Engineering Ergonomics

Ergonomics can be defined as the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of
interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies
theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and
overall system performance.

Engineering ergonomics, also called Human-factors engineering or human engineering, is the

science dealing with the application of information on physical and psychological
characteristics to the design of devices and systems for human use.

As a process, it refers to the design of machines, machine systems, work methods, and
environments to take into account the safety, comfort, and productiveness of human users
and operators. As a profession, human-factors engineering includes a range of scientists and
engineers from several disciplines that are concerned with individuals and small groups at
work. Good ergonomic design removes incompatibilities between the work and the worker
and creates the optimal work environment. Ergonomics draws on many disciplines to
optimize the interaction between the work environment and the worker.

Types of Ergonomics

According to the International Ergonomics Association, there are three broad types of
ergonomics: physical, cognitive, and organizational. Physical Ergonomics

Physical ergonomics is concerned with human anatomical, anthropometric, physiological and

biomechanical characteristics as they relate to physical activity. Physical ergonomics are
arguably the most important type of ergonomics, as most employers prioritize physical
comfort when trying to accommodate their workers. Physical ergonomics focus on the ways
in which people’s bodies interact with the tools they use on a daily basis. Said tools include
desk chairs, keyboards and assorted computer equipment. Additionally, the study of physical
ergonomics isn’t limited exclusively to office environments. Biomedical engineers also study
the tools used by people who work in more physically demanding professions, such as
construction and manufacturing.

This is the ergonomics domain we are most concerned with in the workplace, and most of the
content here is very much focused on workplace ergonomics. The science of fitting workplace

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conditions and job demands to the capabilities of the working population. Ergonomics is an
approach or solution to deal with a number of problems—among them are work-related
musculoskeletal disorders. At its core, workplace ergonomics is really about building a better
workplace. When jobs are designed to match the capabilities of people, it results in better
work being produced and a better experience for the person doing it.

The ergonomics improvement process systematically identifies ergonomic hazards and puts
in place engineering and administrative control measures to quantifiably reduce risk factors.

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. Cognitive ergonomics deal with the mind’s ability to process
information and interact with data. Finding ways to help people retain data is among the key
areas of study for engineers in this field. Furthermore, engineers who work in cognitive
ergonomics place a great deal of emphasis on both the design and visibility of safety signs in
workplaces. Since both of these factors tie directly into data retention, signs are closely
studied by biomedical engineers.

Organizational ergonomics is concerned with the optimization of sociotechnical systems,

including their organizational structures, policies, and processes. Whereas physical
ergonomics tends to focus on individual comfort, organizational ergonomics examines ways
to optimize entire workplaces. This entails finding ways to optimize teamwork, improve
communications, increase output and bolster the overall quality of a product. Dysfunctional
workplaces with high rates of job dissatisfaction often provide biomedical engineers with rich
playgrounds in which to work their magic.

Aspects of Ergonomics

There are five aspects of ergonomics: safety, comfort, ease of use, productivity/performance,
and aesthetics. Based on these aspects of ergonomics, examples are given of how products
or systems could benefit from redesign based on ergonomic principles.

Safety - Medicine bottles: The print on them could be larger so that a sick person who may
have impaired vision (due to sinuses, etc.) can more easily see the dosages and label.
Ergonomics could design the print style, color and size for optimal viewing.

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Comfort - Alarm clock display: Some displays are harshly bright, drawing one’s eye to the light
when surroundings are dark. Ergonomic principles could redesign this based on contrast
principles.

Ease of use - Street Signs: In a strange area, many times it is difficult to spot street signs. This
could be addressed with the principles of visual detection in ergonomics.

Productivity/performance - HD TV: The sound on HD TV is much lower than regular TV. So

when you switch from HD to regular, the volume increases dramatically. Ergonomics
recognizes that this difference in decibel level creates a difference in loudness and hurts
human ears and this could be solved by evening out the decibel levels. Voicemail instructions:
It takes too long to have to listen to all of the obvious instructions. Ergonomics could address
this by providing more options to the user, enabling them to easily and quickly skip the
instructions.

Aesthetics - Signs in the workplace: Signage should be made consistent throughout the
workplace to not only be aesthetically pleasing, but also so that information is easily
accessible.

