2.2. Observations
The aims of the observational study were to familiarise the researchers
with all poles of the work activity, to identify physical,
cognitive (reasoning) and emotional challenges in the work, to
open dialogue with the food servers on their strategies for health
preservation and the various determinants of those strategies, and
to observe the gender segregation of tasks and strategies that may
be relevant when seeking solutions. “Work activity” in this case
includes all observable actions and verbalisations of the worker
during paid work time, whether or not the observer can initially
link them to task requirements (Daniellou, 2005).
Two employers agreed to participate in the study. The first,
“Restaurant A”, accepted an exploratory study requested by its
union; this was a full-service, fine dining (North American Industry
Classification System (NAICS) Canada, 2012) restaurant staffed