Background Study

Have you ever used a tool, device, appliance, or machine and said to yourself,

"What a dumb way to design this; it is so hard to use! If only they had done this or that,
using it would be so much easier.”

** The goal of human factors is to guide the applications of technology in the direction of
benefiting humanity.

❖ Human factors is the term used in the United States and a few other countries.
The term ergonomics, although used in the United States, is more prevalent in
Europe and the rest of the world.

Ergonomics means the natural laws governing human work.

The name Ergonomics came from the Greek words

“ergon” = work “nomos” = natural laws

Ergonomics is the laws of work that define the limits to human capability.

Ergonomics is derived from Greek word. Ergon means work and Nomos means natural
law. Ergonomics means the natural law of work. Ergonomics is commonly used in
Europe. In USA and other countries, it is called by the name of Human Engineering or
Human Factor Engineering.

Son: What is Ergonomics?

Dad: It is making children tall enough not to have dads bend so much.

Ergonomics

Ergonomics is the study of the interaction between people and machines and the
factors that affect the interaction. Its purpose is to improve the performance of
systems by improving Human-Machine interaction. Ergonomists contribute to the design
and evaluation of tasks, jobs, products, environments and systems in order to make
them compatible with the needs, abilities and limitations of people.

Ergonomics derives from two Greek words: ergon, meaning work, and nomoi, meaning
natural laws, to create a word that means the science of work and a person’s
relationship to that work.

History of Ergonomics

Polish newspaper (1857) published about Ergonomics by a polish citizen. 1st World War
and 2nd World War concept of Ergonomics or Human factor / H F in USA. World War II, for
the first time, technology and the human sciences were systematically applied in a
coordinated manner. Physiol., psych., anthropol., doctors, scientists and engineers
together addressed the problems arising from the operation of complex military
equipment.

As this inter-disciplinary approach appeared so promising, the cooperation was pursued

in industry even after the war. Interest in the approach grew rapidly, especially in Europe
and the United States, leading to the foundation in England of the first ever national
ergonomics society in 1949, which is when the term ‘ERGONOMICS’ was adopted. In
1961 International Ergonomics Association (IEA), was formed.

After World War II, human factor emerged as a discipline in the USA. There were many
problems occurred when using sophisticated war equipment’s. This finding focused the
interest on the design of controls and display in aircraft. Consequently, the
information available in the textbook on human factors is heavily influenced by military
rather than civilian applications of ergonomics. In the USA, applications in
manufacturing are fairly recent (Helander, 1997). Eastman –kodak in Roschester, New
York, was probably the first company implemented a substantial program around 1965.
At IBM Corporation, interest in manufacturing ergonomics started around 1980.
Ergonomics is also discussed in “quality groups” which comprise a mix of engineers
and operators (Helan and Burri. 1994). In many European countries, labor unions have
taken an active interest in promoting ergonomics as being important for safety, health,
comfort and convenience. Even during the Stone Age individuals were designing hand
tools to fit the user and the task (drillis, 1963). During the industrial revolution there were
efforts to apply the concepts of a ‘human centered design’ to tools. At the beginning of
20th century Frederich Taylor introduced the ‘scientific’ study of work (Helander,1).
Ergonomics was not an independent discipline until the 1950s. In 1950, the
Ergonomics Research Society was formed in the UK. In the USA, Human Factor
Society was established in 1957. The first meeting of the International Ergonomics
Association was held in Stockholm, Sweded in 1961. Today, this Umbrella Association
represents about 15,000 ergonomists in 40 countries (Helander).

In industrial societies

In the 19th century, Frederick Winslow Taylor pioneered the "scientific

management" method, which proposed a way to find the optimum method of carrying
out a given task. Taylor found that he could, for example, triple the amount of coal that
workers were shoveling by incrementally reducing the size and weight of coal shovels
until the fastest shoveling rate was reached. Frank and Lillian Gilbreth expanded
Taylor's methods in the early 1900s to develop the "time and motion study". They
aimed to improve efficiency by eliminating unnecessary steps and actions. By
applying this approach, the Gilbreths reduced the number of motions in bricklaying
from 18 to 4.5, allowing bricklayers to increase their productivity from 120 to 350 bricks
per hour.

[Link] allowed greater flexibility in allocating operators to easily learnt tasks.

2. Fewer skilled workers were needed. Skill shortages were avoided and training costs
and wages could be more easily contained.

3. The introduction of paced work enabled production schedules to be more rigorously

quantified. Better predictions of output could be made.

4. If everyone worked at the same pace, the result was always a finished product.

Applications of Ergonomics

• Anatomy
• Orthopedics
• Physiology
• Medicine
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Anthropometry
• Biomechanics
• Work Physiology
• Industrial Hygiene Management
• Labor Relations
• Industrial Engineering
• Bio-Engineering
• Systems Engineering
• Safety Engineering
• Military Engineering
• Computer-Aided Design

BENEFITS OF ERGONOMICS

The benefit of the well-designed jobs, workplace, and equipment are

✓ IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY
✓ SAFETY & HEALTH
✓ INCREASED SATISFACTION OF THE EMPLOYEES.

The principles of ergonomics

The word “Ergonomics” comes from two Greek words “ergon” means work and
“nomos” means laws. It is the interaction among man, machine, and environment which
shows on the interaction between works demand and worker capabilities.

