A new definition of ergonomics (original) (raw)

Iconic Research and Engineering Journals, 2022

Ergonomics is the study of how working conditions, machines and equipment can be arranged in order that people can work with them more efficiently. The general approach for designing the work place for the positive outcome of the worker and the corresponding factors. Industrial Ergonomics is a science on how to fit the task and working environment the worker using scientific data drawn from a variety of disciplines. In Industrial System, the science of ergonomics seeks to adapt the job and workplace to the worker by designing tasks within the workers capabilities and limitations. The term ergonomics is neutral, takes no sides, neither of employers nor of employees. The various applications of industrial ergonomics which indirectly plays a vital role in the output of the respective industry. When the ergonomic is set right there is increase in the worker efficiency as well as the output. There is drastic reduction in the injuries to workers when the ergonomics is set up in the right way

Ergonomics: Application in Industries

Abstract: Ergonomics is one of the major point of concern in the manufacturing of any product or commodity in any industries or workshops. It deals with the study of men machine and work environment for achieving optimal performance without causing any physiological and psychological discomfort. This paper presents an overview of the situations in workplaces (industries; workshops etc.) which would assist in user friendlyenvironment and hence will lead to good scale of PRODUCTION.

CORRELATION BETWEEN ERGONOMICS AND ECONOMICS

CORRELATION BETWEEN ERGONOMICS AND ECONOMICS , 2019

One of the clearest ways to delineate a discipline is by its unique technology. At its recent workshop, the HFES Strategic Planning Task Force noted, as have others internationally, that the technology of human factors/ergonomics is human-system interface technology. Thus, the discipline of human factors can be defined as the development and application of human-system interface technology. Human-system interface technology deals with the interfaces between humans and the other system components, including hardware, software, environments, jobs, and organizational structures and processes. Like the technology of other design-related disciplines, it includes specifications, guidelines, methods, and tools. As noted by the Strategic Planning Task Force, we use our discipline’s technology for improving the quality of life, including health, safety, comfort, usability, and productivity. As a science we study human capabilities, limitations, and other characteristics for the purpose of developing human-system interface technology. As a practice, we apply human-system interface technology to the analysis, design, evaluation, standardization, and control of systems. It is this technology that clearly defines us as a unique, stand-alone discipline, that identifies who we are, what we do, and what we offer for the betterment of society. Although they may come from a variety of professional backgrounds, such as psychology, engineering, safety, the rehabilitation professions, or medicine, it is their professional education and training in human-system interface technology that qualifies persons as human factors/ergonomics professionals. Indeed, the discipline needs both the breadth and richness of these professional backgrounds as well as the education and training in the unique technology of human factors/ergonomics. Human factors/ergonomics professionals have long recognized the tremendous potential of our discipline for improving people’s health, safety, and comfort and both human and system productivity. Indeed, through the application of our unique human-system interface technology, we have the potential to truly make a difference in the quality of life for virtually all peoples on this globe. In fact, I know of no profession where so small a group of professionals has such tremendous potential for truly making a difference. In light of our potential, why is it, then, that more organizations, with their strong need to obtain employee commitment, reduce expenses, and increase productivity, are not banging down our doors for help, or creating human factors/ergonomics positions far beyond our capacity to fill them? Why is it that federal and state agencies are not pushing for legislation to ensure that human factors/ ergonomics factors are systematically considered in the design of products for human use and work environments for employees? Why is it that both industry associations and members of Congress sometimes view us as simply adding an additional expense burden and, thus, increasing the costs of production and thereby decreasing competitiveness? In response to these questions, from my experience, at least four contributing reasons immediately come to mind. First, some of these individuals and organizations have been exposed to bad ergonomics – or what, in a recent article on this topic, Ian Chong (1996) labels “voodoo ergonomics” – either in the form of products or work environments that are professed to be ergonomically designed but are not, or in which the so-called ergonomics was done by incompetent persons. This, indeed, is a concern, particularly when persons lacking professional training pass themselves off as ergonomists or human factors professionals or tout their services as a panacea for almost anything. It is one of the major reasons that both establishing educational standards for professional education in human factors/ergonomics and professional certification have become top priority issues for the International Ergonomics Association and, indeed, for many national human factors/ergonomics societies and governmental groups, such as the European Union. Another reason, well known to us, is that “everyone is an operator” (Mallett, 1995). Everyone “operates” systems on a daily basis, such as an automobile, computer, television, and telephone; thus, it is very easy to naively assume from our operator experience that human factors is nothing more than “common sense.” Most experienced ergonomists have their own personal list of “common sense” engineering design decisions that have resulted in serious accidents, fatalities, or just plain poor usability. Buy me a beer and I’ll be glad to tell you some of my personal ergonomics “war stories.” I also would refer you to Steve Casey’s book, Set Phasers on Stun (Santa Barbara, CA: Aegean; ISBN 0-9636178-7-7 hc). Third, I believe we sometimes expect organizational decision makers to proactively support human factors/ergonomics simply because it is the right thing to do. Like God, mother, and apple pie, it is hard to argue against doing anything that may better the human condition, and so that alone should be a compelling argument for actively supporting the use of our discipline. In reality, managers have to be able to justify any investment in terms of its concrete benefits to the organization – to the organization’s ability to be competitive and survive. That something “is the right thing to do” is, by itself, an excellent but decidedly insufficient reason for managers actually doing it. Finally, and perhaps most important, as a group, we have done a poor job of documenting and advertising the cost-benefits of good ergonomics – of getting the word out that most often, good ergonomics is good economics. In fact, that the ergonomics of economics is the economics of ergonomics. As one attempt to rectify this situation, I want to share with you a broad spectrum of ergonomics applications that my predecessor as HFES president, Tom Eggemeier, and I have collected from within the United States and elsewhere, in which the costs and economic benefits were documented.

