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In light of current training policy, which emphasises lifelong learning and self-directed learning, the focus now, more than ever, is squarely on the worker. This has led the author to consider the ways in which workplace learning and assessment practices impact upon workers and how workers, in turn, impact upon these practices. This relationship is at once both ontological and epistemological in that identities and knowledge claims are intertwined. Of significance is the recognition that the whole body is very much a part of the learning process and not merely that the body generates 'behaviour'. Through the collection of empirical data at three organisations (in the food production industry in the Goulburn Valley, in regional Victoria, Australia) the author is developing insights into the significance of workplace experiences at sub-FMI (Frontline Management Initiative) levels. Whilst production workers in these settings experience routine work, there is evidence that, far from performing tasks repetitively, they are required to coordinate a variety of tasks, to manage their tasks independently and to be selfdirected in their work activities. It is from this fieldwork that the author seeks to develop an understanding of the experiences that shape, or construct workers and contribute to their identity(ies).