Ergonomics is concerned with making the workplace as efficient, safe and

comfortable as possible. Effective application of ergonomics in work system design can
achieve a balance between characteristics and job demands. This can increase
worker productivity, provide worker safety and physical and mental comfort and
job [Link] aim of ergonomic is the evaluation and design of facilities,
environment, jobs, training method, and equipment to match the capabilities of the
users and workers, and thereby to reduce the potential for fatigue, error, and unsafe acts.
Many research studies have shown positive effects of applying ergonomics principles in
workplace design, machine and tool design, environment and facilities design.

(1). Keep everything in Easy Reach: This principle helps to keep things within easy reach. In
many ways, this principle is unnecessary with posture, but it helps to appraise a task from this
specific viewpoint.

(2). Work at Proper Heights: Working at the true height is also a way to make things easier. A
superior rule of thumb is that most work should be done at about elbow height, whether sitting or
standing.

(3). Reduce Excessive Forces: Excessive force on a worker’s joints can generate a possible for
fatigue and injury. In realistic terms, the action item is for worker to identify specific instances of
excessive force and think of ways to make improvements.

(4). Work in natural Postures: Working in good posture provides a good starting point for
evaluating the tasks. The best positions in which to work are those that keep the body "in neutral."

(5). Reduce Excessive Repetition: This principle is to think the about number of motions one
make throughout a day. One of the simplest ways to reduce manual repetitions is to use power
tools whenever possible. Another approach is to change layouts of equipment in order to
eliminate repeated motions.

(6). Minimize Direct Pressure: Direct pressure points are things that one can look for in his work
areas to see if there are ways to make improvements. Sometimes it’s called “contact stress”.

(7). Provide Adjustability and Change of Posture: Adjustability of posture helps to reduce
fatigue and discomfort.

(8). Provide Clearance and Access: Work areas need to be set up so that workers have sufficient
room for head, knees, and feet. Another version of this principle is, Equipment should be built
and tasks should be set up so that nothing blocks to view.

(9). Maintain a Comfortable Environment: This principle provides working environments

according to nature of tasks.

(10). Minimize fatigue and static load: Working in the same position for a period of time is known
as static load. It creates fatigue and discomfort and can interfere with work.

(11). Enhance Clarity and Understanding: This principle provides display to understand easily.

(12). Improve Work Organization: This principle helps to maintain above mentioned principles.
Focus of Human Factors

➢ Human factors focuses on human beings and their interaction with products,
equipment, facilities, procedures, and environments used in work and everyday
living.
➢ The emphasis is on human beings and how the design of things influences people.

Human factors, then, seeks to change the things people use and the environments in which
they use these things to better match the capabilities, limitations, and needs of people.

Objectives of Human Factors

1. The first is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency with which work and other
activities are carried out. Included here would be such things as increased convenience of
use, reduced errors, and increased productivity of equipment used.

2. The second objective is to enhance certain desirable human values, including improved
safety, reduced fatigue and stress, increased comfort, greater user acceptance, increased
job satisfaction, and improved quality of life.

Approach of Human Factors

The approach of human factors is the systematic application of the following relevant
information to the design of things.

Human Capabilities
Limitations
Characteristics
Behavior
Motivation
The Work Environment

Definition of Human Factors

Human factors discovers and applies information about human behavior, abilities,
limitations, and other characteristics to the design of tools, machines, systems, tasks,
jobs, and environments for productive, safe, comfortable, and effective human use.

What “Human Factors” Is Not

1. Human factors is not just applying checklists and guidelines.

2. Human factors is not using oneself as the model for designing things.

3. Human factors is not just common sense.

FMJ versus FJM

First, organizations attempted to increase their productivity by introducing new methods

and machines.

Second, attempts to increase productivity tried to optimize the design of tasks to

minimize apparently unproductive effort.

Attempts to ‘fit the man to the job’ (FMJ) were based on the idea that productivity or
efficiency could be improved by selecting workers with the right ‘aptitudes’ for a
particular job. It is also true for some jobs – even today firemen, lifesavers and those
working in the armed services are restricted to individuals with certain specific aptitudes
and/or physical characteristics. An alternative approach, which is the guiding
philosophy of ergonomics, is known as ‘fitting the job to the man’ (FJM). Much of the
early human engineering and workspace design attempted to design tasks to suit the
characteristics of the worker. The underlying assumptions of the FJM approach are that a
suitable set of worker characteristics can be specified around which the job can be
designed and that this can be done for any job.

FMJ came about at a time when the demographics of the populations of many countries
were very different from those of today. There were many young people, there were no
shortages of the necessary skills and there was a great deal of unskilled work. With few
options for alternative employment, it was common for workers to remain in a job for
life.

FJM seems to be the most practical of the two approaches, wherever it can be
implemented, since many organizations now find themselves with a dwindling applicant
pool and are loath to reject otherwise suitable people.

There are also political pressures on organizations in many countries to make employment
as widely available as possible. Only under extreme circumstances is the FMJ approach
taken, as when acclimatizing workers who have to work in hot conditions that cannot be
changed. However, in less extreme conditions, there are usually many FJM options such
as designing a better work–rest schedule, providing protective clothing or building a ‘cool
spot’.

Theme:

Line managers are totally responsible and accountable for SAFETY as well as Cost, Quality &
Productivity. For lean business, Safety = Quality = productivity = Cost

“You get the level of safety excellence you demonstrate you want”-DuPont Proverb

The best safety device: Human Brain