and, if necessary, on his last, or one of his last workstations. The visit to the subject’s home allows us to see the environment in which he or she lives (the structure of the environment, with access to shops, means of transport and his or her home) and to note what may be an obstacle, but also a facilitator. A visit to the subject’s last place of work will allow us to visualize the professional gestures and movements related to the workstation.

The operating methods vary according to the practitioners, but they all have the same objective: to determine the potential of the subject on the labour market, with possibly a professional reorientation or a possible adaptation of his last, or one of his last, jobs.

Mr. Lauwereys concludes his speech with a set of recommendations:

The ergologist should visit the subject’s home and last place of work, if possible. He/she must be able to talk to the subject in a language that he/she can understand, have a “neutral – positive” attitude and practice empathy throughout the examination, rely on a global approach of the subject (covering the physical (provided by the doctors), intellectual and psychic spheres), define the subject’s new job market based on his/her potentials and not on his/her deficiencies

General Assembly

After a convivial meal gathering the members of the COMEX accompanied by Mr. Lauwereys, the general assembly of the EEEI was held in a hybrid way (in person and remotely for the members who could not move).

The general assembly started with the administrative part:

designation of the scrutineers and constitution of the Bureau ;
moral report presented by the co-presidency, unanimously approved;
financial report and the presentation of the 2020 accounts, unanimously approved.

Also, unanimously approved were:

the 2022 budget and the fixing of the 2022 membership fees;
the re-election to the Executive Committee of several members whose mandate had expired: Béatrice Deshayes, Christiane Lenz, Roch Menes, Martine Otter, Florence Rochelemagne.

Participation and intervention of the President of CECCAR Robert Sova, institutional member of the EEEI.

A round table discussion was then held on the theme: “How can experts deal with pressure? The round table brought together Sascha Dalen Gilhuijs, Nico Keijser and Eva Indruchovà whose presentations can be found on YouTube :