Ergonomics - What Does the Term Mean?
The term ergonomics is also referred to as the” human factors” and can be described as the technical field which aims at understanding and improving our interactions with the following: environments, products, equipment and systems. This term can be applied to the following disciplines: design, engineering, human biology and psychology. With this field, it is possible to develop techniques which help in optimising the system performance.
The process also ensures the well-being and health safety of the involved individuals. In other words, the concept of ergonomics has the potential to influence the following fields: leisure, work and other daily life aspects.
Appropriate designing of wok places, other equipments used by the employee can prevent work related health problems effectively and is possible with this field. An example of would be the ergonomic chairs that can be used as the office chairs.
Now, let us have a look at how can a person become an ergonomist. If you want to become an ergonomist, you should earn a BS or BA in any of the following disciplines: health sciences, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering or psychology. Post graduate or doctorate degree in these fields would be highly preferable. Also, the science would be a good alternative for occupational therapists and this scientific method is considered as one of the fields with a potential to create several job opportunities in the future.
This field can be classified to the following domains: Physical, Organizational and Cognitive Ergonomics. The first one is concerned with activities such as materials handling, lifting, repetitive movements etc. The application of this scientific discipline can help in effectively dealing with musculoskeletal disorders and other possible work related problems that are associated with these types of jobs.
Cognitive ergonomics has applications in the following fields: perception, motor response and other vital processes since these are of much importance in human interactions and other areas like skilled performance, decision making, computer-human interaction, work stress, human edibility, training etc. The second type deals with optimising socio-technical process and include the following: organizational structure, processes and policies and other similar topics such as management of crew resources, cooperative work, community ergonomics, new work fields, quality management and other virtual organizations.
Macro ergonomics should not be ignored when talking about ergonomics and ergonomic chairs as this field emphasizes a much more economical design view system, organizational history, culture examination etc besides other important applications.
