A recent research article summarizing a study designed to update the anthropometry data for US based truck drivers reveals some interesting statistics about truck driver size and safety, and also brings to light the fact that ergonomists and designers often don't have accurate data, even if such data is critical to a design outcome. In this article Peter Budnick reviews the study and also shares some thoughts on the importance of human-centered design, up-to-date anthropometry data, as well as new developments in the way it is used to create more accommodating designs.

In this reprint from The Ergonomics Report Archives, guest contributor Thomas J. Albin writes, "Checklists come in all forms and shapes: they may be self-developed, public or proprietary. We may call them surveys, risk identification forms, screening tools, assessment tools, or something else, but their purpose is to identify risk factors that put jobs 'at-risk'. Some checklists may have been validated for various contexts of use, others not at all ... we need to manage the use of checklists ... by collecting information on their reliability and validity just as one would gather information to manage any other manufacturing process. This can be done simply and dynamically by any practitioner in a way that is specific to the worksite for which they are responsible."

Spurred to write by our recent article, "A Strategy for Human Factors/Ergonomics as a Discipline and Profession (Reprint)," guest contributor Kieran Duignan offers his thought provoking ideas on why, "... regrettably the strategy paper by Jan Dul and others ... is unlikely to go near to where its authors aspire," because, "their aspirations for the HFE community ... fail to even mention the core challenge facing all forms of business and organisational consulting now, namely building trust with stakeholders." Duignan proposes a macroergonomics approach with a focus on the ergonomics community improving its collective "social intelligence."

Ergoweb's Peter Budnick reviews a recently published study comparing 5 office chair designs. As he explains, "I found it challenging to sift through the results section and piece together a coherent description of their findings ... this article kept making me ask more questions than it was answering." He also uncovers a connection to same or similar research referenced as a 2008 study, describing benefits of a specific chair by a specific manufacturer, leaving him with additional questions and prompting him to reach out to the researchers and the manufacturer for additional background and interpretation. This article will be continued ...