Abstract: Local health and environmental issues can sometimes be conflicting. For public health professionals called upon to intervene in these situations, it is important to understand this conflict by identifying the sensitivity of the situation. To complement its analysis of the environmental and health context, the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS) proposes an approach to the social context in order to adapt the methods of their intervention in the region. The approach is structured in four steps. The first step involves identifying the stakeholders involved. The second step describes the characteristics of these stakeholders in terms of issues, perceptions, roles, and social expectations related to the situation. The analysis of this data in the third step aims to identify what may be particularly sensitive in light of the situation under study, particularly in terms of differences among the various stakeholders in the region. The fourth step invites the public health professional, beyond their initial assessment of the degree of public health concern derived from their own analysis of the situation, to determine the stance they should adopt regarding the balance between public health issues and the importance of the social context. This approach clearly draws the line between the analysis that public health professionals who are not sociologists can conduct and the analysis that involves a deeper examination of the social context, which requires specific expertise in the social sciences. (R.A.)