Introduction
er·go·nom·ics \,ûrg-go-‘näm-iks\The science of work. Ergonomics removes barriers to quality, productivity and safe human performance by fitting products, tasks, and environments to people.
The term ergonomics is derived from the Greek word ergos meaning “work” and nomos meaning “natural laws of” or “study of.” The profession has two major branches with considerable overlap. One discipline, the focus of this article, and sometimes referred to as “industrial ergonomics, or “physical ergonomics,” concentrates on the physical aspects of work and human capabilities such as force, posture, and repetition. A second branch, sometimes referred to as “human factors,” is oriented to the psychological aspects of work such as mental loading and decision making. The ergonomics field draws practitioners and researchers from various specialties, including engineers, safety professionals, industrial hygienists, occupational and physical therapists, and other health care specialists. The purpose/goals of workplace ergonomics applications include:- Occupational injury and illness reduction
- Workers’ compensation cost containment
- Productivity improvement
- Work quality improvement
- Turnover, absentee and presentee reduction
- Government regulation compliance
- Evaluation and control of work site risk factors
- Worker and stakeholder interviews identifying issues and potential improvements (qualitative information)
- Identification and quantification of existing work site risk conditions (quantitative information)
- Recommendation of engineering and administrative controls to reduce the identified risks
- Education of management and workers to risk conditions and improvement opportunities
