Ergonomics

Summary

According to the International Ergonomics Association, “Ergonomics draws on the physical and life sciences, applying data on human physical and psychological characteristics to the design of machines, devices, systems, and environments as a means of improving the practicality, efficiency, and safety of human-machine relationships.”

Definition and Basic Principles

Ergonomics, a holistic multidisciplinary science, draws from the fields of engineering, psychology, physiology, computer science, occupational health, and environmental sciences. These sciences define ergonomics as optimizing the effectiveness of human activities while improving the quality of life with safety, comfort, and reduced fatigue.

The term ergonomics dates to the mid-1800s, but credit for applying the term generally goes to Hywel Murrell, a British chemist. Ergonomics derives from the Greek word ergon, meaning “work,” and nomos, meaning “law.” Ergonomics studies work within the natural laws of the human body.

The International Ergonomics Association promotes a systematic approach to the ergonomic process to incorporate human factors and human performance engineering and address problems in design of machines, environments, or systems. This can improve the efficiency and safety of the human-machine relationship. The basic steps in the ergonomic process include organization of the process, identification and analysis of the problem, development of a solution, implementation of the solution, and evaluation of the result.

Background and History

The types of work and settings have changed over the centuries. Humans have consistently been aware of the need for a good fit between work tools and the human body. While a medical student at Parma University in Italy, Bernardino Ramazzini recognized that workers suffered certain diseases. In 1682, he focused on worker health concerns. His scholarly collection of observations, De Mortis Artificum Diatriba (Diseases of Workers), published in 1700, detailed conditions associated with specific work environments and factors such as prolonged body postures and repetitive motion. His work earned him the title “father of occupational medicine.”

The term “ergonomics” is attributed to Hywel Murrell, a chemist who worked with the British Army Operational Research Group during World War II. In 1949, he served as leader of the Naval Motion Study Unit. He invited people interested in human factors research to meet with him, forming the Ergonomics Research Society. He remained active in academia until he died in 1989 at age seventy-six. Murrell's specialties included skill development and use, as well as fatigue and aging. He was interested in the applications of psychology and ergonomics in day-to-day situations. Murrell authored the first textbook on ergonomics, Ergonomics: Man in His Working Environment.

In the industrial era, tools and machines were developed to increase productivity. These put a new strain on the relationship between work and the human body. Between World Wars I and II, classic work was accomplished by the British Industrial Fatigue Research Board on the impact of environmental factors and human work performance. By the time World War II had begun, worker safety became a primary concern, leading the way for the science of ergonomics.

How It Works

Ergonomics, the science of adapting the workplace environment to the work and workers, seeks to maintain worker safety. The goal of industry employers is to keep workers well and comfortable while functioning efficiently on the job. This can be best accomplished by providing safe working conditions to prevent work-related injuries.

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's Seven-Step Approach. Businesses can assume a reactive or proactive approach. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), established a seven-step program for evaluating and addressing potential musculoskeletal problems in the workplace. First is finding worker complaints of pains or aches and defining jobs that require repetitive movement or forceful exertion. Management must then commit to addressing the problem with input from the worker. Participatory ergonomics is important in encouraging workers to help define problems and solutions to work-related stress. Key is education and training about the potential work-related risks and musculoskeletal problems from defined jobs. Using attendance, illness, and medical records, management should investigate high-risk jobs where injury is most common. Leadership must analyze job descriptions and functions to see if risky work-related tasks can be eliminated. Management should support health care intervention that emphasizes early detection and treatment to avoid work-related impairment and disability. Finally, management should use this information to minimize work-related musculoskeletal risks when creating new jobs, policies, and procedures.

Physical Ergonomics. Ergonomics can be subdivided into several disciplines: physical, cognitive, and organizational. Physical ergonomics is the body's response to physical workloads. It addresses the physiological and anatomical characteristics of humans as related to physical activity. Biomechanics and anthropometrics fall into this category. This discipline is concerned with safety and health and encompasses work postures, repetitive movements, vibration, materials handling, posture, workspace layout, and work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Common injuries in an office setting result from computer use, such as carpal tunnel syndrome from using a keyboard and mouse and eyestrain from viewing a monitor for prolonged periods.

