Corporate Social Review Magazine 1st Quarter 2012 | Page 51

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Ergonomics: Clearing away the confusion
Words by Tyron Louw
(MSc. Research Student;
Department of Human Kinetics and Ergonomics, Rhodes University)

W

hen I tell people I study
ergonomics many are
mystified by the concept.
Most liken it to some sort of pain
alleviation; expensive to implement; or the know-how needed
to create a better office chair. In
short, ergonomists are able to calculate how the body will respond
to different stresses, but they are
not doctors and cannot diagnose
disorders; true ergonomics is not
a cash cow; and while office ergonomics is possibly
the most widely known arm
of ergonomics, ergonomists
do more than provide new
chairs for people. Although
public awareness of the word
ergonomics has improved in
recent years, public understanding of this discipline remains scant; ergonomics is
concerned with finding ways
to keep people productive,
efficient, safe, and comfortable while they perform tasks.
The basic premise is to make
the task fit the person, rather
than the other way around.
Ergo Web Inc. defines ergonomics in a proactive sense:
“Ergonomics removes barriers to
quality, productivity, and safe human performance in human-machine systems by fitting products,
equipment, tools, systems, tasks,
jobs, and environments to people.”
The International Ergonomics Association (IEA) divides the field into
three domains: physical, cognitive,
and organisational.
Physical ergonomics deals with
how the human body responds to

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physical and physiological stress,
taking into account characteristics
of the human such as anatomy,
physiology, and biomechanics
as they relate to physical activity.
When ergonomic principles are
ignored in the workplace, musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) may
occur. However the reduction of
MSD-risk or decrease in worker’s
compensation cost is a main concern of physical ergonomics.

Cognitive ergonomics is an
emerging subset of the larger field
of human factors. It focuses on the
fit between human cognitive abilities and limitations, and the machine-task-and-environment. Cognitive ergonomics is concerned
with mental processes such as
perception, memory, reasoning,
and motor response, as they affect
interactions among humans and
other elements of a system such
as mental workload, decision-mak-

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ing, human-computer interaction,
and work stress. Cognitive ergonomics is important for operators
in modern industries.
Organisational ergonomics
(a.k.a. macro ergonomics) is focused on the optimisation of socio-technical systems (organisational structures, processes, and
policies), which proves that ergonomics as such is not just about
how individuals interact with
objects. Organisational ergonomics develop communication, work design, teamwork,
crew resource management,
teleworking, shift work, safety
culture, job satisfaction, and
motivation. The goal is to
achieve a fully harmonised
work system to ensure job
satisfaction and employee
commitment. The basis of the
balance model (Figure 1) is
that all elements of a system
interact. If all elements are
not designed to fit together,
this may lead to safety, productivity, efficiency, or quality problems. The goal is to
achieve cost savings or cost avoidance by balancing all elements of
the system.
Ergonomists understand the huge
potential of the human factors/ergonomics discipline for improving
employee health, safety, and comfort as well as human and system
productivi ty. The science of ergonomics is making tremendous
advances and research contributions.