Outside of the discipline itself, the term 'ergonomics' is generally used to refer to physical
ergonomics as it relates to the workplace (as in for example ergonomic chairs and keyboards).
Ergonomics in the workplace has to do largely with the safety of employees, both long and
short-term. Ergonomics can help reduce costs by improving safety. This would decrease the
money paid out in workers’ compensation. For example, over five million workers sustain over
extension injuries per year. Through ergonomics, workplaces can be designed so that workers
do not have to overextend themselves and the manufacturing industry could save billions in
workers’ compensation. Workplaces may either take the reactive or proactive approach
when applying ergonomics practices. Reactive ergonomics is when something needs to be
fixed, and corrective action is taken. Proactive ergonomics is the process of seeking areas that
could be improved and fixing the issues before they become a large problem. Problems may
be fixed through equipment design or task design. Equipment design changes the actual,
physical devices used by people. Task design changes what people do with the equipment.
Environmental design changes the environment in which people work, but not the physical
equipment they use.

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Applications of Ergonomic Engineering

The basis of ergonomic engineering- the consideration of information about human users in
the design of tools, machines, jobs, and work environments- has always been present. One of
the oldest and most efficient of human implements, the scythe, shows a remarkable degree
of human-factors engineering, undoubtedly reflecting modifications made over many
centuries: the adroitly curved handle and blade and the peg grasp for the left hand. All of this
is in sharp contrast with the conventional snow shovel, a modern implement of generally poor
design that has been blamed for many a wintertime back strain.

Applications of human-factors engineering have been made to such simple devices as

highway signs, telephone sets, hand tools, stoves, and to a host of modern, sophisticated
complexes such as data processing systems, automated factories and warehouses, robots,
and space vehicles.

Examples of such applications include:

Push-button telephone

The modern push-button telephone handset provides a good example of a relatively simple
device that has required a great deal of ergonomic engineering. The layout of the keys in the
four rows of three buttons, for example, was selected only after extensive tests on a variety
of arrangements: circular, two vertical rows of five buttons, two horizontal rows of five, and
a diagonal pattern; the arrangement of the numerals and letters on the keys, in the order of
left to right and from top to bottom, was chosen as superior to other arrangements such as
that used on many desk calculators, in which the numbers increase from bottom to top. The
top-to-bottom design decision was not simply a matter of logic; tests showed that people
actually made fewer errors and took less time with that arrangement than they did with the
calculator arrangement. Other human-factor considerations in the design of the push-button
keyset were the size and style of numerals and letters for maximum legibility, the optimum
sizes and spacing of the keys, and the proper force-displacement characteristics of the keys
to provide tactile feedback or “feel” when the buttons are depressed.

Similar factors were considered in designing the shape of the handset itself. The locations,
separations, and angles between the earpiece and mouthpiece were determined so that the

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assembly would fit comfortably around the greatest number of different human faces; and
the weight of the handset was designed to be neither too light nor too heavy. In recent years
the careful, “user-friendly” design of conventional telephone sets has become more apparent
in contrast to some of the new arrivals in the telephone marketplace, which are generally
inferior in design and quality.

Space suit

The designing of a much more complicated device, such as a space suit, presents more
intricate problems. A space suit is a complete miniature world, a self-contained environment
that must supply everything needed for an astronaut’s life, as well as comfort. The suit must
provide a pressurized interior, without which an astronaut’s blood would boil in the vacuum
of space. The consequent pressure differential between the inside and the outside of the suit
is so great that when inflated the suit becomes a distended, rigid, and unyielding capsule.
Special joints were designed to give the astronaut as much free movement as possible. The
best engineering has not been able to provide as much flexibility of movement as is desirable;
to compensate for that lack, attention has been directed toward the human-factors design of
the tools and devices that an astronaut must use.

In addition to overcoming pressurization and movement problems, a space suit must provide
oxygen; a system for removing excess products of respiration, carbon dioxide and water
vapour; protection against extreme heat, cold, and radiation; protection for the eyes in an
environment in which there is no atmosphere to absorb the Sun’s rays; facilities for speech
communication; and facilities for the temporary storage of body wastes. This is such an
imposing list of human requirements that an entire technology has been developed to deal
with them and, indeed, with the provision of simulated environments and procedures for
testing and evaluating space suits.

Typewriter keyboard

Not all ergonomic engineering and design is commercially successful. An example is the
typewriter keyboard. Several alternative layouts, which are demonstrably superior from a
human-factors point of view, have been proposed, beginning as far back as the 1920s. Despite

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test results which show that alternative layouts are easier to learn, create less operator
fatigue, and permit faster typing, the traditional layout persists and now has been carried
over into the design of millions of personal computers. In this case, inertia and resistance to
change have been more formidable obstacles to efficient ergonomic design than the design
itself.

Social problems

The same ergonomic principles and methods have also been applied to a variety of social
problems, such as individualized computer-assisted instruction, nonlethal antiriot equipment
for law enforcement agencies, antiterrorist architecture for public buildings, and people
movers for airport and urban transportation departments. The modern concern with
humankind’s relationship to the total environment implies a much-broadened definition of
human-factors engineering and an increasing supply of problems for ergonomic engineers in
the future.