Ergonomics
Ergonomics is the study of designing equipment and devices that fit the human body and its cognitive abilities. It aims to optimize the interaction between humans and technology to enhance comfort, efficiency, and safety. By considering human factors such as posture, movement, and cognitive workload, ergonomics seeks to minimize the risk of injury and improve overall user experience.
7 Key excerpts on "Ergonomics"
eBook - ePub- Jeremy Stranks(Author)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...In some cases, these factors may create hazards in the workplace. People and their work operations can impose limitations which need to be addressed. This is where the study of Ergonomics and the application of ergonomic principles in the design of work interfaces are most important. Ergonomics is variously defined as the scientific study of work; the scientific study of the relationship between man and his environment; the study of man in his working environment; fitting the man to the job or fitting the job to the worker; human engineering; and the study of the man–machine interface. More detailed definitions include: (1) That branch of science and technology that includes what is known and theorized about human behaviour and biological characteristics that can be validly applied to the specification, design, evaluation, operation and maintenance of systems to enhance safe, effective and satisfying use by individuals, groups and organizations; and (2) The study of human abilities and characteristics which affect the design of equipment, systems and jobs. . . and its aims are to improve safety and. . . well-being. The scope of Ergonomics Ergonomics is a multidisciplinary science which uses basic knowledge from the human, engineering, economic and social sciences. It incorporates elements of occupational medicine and health, occupational psychology, law and sociology. All these disciplines are associated with people at work and, therefore, represent an aspect of ergonomic study. Ergonomics, as applied to the man/machine interface, has been further defined as ‘the physiological, anatomical and psychological aspect of man in his working environment’. Ergonomics further embraces a number of disciplines including physiology, anatomy, psychology, engineering and environmental science...
eBook - ePubErgonomics
How to Design for Ease and Efficiency
- Katrin Kroemer Elbert, Henrike B. Kroemer, Anne D. Kroemer Hoffman(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
...Introducing Ergonomics and Human Factors Engineering What Ergonomics Is Ergonomics is the use of scientific principles, methods, and data drawn from a variety of disciplines for the development of systems in which people play a significant role. The field of applications extends from a single person using a simple tool to a complex multi-person socio-technical organization. Ergonomic specialists rely on the understanding that systems are meant to benefit people, whether they are consumers, production workers, system operators or maintenance crews. This user-centered design philosophy acknowledges human variability as a design parameter. The resultant design features utilize human capabilities, consider human limitations and have built-in safeguards to avoid or reduce the effects of human error or of system failure. Ergonomics is neutral: it takes no sides, neither employers’ nor workers’. It is not for or against progress. It is not a philosophy, but a scientific discipline and practical technology. What Ergonomics Does Ergonomics focuses on the human as the most important component of our technological systems...
eBook - ePubElectronic Measurement Systems
Theory and Practice
- A.F.P van Putten(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
...Twelve Ergonomics OR HUMAN ENGINEERING 12.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter is devoted to one of the most neglected disciplines in measuring techniques. The reason is easy to understand because it is the least possible to quantify and was considered for a long time to be of little importance. However, equipment and systems have grown considerably in complexity and nowadays the relationship between humans and systems very often plays an important and vital role in efficiency, safety, comfort and health. To understand what is meant by Ergonomics the following definition will clarify the implications involved. Ergonomics is defined as the collection of knowledge about skills and limits of the human being and the science of applying this knowledge to equipment and systems to achieve a well-being and functioning of humans in which safety aspects and economical efficiency can play a vital role. The American equivalent for Ergonomics is ‘human engineering’. The word Ergonomics was first introduced by K F H Murrel in 1949 and is derived from the Greek words ergon = work and nomos = knowledge. The person involved in Ergonomics is called a human engineer, for whom the following topics are subjects of investigation: 1 creating good working conditions 2 creating efficient tools, equipment and systems in which a direct relationship with the human being is present 3 the investigation of maximum-load conditions for the human being performing various tasks under static and dynamic environmental conditions 4 the mechanisms with which the required information is perceived and the relevant thresholds for the human being 5 the way in which information is presented to allow unambiguous interpretation. One of the best examples in which all of these aspects play a vital role is flying an aeroplane. Optimum conditions and circumstances between pilot and machine must be present to fulfill all requirements...
