There's been a lot of talk lately about ergonomic product certification, and Peter Budnick takes readers on a tour of the topic, drawing from work he's done on the question over the last 10-15 years. In this article, Part 2 of his series, he expands the model of what it means to be ergonomic, and how products and processes might be assessed in a certification process. He draws on definitions put forth by the International Ergonomics Association, and reviews their EQUID Design Process Requirements, identifying it as a solid starting point for a robust, inclusive and credible certification system.

There's been a lot of talk lately about ergonomic product certification, and Peter Budnick takes readers on a tour of the topic, drawing from work he's done on the question over the last 10-15 years. In this article, Part 1 in a series, he shares insightful video of interviews he conducted with consumers on the questions of "what does ergonomics mean" and "what would an 'ergonomically designed' label mean to you?" He also shares examples of how other industries have developed certifications, why industries need credible certification systems, and how that might come about for the field of ergonomics.

Forensics is yet another area of practice through which ergonomists and human factors engineers contribute to making the world a better place. Peter Budnick reviews and highlights several articles from the just released special issue of Ergonomics In Design (a quarterly from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society), which deals entirely with forensics as an applied specialization within the human factors and ergonomics profession.