Cognitive Ergonomics. Cognitive ergonomics deals with human mental processes and capabilities at work, such as reasoning, perception, memory, and motor response. Topics related to cognitive ergonomics include work stress and mental workload, decision-making, performance, and reliability. Computer-human interaction and human training are sometimes listed here.

Organizational Ergonomics. Organizational ergonomics addresses sociotechnical systems of the organization and its policies, procedures, processes, and structures. Concepts in this subdiscipline could include work design and hours, job satisfaction, time management, telecommuting, ethics, motivation, teamwork, cooperation, participation, and communication.

Applications and Products

Ergonomics can be applied to work in any setting with the goal of achieving efficiency and effectiveness while maintaining worker comfort and safety. The principles of ergonomics have been applied to many industries, including aerospace, healthcare, communications, geriatrics, transportation, product design, and information technology.

Office Workers. Global industry requires office workers to use computers every day. Product orders are taken by workers via phone and the Internet. Office workers spend time tied to phones and computers, while sitting in one place. These workers are subject to work-related injury and stress created by continuous computer and phone use.

Ergonomic experts have taken the principles of human factors engineering to improve the work environment for computer users. The placement and maintenance of the computer monitor will affect the user's eyes and musculoskeletal system. The monitor should be clean with brightness and contrast set for the comfort of the user. Placing the monitor directly in front of the user will minimize neck strain. The monitor should be set one arm's length away, tilted back by 10 to 20 degrees, and positioned away from windows or direct lighting to reduce glare.

Office workers often sit for extended periods while working, which is stressful on legs, feet, and the intervertebral discs of the spine. Pooling of the blood in the feet and ankles can cause swelling and place stress on the heart. Employers should encourage workers to alternate between standing and sitting. Many employers, in fact, offer the option of trading out a traditional desk for a desk specially designed to be worked at while standing. Others might provide desks that feature both sitting and standing configurations. Ergonomic chairs are designed to relieve the pressure placed on the back while sitting for extended periods. Armrests should be adjusted so arms rest at the side of the body, allowing the shoulder to drop to a natural, relaxed position.

Many ergonomic ailments occur in the soft tissues of the wrist and forearm, as continuous computer use subjects workers to repetitive motions and sometimes awkward positioning. Computer mice are ergonomically designed to minimize worker injury, and the no-hands mouse uses foot pedals to navigate. Ergonomically friendly computer keyboards are also available.

Health Care. In the healthcare field, ergonomics is useful in designing products for conditions such as arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and chronic pain. Ergonomic applications for persons with arthritis—more than one-in-five adults in the United States in 2024, according to the CDC—include appliances with larger dials that can be grasped more easily, levers rather than doorknobs, and cars with keyless entry and ignition. Larger controls on the dashboard and thicker steering wheels can be more easily grasped.

Healthcare workers are at risk for work-related musculoskeletal injuries, such as back or muscle strain, without adequate ergonomics. This is true in nursing homes where nursing assistants must lift patients with impaired mobility. These workers can benefit from ergonomically designed patient-handling equipment and devices such as belts and portable hoists to lift patients. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the rate of musculoskeletal disorders among workers was highest in the healthcare, retail, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, and construction industries. In an average year in the 2020s, the US private sector experienced nearly 250,000 missed days of work because of musculoskeletal illnesses and injuries.

Dentists are at risk for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. They experience repetitive hand movements, vibrating tools, and fixed and awkward posturing. Neck, back, hand, and wrist injuries are common. Ergonomic equipment is available for dentists, including specially designed hand instruments, syringes and dispensers, lighting, magnification tools, and patient chairs.

Transportation. Ergonomics has applications useful to anthropometry. A study in the United Kingdom found the airline industry did not provide adequate space for passengers in economy-class sections. The study focused on seating standards and the passengers' ability to make a safe emergency exit. They found that the economy-class seats did not have enough space to brace for an emergency landing and that even the seats themselves could delay a safe exit. The study also stated that the existing seating would accommodate only up to the 77 percentile of European travelers based on the buttock-knee length dimension.

