what is ergonomics?
Ergonomics is a branch of science that aims to learn about human abilities and limitations and then apply that knowledge to improve people's interaction with products, systems and environments.

Ergonomics is a relatively new branch of science which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 1999, but relies on research carried out in many other older, established scientific areas, such as engineering, physiology and psychology.

It originated in World War 2, when scientists designed advanced new and potentially improved systems without fully considering the people who would be using them. It gradually became clear that systems and products would have to be designed to take account of many human and environmental factors if they are to be used safely and effectively. This awareness of people’s requirements resulted in the discipline of ergonomics.

Ergonomics comes into everything which involves people. Work systems, sports and leisure, Health and Safety should all embody ergonomics principles if well designed. Some years ago, researchers compared the relative positions of the controls on a lathe with the size of an average male worker. It was found that the lathe operator would have to stoop and move from side to side to operate the lathe controls. An ‘ideal’ sized person to fit the lathe would be just 4.5 feet tall, 2 feet across the shoulders and have an arm span of 8 feet.

This example epitomises the shortcoming in design when no account has been taken of the user. People come in all shapes and sizes, and the ergonomist takes this variability into account when influencing the design process. In addition to physical size, ergonomists look at strength, compatibility of controls, vision, sound, thermal comfort, motion, vibration and workloads.

Vision is usually the primary channel for information, yet systems are often so poorly designed that the user is unable to see the work area clearly. Many workers using computers cannot see their screens because of glare or reflections. Others, doing precise assembly tasks, have insufficient lighting and suffer eyestrain and reduced output as a result.

Sound can be a useful way to provide information, especially for warning signals. However, care must be taken not to overload this sensory channel. A recent airliner had 16 different audio warnings, far too many for a pilot to deal with in an emergency situation. A more sensible approach was to have just a few audio signals to alert the pilot to get information guidance from a visual display.

Motion and vibration can have a detrimental effect upon the worker’s efficiency, health and comfort, ranging from motion-sickness in vehicles to ‘whitefinger’ for vibrating hand tool users. Chemicals, pollutants and ‘Sick Building Syndrome’ also need to be taken into account in many working situations.

The ergonomist’s role is to study all aspects of the working situation and to fit the job to the human’s attributes.