- D.R. Kiran(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Butterworth-Heinemann(Publisher)
...Similarly, Ergonomics involves the study of the operations with reference to the working conditions to reduce the strain in the body of the operator. It is a scientific study of people at work and the workplace with reference to the movement of the human body. It looks at what kind of work that is done, the tools used and the whole job environment including the posture of the body, the movements necessitating the human effort and the physical strain the operator is subjected to. Ergonomics is concerned with many disciplines in its study of humans and their environments, including (i) Anthropometry, (ii) Biomechanics, (iii) Kinesiology, (iv) Physiology, (v) Cognitive psychology, (vi) Industrial and organizational psychology, and (vii) Space psychology. and this knowledge is very much essential for the engineers, especially, industrial engineers, Industrial designers, and information designers. 16.2 Aims of Ergonomics 1. The goal of Ergonomics is to make the job to suit the operator with lesser muscle fatigue, and to reduce the number and severity of work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs), caused by stress as well as injuries and disorders associated with the overuse of soft tissues like muscles or tendons, awkward posture caused by repeated tasks. These are among the most frequently reported causes, resulting in almost 33% of lost or restricted work time 2. A well-designed and implemented Ergonomics reduces the above strains and plays an important role in performance improvement...
eBook - ePubErgodesign Methodology for Product Design
A Human-Centered Approach
- Marcelo M. Soares(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
...Note that this official definition of Ergonomics uses the term “design” as a project, change, intervention. In this way, Ergonomics is involved in the analysis and design of products and systems of various levels of complexity in order to optimize the interface between the user and the product, the environment and system, be it a toy or an automobile, a control room at an international airport and the equipment, environments, and systems used by its operators. NOTE Product Ergonomics is the area of study which aims systematically to analyze artifacts and their interaction with humans (Soares, 2012). According to the author, it deals with the use of ergonomic methods and tools for the analysis of objects manufactured on an industrial scale and prioritizes the relations of the user, operator, consumer, and those who maintain the product. Ergonomics is a discipline supported by scientific data; product design is the process of creating new and improved products for the use of people and manufacturing aims to convert raw material into manufactured products, thus producing valuable and tradable goods. Ergonomics has clearly strong inputs from science while Product Design is assisted by aesthetic and subjective inputs. Manufacturers, on the other side, are mainly interested in the performance of the product in the market in terms of the quantity of goods sold and the profit made. Usually, the three groups have different approaches. Ergonomists focus mainly on product usability and safety, employing empirical methodologies to achieve this purpose. Product designers endeavor to seek a balance between form, value, and appearance of products, relying on experience, intuition, and creativity to achieve this end. Manufacturers are more pragmatic having to fight for survival in an extremely competitive environment...
eBook - ePub- Robert Bridger(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
...This incompatibility can occur due to a variety of reasons. For example, • Human requirements for optimum system functioning were never considered at the design stage (a failure to integrate HFE in the design process). • Inappropriate task design (e.g., new devices introduce unexpected changes in the way tasks are carried out and these are incompatible with user knowledge, habits, or capacity or they are incompatible with other tasks)—essentially a failure of succession. • Lack of prototyping (e.g., modern software development is successful because it is highly iterative. Users are consulted from the conceptual stage right through to preproduction prototypes). Brief History of Ergonomics Ergonomics came about as a response to the design and operational problems presented by technological advances in the twentieth century. It is a hybrid discipline that emerged when applied scientists came together to solve complex cross-disciplinary problems, and it owes its development to the same historical processes that gave rise to other disciplines such as industrial engineering and occupational medicine. The core sciences from which Ergonomics is drawn are as follows: • Psychology • Anatomy • Physiology • Physics (particularly mechanics and environmental physics) • Engineering It has also been heavily influenced by other emergent disciplines, notably, • Industrial engineering • Industrial design • Systems theory Scientific Management and Work Study Scientific management, developed by Taylor, and work study, developed by the Gilbreths, are precursors of Ergonomics. Both were developed at the beginning of the twentieth century and were based on the realization that productivity could be improved by redesigning the way work was done and not just by using better machines. Taylor (1911) was a mechanical engineer who is famous for his book, The Principles of Scientific Management (although he also wrote a book about concrete, for which he is not famous)...
eBook - ePub- R. S. F. Schilling(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Butterworth-Heinemann(Publisher)
...It is still neither well known nor well understood. It is in effect more an attitude to practical problems and a set of skills than a separate academic discipline. It has been well said that ‘the basic skills of the ergonomist rest in his expertise in the acquisition of evidence and the drawing of conclusions in relation to man in man–machine systems’ (Singleton, Fox and Whitfield, 1970). The question whether Ergonomics is a science or technology is deliberately left unanswered. In Britain Ergonomics is taught as a first degree at only one University (Loughborough) and at postgraduate level at London, Birmingham and Aston. There are a number of other postgraduate courses offered in occupational or applied psychology, with a content closely akin to Ergonomics. These too are recognized as qualifying for membership by the Ergonomics Research Society. Ergonomics AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH Although present trends appear to be increasingly towards greater specialization, it would be inappropriate to accuse ergonomists of creating yet another exclusive specialty. The demarcation lines, if any, can best be drawn by contrast and comparison of various functions within what used to be described as industrial medicine. The term industrial medicine has now been superseded by occupational health which embraces occupational hygiene, medicine and, in part, occupational psychology (see Chapter 3). Stewart (1949) regarded occupational hygiene as ‘the study of the working environment as distinct from the study of the individual in that environment’ and, as such, is largely a matter for engineers specially trained in this field, whereas the occupational physician is considered as primarily concerned with the study of the individual within his working environment. The ergonomist shares with the occupational physician the interest in the effects of the environment on the individual...
