Ergonomics

Ergonomics comes from two Greek words:

• Ergon = Work
• Nomos = “The Natural Law of” or “The Study of”

Literal translation: ergonomics is the natural law of work or the study of work. Just like economics is the study of money. Ergonomics is the study of work.

The formal definition is “Ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of the interactions among human 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.” International Ergonomics Association Executive Council, August 2000

The common definition is “Ergonomics is essentially fitting the workplace to the worker. The better the fit the higher the level of safety and worker efficiency.” Fitting the Task to the Human ~ Grandjean 1990

• Prevent injuries to people at work.
• Improve productivity.
• Control costs of the company.

Musculoskeletal Disorders.

An injury or illness that affects muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, joints, nerves or spinal discs. An injury is the result from an identifiable moment in time. An illness is from an insidious onset in which the moment of injury is unknown but is to be considered cumulative in nature.

According to OSHA, there are five primary ergonomic risk factors:

• Repetition: frequency and speed over time
• Force: grip, pinch, lift, carry, push, pull
• Posture: awkward or static positions
• Contact Stress: sustained or sudden
• Vibration: segmental hand-arm or whole body

Risk of injury depends upon duration, frequency and intensity of exposer. Most injuries are a combination of two or more primary risk factors.

There are many secondary ergonomic risk factors that can be contributing to the cause of an injury: temperature, lighting, glare,
noise, long shifts, working too many days in a row, incentive pay, and machine-paced work.