Discussions on the place of work in our society are paradoxical. We love the potential of technology or denounce technicist dominance, but to worry or welcome it, the inevitable disappearance of work is claimed. The technique thus emanated from the work? Abording the work by carrying out a specific study of productive activities, this work focuses on the role of monitoring and control in chemical and nuclear plants. He asked simple questions: What do men do in a very automated productive context? How do they ensure the continuity of the production flow and the safety of the installations? In short, how do they work, and the forms of productive activity in these industries contradict the common representations of labour, those which reduce it to force expenditure or social constraint. The careful study of this industrial configuration also makes it possible to question the contemporary transformations of work, far beyond the case of these sectors. Scrutiny in clear language, illustrated by many concrete cases and verbatims of survey, should be of interest to students in social sciences, such as students of engineers, but also to professionals who are confronted with new productive approaches on a daily basis.