ERGONOMICS AND DESIGN

3 3 D De ep pa ar rt tm me en nt t o of f P Pr ro od du uc ct ti io on n, , Abstract Today, both workers and management are concerned about the quality of work lives, ergonomics and occupational safety and health. New development such as information and communication technologies and specialized work requiring repetitive tasks add up to a need for Ergonomics. By examining, designing, testing and evaluating the work piece and how people interact in it, ergonomics can create productive, safe, and satisfying work environment. Ergonomics is concerns with the study of the relationship between people and work environment. The scope for the application of ergonomics in our working environment is tremendous. Ergonomics has the essential role to play in increasing work efficiency and productivity by making the tool or machine fit the users and the worker's efficiency. Ergonomics developed into a recognized field during the Second World War, when for the first time, technology and the human science s were systematically applied in a coordinated manner [1]. The application of Ergonomics is very much in Europe and northern America. Recently Southeast Asian countries including Bangladesh are applying the concept of ergonomics industrial workstation design. This paper focuses on the importance of ergonomics in product design, working environment, and its influence in industrial workstation design, the interdisciplinary nature of ergonomics and the implications of ergonomics in industrial engineering function. It also contains the importance of ergonomics for an industrial engineer to design product.

Ergonomics of the physical environment

Applied Ergonomics, 1995

This paper considers standards relevant to environmental ergonomics, and includes those that have been, or are likely to be, produced by the International Organization for Standardization

INDUSTRIAL GUIDE TO ERGONOMICS ENGINEERING

INDUSTRIAL GUIDE TO ERGONOMICS ENGINEERING, 2019

Ergonomics is the study of people while they use equipment in specific environments to perform certain tasks. Ergonomics seeks to minimize adverse effects of the environment upon people and thus to enable each person to maximize his or her contribution to a given job. This industry guide: Explains generally how measurements of human traits can be used to further workplace safety, health, comfort and productivity, discusses how to enhance worker safety by combining principles that govern the action of forces with knowledge of the human body, analyzes properties of illumination and explains how proper illumination makes for a safer workplace by reducing worker fatigue, shows how hand tools can be designed to reduce injuries to employees and to lessen trauma to their body members, illustrates ways to recognize proper sitting positions and to construct seating arrangements to minimize stress to the lumbar region, demonstrates how workspaces can be designed to decrease psychological stress and to increase employee motivation, directs attention to the benefits of proper selection and strategic arrangement of controls and displays for the machinery operation, offers general information about ways to reduce back injuries that result from manual lifting and offers more specialized guidelines for evaluating physical stresses imposed by lifting, refines the concept of the worker with a disability and suggests ways of meeting the special needs of people with disabilities, and stimulates new thinking about problems such as those from the sustained operation of computers) brought about by technological advancements. This industry guide demonstrates how benefits are derived from applying the principles of ergonomics to workplace safety and health. It gives the reader a solid