ERGONOMICS
INTRODUCTION
GOALS OF ERGONOMICS
⚫ Ergonomics is the application of scientific
principles, methods, and data drawn from a
variety of disciplines (psychology, cognitive
science, physiology, biomechanics, applied
physical anthropometry, and industrial
systems engineering) to the development of
engineering systems (a simple tool,
sociotechnical system) in which people play a
significant role
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⚫ The design begins with an understanding of the
user’s role in overall system performance and that
systems exist to serve their users
⚫ Human variability must be used as a design
parameter
⚫ Designs should take advantage of unique human
capabilities as well as build-in safeguards to avoid
the impact of unpredictable human error
⚫ Success is measured by improved productivity,
efficiency, safety, system acceptance level, improved
quality of human life
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WHAT ERGONOMICS DOES
generate
⚫ Tolerable work conditions
Do not pose known dangers to human life or health
⚫ Acceptable conditions
People can voluntarily agree, according to current
scientific knowledge and under given sociological,
technological, and organizational circumstances
⚫ Optimal conditions
So well adapted to human characteristics,
capabilities, and desires
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⚫ Ergonomics’ fundamental aim is that all
human-made tools, devices, equipment,
machines, and environments should
advance, directly or indirectly, the safety, well
being, and performance of human beings
⚫ Thus, ergonomics has two distinct aspects:
– Study, research, experimentation
– Application and engineering
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THE DEVELOPMENT OF ERGONOMICS
⚫ Using objects found in the environment as tools or
weapons
⚫ Purposeful shaping of these tools
⚫ Fitting clothes and making shelters
⚫ Training workers and soldiers
⚫ Artists, military officers, employers, and sports
enthusiasts were always interested in body build
and physical performance
⚫ The disciplines of anatomy and anthropology began
to develop
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⚫ About 400 B.C., Hippocrates described a scheme of
four body types (moist, dry, cold, and warm)
⚫ In the 15th and 17th centuries, Leonardo da Vinci and
Alfonso Giovanni Borrelli, and Mimar Sinan
(anatomy, physiology, and equipment design)
⚫ In the 18th century, the sciences of anatomy and
physiology diversified and accumulated specific
detailed knowledge
Psychology began to develop as a separate science
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⚫ In the early 1800s, in France, Lavoisier, Duchenne,
Amar, and Dunod researched the energy capabilities
of the working body
Marey developed methods to describe human
motions at work
Bedaux made studies to determine work payment
systems
In England, the Industrial Fatigue Research Board
considered theoretical and practical aspects of the
human at work
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In Italy, Mosso constructed dynamometers and
ergometers to research fatigue
In Scandinavia, Johannsson and Tigerstedt
developed the scientific discipline of work physiology
In the U.S., Benedict and Catchcard described the
efficiencies of muscular work
⚫ In the first half of the 20th century, industrial
physiology and psychology were well advanced and
widely recognized
⚫ The physical and physiological aspects were studied
mainly in Europe and the psychological and social
aspects in North America
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Directions in Europe
⚫ During the hunger years associated with the First
World War (marginal living conditions), applied and
work physiology assumed great importance in
Europe
– Research on minimal nutrition required to perform certain
activities
– The consumption of energy while carrying out agricultural,
industrial, military, and household tasks
– The relationship between energy consumption and heart
rate
– The use of muscular capabilities
– Suitable body postures at work
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⚫ Another development in the 1920s was
“psychotechnology” which involved testing persons
for their ability to perform physical and mental work,
their vigilance and attention, their ability to carry
mental workload, their behavior as drivers of
vehicles, their ability to read road signs, and related
topics
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Directions in North America
⚫ Most psychologists around 1900 were strictly
scientific and deliberately avoided studying problems
that strayed outside the boundaries of pure research
⚫ The development of intelligence testing
⚫ The Hawthorne Works near Chicago in the mid-1920
⚫ Industrial Psychology divided into special branches
(personnel psychology, organizational behavior,
industrial relations, and engineering psychology)
⚫ Under the pressures of the Second World war, the
human factor became of major concern
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Names for the Discipline:
“Ergonomics” and “Human Factors”
⚫ On January 13 and 14, 1950, British researchers met
in Cambridge to discuss the name of a new society
to represent their activities. Among others,
“ergonomics” was proposed
⚫ “Ergon” work
“Nomos” law
⚫ It was accepted as the name of the new society at
its council meeting on February 16, 1950
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⚫ In the U.S., a group of persons convened in 1956 to
establish a formal society, “human factors” was
selected as the name of the new society
⚫ In 1992, the Human Factors Society renamed itself
the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
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THE ERGONOMIC KNOWLEDGE BASE
⚫ Ergonomics today is growing and changing in
parallel to the development of new applications and
new technologies
⚫ Several basic sciences provide fundamental
knowledge about human beings
– Anatomy: the build of the human body
– Orthopedics: the skeletal system
– Physiology: functions and activities of the living body
– Medicine: illnesses and healing
– Psychology: the science of mind
– Sociology: development of behavior
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⚫ From these basic sciences, a group of more applied
sciences developed into the core of ergonomics
– Anthropometry: the measuring and description of the
physical dimensions of the human body
– Biomechanics: the physical behavior of the body in
mechanical terms
– Work Physiology: people’s behavior and attitude at work
– Industrial Hygiene: the control of occupational hazards
– Management
– Labor Relations
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⚫ Several distinct application areas use ergonomics as
components of their knowledge base and their work
procedures
– Industrial Engineering: Interactions among people,
machinery, and energies
– Bioengineering: to replace worn or damaged body parts
– Systems Engineering:
– Safety Engineering: well being of humans
– Military Engineering: relies on the human being as a soldier
– Computer-aided Design: Information about the human must
be provided
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Professional Organizations
⚫ The International Ergonomics Association ([Link])
⚫ The Ergonomics Society is located in the United Kingdom
([Link]). In 2009, the ES is renamed the Institute of
Ergonomics and Human Factors (IEHF) to reflect the popular usage of both
terms and to emphasize the breadth of the discipline. In 2014, the discipline’s
importance is officially recognized by the award of a Royal Charter to the
Institute and it becomes the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human
Factors.
– Founded in 1950
– 800 members
⚫ The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society is located in the United States
([Link])
– 5000 members
18 – “Human Factors”, “Ergonomics in Design”, “Journal of Cognitive Engineering and
Decision Making”, and “Human Factors in Healthcare”
⚫ The Turkish Ergonomics Society was founded by Ahmet Fahri Özok in 1992 and
accepted as a member of the IEA at the IEA Council meeting in Tampere -
Finland in 1997.
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