What is Ergonomics

The word 'ergonomics' has been derived from a combination of two Greek words 'ergon' meaning work and 'nomos' meaning 'laws.' The two words have combined to give us ergonomics, that literally means 'laws of work.' It is also a science of designing the job and the working condition in such a way that it suits the worker, rather than forcing him to fit into the job.

The main concern of ergonomics is the interaction between the worker and the working environment. It is recommended that the design of the working area should include the workplace safety aspects as well as the productive work environment. The International Ergonomics Association defines it technically as a scientific discipline pertaining to the interaction between the humans and the other elements of the system and the profession, data, methods and principles to improve the system performance and ensure human well-being. Let us find more on what is ergonomics? It has a vast scope and we're discussing it in details below.

Different Fields

• Engineering Psychology: It works on the relationship between human and machines and makes a continuous effort to improve the relation. This might include changing the location of the workplace, modifying the ways of using machine or redesigning of the equipment. In short, the main work of engineering psychology is to make the machines 'user-friendly' for the workers.
• Macro-Ergonomics: It works on a wider aspect and emphasizes more on the organizational environment, history, goal, culture and design. It concentrates more on the physical design and the surrounding environment. Its aim is to set an efficient work system and consequently improve the employee satisfaction, safety, health and productivity in the organization or workplace.

There is more to this concept than this. Apart from all these fields, this technology can be divided further into physical, cognitive, and organizational ergonomics based on its principles.

Main Principles

• Physical Ergonomics: It is concerned with the interaction of the body with the equipment and the tools, starting right from the chair to the computer. It also studies its effect on the body, for example, repetitive disorder, workplace safety, health and layout, musculoskeletal disorder and posture.
• Cognitive Ergonomics: It emphasizes the ways of information processing by the mind and its presentation. It is related to the motor function, workload, decision-making and memory-usage. This helps in understanding the interaction and relation of the human mind with the data presentation.
• Organizational Ergonomics: It works on complete optimization of the workplace, right from quality management to teamwork. It includes managing everything in the organization to make it a better place to work.

Nowadays, this technology has become a part and parcel of any organization or workplace. In developed countries like the United States have a special government body like Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) that enforce laws related to workplace ergonomics. After understanding the concept, now you must be wondering what is ergonomics in the workplace? Here is the answer to your question. At workplace, this concept is concerned with the how to make the environment comfortable, happier and healthier and above all, how to get maximum returns from the investment made on the human resource. To be more precise and accurate with the definition, workplace ergonomics makes sure that the body is in any way not compromised in the workplace. It ensures that the body does not face any discomfort regarding the posture and the position, which might be a reason for distraction.

We have seen that apart from ergonomics in domestic situations it has a wider application in the workplace as well. That is why this technology has also become so important in the workplace and investing in ergonomics will definitely pay more.