Other applications include ergonomic food carts and passenger delivery, crew rest seats, and ergonomic design for first-class, business, and economy passenger seats. Cockpit design is important for pilot comfort and safety and to minimize fatigue.

Many competitive manufacturers in the automotive industry have employed ergonomics in designing cars for comfort, safety, and efficiency. Examples include options for driver seat position to accommodate variations in body size and allow the steering wheel and backrest to be ergonomically positioned. Also noted are passenger-seat comfort and safety, placement of controls, and an option for cell phone placement. These considerations can lessen work stress considerably when someone drives as part of their job.

Communication Technology. Cell phones have been a plus for industry and individuals, but they come at a price. Shoulder and neck pain may be related to cell phone use. Many people will attempt to cradle the phone between their head and shoulder when talking to free their hands. Ergonomic solutions exist to decrease user strain and pain. Headsets keep hands and head free of awkward posturing. Frequently changing sides can help if a headset is not available. Keying into the phone's address book one's most-dialed numbers can decrease repetitive movement of the fingers. Using cell phone technology with ergonomic design can reduce the daily and cumulative stress of cell phone use.

Aging. With an increasing aging population, industries are applying ergonomic solutions to meet the needs of older people. Gerontechnology addresses the need for work, leisure, comfort, and safety in older adults. Some automobiles have larger and simpler dashboard controls. Many tools for use in the kitchen or garden have special adaptive handles for less strain on the hands and muscles. Phones are equipped with different levels of tone for varying hearing issues; digits are larger and easier to push. Bathrooms are equipped with safety handles and equipment that allow independence.

Employers need ergonomically designed workplaces to accommodate the physical and cognitive changes of normal aging. Seats may need to be firmer and higher to allow for decreased joint flexibility. Good lighting is important for safe work. Restrooms with modifications may be necessary. Flexible schedule availability will assist with worker fatigue. By redesigning the work environment for aging workers, the risk of illness and injury can be diminished and performance improved.

Careers and Course Work

The health and safety of workers continues to be a primary concern for employers. The job opportunities for persons interested in ergonomics are varied and depend on the role desired. As with other professions, some jobs require formal education, while others provide on-the-job training. Other jobs require certification or special training in the area of interest.

Jobs related to ergonomics include the role of ergonomist, who has special knowledge and skills in the science of ergonomics, designing the workplace to fit the worker. Ergonomists typically have a minimum of a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering or mechanical engineering, industrial design, or healthcare sciences and often a master's or doctoral degree in a related area such as human factors engineering. The International Ergonomics Association (IEA) encourages all ergonomists to become board-certified. Other ergonomics professional groups include the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors, the International Society for Occupational Ergonomics and Safety, and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Healthcare professionals such as occupational therapists have also become interested in the growing field of ergonomics.

Social Context and Future Prospects

The IEA attests to the fact that ergonomics is an international concern that affects the global economy. In the mid-2020s, the IEA was composed of over fifty-two organizations worldwide run by a council with representatives from these groups. IEA supports ergonomic efforts in developing countries and keeps a directory of educational programs in several dozen countries. In addition to holding a dedicated meeting of professionals and scientists working in the area of ergonomics triennially, the IEA produced the standard guidelines for industry ergonomics and established a certification program called Ergonomics Quality in Design (EQUID).

The goals of the IEA include advancing ergonomics to the international level and enhancing the discipline's contribution to global society. Additionally, in 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic prominently highlighted the significance of ergonomics concerns related to work as an even greater number of people shifted to working fully from home rather than in an office. As the twenty-first century progressed, innovations continued to be made in ergonomics even as workplaces grew, changed, and became more diverse. Smart desks that reminded workers to change positions, wearable ergonomic exoskeletons, updated tools and equipment, and virtual reality and artificial intelligence in ergonomic design were just a few additions to the field. Further, as many workers settled into permanent remote work following the pandemic, individual workers took the initiative to design home offices with ergonomic principles in mind. Those wishing to focus on their health and wellness consider ergonomics essential to their lifestyle. 

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