Human Factors and Ergonomics

 

Human factors and ergonomics is a multi-disciplinary field of study incorporating contributions from occupational safety, psychology, engineering, biomechanics, industrial design, psychology, and anthropometry. In essence it is the study of designing equipment and devices that fits the human body.and its cognitive abilities. Physical ergonomics, which is concerned with the human anatomy, and some of the arthropometric, physiological, psychological,  and biomechanical characteristics as they relate to physical activity.

 

One of the most prevalent types of work-related injuries is musculoskeletal disorders. Work related musculoskeletal disorders result in persistent pain, loss of functional capacity, and work disability, but the medical diagnosis is difficult because people mainly complaint of non-specific pain and other symptoms. Every year about 1.8 million workers are afflicted by human factors and ergonomics issues in their place of work. Nearly 600,000 of these work-related complaints are serious enough to require hospitalizaion. Certain job and work tasks cause a higher rate of worker complaints of undue strain, localized fatigue, discomfort or pain that does not go away after overnight rest. These jobs use either forceful exertions or repetitive motions such as frequent overhead lifts, awkward postures, and/or vibrating equipment. By incorporating human factors into the equipment or device design (or redesign) of a complex system, asset owners can dramatically reduce the risk of human error or the error in operating environments, while improving safety, operability, reliability, maintainability, and resiliency of their system control.