The definitions of Ergonomics are many and varied. Some of these definitions, in their attempt to be comprehensive and all embracing, become too complicated to be of any real value despite their apparent accuracy. 

 

The succinct title of Etienne Grandjean’s seminal 1963 text “Fitting the task to the man” is probably comprehensive enough for most purposes. 

 

The key thing to understand from this definition is that Ergonomics is not generally about fitting people to their work; it is about fitting the work to the people.

 

It is generally agreed that Ergonomics developed as a co-ordinated subject during the second world war. The success of the integration which occurred between scientists, engineers, psychologists, physiologists and doctors meant that the multi-disciplinary approach taken continued after the hostilities were over. 

 

The word Ergonomics is derived from the Greek words ‘Ergon’ (work) and ‘Nomos’ (law) and was adopted in the UK in 1949. In the United States of America the word Ergonomics is not used; they have adopted ‘human factors’ as their label although this is becoming increasing used in the UK.

 

The principle function of the Ergonomist is to ensure that the tasks undertaken by people are suited to their needs. One of the problems of applying Ergonomic principles to any work situation is that it is often seen as the application of common sense. Whilst this may appear to be true, often with the benefit of hindsight, it is frequently frustrating to see just how little consideration has been given to the human component in many work situations.

 

Human beings evolved as active ‘hunter-gatherers’ and are not well adapted to sitting in front of a computer all day. This is why it is important to ensure that the workplaces we use are designed to minimise the stresses we now place upon ourselves. In addition, we are all individuals, there are no average people, we are all unique and no two people should need their workstations to be arranged exactly the same. 

 

We all buy clothes in different sizes to ensure that they fit us; the same is true of a workstation, it needs to be set-up to ensure that it fits us.

 

Treat your workstation like your car; if someone else has been driving your car then the chances are that you will need to adjust everything back to your favoured position when you get back behind the wheel. You recognise that to drive safely and comfortably everything needs to be adjusted to fit your individual requirements. It is just as important to ensure that the ergonomics of your personal workspace are tailored to your needs.

 

Thought for the day: if you sit at your desk for 40 hours a week during a career spanning 40 years (age 20 to age 60 – not unrealistic); then, by the time that you retired, you would have spent over 9 whole years (that’s 24 hours a day, seven days a week) where your only contact with the earth would have been through the seat you were sitting on......

 

 

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